11th Grade - Gateway 1

The materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for anchor texts being of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading.

The materials reviewed for the American Tradition 11th grade curriculum meet the criteria as many of the anchor texts are widely read works of literature. Within the Grade 11 textbook, which focuses on American literature, students are presented with multiple texts worthy of reading, including selections from the Common Core Exemplars, that are worthy of reading, discussion, and analysis.

Examples of publishable and worthy texts include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, students read “The Iroquois Constitution,” a government document. This document was first told as oral tradition, an important part of the worlds’ cultural history. The Lexile level is 1500, moderate for an 11th grade class, is age appropriate. This short piece also contains symbolism.

• In Unit 2, students read Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. This essay is written by a well-known American author and is worthy of students’ time and attention.

• In Unit 3, students read The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass. This engaging true story is grade appropriate due to its historical and cultural value.

• In Unit 4, students read the short story, “To Build a Fire,” by Jack London. Students should find this suspenseful story engaging, and the moderate Lexile level is appropriate for 11th grade.

• In Unit 5, students read “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Elliot. The dramatic dialogue is written at a moderate Lexile appropriate for 11th graders.

• In Unit 6, students read “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. This short story is engaging and worthy of students’ attention. It is written at a challenging Lexile level that is grade appropriate.

• In Unit 7, the anchor text is an excerpt from On the Road by Jack Kerouac. This is a defining work of the Post War time frame.

• In Unit 8, students read “Ambush” by Tim O’Brien. Students should find this realistic short story engaging with its climatic ending.

• In Unit 9, the anchor text is “Dream” by Alice Walker. Ms. Walker is an African American writer whose perspective is worthy of reading.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for texts having the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis.

The majority of texts are at the appropriate quantitative level. Within the series, quantitative texts levels range from 320L-1550L, with some texts above and below the current grade level Lexile and stretch bands. Texts that are above or below grade level quantitative bands have qualitative features and/or tasks that bring them to the appropriate grade level. Along with Lexiles, each text is labeled as moderate, easy, or advanced. Texts are scaffolded with Units 1-5 as Guided, Directed, and Independent Reading, and Unit 6 is centered on Independent Reading. Supports are provided in the additional resource materials, particularly the Meeting the Standards Resource Guide that has guided reading activities with graphic organizers, vocabulary development, and practice quizzes. The Program Planning Guide contains lesson plans that provide student tasks and multiple reading strategies to support student learning.

Examples of texts that have the appropriate level of complexity include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, students read “The Navajo Creation Myth,” Lexile 1150. Considering this text is on grade level, some struggling readers might have difficulty; however, an ease factor considered with this creation myth is the shorter text length. Difficulty considerations consist of unfamiliar cultural references, challenging names, and abstract concepts.

• In Unit 6, students read an excerpt from Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee, Lexile 1210. The difficulty considerations consist of long sentences, figurative language, and vocabulary. The ease factor for this text is subject matter. This text is a representation of the conditions that white sharecroppers experienced in the rural South during the depression era.

Examples of texts that are above the quantitative measure, but are at the appropriate level based on qualitative analysis and associated tasks include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, students read “A Journey Through Texas,” Lexile 1400. While the Lexile for this text is above grade level, the length is one of the ease factors. Difficulty considerations include the following: background information needed, unfamiliar setting, more description than action, and complex relationships. This text is a recount of the “sole survivors of a large party of Spanish explorers...in the summer of 1528.” This text is necessary in understanding America’s early history considering explorers traveled “on foot from present-day Louisiana through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to Sinaloa, Mexico, in colonized New Spain.”

Example of texts that are below the quantitative measure, but are at the appropriate level based on qualitative analysis and associated tasks include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, students read “The Osage Creation Account,” Lexile 850. While the Lexile level is below grade level, a difficulty consideration consists of unrealistic setting. The text focuses on the relationship between people and nature; the creation myth is “a piece of traditional literature that explores the interweaving of these elements and their role in the origin of the universe.”

• In Unit 8, students read “The Rockpile” by James Baldwin. His canonical work of literature has a 820L. “The characters, members of an African American family in Depression-era Harlem, confront the issues that appear in various other Baldwin works: poverty, violence between African American males, and the importance of religion in the African American community.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for materials supporting students’ literacy skills (understanding and comprehension) over the course of the school year through increasingly complex text to develop independence of grade level skills (Series of texts should be at a variety of complexity levels).

