Quarter1Unit2

DefiningtheAmericanFamily

17dayunit/90minuteclasses

UNITGOALS
1. Studentswillbeabletoutilizementortextstoproducecreativeworksbasedontheir
personalexperiencescenteredaroundthethemeofAmericanfamily.
2. Studentswillanalyzetheirownexperiencesandtheexperiencesoftheirpeersinorderto
definethecharacteristicsoffamiliesinAmerica

COMMONCORE:ANCHORSTANDARDS
Throughoutmyplanning,IwillrelyontheCommonCoreAnchorStandardfor
K-12inreading,writing,speaking,listening,andlanguage.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3

Writenarrativestodeveloprealorimaginedexperiencesoreventsusingeffectivetechnique,
well-chosendetailsandwell-structuredeventsequences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.4

Interpretwordsandphrasesastheyareusedinatext,includingdeterminingtechnical,
connotative,andfigurativemeanings,andanalyzehowspecificwordchoicesshapemeaningor
tone.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.9

Analyzehowtwoormoretextsaddresssimilarthemesortopicsinordertobuildknowledgeorto
comparetheapproachestheauthorstake.

TEXTUALMATERIALS
SandraCisneros
AbuelitaWho,Poem
TheHouseonMangoStreet,V
ignette
 CollectionofStudentNarrativesandPoetry,Poetry&Vignette

ACTIVITIES
1. AbuelitaWhoMentorPoetry1
a. StudentswillreceiveahandoutofCisnerospoemAbuelitaWho,whichtheywill
readsilentlyandthenwewillreadasaclass.Studentspickaphraseorlinethat
standsouttothem,thenwriteaboutthatlineonthepageforfiveorsominutes.
Aftersharing,theythinkofsomeoneimportanttothem,andthenbeginlisting
objectsthatremindthemofthatpersonandwrite--asCisnerosdoes--metaphors
usingthislist.Theythenconstructtheirown___Whopoemusingthese
metaphors.
2. Home,Name,orGenderMentorVignetteQuickWrite&Drafting
a. Studentswillwritetheirownmemoirsabouttheirownfamiliesusingvignettes
fromCisnerosTheHouseonMangoStreetasamentortext.Theywillchoseeither
Hair,TheHouseonMangoStreet,orBoys&Girls,readthemingroups,and
identifythecharacteristicsofthestorythattheycoulduseintheirownwriting.
Theyllquickwritetheirideas,thenspendtimewritingandworkshoppingtheir
ownvignettes.
3. ReadAround/CelebrationofLearning2
a. AfulldescriptionofLindaChristensensReadAroundactivitycanbefoundhere.
Wellspendtimesharingourworkwithanotherandcelebratingandappreciating
ourownworkandtheworkofourpeersinordertobuildcommunity.Students
willhaveopportunitiestohaveconversationsabouttheirfamilies,aswellas
receivefeedbackontheirwork,whichstudentswillrecordintheirnotebooks.
4. StudentWorkCollectionandAnalysis
a. Afterstudentshavesubmittedtheirfinaldrafts,Illcompilethemintoaclass
collectionthatrepresentsthedifferentfamiliesrepresentedinourclassroom.
Studentswillthenchoosetheworkofoneoftheirpeersandwriteacritical
analysis.
5. DraftingandPeerWorkshop
a. Studentswillspendseveralfullclassdaysinworkshopmode,workingontheir
criticalanalyseswithmeandtheirpeers.Thiswillincludeafulldayofpeer
workshopusingLindaChristensensPeerWorkshopmodelandworksheet.

1
FromSandraCisnerosintheClassroom:TheNCTEHighSchoolLiterature
Series
2
FromLindaChristensensTeachingforJoyandJustice
 6. UnitReflectionandReview3

CULMINATINGTEXTS
1. _____WhoMentorPoem
a. Studentswillcreateanoriginalpoemaboutsomeoneintheirfamilyinthestyleof
CisnerosAbuelitaWhoandshareitwiththeclass.
2. MentorVignette
a. Studentswillcreateanoriginalvignetteabouteithertheirhomes,names,or
gendersandhowthosethingsrelatetotheirfamilies.Theywilluseselectionsfrom
CisnerosTheHouseonMangoStreet,andsharetheirfinalproductswiththeclass.
3. AnalysisofPeersWork
a. Iwillcompileeachstudent'spoemandvignetteintoabookthatrepresentsthe
diversefamiliesrepresentedinourclassroom,andstudentswillchoosethework
ofoneoftheirpeerstocriticallyanalyze.

ASSESSMENT

Assessmentforthisunitwillbearubricscoringstudentsontheircriticalanalyses,andtheyllbe
scoredonconventions,introductionandconclusion,bodyparagraphsandevidence,style,and
organizationonascaleof0-4(0-insufficientevidence,1-unsatisfactory,2-partiallyproficient,
3-proficient,4-advancedunderstanding)

3
SeeIntroductoryMaterialstabforfulldescription