After reading "The Tempest" or any other play by William Shakespeare, students work in small groups to plan, compose, and perform a choral reading based on a character or theme.

Students view examples of blogs, learn the basic elements of blog creation, and then create a blog from the perspective of a fictional character.

Students explore the motivation behind characters' actions in "To Kill A Mockingbird" by creating psychological profiles for characters from the novel.

Savagery, treachery, lost innocenceÉ "Lord of the Flies" is rife with character development. Use this lesson to help students chart the character changes of Ralph and Jack, both in groups and individually.

Students use the elements of persuasion for a specific audience to demonstrate their understanding of Richard Wright's accessible and engaging coming-of-age novel, "Rite of Passage.

Students write descriptions of characters, incorporate new vocabulary words, practice using simile and metaphor, engage in peer editing, and post their revised descriptions on the walls for a matching game.

Students read Raymond Carver's story "A Small, Good Thing," focusing on characterization in order to develop one of the static characters: the hit-and-run driver who causes Scotty's death more fully.

A read-aloud of Patricia Polacco's "Thank You, Mr. Falker" helps promote deeper comprehension through questioning to achieve personal connections and discussions of character and theme.

The 12th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 12th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Language study is embedded in every 12th grade unit as students use annotation to closely review aspects of each text. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

The laws that govern and the social norms that regulate society are not always fair, legal, moral, or ethical. What is a person to do about all this injustice? What are the hazards of righting injustices or changing social norms? And what are the dangers of doing nothing?

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and annotate Antigone, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” and Pygmalion.
Students write a literary analysis showing the effect of social class or the law on a character’s life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do social class and legal institutions shape literary characters’ lives (and presumably our lives)?
How does social class affect a person in dealing with the law (protect a person, hurt a person)?
How is social class determined in America and in other places in the world?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this lesson, students continue to revise their Character Analysis Essay. They will look at an example of an effective conclusion and write an alternative conclusion for their essay. With a partner, they’ll discuss their two conclusions and pick the most effective.

In this lesson, students begin writing their Character Analysis Essay and share what they have written with a partner.

In this lesson, students revise their Character Analysis Essay. They will look at an example of an effective introduction and write an alternative introduction for their essay. With a partner, they will discuss their two introductions and pick the most effective.

In this lesson, students finish reading, annotating, and discussing Pygmalion. They’ll write about what they think will happen to Liza after the play ends and discuss how satisfying they found the ending.

In this lesson, students continue reading, annotating, and discussing Pygmalion. They’ll write about the impact of Higgins’s meddling in Doolittle’s life and also Doolittle’s final speech in the play. They’ll also finish their Independent Reading Group Novel for homework.

In this lesson, students incorporate analyses of characters from "The Crucible" with examinations of original seventeenth-century portraits of Puritans to create a visual portrait of the character. The project culminates in a Portrait Gallery Walk where students present and defend their artwork.

Students make predictions about "Bridge to Terabithia" and its characters, complete character studies, and relate the characters' experiences to their own as they identify ways to make and keep friends.

This is a set of three tasks for students to do to elaborate on understanding of Bertolt Brecht's Die Unwürdige GreisinThis would be over a few days- working on the interpersonal questions and intial reading in the first two days to activiate their prior knowledge about common family dynamics, and how they could be different now as opposed to 100+ years ago, then give students time to work on reading the entire text, finally having students create a conversation between the two brothers. This does not have comprehension questions for the entire text. 

In this lesson, students will read and analyze "The Interlopers" by Saki (H. H. Munro). Lesson 1 from the Author's Craft unit focuses primarily on character. Students will examine how the motivations of Georg and Ulrich drive the plot, develop the theme, and enhance the irony. The lesson requires student to collect evidence, discuss, and complete a writing assignment. It also offers additional stories to extend the lesson. Image source: "Forest" by flo222 on Pixabay.com.