The materials increase in rigor and complexity from month to month to the end of the year, growing students’ literacy skills. Units cover a range of reading skills, such as compare and contrast, drawing conclusions, clarifying information, asking questions, cause and effect, main idea, predicting, author’s purpose, sequencing, summarizing, and organizing text. For each text, students are presented with at least two skills that are refined throughout the reading. Units include differentiated instruction and reading skills for developing readers. The Program Planning Guide provides opportunities for students to practice reading skills and strategies in order to become College and Career Ready. As students use the skill of inferring throughout these units, the reading selections range from easy to challenging, with text complexity increasing students knowledge and understanding of what they are reading becomes critical. Within the Annotated Teacher’s Edition, instructors are presented with a variety of questions to pose to students as reading is taking place. Questions are typically formatted as discussions, so that students are required to refer to the text, analyze, and discuss the various concepts that are studied throughout. Texts contain a broad range of Lexile levels.

In the beginning of the year, the students are establishing routines for reading the selections in each unit. They are guided through the process of building background knowledge about a text, setting a purpose for reading, and taking note of reading skills that will benefit them when they start reading the text. Students are also guided through the process of using reading strategies and making connections while reading. Lastly, they are guided through the process of remembering details about the text and interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating the text after they have read it. In the middle of the year students are more practiced at before, during, and after reading strategies.Their ability to access and interact with the text is increasing, and student answers to questions and classroom discussions are likely increasing in depth. By the end of the year students are able to read, comprehend, and examine texts independently through established routines for thinking about the text before reading it, asking self-generated questions of the text while reading it, and answering provided questions that ask them to refer to the text and reason with the text after reading it. Examples include:

• In Unit 4, students read Mark Twain’s short story, “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” Not only is this anchor text complex in terms of Lexile (1440L), students are practicing analyzing specifics of dialect while also analyzing the short story as a frame tale. Within the Annotated Teacher’s Text, instructors must discuss frame tale with students: “Discuss the situation set up in the first paragraphs of the selection that allows Jim Smiley to tell his tall tale. Ask students to watch for a return to this frame situation at the end of the selection.” Instructors also remind students of the definition of dialect and then ask students to “find examples of the narrator’s word choice that offer clues as to his character and background.” Within this section where dialect is discussed, students must respond to the following questions: “How does the narrator’s word usage contrast with that of Simon Wheeler? What does Wheeler’s dialect reveal about him?”

• In Unit 5, students read an excerpt from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. At the close of the text, students are presented with a collaborative learning task where they must evaluate the literature: “With a small group, discuss the value of The Great Gatsby as a literary work. Explore these questions: What gives a piece of writing literary value? Is this judgment purely subjective, or do universal traits characterize good literature? Why might The Great Gatsby have been unpopular with readers in the 1920s and 1930s? Encourage members to present and support a range of positions. Conclude by listing points on which the group agrees, explaining points on which it disagrees, and identifying points on which its response is ambiguous (unclear or neutral).”

• In Unit 9, students read three anchor texts, both by Alice Walker: “Though We May Feel Alone,” a poem; “Dream,” a poem; and “My Mother’s Blue Bowl,” an essay. Students practice two skills throughout all three readings: Style and free verse. Within the Annotated Teacher’s Edition, instructors are presented with questions regarding style and free verse for each poem and the essay. For example, “Have students identify the characteristics of free verse in this poem.” There is a possible answer included along with this task. Instructors also do the following: “Ask students to identify diction and other elements of style that explain how, to the speaker, her mother and Lady Day are ‘as close as twins.’” Teachers are also given possible answers. At the close of the anchor text readings, students are presented with the following writing option: “Review the characteristics of free verse and other qualities of Walker’s style. Then write a poem imitating that style on a subject of interest to you. Share your work with one or more classmates.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria that anchor texts and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement in the grade level.

The texts are quantitatively supported by Lexile level and qualitatively supported by purpose and rationale; this is provided for every unit and found within The Scope and Sequence Guide located in the Annotated Teacher's Edition. Each selection in the Teacher’s Edition also has a Preview the Model or Selection section that has notes on text complexity, difficulty considerations, and ease factor. In every Before Reading section, teachers are presented with objectives that students should master by the end of the text selection, and a Launch the Lesson section that gears students toward questions that reflect the theme(s) and issues present within the text selection. All of the texts chosen are connected and appropriate for Grade 11, while allowing for differentiation and flexibility for students and teachers.

