Course Name: English 9
Department: English
Date: 2014-15
Unit 1
Standards:
Make Inferences & Make Predictions - CC.1.3.9-10.B Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what
the text says explicitly, as well as inferences and conclusions based on an author’s explicit assumptions and beliefs about a
subject.
Conflict, Plot, and Characterization - CC.1.3.9-10.C Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text,
interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Cause and Effect, Situational Irony/Surprise Endings - CC.1.3.9-10.E Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to
structure a text, order events within it, and manipulate time create an effect.
Point of View - CC.1.3.9-10.D Determine the point of view of the text and analyze the impact the point of view has on the
meaning of the text.
Symbolism - CC.1.3.9-10.H Analyze how an author draws on and transforms themes, topics, character types, and/or other
text elements from source material in a specific work.
Voice and Diction - CC.1.2.9-10.F Analyze how words or phrases shape meaning and tone in text.
Supporting Evidence - CC.1.2.9-10.H Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing the validity
of reasoning and relevance of evidence.
Description - CC.1.2.9-10.B Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly, as
well as inferences and conclusions based on an author’s assumptions and beliefs about a subject.
Vocabulary Craft and Structure - CC.1.2.9-10.F Analyze how words and phrases shape meaning and tone in text.
Big Ideas:
Essential Questions:
Conflict exists in the world
Is conflict necessary?
Conflict shapes plot
Does conflict serve a purpose?
Conflict helps us learn
Is conflict always bad?
Can conflict be avoided?
Should all conflicts be resolved?
Content: (Key Terms in bold)
Fiction and nonfiction, inferences, conflict,
situational irony, characterization, predictions, plot,
point of view, evidence, symbolism, voice, diction,
description, tense, subjects and predicates, active
and passive voice, verb tenses
Assessments:
Do Now/Exit Tickets
Benchmark 1
Selection Tests
Open-Book Tests
Comparison-and-Contrast Essay
Create a news report
Create an informational brochure
Explanatory essay
Position paper
Autobiographical narrative
Narrative: short story
Activities / Strategies:
Small group discussion, Oral Presentation, Debate,
Retell, Partner Discussion, Class Discussion, Think
Aloud, Close Reading, reading and vocabulary
warm-ups
(See Unit Navigator: Unit 1, CC 60-61)
Skills:
Differentiate between fiction and nonfiction, make inferences, identify
types of conflict, analyze characterization, make predictions, identify and
analyze plot, determine point of view, supporting evidence, analyze
symbolism, determine voice, analyze diction, identify subjects and
predicates, retell in active and passive voice, identify verb tenses
Materials / Resources:
Pearson Common Core Literature Grade 9 textbook, Close Reading
Notebook, All in One workbook, Pearsonrealize.com, Reading Kit,
Online Student Edition, Online Teacher Edition, EssayScorer, Lord of the
Flies (1963)
Novels: Lord of the Flies, A Separate Peace
Unit 2
Standards:
Main Idea - CC.1.2.9-10.A Determine the 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.
Author’s Style - CC.1.2.9-10.C Apply appropriate strategies to analyze, interpret, and evaluate how an author unfolds an
analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed,
and the connections that are drawn between them.
Evaluate Expository & Persuasive Essay, Reportage - CC.1.2.9-10.H Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific
claims in a text, assessing the validity of reasoning and relevance of evidence.
Theme - CC.1.3.9-10.A Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail 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.
Metaphor - CC.1.3.9-10.I Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words and phrases based on
grade level reading and content, choosing flexibility from a range of strategies and tools.
Author’s Perspective & Reportage - CC.1.2.9-10.D Determine an author’s particular point of view and analyze how rhetoric
advances the point of view.
Vocabulary Craft and Structure - CC.1.2.9-10.F Analyze how words and phrases shape meaning and tone in text.
Big Ideas:
Essential Questions:
Knowledge and understanding go hand in hand.
Is knowledge the same as understanding?
Knowing is not the same as understanding.
Can there be understanding without knowledge?
Knowledge and understanding are necessary for
Have you ever known something that you didn’t completely understand?
personal growth.
Content: (Key Terms in bold)
Nonfiction, main idea, author’s style, expository
essay, persuasion, persuasive appeal, metaphor,
author’s perspective, direct and indirect objects,
predicate nominatives, predicate adjectives, colons,
semicolons, ellipsis points, independent and
dependent clauses, subject-verb agreement.
Assessments:
Benchmark 2
Do Now/Exit Tickets
Selection Tests
Open-Book Test
Speech delivery
Debate
Research component (small)
Cause and effect essay
Grammar quizzes
Explanatory essay
Persuasive essay
Activities / Strategies:
Vocabulary enrichment, Close Reading
SOAPS, Sentence Modeling, small group
discussion, Think Aloud, class discussion, class
debates, radio news report creation
(See Unit Navigator: Unit 2, CC 62-63)
Skills:
Identify a work of nonfiction, recognize main idea, analyze an author’s
personal style, create and analyze expository writing, analyze and produce
persuasive appeal, identify direct and indirect objects, recognize predicate
nominatives and predicate adjectives. Identify and understand the use of
colons, semicolons, and ellipsis points. Pinpoint independent and
dependent clauses within a sentence. Establish subject-verb agreement.
