ELA UNIT PLANNING
UNIT: A Christmas Carol
TIME FRAME: 3 Weeks
TEACHER/GR:Hill, Groseclose, Popp/6th Grade
Unit Summary and Rationale:(Outlinesthe components of the unit and the reasoning for their inclusion):In this three-week unit, the teacher provides
instruction in the basic elements of literature. By reading Dickens’s novel students are provided the opportunity to understand how their choices can change
their attitudes and behavior. Students will work towards writing an argumentative essay to show which spirit encouraged Scrooge to change the most and
why. Students will cite evidence from the text to support answer.
UnitConnectionCollege and Career Ready Descriptions: Teachers will select at least one of the following lenses to act as the overlay for the unit. These are the
descriptors that must be included to ensure the unit is fully aligned to the CCSS and relevant to the college and career ready student.
Students will demonstrate independence.
Students will value evidence.
Students will build strong content knowledge.
 Students will respond to the varying demands of audience, task, and discipline.
 Students willcritique as well as comprehend.
 Students will use technology and digital media strategically and capably.
 Students will develop an understanding of other perspectives and cultures.
Unit Standards: Teachers should list the standards tobe addressed within the unit.
Reading
Literature _X_ Informational Text_X
RL.6.1 Cite textual evidence to
support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn
from the text.
RL.6.3 Describe how a particular
story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a
series of episodes as well as how the
characters respond or change as the
plot moves toward a resolution.
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Writing
W.6.1 Write arguments to support
claims with clear reasons and
relevant evidence.
o
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W.6.1a Introduce claim(s)
and organize the reasons
and evidence clearly.
W.6.1b Support claim(s)
with clear reasons and
relevant evidence, using
credible sources and
demonstrating an
understanding of the
Speaking and Listening
Language
L.6.1 Demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English
grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
L.6.2 Demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English
capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
L.6.3 Use knowledge of language and
its conventions when writing,
speaking, reading, or listening.
RL.6.5 Analyze how a particular
sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza
fits into the overall structure of a text
and contributes to the development
of the theme, setting, or plot.
RL.6.7 Compare and contrast the
experience of reading a story, drama,
or poem to listening to or viewing an
audio, video, or live version of the
text, including contrasting what they
“see” and “hear” when reading the
text to what they perceive when they
listen or watch.
RL.6.10 By the end of the year, read
and comprehend literature, including
stories, dramas, and poems, in the
grades 6–8 text complexity band
proficiently, with scaffolding as
needed at the high end of the range.
topic or text.
o
W.6.1d Establish and
maintain a formal style.
o
W.6.1e Provide a
concluding statement or
section that follows from
the argument presented.
W.6.2 Write
informative/explanatory texts to
examine a topic and convey ideas,
concepts, and information through
the selection, organization, and
analysis of relevant content.
L.6.4 Determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and multiplemeaning words and phrases based on
grade 6 reading and content,
choosing flexibly from a range of
strategies.
L.6.5 Demonstrate understanding of
figurative language, word
relationships, and nuances in word
meanings.
RI.6.7 Integrate information presented
in different media or formats (e.g.,
visually, quantitatively) as well as in
words to develop a coherent
understanding of a topic or issue.
Big Ideas: These are what students will discover as a result of
instruction and learning activities. They are the main ideas of the
learning, the conclusions, or the generalizations. Big Ideas should be
open-ended and apply to more than one area of study.
Essential Questions: Essential questions center on major issues, problems,
concerns, interests, or themes relevant to the classroom. Essential
questions should lead students to discover the big ideas. They need to go
beyond who, what and where. They need to lead to the how and why.
Victorian Era/Life of Charles Dickens
Decisions
What about Charles Dickens’s childhood may have contributed to him writing the
novel, A Christmas Carol?
How do the decisions we make today affect our lives in the future?
Emotions
Impressions
What do you think led to Scrooge’s present attitude about Christmas?
How did Scrooge’s actions, choices, and values have an impact on the way he was
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viewed by others?
Choices
Change
What about the visit from the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come makes it different
and more frightening than the others?
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What signals does Charles Dickens give the reader that Scrooge will
change?
Which spirit caused Scrooge to change the most?
Knowledge: What should students know by the end of the lesson?
Students will know…
 The students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of Charles Dickens’s life by summarizing an article read about the author.
 The student will be able to describe Scrooge’s character and support descriptions with evidence from the text.
 The students will demonstrate an understanding of Stave 2 of A Christmas Carol by creating a flow map of Scrooge’s journey through his past using the
novel as reference.
 The students will be able to demonstrate understanding of how other characters feel towards Scrooge by citing evidence of good or bad comments that
characters say about him.
 The students will demonstrate an understanding of the final spirits visit to Scrooge by citing textual evidence.
 Students will be able to compare and contrast the changed Scrooge to the new Scrooge with graphic organizers using the novel as reference.
 Students will be able to write a five paragraph argumentative paper on which spirit they think caused Scrooge to change the most citing quotations from
the text as proof.
September 20, 2012
Learning Tasks: Teachers list the various tasks students will engage in throughout the unit, include use of media/other forms of information.
Students will be skilled at describing how a story’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes and how the main character responds or changes as the plot moves toward
a resolution.
Reading Tasks
Writing Tasks
Discussion Tasks
Language/Vocabulary Tasks
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3-2-1 on Charles Dickens’s
life
Scrooge Cluster Map
Flow Map on Scrooge’s
Journey Through His Past
Character Study Chart
Predictions T-Chart
What Scrooge Was
Shown(Chart)
Venn Diagram Comparing
and Contrasting the novel,
play, and movie
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Exit Slips
Quickwrite on Past
Argumentative Essay
Journal Entries
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A Christmas Carol
Anticipation Guide
Christmas Card Activity
Think-Pair-Share about
Scrooge’s attitude towards
Christmas
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Tiered Vocabulary Presentation
Use context a clues to the
meaning of or phrases
Interpret figures of speech in
context
Distinguish among the
connotations of words with
similar denotations
Assessment Evidences: List types of assessments that will be used throughout the course of the unit.
*If you do not have assessments for this unit, they should be created before moving on to the lesson design*
DIAGNOSTIC
FORMATIVE
SUMMATIVE
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Stave 1 Quiz
Stave 2 Quiz
Stave 3 Quiz
Stave 4 Quiz
Stave 5 Quiz
Text(s) Selections/Resources(generated by both teacher and student)
Teachers will list the genres/titles/resources for study and indicate text complexity:
 Article on Charles Dickens
 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
 “Water” by Helen Keller
September 20, 2012
Common Assessment using the story “Water” by
Helen Keller (Multiple Choice Assessment)
Notes (include accommodations/grouping/modifications):A Christmas Carol will be used with general Ed and AIG; A Christmas Carol Adapted Version for EC
and ELL. We have an Extend II version of the Stave quizzes. Stave 2 – Students will create a flow map of Scrooge’s Journey through his past. (EC and ELL students
will be given events to sequence.) Stave 4 - Students will create a T-chart, students will make a list of things that may happen if Scrooge does not change and a
list of things that happen if he does change. (EC and ELL students will be given a list of possibilities to consider.)
September 20, 2012