Examples of instructional and text notes found in Grade 11 materials include the following:

In Unit 3, students read Abraham Lincoln’s speech “The Gettysburg Address.” The Lexile level identified in The Scope and Sequence is 1410L, a Moderate level. This speech is also paired with “The Second Inaugural Address,” another speech by Lincoln, identified as 1150L, Moderate level. The difficulty considerations for “The Gettysburg Address,” are context of speech and complicated sentences; the ease factors are length. The difficulty considerations for “The Second Inaugural Address” are style and background information needed; the ease factors are length. The rationale for reading these texts is supported in the Build Background, Meet the Author, Analyze Literature, and Purpose sections. Students practice parallelism and antithesis for the reading selections; the Set Purpose stands as “Both the Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address were delivered on somber, even sorrowful occasions. Think about how President Lincoln recognized Americans’ solemn mood in preparing his remarks. Consider why he decided to use parallelism and antithesis to express his sentiments. As you read, note examples of each literary technique.”

In Unit 7, students read ”Daughter of Invention,” a short story by Julia Alvarez. In the Annotated Teacher's Edition, the Preview the Selection section provides teachers with guidelines for Text Complexity Reading level: Moderate, 930L. Difficulty Considerations include Spanish terms and political context; ease factors include vivid images. Analyze Literature includes, “Point out that the story has both serious and amusing features. The author refers to the brutality of Dominican dictator Trujillo and, briefly, to the Vietnam War, but she describes a characters with humor and writes mostly in a light-hearted style. Ask students to consider how the story would differ if the style and tone were more serious.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria that anchor and supporting texts provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to achieve grade level reading proficiency.

The materials are organized into nine chronological units based on time periods. Texts are not organized by Guided Reading, Directed Reading, and Independent Reading. Instead, the textbook--aside from the differentiated textbook--releases all responsibility to students. The units are broken up into two-three subsections, further dividing the time period covered by the unit. Each unit begins with a timeline and an introduction to the time period, and each subsection contains relevant period selections, some including Before and After reading activities to support students in their understanding and comprehension. Anchor texts include extra reading support and are spread out over the course of the unit. Each unit subsection culminates in at least one Independent Reading selection with activities such as questions about the text and writing options. Within each unit text types vary widely in genre, content, and length.

During the course of Unit 1, Origins of the American Tradition to 1800, students read multiple texts, each with a suggested pacing of one to two days. Students encounter a variety of texts including creation myth, tribal song, lyric poem, trickster tale, government document, travel narrative, nonfiction account, sermon autobiography, almanac, biography, speech, essay, pamphlet, and letter. The selections vary in genre, length, and content. Unit 1 begins with the Anchor Text, “The Osage Creation Account,” a creation myth by Osage, followed by another anchor text, an excerpt from The Navajo Creation Myth by the Navajo. Three other anchor texts are spread through the unit: “A Journey Through Texas,” a travel narrative by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, an excerpt from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and an excerpt from Poor Richard’s Almanac, both by Benjamin Franklin.

Unit 3, Slavery and Civil War (1850-1865), is divided into two parts. In Part 1: A Nation divided, students read the Anchor Text, from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. They also read two autobiographies, lyric poems, speeches, a spiritual, a short story, and a letter. In Part 2: Lyric Poems, students read two Anchor Texts, from “preface to Leaves of Grass,” and from “I Hear America Singing,” both by Walt Whitman. In this section, they also read multiple lyric poems, a ballad, a biography, an ode, and an online article.

During the course of Unit 7, which is divided into three parts, the focus is on the Post War Era (1945 - 1960). Part 1 is Real Life, Part 2 is Conflict and Conformity, and Part 3 is The Beat Movement. Within Unit 7, students are presented with three Anchor texts: a short story, a play, and a novel excerpt. Students are presented with poems, short stories, autobiographies, government documents, essays, and an elegy. The pacing for each text ranges between one and seven days. Each selection varies in genre, length, and content. Examples of the various texts include Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own,” “Theodore Roethke’s elegy, “Elegy for Jane,” Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Rosa Parks autobiography, Quiet Strength, and Gary Snyder’s poem, “Pine Tree Tops.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for materials providing frequent opportunities and protocols to engage students in speaking and listening activities and discussions (small group, peer-to-peer, whole class) which encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax.

