High School English Rationale
Disciplinary Literacy (DL) Design Principles
The instructional model embedded in the English Core Curriculum for Grades 6-12 is based upon the principles of Disciplinary
Literacy, a pattern of teaching and learning designed by the Institute for Learning (IFL) at the University of Pittsburgh. The DL
pattern is built on the following core principles drawn from research on learning and cognitive science.
1. Students learn core concepts and habits of thinking within each discipline as defined by standards.
All students are enabled and expected to inquire, investigate, read, write, reason, represent, and talk about the critical questions,
problems, and concepts defined by the discipline’s standards. Students experience curricula characterized by depth and
consistency. The students, scaffolded by the teacher, do the intellectual work involved in understanding core content and
learning to identify big ideas and driving questions within the discipline.
2. Learning activities, curricula, tasks, text, and talk apprentice students within the discipline.
Students learn by “doing” the discipline, by engaging in rigorous, ongoing investigation that mirrors the work of practitioners of the
discipline. All lessons, assignments, materials, and discussions serve as scaffolding for students’ emerging mastery of disciplinespecific knowledge and habits of thinking. Students learn to articulate how and why the activities they are engaged in will help
them deepen their understanding of a literary concept or in what ways they are working like members of a literary community
(readers, writers, and speakers).
3.
Teachers apprentice students by giving them opportunities to engage in rigorous disciplinary activity and
providing scaffolding through inquiry, direct instruction, models, and coaching.
The Core Curriculum provides opportunities for students, both within and beyond the classroom, to acquire knowledge and
literary habits of mind through active engagement in appropriate tasks. Teachers use a variety of instructional approaches—
including inquiry, direct instruction, modeling and observation, differentiation, and guided reflection—to scaffold students’
learning. The curriculum also orchestrates opportunities for students to learn from each other as well as from masters of the
discipline. Scaffolds are put in place to assist performance of tasks and then are withdrawn as students become independent.
4. Intelligence is socialized through community, class learning culture, and instructional routines.
Students are encouraged to take risks, to seek and offer help when appropriate, to ask questions and insist on understanding the
answers, to analyze and solve problems, to reflect on their learning, and to learn from one another. Class routines build a
learning culture that invites effort by treating students as smart, capable, responsible learners. Teachers arrange environments,
use tools, and establish norms and routines that communicate to all how to become smarter in their discipline.
5. Instruction is assessment-driven.
Teachers use multiple forms of formative and summative assessment and data to guide instruction. Throughout the year,
teachers assess students’ grasp of content area concepts; their habits of inquiring, investigating, problem-solving, and talking;
their learning processes; and their interests. Teachers use these formative assessments to help tailor instructional opportunities
that address the needs of their students. Students are engaged in self-assessment through “StepBacks” and “Retrospective
Work.” These promote metacognitive understanding of how learning has occurred, and supports students to transfer ways of
learning to new situations and develop the ability to effectively manage their own learning.
All references to Disciplinary Literacy and the DL Pattern are adapted from “A Framework for Disciplinary Literacy in Middle and High Schools”
Copyright © University of Pittsburgh
Road Map: English 4, Grade 12 (rev. 7/09)
1
High School English Rationale
The DL Pattern:
The ELA Core Curriculum Units across Grades 6-12 share a common, consistent, repeated pattern of instruction.
Frequently during this pattern a “StepBack” and/or “Retrospective” occurs to encourage students to either examine,
metacognitively, the learning that has occurred, or to tie it retrospectively to previous learning. The following is a
general outline of that pattern:
Read to Get the Gist: Students read for comprehension or “gist.” Students respond to open-ended comprehension
questions first individually in their Reader’s/Writer’s Notebooks, Pair/Share their thinking, and then quickly discuss as a
whole group with the teacher charting responses. The chart becomes an artifact of the learning and a scaffold for
further work with the text. This is comprehension level work and the frequency of this task depends upon the level of
difficulty of the text.
Reread for Significance: Students reread/scan all or part of the text in order to pull lines that are of particular
significance. Significance is sometimes determined by the student and the impact the text had on him/her, or by the
teacher to focus on a particular literary element or aspect of the author’s craft. Students write the line and an
explanation of its significance on a T-chart in their Reader’s/Writer’s Notebooks. Students then share with a partner or
small group before participating in whole class discussion. This work should also be charted and used later as an
artifact. This is interpretive/inferential work where connections are made within and between texts as well as to prior
