“How are fictionalized characters and real people changed through conflict?”
UNIT 4
American in Conflict
GUIDED
READING/WORD
WORK
SHARED
READING/CLOSE
READING
Introduction to what the
Civil War is:
Pink and Say (FIRST
ACTIVITY)
Follow the Drinking
Gourd
Sweet Clara and the
Freedom Quilt
SL 5.1
RL 5.1
SL5.3
W 5.4
W 5.8
RL 5.6
RF 5.4
- Use this text as a
hook to gather student
interest
VOCABULARY
WRITERS
WORKSHOP
LITERATURE
CIRCLES
POETRY
I CAN
(ET=
Exemplary Text)
(P=Poem)
(RA= Read Aloud
January/February/
March
WEEK 1
January 8th
Social Studies Book
(around pg. 501)Students will be divided
into groups to research
and investigate key
aspects of the civil war
in order to bring that
information back to a
group discussion
(building background
knowledge)
Toolkit Lesson # 3
“African Americans
Join the Fight”
RI 5.3
SL 5.4
Create a timeline of
major events from the
civil war
http://international.loc.g
ov/ammem/cwphtml/tl1
861.html
http://www.ducksters.co
m/history/civil_war.php
* Create questions
about Point of View
and Theme (require
students to answer
with evidence)
* Introduce TONE
- How is the
authors attitude
conveyed through
their writing?
- What words or
phrases point toward
the tone of the piece?
Send students back to
write about their
answers in their own
journal after a class
discussion. “Pretend
you were a soldier
during the time of the
Civil War. Write a
diary entry about your
experience so far.”
Resources
Introduce
terminology:
Focus on NARRATIVE
WRITING
Literature Circles
Across Five Aprils
- Ballad
- Cause and Effect
- Characterization
- Conflict
- Poetic terms: meter,
rhyme, scheme,
metaphor, simile
- Symbolism
Begin the “Robust
Vocabulary
Instruction in a
Reader’s workshop”
and continue
throuhgout
W 5.3
Dissect writing prompts
and pull out information
found their for their
introduction paragraph
FOCUS on:
*Introduction and
conclusion
Bull Run
When Will This
Cruel War Be Over?
Revisit the “Close
Reading” questions
and pull from there.
* Elaboration
* Sentence Structure
*Figurative Language
*Found in the 2012
November Reading
Teacher
A Ballad of the Civil
War
* Arkansas Writing
Rubric
*Style
* Graphic Organizer
RF 5.4
RF 5.4(a)
REQUIRE
STUDENTS TO
CITE EVIDENCE IN
THEIR WRITEN
RESPONSE
“I, too, sing
American”
Langston
Hughes
1. Cold Read
2. The words
that stood out to
me are…
3. Why was the
title “I, too, sing
America” and
close with “I,
too, am
America.”
4. How does he
feel about being
sent to the
kitchen? How
does the author
make you view
right and
wrong?
Pink and Say by Patricia
“ I can tell how
characters respond
to problems.”
“I can tell what an
authors viewpoint is
and how it effects a
story.”
“ I can tell how
people, events,
ideas, or concepts
are related.”
“ I can draw
inferences when
reading.”
“ I can write
clearly.”
Polacco
Follow the Drinking Gourd
Sweet Clara and the
Freedom Quilt
Across Five Aprils
A Ballad of the Civil War
Bull Run
When Will This Cruel War Be
Over?
WARTIME POETRY (READ,
WRITE, THINK) * found on
blog
WEEK 2
January 14
WEEK 3
January 21
CCSS Activity #7
Begin creating a graphic
organizer about the
Civil War
Continue with the
Civil War historical
fiction read aloud:
1. What is the conflict?
2. Why does this
conflict occur?
3. Who is involved on
each side of the
conflict?
4. How is the conflict
resolved?
5. How does this
conflict affect our lives
today?
Nettie’s Trip South
Journey to Freedom
The Silent Witness
Civil War Artist
Duel of the Ironclads
Minty: A Story of
Young Harriet
Tubman
Read, Write, Think
Lesson “Examining Plot
Conflict Through a
Comparison/Contract
Essay”
http://www.readwritethi
nk.org/classroomresources/lessonplans/examining-plotconflict-through802.html
Refer to “Yellow
Question Sheet” for
questions to ask in
reaction to the story.
Once students have
read the story, they
need to respond in a
sorcratic circle and
then return to their
reading response
journal and write their
reactions.
Continue with the
Civil War historical
fiction read aloud:
Nettie’s Trip South
Journey to Freedom
The Silent Witness
Civil War Artist
Duel of the Ironclads
Minty: A Story of
Young Harriet
Tubman
Begin to spotlight
different forms of
conflict within the
literature (character
vs. character,
character vs. self,
Create a matrix for
your poems that uses
the following
categories:
Continue with writing
prompts, mini lessons
on our focuses (see
above for focus lesson
topics)
Continue with
Literature Circles
-alliteration
-allusion
-climax
-flashback
-foreshadowing
-metaphor
-personification
-simile
“ I Hear
America
Singing” by
Walt Whitman
1. Does a
phrase repeat?
