8 Weeks
10th Grade Unit #2 – “Flowers for Algernon”
Marking Period #2
Essential Questions:
 What is the cost of progress? Does change always equal progress?
 Should technology be used to improve human performance?
 Will technology be humankind’s salvation or its destruction?
 Is technology worth the sacrifice?
 Does societal pressure to be perfect make individuals push themselves or others too much?
RL.10.1
RI.10.1
W.10.1
SL.10.1
L.10.1
RL.10.2
RI.10.2
W.10.2
SL.10.3
L.10.2
RL.10.3
RI.10.3
W.10.4
SL.10.4
L.10.4
RL.10.4
MS College and
RL.10.5
Career
Readiness State RL.10.6
Standards:
RL.10.7
RI.10.4
W.10.5
SL.10.6
L.10.6
RI.10.5
W.10.6
RI.10.8
W.10.8
RI.10.9
W.10.9
RI.10.10
W.10.10
RL.10.8
RL.10.9
RL.10.10
theme, content, word choice, sentence structure, sensory/ figurative language, organization,
Content-Specific (Tier III) Terms: fluency, conventions, tone, mood, imagery, irony, allusion, characterization, plot, setting,
valid, relevant, sufficient
marooned, feeble, opportunist, petition, cowered, instability, impaired, senility, plateau,
contrary, vacuous, regression, deterioration, Rorschach, smirking, illiteracy, apathetic, IQ,
subconscious, vicious, laboratory, unconscious, contribute, shrew, maroon, justified,
equivalent, introspective, prediction, technique, amnesia
genesis, lobes, debilitating, motor function, neuron, genetic, neglected, adaptive,
Literary (Tier II) Vocabulary:
neuroplasticity, cognitive, hippocampus, synapse, cortex, resilience
capillaries, irony, paranoia, psychopathic, quiver, radiation poisoning, silhouette, sublime
counterattack, averted, impelled, surrender, liberated, annihilation, solemn, obligation,
petition
clad, protruding, mangled, interminably, dismal, revolutionary, supplement
Texts and Respective Tasks
Flowers for Algernon
by Daniel Keyes
(novel)
(audio book)
(modified text) *SPED/ ESL
Charly (movie clips)
“How to Grow Your
Brain”
(article)
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
“There Will Come
Soft Rains”
by Sara Teasdale (poem)
by Ray Bradbury (short
story)
Manhattan Project
Petition
(historical document)
Truman Announces the
Bombing of Hiroshima and
Surviving the Atomic
Attack
(historical documents)
Literature
Informational
Literature
Informational
Informational
8 weeks
1 week
1 week
1 week
1 week
READING TASKS:
Over the course of the
term, students will be
assigned specific
progress reports in
which they will
demonstrate
comprehension by
answering questions that
will require in- depth
analyses, critical
thinking, and/or
synthesizing the text.
RL.10.1-5, 9-10
READING TASKS:
1st Read – Read the
article for
comprehension (topic).
RI.9-10.10
2nd Read – Identify the
central idea and
structure of the text.
RI.9-10.2
3rd Read – Provide an
objective summary of
the text. RI.9-10.2
READING TASKS:
READING TASKS:
st
1 Read – Read the poem 1st Read – Read for
for comprehension.
comprehension.
READING TASKS:
1st Read – Read for
comprehension.
2nd Read – Identify poet’s
use of imagery, figurative
language and stylistic
devices.
2nd Read – Analyze the
arguments presented
and determine the
author’s for writing the
letter.
2nd Read – Compare the
different perspectives of
the atomic weapon and its
abilities.
3rd Read – Compare and
contrast the theme of the
poem and short story to
explain how each author’s
presentation of the theme
or topic is shaped by
specific details
RL10.2, 5, 10
3rd Read – Analyze the
3rd Read – Analyze the document and determine
document and
how it relates to the
determine how it
novel’s theme and
relates to the novel’s
concepts.
theme and concepts.
RI.10.1-5, 9-10
RI.10.1-5, 9-10
lANGUAGE TASKS:
Task 1: The teacher will
provide students with a
list of terms, where
applicable, that are
relevant to the overall
comprehension of the
text.