knowledge.
Read Again to Interpret Ideas in the Text: Students here are given an open-ended writing prompt. This is referred to
as a “WriteAbout.” At this point, “reading” may simply be returning to the text to find support for one’s claims. Students
write to make and support claims for use in the Inquiry-based Discussion which follows. The progression here from
individual and paired work moves to a more defined discussion model within protocols set by the class to assure
accountability.
Read Again to Analyze the Author’s Methods: Students look at the text again for a new purpose. This time, they are
analyzing a particular aspect of the writer’s craft/technique which may include stylistic, grammatical, or structural
nuances. Students may be asked to pull lines that exemplify the writer’s use of this technique and then critically
evaluate their effect on the reader and the meaning of the text. Students at this stage are often asked to use, or mimic,
the author’s use of the technique in a writing exercise of their own referred to as a “WriteLike.”
Road Map: English 4, Grade 12 (rev. 7/09)
2
High School English 4 Road Map
The English 4 Core Curriculum is divided into eight units of varying length. Students consider the theme “Reading
and Writing Our Roots.” This course focuses on how readers and writers create a sense of place and self within
literature (including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama). Throughout the course, students will view how authors deal
with urban displacement, its systemic effect on its inhabitants, and possibilities for urban reconstruction. Students will
interact with texts in academic ways that also promote real-world skills, including qualitative research methods,
technology-based activities, and career-based learning. This course will provide students with local enactment of
global themes, and connect their lives in Pittsburgh with major works of literature. The course is aligned to the PA
Academic Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening as well as PA Assessment Anchors and Eligible
Content.
Each unit focuses on a thematic Unit Question and series of related Overarching Questions that guide the unit’s
inquiry. These questions also relate to and expand upon the course theme “Reading and Writing Our Roots.”
Unit Questions:
1. How does perspective define a narrative?
2. What is a personal narrative?
3. How do poets shape and reflect the world?
4. How does power leader to madness?
5. What do we have in common with other cultures?
6. How do we construct our identities?
7. How is Pittsburgh characterized in different genres of literature?
Students will read a variety of fiction and nonfiction texts including short narratives, informational text, drama, poetry
and novels. In the course of this reading, students will focus on specific comprehension strategies, the structures and
purpose of the genre, and the author’s techniques related to each. Through this work, students will strengthen key
comprehension skills. Through repeated use of the design principals of the curriculum, students will also practice the
art of literary interpretation, analysis, and criticism.
Students are encouraged, in the course of the year, to read 25 books, which include the novels read for the class. The
purpose of this is to improve reading fluency, to increase vocabulary acquisition, to independently practice the habits
of mind apprenticed throughout the year, and to encourage students to self-select reading for their own purposes.
Students write in response to the texts and from their own knowledge. The Reader’s/Writer’s Notebooks are used for
daily informal QuickWrites, notes, charting, and reader responses as part of the DL Pattern of instruction. Students
are also required to complete a portfolio of more formal, process writing including:
 Narrative
 Response to Literature – Interpretive
 Response to Literature – Critical Analysis
 Informative Essay
 Persuasive Essay
 Reflective Essay
Students will receive the majority of their grammar instruction in the context of their reading and writing. Grammar and
mechanics will also be addressed through mini-lessons based upon formative assessment of students’ needs.
Vocabulary study is an essential component of this program. Students practice multiple strategies for acquiring and
using new vocabulary in their speaking and writing.
The Pennsylvania Speaking and Listening Standards are addressed daily as students participate in partner, smallgroup, and whole group discussions as well as formal and informal oral presentation related to their reading and
writing.
Road Map: English 4, Grade 12 (rev. 7/09)
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Theme:
Reading and Writing Our Roots
Guiding Questions:
 How do authors write about displacement, both personal and systematic?
 How do readers and authors create a sense of “place” in the texts they read and write?
 How do texts written about Pittsburgh connect with the world beyond our doorstep?
FIRST MARKING PERIOD
UNIT
Unit 1
How does perspective define a
narrative?
PACING
Suggested Pacing:
(3 Instructional Weeks)
Report Period One
Weeks 1 - 3
OVERARCHING
QUESTIONS
FOCUS CONTENT
AND SKILLS
 What defines a short story?
Reading
 Review reading strategies
 Explain facets of a short story
 Explain literary elements: plot,
theme, tone, etc.
 Identify point of view and
perspective
 Identify concepts of
Modernism
 How does point of view (firstor third- person) affect the
narrative's purpose?
Major Works
Various Short Stories:
 "A Hanging"
 "The Duchess and the
Jeweler"

