The purpose of this second Benchmark Assessment (Cold Write) is to determine what students know about informational writing. Students will respond to a writing prompt, and you will score results as a measure of progress. Following this assessment, students will practice conducting close analysis of various passages from Much Ado About Nothing and continue their character analysis by writing a Perfect Paragraph.

In this lesson, students will be reintroduced to William Shakespeare and his world. To prepare to study his language more closely, they will analyze humor and see if they can identify just what it is that makes something funny.

People often say that mankind should learn from history. Charles Dickens, whose books are considered classics, set his novel A Tale of Two Cities in the past. He wanted his readers to learn from the bloody French Revolution and from the widespread brutality in London. Both cities (Paris and London) offer the reader a glimpse into dark and dangerous times. As students read about Dickens's Victorian setting and learn his view of the French Revolution, they will think about what makes a just world. Students will have a chance to think about their own experiences, and, using techniques they have learned from Charles Dickens, they will do some writing that sends a message about your own world.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

To complete the unit accomplishments, students will:

Read the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities.
Read several short pieces, including a biography of Dickens and excerpts from other literature, to help them understand Dickens’s world and the world of the novel.
Explore new vocabulary to build their ability to write and speak using academic language.
Practice close reading and participate in several role plays and dramatic readings to help them experience the dramatic writing style of Charles Dickens.
Write a vignette and a short narrative piece, and practice using descriptive detail and precise language.
Write a reflection about the meaning of Dickens’s novel.

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 does good storytelling affect the reader, and how can a good story promote change in the world?
What was the Victorian view of gender roles?
How can power be abused?
What is loyalty ? What are the limits of loyalty?

In this lesson, you will become part of the Old Bailey courtroom and think about Dickens’s opinion of this British court.In this lesson, students will become part of the Old Bailey courtroom and think about Dickens’s opinion of this British court.

In this unit, students will explore great works of American literature and consider how writers reflect the time period in which they write. They will write two literary analysis papers and also work in groups to research and develop anthologies of excellent American stories.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and analyze stories from several 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century American authors. After researching a time period, they select stories from that period to create an anthology. The readings enhance their understanding of the short story, increase their exposure to well-known American authors, and allow them to examine the influence of social, cultural, and political context.
Students examine elements of short stories and have an opportunity for close reading of several American short stories. During these close readings, they examine the ways that short story writers attempt to explore the greater truths of the American experience through their literature.

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.

If you were to write a short story about this decade, what issues might you focus on?
What defines a short story? Just length?
To what extent do these stories reflect the era or decade in which they were written?
To what extent are the themes they address universal?

CLASSROOM FILMS

History.com has short videos on the Vietnam War (“Vietnam” and “A Soldier's Story”).

In this lesson, students will begin to learn about the American short story. They will have an opportunity to practice close reading, and they'll explore the qualities of the short story genre through Quick Writes and discussion.

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.

In this lesson, students will begin by reviewing the play so far and then meet again in groups to read act 4. They’ll do a close reading of Prospero’s lines and take on the perspectives of different characters to comment on his meaning. For homework, students will continue planning their essays.

Can a person be both admirable and flawed at the same time? In this lesson, students will look more closely at the character of Okonkwo. Students will figure out what his most admirable qualities are, as well as some of his flaws. They will also decide whether Okonkwo has the potential to be a tragic hero.

This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to solve problems involving area and volume, and in particular, to help you identify and assist students who have difficulties with the following: computing perimeters, areas and volumes using formulas; and finding the relationships between perimeters, areas, and volumes of shapes after scaling.

In this lesson, students will learn about a topic in three different text formats. They will then evaluate each format to determine the pros and cons. Students will also assess the credibility of each text.

Students will read and analyze a short story from the Southern Gothic genre entitled "The Life you Save May be Your Own" by Flannery O'Conner.  They will continue to explore the ideas of human compassion and morality by examining the apparent  lack of compassion in the characters of Mr. Shiftlet and the old woman, Lucynell Crater.  Students will use close reading strategies to identify examples of indirect characterization that contribute to their analysis of these two central characters in the text. Image source: "Mockingbird" by skeeze on Pixabay.com.