Materials / Resources:
Pearson Common Core Literature Grade 9 textbook, Close Reading
Notebook, All in One workbook, Pearsonrealize.com, Reading Kit,
Online Student Edition, Online Teacher Edition, EssayScorer, Of Mice
and Men (1992)
Novels: Of Mice and Men, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Unit 3
Standards:
Reading Fluently - CC.1.3.9-10.K Read and comprehend literary fiction on grade level, reading independently and
proficiently.
Figurative Lang, Sound Devices, Alliteration & Rhyme/Meter - CC.1.3.9-10.J Acquire and use accurately grade
appropriate general academic and domain specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary and knowledge when considering a
word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
Lyric & Narrative Poetry, Memoir - CC.1.3.9-10.E Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text,
order events within it, and manipulate time create an effect.
Historical Context - CC.1.2.9-10.G Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story
in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
Parallelism - CC.1.2.9-10.I Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance, including how they address
related themes and concepts.
Vocabulary Craft and Structure - CC.1.2.9-10.F Analyze how words and phrases shape meaning and tone in text.
Big Ideas:
Essential Questions:
Communication can occur on a figurative or literal way.
How does communication change us?
How do we communicate with how you communicated in the
past?
Does poetry communicate emotion better than prose?
Content: (Key Terms in bold)
Figurative language, sound devices, paraphrase, narrative
poetry, rhyme, meter, lyric poetry, alliteration, memoir,
historical context, parallelism, prepositions, prepositional
phrases, participles, and participial phrases, gerunds, gerund
phrases, infinitives, infinitive phrases, revise to combine
choppy sentences, appositive and appositive phrases,
infinitives, prepositional phrases, line breaks
Assessments:
Benchmark 3
Do Now/Exit Tickets
Selection Tests
Open-Book Test
Speech
Illustrated Presentation
Panel Discussion
Oral Interpretation of Literature
Research assignment (argumentative)
Investigate the Topic: Not Just a Nation, but a World
Investigate the Topic: First Ladies
Investigate the Topic: Media and Kennedy Assassination
Investigate the Topic: Presidential Speeches
Investigate the Topic: Oral History
Timed Writing: Explanatory Essay
Problem and Solution Essay
Expository Essay
Argument: Character Analysis
Informative Text: Analytical Essay
Narrative: Historical Narrative
Informative Text: Magazine Article
Activities / Strategies:
Vocabulary enrichment, One-on-one discussion, group
discussion, Think-Pair-Share, Close Reading, Think Aloud,
Sentence Modeling, Thematic Vocabulary, Oral
Interpretation of Literature,
(See Unit Navigator: Unit 3, CC 64-65)
Skills:
Exploring figurative language, examining the use of sound
devices, practice paraphrasing text, understanding narrative
poetry, analyzing rhyme in poetry, understanding meter, examine
lyric poetry, questioning the use of alliteration, investigating
memoirs, understanding the historical context of a piece of
poetry, understanding the use of parallelism, prepositions,
prepositional phrases, participles and participial phrases,
identifying gerunds, gerund phrases, infinitives, infinitive phrases,
revising to combine choppy sentences, recognizing appositive
and appositive phrases, infinitives, prepositional phrases, and line
breaks.
Materials / Resources: Pearson Common Core Literature
Grade 9 textbook, Close Reading Notebook, All in One
workbook, Pearsonrealize.com, Reading Kit, Online Student
Edition, Online Teacher Edition, EssayScorer
Novels: Animal Farm
Unit 4
Standards:
Summarize, Paraphrase, and Archetype - CC.1.3.9-10.A Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail 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.
Dialogue & Stage Directions, Dramatic Speeches, and Blank Verse - CC.1.3.9-10.E Analyze how an author’s choices
concerning how to structure a text, order events within it, and manipulate time create an effect.
Read in Sentences, Break Down Long Sentences, and Satire - CC.1.3.9-10.F Analyze how words and phrases shape
meaning and tone in texts.
Dramatic Irony & Evidence - CC.1.3.9-10.B Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly, as well as inferences and conclusions based on an author’s explicit assumptions and beliefs about a subject.
Cause and Effect, Situational Irony, Anecdote - CC.1.3.9-10.E Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to
structure a text, order events within it, and manipulate time create an effect.
Tragedy and Motive - CC.1.3.9-10.C Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact with other
characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Connotations - CC.1.3.9-10.J Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and
phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
Vocabulary Craft and Structure - CC.1.2.9-10.F Analyze how words and phrases shape meaning and tone in text.