The materials provide opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions. There are opportunities for classroom discussion throughout the materials.The Program Planning Guide provides several evaluation forms for communication, such as: Communicating in a Pair Group (Self-Evaluation), Communicating in a Pair Group (Peer-Evaluation), Communicating in a Small Group, and Communicating in a Large Group. The Exceeding the Standards resource for speaking and listening includes rubrics for individual presentations. The Speaking & Listening rubric found in the Workshops gives explicit instruction on how students should share thoughts.

The EMC Passport Share feature gives students access to a digital tool that allows collaborative video discussions. Also in Passport, the Perform section allows for more formal video presentation opportunities. Using the Mirrors & Windows discussion prompts or the prompts in Extend the Text activities and projects makes for an engaging and efficient way for students to collaborate and analyze.

In Unit 1, Critical Thinking Discussion Guides are embedded at the text level throughout the American Tradition text, asking students to discuss with peers, groups, or the whole class details from the text, encouraging the use of text-specific vocabulary and evidence.

In Unit 4, students read “We Wear the Mask,” a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar. One of the extension activities for the text asks students to Enact a Role-Play: “With a partner, identify a character from film, literature, or television who 'wears a mask.' Discuss these questions: From whom is the character trying to hide his or her feelings? How successful is he or she? What would happen if the character revealed his or her true feelings? Then have a dialogue with your partner. One of you should take on the persona of a character wearing a mask, and the other should try to get the character to disclose his or her true feelings and explain the reason for wearing the mask.”

In Unit 6, in the Annotated Teacher Edition, students read an excerpt from Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, a literary nonfiction by James Agee. The photography added to this section is by Walker Evans. Teachers are instructed: “To introduce the selection, ask students to examine Evans’s photographs. Then have the class discuss the subjects and settings of the pictures, and students’ responses to the photographs. Students should keep these images in mind as they read Agee’s text.” Also, within this same section of the Annotated Teacher Edition, instructors are presented with a Differentiated Instruction section: “Have students take turns reading passages aloud and then, as a group, discuss their meaning. This activity will give students practice in summarizing.”

In Unit 8, Speaking & Listening Workshop: Evaluate a Well-Known Speech or Speaker, students research and evaluate a well-known speech or speaker, demonstrating understanding of the message, rhetorical devices, memorable passages or phrases, and how the speech is similar to or different from other speeches of the same type.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing (e.g. grade-appropriate revision and editing) and short, focused projects.

The materials provide ample opportunities for students to practice a mix of both on-demand and process writing. At the end of every reading selection, students are presented with an After Reading section that includes an Extended Text section. Within this section, students are presented with two on-demand writing options. At the close of every unit, students are presented with a Writing Workshop opportunity, which is a process writing where students prewrite, draft, and revise over time. Students are given both examples and steps to follow to ensure success. There are focused projects that incorporate digital resources where appropriate, as explained in the Introduction to Media Text and Visual Media resource.

Examples of on-demand and process writing that meet the criteria for this indicator include, but are not limited to, the following:

In the Unit 1 Writing Workshop, Argumentative Writing section, students are given a process writing opportunity with the following prompts:

• “Whether it’s John F. Kennedy’s 'Ask not what your country can do for you' or, as you read in this unit, Patrick Henry’s fervent 'Give me liberty or give me death!' passionate addresses inspire audiences, persuading them to change their viewpoint or rise to action.”

• “While few of us will be called on to deliver a speech that will affect national change, we still use words to persuade others, perhaps by convincing a friend to watch a certain movie or challenging our community to change a policy. Writing an argumentative essay is, then, merely an extension of what we do naturally in everyday life.”

• “In this assignment, you will write an argumentative essay, defending a viewpoint that expresses an informed opinion about a topic that interests you. Support your opinion with information gathered from research on the topic.”

In Unit 2 of the the Annotated Teacher's Edition, students read “from Walden” by Henry David Thoreau. In Extend the Text, Writing Options section, students have an on-demand argumentative writing opportunity: “You are a local judge, and a citizen appears before your court to explain why he or she refuses to pay for a parking ticket. The individual says the car was parked illegally but that he or she needed the spot to keep an appointment to donate blood. Issue a decision in this case, explaining in a paragraph whether the individual should have to pay the parking ticket.”

In Unit 4, after reading the text, “How to Tell a Story” by Mark Twain, students:

• Extend the Text, Creative Writing: Imagine that you are Jim Smiley, writing a memoir for fellow gamblers about your experiences. Write the last chapter in which you relate your worst gambling failure. Include the reason for your downfall.