"Araby"
 "The Rocking-Horse Winner"
Culminating Project
Compare and contrast how firstand third- person point of view
affect the narrative's purpose
Road Map: English 4, Grade 12 (rev. 7/09)
Writing
 Review the writing process
 Compose a compare/contrast
essay
 Write journal entries
Grammar and Mechanics

Subordinate Clauses
Vocabulary
Portfolio Entry

Persuasive Essay

Response to Literature
(Optional)
4
FIRST MARKING PERIOD
UNIT
OVERARCHING
QUESTIONS
Unit 2

How do we write
about ourselves
realistically?

How do we prioritize
our goals?
What is a personal narrative?
PACING
Suggested Pacing:
(1 Instructional Week)
Report Period One
Week 4

Major Work
How does audience
affect a personal
narrative?
FOCUS CONTENT
AND SKILLS
Reading
 Identify structure of
personal narrative
 Analyze additional
examples of college essays
Writing
 Compose a college
application essay
Grammar and Mechanics
 Run-on sentences
Patterns for College Writing
Vocabulary
Culminating Project
Portfolio Entry
 Narrative (Personal)
Personal Narrative
Resumè
Unit 3

How does poetry
describe its author’s
(and reader’s)
interaction with the
environment?

How does poetry help to
define certain beliefs
and values of the times
in which it was written?

How does the form of a
poem (style, figurative
language, etc.) connect
with its content?
How do poets shape and
reflect the world?
PACING
Suggested Pacing:
(5 Instructional Weeks)
Report Period One
Weeks 5 - 9
Major Works
Selected poetry from McDougal
Littell The Language of Literature
Reading
 Conduct research
 Compile information about
Romanticism and
Modernism
 Identify elements of poetry,
including figurative
language
 Analyze concepts of
speeches
Writing
 Produce a PowerPoint
 Write original poetry based
on published examples
 Analyze text of speech
 Write journal entries
Culminating Project
Grammar and Mechanics
 Punctuation
WriteLike of either a Romantic or
a Modernist poet
Vocabulary
Reflective Essay
Road Map: English 4, Grade 12 (rev. 7/09)
Portfolio Entry
 WriteLike Poetry
 Response to Literature
 Informative Speech
5
SECOND MARKING PERIOD
UNIT
Unit 4
OVERARCHING
QUESTIONS

What does Macbeth say
about what motivates us
to deceive?

How does equivocation
act as a catalyst in
Macbeth?

In Macbeth how does
Shakespeare’s craft
reveal the major themes
of the play?

What are the
characteristics of an
effective Interpretive
Response to Literature?
How can power lead to
madness?
PACING
Suggested Pacing:
(6 Instructional
Weeks)
Report Period Two
Weeks 1 - 6
Major Works
The Tragedy of Macbeth by
William Shakespeare
(McDougal Littell, The
Language of Literature)
Culminating Project
Response to Literature
(Interpretive)
Road Map: English 4, Grade 12 (rev. 7/09)
FOCUS CONTENT
AND SKILLS
Reading
• Understand the language of
Shakespearean drama
• Discuss the concept of
tragedy
• Compare and contrast texts
associated with Shakespeare
Writing
• Compose a formal essay on
the tragic hero
• Write journal entries
Grammar and Mechanics
 Subjects in unusual positions
Vocabulary
Portfolio Entry
 Response to Literature
(Interpretive)
 Informative Essay
(Optional)
 Persuasive Essay
 Response to Nonfiction
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SECOND MARKING PERIOD
UNIT
OVERARCHING
QUESTIONS
Unit 5

What do we have in common
with other cultures?
How do different
cultures define justice?