Big Ideas:
Essential Questions:
People gravitate towards others based on
Do our differences influence our relationships?
similarities.
Do our differences define us?
Labels are created to define those who do not Does our society use our differences against us?
share our similarities.
Do our similarities define us?
Content: (Key Terms in bold)
Summary, dialogue, stage directions, blank
verse, paraphrase, iambic pentameter, sonnet,
monologue, dialogue, aside, archetype,
tragedy, motive, situational irony, anecdote,
evidence, connotations, denotations, satire,
parallelism
Assessments:
Benchmark 4
Do Now/Exit Tickets
Selection Tests
Open-Book Test
Explanatory Essay
Editorial
Persuasive Essay
Persuasive Speech
Explanatory Essay
Comparison and Contrast Essay
Informative Text: Character Analysis
Argument: Advice Column
Argument: Critical Response
Argument: Persuasive Essay
Narrative: Short Story
Activities / Strategies:
Small group discussion, multimedia,
presentation of a scene, create sonnet, scene
rewrite, 25 word abstract, Gallery Walk, 7
word summary, character mapping, mock
trial,
character perspective writing
(See Unit Navigator: Unit 4, CC 66-67)
Skills:
Summarizing dialogue and stage directions, analyze blank verse, discover the
purpose of paraphrasing, identify iambic petameter, decipher between sonnet,
monologue, and dialogue, analyze and identify different dramatic speeches,
analyze and interpret between situational and dramatic irony, interpret
anecdote, study evidence, understand different connotations and denotations,
understand satire, practice and identify parallelism.
Materials / Resources: Pearson Common Core Literature Grade 9 textbook,
Close Reading Notebook, All in One workbook, Pearsonrealize.com, Reading
Kit, Online Student Edition, Online Teacher Edition, EssayScorer, Romeo and
Juliet film (1997), Romeo and Juliet film (1968)
Novels: Great Expectations, October Sky
Unit 5
Standards:
Historical and Cultural Context, Oral Tradition - CC.1.2.9-10.G Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different
mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
Epic Hero, Hero’s Quest, and Characterization - CC.1.3.9-10.C Analyze how complex characters develop over the course
of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Epic Simile - CC.1.3.9-10.J Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and
phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
Contemporary Interpretation - CC.1.3.9-10.G Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic
mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment.
Archetype and Archetypal Narrative Themes - CC.1.3.9-10.A Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in
detail 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.
Argumentation, Structure, and Characterization (nonfiction) - CC.1.2.9-10.C Apply appropriate strategies to analyze,
interpret, and evaluate how an author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are
made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.
Vocabulary Craft and Structure - CC.1.2.9-10.F Analyze how words and phrases shape meaning and tone in text.
Big Ideas:
Essential Questions:
Societies creates heroes
Do heroes have responsibilities?
Societies need heroes to aspire to
To whom do heroes have responsibilities?
What constitutes a hero?
What constitutes a tragic hero?
Is there a difference between a hero and someone who performs a heroic act?
Are all heroes good?
Content: (Key Terms in bold)
Skills:
Epic hero, epic simile, archetype,
Analyzing the epic hero, differentiating between hero and epic hero,
characterization, archetypal narrative patterns, identifying an archetypal narrative poem, identifying characterization,
argumentation, structure, idioms, technical
recognizing and building an argument, recognizing the structure of a piece of
terms, jargon, simple and complex sentences,
writing, forming idioms, deciphering between technical terms, forming and
adverb clauses, prepositional phrases
distinguishing between simple and complex sentences, forming and
distinguishing adverb clauses and prepositional phrases
Assessments:
Benchmark 5
Do Now/Exit Tickets
Selection Tests
Open-Book Test
Focus on Research: Narrative
Investigate the Hero: Rama as Hero
Investigate the Topic: Heroes in Greek Mythology
Investigate the Topic: Fleeing Persecution
Investigate the Topic: Origin Stories
Investigate the Topic: False Heroes
Investigate the Topic: 9/11 Relief Efforts
Investigate the Topic: Blood Banks
Timed Writing: Explanatory Essay
Narrative: Autobiographical Narrative
Informative Text: Comparison-and-Contrast Essay
Argument: Response to Literature
Narrative: Short Story
Argument: Persuasive Essay
Explanatory Text: Definition Essay
Informative Text: Article or Blog Post
Activities / Strategies:
Materials / Resources: Pearson Common Core Literature Grade 9 textbook,
Vocabulary enrichment, One-on-one
Close Reading Notebook, All in One workbook, Pearsonrealize.com, Reading
discussion, group discussion, Think-PairKit, Online Student Edition, Online Teacher Edition, EssayScorer, Troy
Share, Close Reading, Think Aloud, Sentence
excerpts (2004), Clash of the Gods (2009)
Modeling, Retelling, Comparing Media
Coverage, Write and Share, debate
Novels: Oedipus Rex