• Extend the Text, Narrative Writing: Write a one paragraph summary about the tall tale about a cow that Wheeler mentions at the end of the story. Imagine you are Mark Twain submitting an idea for a follow up story in The Saturday Press; your reader is the magazine’s editor.

• After reading a passage from “Life on the Mississippi” by Mark Twain, Extend the Text, Writing Options, Creative Writing: Look at a map and identify towns along the Mississippi River that Twain might have visited in his days as a riverboat pilot. Write a postcard that Twain might have sent to his brother, Orion, from a town along the river.

At the beginning of Unit 7, students read an introduction to the time period, including information about “Postwar Challenges,” “The Cold War,” “The Red Scare at Home,” “The Domestic Scene,” and “The Civil Rights Movement.” The Teacher Edition includes on-demand writing options to go along with this introduction: “1. If you had been a public school student in the early days of the Cold War, what would you have thought about the periodically required ‘duck-and-cover’ drills? 2. When Senator Joseph McCarthy, a Republican form WIsconsin, conducted his anti-Communist crusade, he was not acting alone. What public attitudes gave credibility to the Red Scare? From what private-sector groups or government agencies did he likely draw support?”

At the end of Unit 9, students complete a process writing workshop where they compose a research paper: “Assignment: Plan, write, and revise a research paper that presents an argument about immigration. Purpose: To convince readers of your viewpoint. Audience: Someone who disagrees with your viewpoint or has no opinion on the topic.” This a multi-step process that takes them through the entire process of prewriting, writing, and revising.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the the criteria that materials provide opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. (Writing opportunities incorporate digital resources/multimodal literacy materials where appropriate. Opportunities may include blended writing styles that reflect the distribution required by the standards.)

The materials provide students ample opportunities to engage in writing activities over the course of the year in a variety of modes, including argumentative, informative, narrative, and descriptive writing as well as research writing and writing to sources. Within these general categories, there is also a wide variety of specific writing tasks. Each of the reading selections is followed by two writing activities in two different modes, and the writing workshop at the end of each unit gives an in-depth exploration and practice of a specific mode as well. Where appropriate, writing opportunities are connected to texts and/or text sets (either as prompts, models, anchors, or supports). Each lesson offers a purpose for the writing, a teaching and modeling section, examples to help guide students, and independent writing time.

In Unit 1, Annotated Teacher Edition, students read “Song of the Sky Loom,” Tribal Song of the Tewa. In the After Reading, Extend the Text, Writing Options section, students practice informative writing with the following prompt: “'Song of the Sky Loom' is a traditional literary work that deals with the interaction between the Tewa and the natural world. Find a twenty-first century American novel, film, or play that focuses on the interaction between human beings and nature. Write an essay comparing and contrasting the characters and text structure of the traditional 'Song' with those of the contemporary work. Use examples and evidence from the works to support inferences and conclusions about the way those literary elements are handled in the two periods.”

In Unit 5, students read two poems by Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro,” and “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter.” Students also read “A Few Don’ts by an Imagiste,” a literary criticism by Ezra Pound. Once students complete both poem reads and the literary criticism, students are presented with two writing options in the Extend the Text section within After Reading.

1. Creative Writing: “Write a poem in which you describe a scene that made an impression on you. Try to recreate Ezra Pound’s style by describing the scene using an image or images from nature, instead of directly stating how the scene affected you.”

2. Argumentative Writing: “Write a letter to the editor of Poetry magazine in which you express your opinion about the advice Pound offers in ‘A Few Don’ts by an Imagiste.’ Does he offer sound advice that all writers can use to improve their writing? Explain, using examples from the poem to support your argument.”

In Unit 6, students read a poem by Randall Jarrell, “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner,” and students view various World War II recruitment posters. Once students read Jarrell’s poem and view the various posters, they are presented with two writing options in the Extend the Text section within After Reading:

1. Creative Writing: “In the role of the ball turret gunner, write a letter to a family member or friend back home that describes what you do. Include your feelings about your job, the war, and so on.”

2. Informative Writing: “Write a paragraph to introduce ‘The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner’ in a collection of poems written during wartime. Explain to readers what you perceive Jarnell says about war in this poem.”