RL.10.4
LANGUAGE TASKS:
Task 1: The teacher will
provide students with a
list of terms, where
applicable, that are
relevant to the overall
comprehension of the
text.
RI.9-10.4
LANGUAGE TASKS:
Task 1: The teacher will
provide students with a
list of terms, where
applicable, that are
relevant to the overall
comprehension of the
text.
9-10.RL.4
Task 2: Students will
explain the significance
and purpose of most
commonly used literary
elements and techniques
(e.g. figurative language,
imagery, allegory, irony,
symbolism).
R.L. 10.5
Task 2: Students will
gather vocabulary
knowledge about words
or phrases that are
important to
comprehension using
context clues.
L.9-10.4, 10.6
RI.9-10.4
Task 2: Students will
gather vocabulary
knowledge about words
or phrases that are
important to
comprehension using
context clues.
L.10.4
RL.9-10.4
LANGUAGE TASKS:
Task 1: Students will
gather vocabulary
knowledge about words
or phrases that are
important to
comprehension using
context clues.
L.10.4
RI.9-10.4
Task 2: Students will
determine the meaning
of unknown words
using patterns of words
and context clues.
RI.10.4
LANGUAGE TASKS:
Task 1: Students will
gather vocabulary
knowledge about words or
phrases that are important
to comprehension using
context clues.
L.10.4
RI.9-10.4
Task 2: Students will
determine the meaning of
unknown words using
patterns of words and
context clues.
RI.10.4
WRITING TASKS:
Complete an anticipation
guide and then write a
personal experience or
example that supports
your opinion.
W.10.3
Identify the most
significant points where
Charlie’s understanding
of intelligence evolves.
Discuss both his
emotional and
intellectual growth along
with his eventual
regression. Support your
claims with valid
reasoning and relevant
and sufficient evidence
from the text.
RL.10.6
W.10.1, 4-6, 9
There are many complex
issues surrounding
technological and
scientific research
science. Are there times
when the risks outweigh
the potential benefits?
W. 10.1, 4-9
WRITING TASKS:
WRITING TASKS:
WRITING TASKS:
WRITING TASKS:
Create a children’s story
about intelligence and
accepting yourself as
you are. Use examples
from stories like
“Flowers for Algernon”
in your story.
W.10.1-2, 4-5, 8-10
Choose one of the
statements below:
(1)Technology will be the
salvation of humankind.
(2)Technology will be the
destruction of
humankind.
Research the long term
effects of nuclear
exposure as well as
other details about the
bombing of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki at the end
of World War II.
R.I.9-10.6-10
W.9-10.7-10
After reading about the
atomic response to Pearl
Harbor in Hiroshima, do
you think the bombing was
justified? Use textual
evidence from multiple
sources to support your
claim.
RI.10.2, 9
W.10.1-2, 4-5, 9-10
Students will individually
Use the 6 Traits writing pick the statement that
they believe to be most
rubric to score an
true and complete a quick
example of Charlie’s
write in which they
writing from the novel
explain/ support the
then revise the excerpt
to improve word choice, assertion they selected.
fluency and conventions. W.10.1-2, 4-5, 8-10
L.10.1-3
Write a letter to the
president persuading
him whether or not to
use atomic bombs on
Hiroshima.
RI.10.2,9
W.10.1-2, 4-5, 8-10
SPEAKING AND
LISTENING TASKS:
SPEAKING AND
LISTENING TASKS:
SPEAKING AND
LISTENING TASKS:
SPEAKING AND
LISTENING TASKS:
SPEAKING AND
LISTENING TASKS:
Does change always
equal progress?
Is it sometimes better to
remain ignorant of
certain things?
Complete the multiple
intelligences quiz.
With your assigned
partner, discuss the
following questions as
they relate to the poem:
What unusual qualities
does the house have?
What was the
Manhattan Project?
What was its goal? How
did the scientists feel
once they had
succeeded?
How does President
Truman’s tone change
throughout the speech?
Should technology be
used to improve human
performance?
Discuss the role of
Algernon in relationship
to the narrative. How
does he function as a foil
to Charlie? In what ways
does he become
representational or
allegorical? Cite
examples from the text.