 FFA Creed Grade Level: 8th-9thSubject: Introduction to Agriculture, Food, and Natural ResourcesDuration: 150 minutesDOK Level: 4SAMR Level: Redefinition Indiana Standard: IAFNR-2.1 Acquire and demonstrate communication skills such as writing, public speaking, and listening while refining oral, written, and verbal skills IAFNR-2.2 Recognize and explain the role of the FFA in the development of leadership, education, employability, communications and human relations skills Objective: Essential Question: What is the importance of the FFA Creed?Procedure: Have the students create a statement about themselves that they feel strongly about.Have a class conversation on the purpose of a creedHave the students watch the video 85 Years of the FFA CreedAssign the FFA Creed as a Closed ReadGive the FFA Creed Closed Read through google classroomExplain the following directions for the closed read:Read the FFA creed 2-3 times. When you read it the first time, try to get a general sense of what E.M. Tiffany is trying to say and be ready to share Tiffany's 5 most important points.During the second read, pay close attention to the words and language used by Tiffany. Why did he choose to write this in the way that he did? Pay attention to words that stand out to you (highlight them) and be ready to analyze why they stand out. During your final read, connect the Creed to your own personal experiences and perspective on life. Pay special attention to the messages in this Creed that resonate with you and be ready to share why they stand out.7. Divide the class into groups of three. Have them answer the following questionsWhy do you think that E.M. Tiffany wrote the FFA Creed? What was he trying to accomplish? Underline the 3 most important lines of the FFA Creed and provide evidence for why you think these are the most important. What words and writing styles does E.M. Tiffany use to make the Creed more effective? Circle any words or phrases that are particularly impactful to you. The FFA Creed has language that is sometimes hard to grasp on the first try. How would the delivery of the message of the FFA Creed change if more common language and writing styles were used? In what ways does the Creed affect you? Is there a message in particular that you think is especially valuable? In your opinion, is there anything ineffective about the FFA Creed?8. Have the students create an artifact that will help them memorize the creed. The artifact will be turned in through google classroomProduct or Assessment: The students will be graded on their artifact and their ability to recite the creed. Credit: C. Kohn, Waterford Union High School, http://wuhsag.weebly.com/agriscience2.html

Part 2 of a close reading of excerpts of Federalist No. 10 where Madison makes the case that the type of large republic constructed by the Constitution of 1787 is favorable to any other form.

Geologists use the term "feldspar" to refer either to a specific mineral or to a group of minerals with similar compositions and atomic structures. All of them are silicate minerals, and together they make up more than half of Earth's crust. Yet even within this closely related group, separate minerals may look very different. One way to recognize their similarity is to determine their physical properties and study their chemical formulas. Another way is to plot their compositions using a triangle diagram. Triangle diagrams allow plotting three coordinates on a planar graph if the values add up to 100%. These characteristics make triangle diagrams convenient for visualizing compositional data.
Student materials for this exercise include a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with with data for alkali, plagioclase, and barium-bearing feldspars and an image file illustrating physical properties (PDF), as well as the instruction sheet. The exercise is divided into three parts.
Part I introduces the concept of a triangle or ternary diagram for plotting data described by three coordinates. Students learn how to read coordinates on such a graph and to describe points, lines, and areas.
In Part II, students work with either actual specimens provided by the instructor or images in the PDF to determine certain properties (color, hardness, cleavage, and striations) of three feldspars (orthoclase, albite, and anorthite). They name the samples and then follow an example to deduce the chemical formulas of these minerals. Finally, they apply knowledge from Part I to develop the classic K-Na-Ca feldspar triangle.
Part III involves working with barium-bearing feldspars including albite, orthoclase, hyalophane, and the pure Ba end member celsian. Students first verify the chemical formulas for the two new feldspars using the concept of charge balance. Then, they interpret a K-Na-Ba triangle diagram by relating compositional data to the four feldspars.

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This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to: model a periodic situation, the height of a person on a Ferris wheel, using trigonometric functions; and interpret the constants a, b, c in the formula h = a + b cos ct in terms of the physical situation, where h is the height of the person above the ground and t is the elapsed time.

Folder of course documents for Fiction Writing course includes sample schedule, bibliographies, and activities.

Course Description
Focuses on writing short fiction for class discussion and analysis in a workshop setting. Explores the techniques, styles, and structures of the writings of established authors, as well as the creative writing process from development of an idea to revision of a manuscript.

Upon successful completion students should be able to:

o Read and analyze established authors in order to become familiar with the elements of fiction (eg. plot, dialogue, character, point of view).
o Write original fiction that effectively uses the elements of the craft, leading to the development and revision of at least one complete short story.
o Read peer fiction closely and analytically in order to contribute to peer workshops in a thoughtful and critical manner.

Students will understand the types of figurative language
Students will be able to use close reading skills to locate information within a text
Students will be able to identify figurative language within a set of reading passages.

This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to understand the relationship between the slopes of parallel and perpendicular lines and, in particular, to help identify students who find it difficult to: find, from their equations, lines that are parallel and perpendicular; and identify and use intercepts. It also aims to encourage discussion on some common misconceptions about equations of lines.

The goal of this five-day exemplar is to explicitly model the process of searching for and interpreting intra-textual connections. In this lesson sequence, the teacher poses an analytic focusing question and then guides students in gathering and interpreting evidence from the text in order to come to a deeper understanding of the story. Simple word play and art activities give students practice in closely attending to language and word choice, and in visualizing and recording their interpretations. Discussion and a short writing exercise help students to synthesize what they have learned.