Instead of recalling surface-level information, students will be expected to engage deeply with the content by:
Finding Organizational Patterns
Students will be able to make connections between reading and writing tasks, learn to read the text more independently, and use graphic organizers (such as timelines, flow charts, and mind maps) to “see” the relationship(s) among ideas more clearly.
Anticipation Guides
An Anticipation Guide is a series of questions or statements related to the topic or point of view of a particular text. Students work silently to read and then agree or disagree with each statement. This purpose is for students to activate their prior knowledge and experience by thinking about the ideas they will be reading about. Students should be encouraged to make personal connections so that they can integrate new knowledge with their background experience and prior knowledge.
Extending Vocabulary (Word Wall)
The class will find key vocabulary in the assigned text, and will help each other to understand and spell the key vocabulary by creating a “word wall” in the classroom that they can refer to for the duration of that particular topic. This will strengthen student discourse and writing by using content specific, academic vocabulary.
Drawing Conclusions
Students will actively use prior knowledge and experiences while reading and responding to important concepts and issues, in order to make inferences and draw conclusions. Students will develop content and opinions for their writing and become thoughtful speakers during whole-class and small-group discussions.
The Role of Technology
This unit is designed to integrate technology with daily access to Google Chromebooks and an interactive SMART Board. Students must have knowledge of Google Classroom and can functionally operate the online platform independently in order to access resources and engage in discussions during class and at home. Electronic resources will also be accessed using Google Chromebooks. Hard copies of all resources should be available to provide differentiated learning strategies.
Digital Writing Portfolio
Students will rely heavily on Google Classroom to access digital resources. Additionally, they will create and submit formative and summative tasks, as outlined by the activity summaries.