SL.10.1, 3, 4, 6
How does the language of
the poem “There Will
Come Soft Rains” and the
short story by the same
What is your strongest
name contribute to their What are some of the
intelligence?
overall tone and message? concerns the scientists
who developed the
What is you weakest
Discuss how the poet and atomic bombs had
area?
the author address the
about its use?
theme in similar and
Present your findings
different ways.
What is their advice to
based on the intelligence
President Truman?
quiz results and use
Is technology worth
clear reasoning to offer everything that we
Did you find the
some ideas about how
sacrifice?
scientists persuasive?
people with your
SL.10.1, 3, 4, 6
Explain. (R.I. 9-10.3)
intelligence should
SL.10.1, 3, 4, 6
study.
SL.10.1, 3, 4, 6
Describe what it must have
been like to be a survivor
of the atomic bombings.
Was the United States
justified in using this new
technology at the end of
World War II?
Should humankind possess
power of this kind?
RI.10.5
SL.10.1, 3, 4, 6
RESEARCH PROJECT (1)
Novel – Research the Rorschach test. What is a Rorschach test? Who is the test named after? Explain the method psychologists
use when giving a Rorschach test. Are these tests reliable? Explain why or why not.
W.10.2,7-10
Allusions make the reader aware of figures or events outside the text and often refer to a literary or historical person, event, or
place. Charlie mentions that his father did not like being a salesman after watching Death of a Salesman. Research Death of a
Salesman using the library and/or Internet. List details about Willy Loman, the salesman. In which ways is Matt like and unlike
Willy. What might you be able to infer about Matt that we don’t already know? What effect does knowing about this allusion
have on the reader? What significance does it hold for the text? W.9-10.2, 7-10
“Flowers for Algernon” was written in 1958, when the idea of human engineering presented in the novel would have been
simple science fiction. Research the concept of human engineering. Using your findings, explain the potential risks and
advantages associated with experimental science. Is it allowed? Is it regulated? By whom? Cite specific examples from the
novel to support your position. W.10.2,7-10
Poem 1 – Sara Teasdale wrote her haunting poem in 1920, after the end of the first world war. Using the internet, explore the
impact that technology had on the war and its outcome. Analyze how the poem’s reference to war was either an allusion to
World War I or a prediction of World War II. Cite specific examples from both texts to support your position. W.10.1,4-10
Short Story –
Take the virtual tour of Bill Gates’ house at: http://allthingsd.com/20091111/the-35000-house-tour-guided-by-bill-gates/ .
Compare and contrast this house to the house in the story – use a graphic organizer to plan your writing. W.10.1,7-10
Informational Text 1 – Research the Manhattan Project and answer the questions in the discussion task. W.10.2,7-10
Informational Text 2 – Compare and contrast the different perspectives of the atomic weapon and its abilities presented in the
speech and in the personal account. W.10.2, 7-10
NARRATIVE WRITING PROJECT (1)
Novel – Contemplate the role that Algernon played in the novel. Rewrite a journal entry from the perspective of Algernon
rather than Charlie. Cite specific examples from the text to support your analysis. W.10.3-6, 9-10
If you had the same opportunity that Charlie has- to increase your intelligence significantly-but perhaps lose it and remember
you once had it, would you still elect to have the surgery? Cite specific examples from the text to support your opinion.
Flowers for Algernon is told through a series of journal entries that chronicle his struggles with work, school and family. Keep a
journal that tracks the events of your daily life and the conflicts you face.
By the end of the novel, Charlie begins to see how his life has been shaped and how he can affect his own future. Write about
how your past decisions have shaped your present life and how decisions you make now will affect your future. Write a brief
memoir about your insights. Make sure you also discuss that you have many options in life and reflect on how some of those
options could affect your future.
W.10.3-6, 9-10
Poem – Imagine that you are Spring personified in the poem. Write a memoir about the time you spent with humanity. What
would you remember about humanity? What would you have to remember us by? W.10.3-6, 9-10
Short Story – Ray Bradbury wrote this short story in 1950 describing a world he envisioned in 2026. Describe what you think it
would be like to venture into the future year 2090. Develop a short, short story that mimics Bradbury’s style. W.10.3-6, 9-10