Workshop 8: Crash! (Day 4-5)
Focus Reading Strategy:
Compare & Contrast
Focus Writing Strategy:
Personal Narrative
Essential Question:
Compare and contrast the schemes of Ponzi and
Madoff.
Workshop 8: Crash! (Day 4-5)
R-Book: Pages 202-205, “Too Good to Be True?”
Other resources: AVID article summary writing
frame
Daily Paragraph Writing Prompt:
Summarize the article, “Too Good to Be True?”
Standards:
RI.9-10.1 (LAFS.910.RI.1.1): Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Cognitive Complexity: Level 2: Basic Application of Skills & Concepts
RI.9-10.2 (LAFS.910.RI.1.2): Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its
development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and
refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
Cognitive Complexity: Level 2: Basic Application of Skills & Concepts
RI.9-10.4 (LAFS.910.RI.2.4): Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are
used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the
cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the
language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
Cognitive Complexity: Level 3: Strategic Thinking & Complex Reasoning
W.9-10.9 (LAFS.910.W.3.9): Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to
support analysis, reflection, and research.
Cognitive Complexity: Level 3: Strategic Thinking & Complex Reasoning
W.9-10.10 (LAFS.910.W.4.10): Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or
two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Cognitive Complexity: Level 3: Strategic Thinking & Complex Reasoning
Workshop 8: Crash! (Day 2)
Objectives:
 Practice comparing and contrasting ideas in a magazine article.
 Practice using compare-and-contrast signal words.
 Use text marking to identify comparisons and contrasts.
Read the title, photo and caption of the article
on pages 202-204.
Work in pairs to generate how, what, or why
questions that you expect the text to answer.
Write them on a piece of paper.
How did Ponzi and Madoff cheat people?
Read along silently as I read the article aloud.
After I finish reading, be prepared to tell what
the text is mainly about.
This article tells about the history and impact of
two Ponzi schemes, one by Charles Ponzi and one
by Bernard Madoff.
Return to you pair partner, reread the article
and write the answers to the questions you
generated before.
Rules or standards for
judging right and wrong
My parents try to teach me good ethics by asking me to
always think about how my actions affect others.
Synonyms (same): morality, decency, conscience
Antonyms (opposite): corruption, dishonesty, dishonor
Crime, usually theft, by a
professional or office worker
Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was a multibillion dollar white-collar crime.
Well-known for being bad or
evil
The Joker is an infamous criminal.
Synonyms (same): shameful, disgraceful, heinous
Antonyms (opposite): good, kind, wonderful
How can parents teach their children to have good
ethics?
How would someone with good ethics behave?
Is it ever okay for proprietors to be dishonest about
their businesses? Why or why not?
What are some different types of white-collar
crime?
If you lost a lot of money in a Ponzi
scheme, what would you do?
What should someone do if a
money-making deal seems too good
to be true?
What would you say to someone
who lost all of his or her money in a
Ponzi scheme?
1. Circle the detail in the introduction about the
Falk’s discovery that things were different from what
they had thought.
In 2008, the Falks discovered that their entire life savings
had vanished almost overnight.
2. How was Ponzi’s life during his scheme different
from his life after his scheme was revealed?
During his scheme, Ponzi lived a life of luxury. After the
scheme was revealed, he went to prison and died in
poverty.
3. Underline: What made Bernard Madoff’s scam
different from all other Ponzi schemes?
It was the biggest Ponzi scheme ever, lasting over 30
years.
Too Good to Be True?, continued
Workshop 8: Crash! (Day 4-5)
Focus Reading Strategy:
Compare & Contrast
Focus Writing Strategy:
Personal Narrative
Essential Question:
Compare and contrast the schemes of Ponzi and
Madoff.
Workshop 8: Crash! (Day 4-5)
R-Book: Pages 202-205, “Too Good to Be True?”
Other resources: AVID article summary writing
frame
Daily Paragraph Writing Prompt:
Summarize the article, “Too Good to Be True?”
Standards:
RI.9-10.1 (LAFS.910.RI.1.1): Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Cognitive Complexity: Level 2: Basic Application of Skills & Concepts
RI.9-10.2 (LAFS.910.RI.1.2): Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its
development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and
refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
Cognitive Complexity: Level 2: Basic Application of Skills & Concepts
RI.9-10.4 (LAFS.910.RI.2.4): Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are
used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the
cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the
language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
Cognitive Complexity: Level 3: Strategic Thinking & Complex Reasoning
W.9-10.9 (LAFS.910.W.3.9): Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to
support analysis, reflection, and research.
Cognitive Complexity: Level 3: Strategic Thinking & Complex Reasoning
W.9-10.10 (LAFS.910.W.4.10): Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or
two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Cognitive Complexity: Level 3: Strategic Thinking & Complex Reasoning
Workshop 8: Crash! (Day 4-5)
Objectives:
 Practice comparing and contrasting ideas in a magazine article.
 Practice using compare-and-contrast signal words.
 Use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast ideas.
Read the title, photo and caption of the article
on pages 202-204.
Work in pairs to generate how, what, or why
questions that you expect the text to answer.
Write them on a piece of paper.
How did Ponzi and Madoff cheat people?
Read along silently as I read the article aloud.
Star: How did Madoff fool his clients into
thinking he was making money for them?
Parts of something larger,
such as an organization
Nurses represent the largest sector of the health care
workforce.
Synonyms (same): part, region, zone
Antonyms (opposite): whole
Expensive, fancy,
luxurious
Madoff lived a lavish lifestyle with money he stole
from others.
Synonyms (same): extravagant, lush, swanky
Antonyms (opposite): moderate, reasonable, sparse
What sector of the workforce are nurses a part of?
Which sector of the United States do we live in?
How did Madoff trick his clients?
What would you have if you had a lavish lifestyle?
What do you think could be done to protect people from
Ponzi schemes?
How did Madoff’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme finally
end?
Ponzi
DIFFERENT
1. exposed in 1920.
Madoff
DIFFERENT
1. Exposed in 2008
SAME
2. lasted 30 years
2. lasted for less than a
1. Many people lost life savings in
3. confessed to scheme
year
both schemes.
himself
3. exposed by reporters 2. Both scammers sent false reports 4. Billions of dollars
to make investors think they
4. millions of dollars lost
Lost
were earning huge profits.
5. affected individual
3. Both Ponzi schemers went to 5. Affected individuals,
companies, and
investors
prison.
charities
4. Both Ponzi schemers used money
from the scams to live in luxury.
Using the AVID template from AVID Critical Reading:
Deep Reading Strategies for Expository Texts, we will
write an academic summary of the article, “Rocking for
a Cause.”