Integrating Young Adult Literature through the Common Core Standards Planning Sheet
Potential Themes: Family, Class and Discrimination
Common Core Standards
Each unit can be designed to teach any or all of the district's priority Common Core State Standards, as
long as both informational and literary texts are incorporated.
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Potential Essential Questions
What is/was meant by The American
Dream?
Is there still an American Dream?
Has The American Dream changed over
the years?
Does The American Dream mean the same
for African Americans and other minorities
as it does for white Americans?
What are my dreams/visions for the
future?
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Potential Anchor Texts
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorriane Hansberry
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya
Angelou
Death of a Salesman by Arthur MIller
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Connected/Supporting Texts
Young Adult Novels:
 The Watsons Go To Birmingham: 1963 by
Christopher Paul Curtis
 The Contender by Robert Lipstyle
Classics:
 The Color Purple by Alice Walker
 Roots by Alex Hailey
Nonfiction:
 “The Amazing Story of Kudzu” from The
Seven Habits of Highly Effectively Teens
Short Stories:
 145th Street: Short Stories by Walter Dean
Myers
Poetry:
 Harlem by Langston Hughes
 “Hope” is a thing with feathers by Emily
Dickinson
 I Am the Darker Brother by Arnold Adoff
Autobiography:
 To be Young, Gifted, and Black: Lorraine
Hansberry in Her Own Words by Lorraine
Hansberry
Multimodal Connections
Websites:
 This I Believe Essays
 Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Music:
 “I Am Not My Hair” lyrics by India Aire
Film:
 A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
 A Raisin in the Sun (2008)
Lesson Plans:
 Link to National Endowment for the
Humanities Edcitement! "A Raisin in the
Sun": The Quest for the American Dream
Lesson Plan
Study Guides:
 Penguin Study Guide for A Raisin in the
Sun
 ClassZone by McDougal Littell Novel Guide
for A Raisin in the Sun
Databases:
 Bookmark to the Gale Database Resources
on A Raisin in the Sun
*Please remember that if you are trying to access the Gale database from outside of the
Salem-Keizer School District, you will need to provide the User ID/Password.
Adapted From:
Carmichael, Shelia B. Common Core Curriculum Maps in English Language Arts Grades 9-12.
1st. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2012. Print.
"Themes and Essential Questions." Greece Central School District. Greece Central School
District, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. <http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/academics.cfm?subpage=923>.
Wadham, Rachel L., and Jonathan W. Ostenson. Integrating Young Adult Literature through the
Common Core Standards. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2013. Print.
Wells, Cyndi. Common Core Curriculum Maps in English Language Arts Grades 6-8. 1st. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2012. Print.