How does the
intersection of race and
culture affect our
relationships with
others?
PACING
Suggested Pacing:
(4 Instructional
Weeks)
Report Period Two
Weeks 7 - 9
Report Period Three
Week 1


Major Works:
Literature Circle selections:
 The Power of One by Bryce
Courtenay;
 The Farming of Bones by
Edwidge Danticat;
 The Bride Price by Buchi
Emecheta;
 The Kite Runner by Khaled
Housseini;
 The Poisonwood Bible by
Barbara Kingsolver;
 In the Castle of My Skin by
George Lamming;
 A Small Place by Jamaica
Kincaid
How important is the
concept of personal
sacrifice in literature?
How does a writer
create different voices in
a story?
FOCUS CONTENT
AND SKILLS
Reading
 Identify concepts of race,
class, culture
 Review notions of
memoir and personal
narrative
Writing
 Write journal entries
 Compose narrative essay
Grammar and Mechanics
 Syntax, voice, and
regionalism
Vocabulary
Portfolio Entry
Reflective Essay
Culminating Project
Personal narrative essay with art
component (optional)
Road Map: English 4, Grade 12 (rev. 7/09)
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THIRD MARKING PERIOD
UNIT
Unit 6
How do we construct our
identities?
PACING
Suggested Pacing:
(7 Instructional
Weeks)
Report Period Three
Weeks 2 - 8
Major Works

The Invisible Man by Ralph
Ellison

Excerpts from Cultural
Contexts for Ralph Ellison’s
Invisible Man

Patterns for College
Writing, 10th Edition
Culminating Project
OVERARCHING
QUESTIONS
 What social and cultural
factors contribute to one’s
identity?
 How might a work of
literature impact social
history?
 What historical and social
factors helped to shape
Ellison’s novel?
FOCUS CONTENT
AND SKILLS
Reading
 Analyze literary elements:
character, setting, conflict
 Identify literary devices:
allusions, symbols, etc.
 Make connections across
texts
 Summarize and analyze
nonfiction texts
Writing
 Follow informative writing
structure
 Use MLA format
 Write journal entries
Grammar and Mechanics
Vocabulary
Portfolio Entry

Response to Literature
(Informative) (Optional)
Argumentative essay on The
Invisible Man and the concept
of self-identity
Road Map: English 4, Grade 12 (rev. 7/09)
8
FOURTH M ARKING PERIOD
UNIT
Unit 7
How is Pittsburgh
characterized in different
genres of literature?
PACING
Suggested Pacing:
(10 Instructional
Weeks)
Report Period Three
Week 9
Report Period Four
Weeks 1 - 9
OVERARCHING
QUESTIONS

How do people and characters
develop their own sense of
place?

How does “root shock” appear
in the literature that we read?

How does social history impact
the literature of its time as well
as future generations that read
it?

How do we chronicle our own
communities, historical periods,
and experiences of root shock?
Major Works

Brothers and Keepers by
John Edgar Wideman
(creative nonfiction)

Reading and Writing Our
Roots (anthology)
FOCUS CONTENT
AND SKILLS
Reading
 Identify concept of “root
shock”
 Identify concept of
“double burden”
 Analyze historical
perspectives of
Pittsburgh and its
neighborhoods
 Discuss memoir
 Review concepts of
narrative and
perspective
Writing
 Write journal entries
 Produce map of
neighborhood
 Compose original poetry
 Write formal essay on
theme of “root shock” in
literature
Grammar and Mechanics
Culminating Project
Social Action Project
(Research and Speech)
Vocabulary
Portfolio Entries
 Response to Nonfiction
 Personal Narrative
 Response to Literature
(Interpretive)
Road Map: English 4, Grade 12 (rev. 7/09)
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