The objective of this unit is to enhance my students’ skills to infer, close-read, analyze, discuss, synthesize, evaluate, and connect the text to their life. Every lesson plan has specific objectives so that it is possible to measure the students’ learning, reflect on the outcome of the lesson, and plan the follow up accordingly – differentiated instruction. It also includes many plans with models on how to analyze/close read, determine the theme, and synthesize. These daily objectives are stated according to the Bloom’s taxonomy to easily equilibrate the activity from the lowest to the highest intellective skills. The Bloom taxonomy includes six levels of intellectual behavior connected to learning: knowledge (recall data or information), comprehension (understand the meaning), application (use a concept in a new area), analyze (break down concepts into components), evaluate (make judgments), and create (create a new product or point of view).
Taking into account the long term goals, the unit implements the following objectives for the daily lesson plans:
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read and understand, interpret, analyze and discuss
The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie (Spokane/Coeu d’Alene),
The Red Convertible
by Louise Erdrich (Turtle- Mountain/Ojibwe),
Sliver of a Full Moon
Mary Kathryn Nagle (Cherokee), and poetry
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read, understand, interpret, analyze, and discuss non-fictional texts – newspapers articles, paintings, photographs, and/or video clips/short movies
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understand the concepts of specific rhetorical and literary devices like point of view or narrative perspective, diction, allusions, figurative language, tone, syntax, and structure
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analyze, discuss, and write how setting, point of view or narrative perspective, diction, allusions, figurative language, tone, syntax, and structure reveal meaning
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analyze, discuss, and write about the theme(s) of the fictional texts
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learn to prepare appropriate questions for interviews
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research information for the targeted community
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compare and contrast the various oral, written, and/or visual documents, and draw the appropriate conclusions
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compare and contrast the social and psychological environments emerging from each fictional works and present-day reservations
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write analytical essays and the final creative project.