Why is it
repeated?
2. Does the
author paint
vivid pictures
with the words?
What words
does he use?
Continue Robust
Vocabulary Activity
3. What things
can you see/
Characters?
Settings?
Objects?
Problems?
Continue Robust
Vocabulary Activities
Create a writing prompt
about a conflict in their
life (Arkansas Writing
Rubric)
CCSS Activity #9
Write a research
essay about an event
in the civil war and
the causes and
effects of the conflict
Continue with
Literature Circles
4. Literary
devices:
- alliteration
-allusion
-climax
-flashback
-foreshadowing
-metaphor
-personification
-simile
“The Eagle” by
Alfred Lord
Tennyson
Refer to the
“Yellow Sheet”
for questions
character vs. nature,
and character vs.
society)
WEEK 4
January 28
Read, Write, Think
Lesson “Engaging
Students in the
Collaborative
Exploration of the
Gettysburg Address”
http://www.readwritethi
nk.org/classroomresources/lessonplans/engagingstudents-collaborativeexploration-888.html
WEEK 5
February 4
Read, Write, Think
Lesson “ Critical
Perspectives: Reading
and Writing about
Slavery”
http://www.readwritethi
nk.org/classroomresources/lessonplans/criticalperspectives-readingwriting-1060.html
WEEK 6
February 11
CCSS Activity #2
Symbol Study of
famous American
Symbols
* Answer the question
“How do the symbols of
America provide
strength during times of
conflict?”
Continue with the
Civil War historical
fiction read aloud:
Continue Robust
Vocabulary Activities
Nettie’s Trip South
Journey to Freedom
The Silent Witness
Civil War Artist
Duel of the Ironclads
Minty: A Story of
Young Harriet
Tubman
Read If you Traveled
on the Underground
Railroad, If You Lived
When There Was
Slavery in America
and gather
information that will
be used for the essay
on slave and slave
owner perspective
(information will be
gathered in their
journals)
Complete a
foldable with the
symbols on the flap
and information
about them on the
inside
Continue Robust
Vocabulary Activities
Continue Robust
Vocabulary Activities
“Your teacher has asked
you to write about the
most unusual object you
have ever received.
Before you begin to
write, think about what
you received and what
made it so unusual.
Now write an essay for
your teacher describing
the most unusual object
you have ever received.
Be sure to give enough
detail so that your
teacher will
understand.”
Writing to go along
with the Read, Write,
Think lesson “Choose a
perspective (slave or
slave owner) and justify
their actions”
“Suppose you are
on a flying carpet
that takes you
anywhere you
choose. Think about
where you would go
and what you would
do. Now write a
story about your
ride on a flying
carpet. Give enough
detail so that the
person reading your
story will
understand what
happened.”
Continue Literature
Circles
CCSS Activity
#5
TSW be
analyzing
various
characters they
have just read
about and
choose
appropriate
adjectives to
describe or
explain them
Continue Literature
Circles
Continue Literature
Circles
WEEK 7
February 18
Research the Union and
Confederacy TroopsSpotlight what life was
like for both sidesAnswer the question
about why each side
fought the war
*Create a t-chart and
discuss both sides and
their standings on
economy, slavery,
government, etc.
WEEK 8
February 25
WEEK 9
March 4
Read, Write, Think
“Strategic Reading and
Writing: Summarizing
Antislavery
Biographies”
Read Aloud
*You Wouldn’t
Want to be a Civil
War Soldier
*Eyewitness Book
on the Civil War
*America’s Civil
War
http://www.readwritethi
nk.org/classroomresources/lessonplans/strategic-readingwriting-summarizing1017.html
The students will
be completing the
read, write, think
lesson by creating a
biocube on a
famous antislavery
figure in history
(cubes will be
created in math
class)
The students will
research in depth, their
key historical figure for
the biography they are
going to write during
the writing block
Finish up reading
the Civil War
historical fiction
books found in the
library
Continue Robust
Vocabulary Activities
Continue Robust
Vocabulary Activities
The students will
write a paper from
either the
perspective of a
union soldier or the
perspective of a
confederacy soldier
and justify why they
would have fought
for that side USING
EVIDENCE/
INFORMATION
found in the text
CCSS Activity #11
Continue Literature
Circles
Continue Literature
Circles
The students will be
writing a narrative
set during the time
of the civil war
Continue Robust
Vocabulary Activities
The students will
write a biography
on a famous key
figure in the Civil
War, using their
biocube as a graphic
organizer
http://www.pbs.org/
civilwar/war/biogra
phies/barton.html
Continue Literature
Circles