In Unit 7, after reading “The Magic Barrel” by Bernard Malamud, students complete a text extension activity where they compose a piece of creative writing: “Write an epilogue to 'The Magic Barrel' in which you let readers know the fates of Leo, Stella, and Salzman. Your epilogue might include short-term events (for example, the rest of the story’s last scene), long-term events (what happens months or years later), or both.”

In Unit 8, after reading the short story, “Ambush,” by Tim O’Brien and the poems, “Camouflaging the Chimera” and “Monsoon Season,” by Yusef Komunyakaa, students complete a text extension activity where they compose a piece of informative writing: “Both Tim O’Brien and Yusef Komunyakaa are Vietnam veterans. How are O’Brien’s story ‘Ambush’ and Komunyakaa’s poems alike and how are they different? Write a comparison-and-contrast essay in which you discuss the story and the poems.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for materials including frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support sophisticated analysis, argumentation, and synthesis.

The materials provide opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply research-based and evidence-based writing to support analyses, arguments, and synthesis. At the end of every reading selection, in the After Reading/Extend the Text section, students are presented with two on-demand writing options that prompt students to complete short, research-based writing using the texts within the section. The writing prompts that require students to interact with the text explicitly state that the students need to cite evidence. Students experience research-based and evidence-based writing within every Writing Workshop section that occurs at the close of each unit. Many writing opportunities are focused around each student’s analyses and claims developed from reading closely and working with sources.

In Unit 1 students read “from The General History of Virginia” by John Smith and “from Of Plymouth Plantation” by William Bradford. In the After the Reading, Writing Options, Extend the Text, Creative Writing section, students are given the following prompt: “Both Smith and Bradford were successful leaders, but Smith left Virginia and Bradford stayed in Plymouth. For each man, write a paragraph that explains how his choice relates to his character and the motivation that drew him to the New World. Then write a paragraph making logical connections between the two situations. Support your ideas with examples from the text.”

In Unit 1 students read “from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself” by Olaudah Equiano. In Writing Options, students are given the following prompt: “This autobiographical narrative asks a number of rhetorical questions. Write a literary essay explaining how a Equiano uses these questions to create meaning, influence the reader, and evoke emotions. Include examples from the text and discuss inferences and conclusions that can be drawn from them.”

In Unit 2 students read “from Nature,” an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and “The Rhodora,” a lyric poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson. After the Reading Writing Options, Extend the Text, Informative Writing section, students are given the following prompt: “Write a comparison-and-contrast essay in which you point out the differences and similarities between 'Nature,' and 'The Rhodora.' Use examples from each selection to support your ideas.”

In Unit Four, in the Exceeding the Standards Guide, Expository Writing, Explain the Process section, using How to Build a Campfire by USDA Fire Service students do the following:

• Identify the major steps.

• Identify what supplementary information is included in step 4.

• Identify the active verbs used in each step.

• Select a subject, identify purpose and audience, gather information, complete a process planning chart, organize information, draft, and revise.

In Unit 5, students read two novel excerpts by Ernest Hemingway: from The Sun Also Rises and from For Whom the Bell Tolls. Students also read Dorothy Parker’s essay, “The Artist’s Reward,” as a Literature Connection with the texts just read by Hemingway. Once students complete all readings, they are presented with two writing options:

1. The informative writing option requires students to go back to the text to support their claims regarding text structure; this informative writing task also requires students to research an outside story or recall a previous reading: “Read about the origin of Hemingway’s title The Sun Also Rises, on page 544. Now identify a character from mythic, traditional, or classical literature and write an essay explaining how that character’s confrontations with morality compare and contrast with Romero’s in the twentieth-century story The Sun Also Rises. Discuss whether the structure of Hemingway’s story draws attention to the theme of morality and whether it is effective compared with the structure of the related myth, traditional work, or classical work.”

2. The descriptive writing option requires students to reference all texts read in this selection: “Imagine that you met Jake Barnes or Robert Jordan and are writing a letter to a friend telling about the meeting. Based on the background information provided for the selections and what you have gleaned from reading them, write a one paragraph character sketch of either Barnes or Jordan.”

In Unit 5, students read “Petals,” a poem by Amy Lowell, and “Mid-Day,” a poem Hilda Doolittle. Once students read both poems, they are presented with two writing options at the end of the text selection in After Reading within Extend the Text; the second writing option requires students to compose a short comparison-and-contrast essay: "Informative Writing: Write a short comparison-and-contrast essay in which you discuss how nature imagery is used to create mood in ‘Petals’ and ‘Mid-Day.’ Compare the imagery, mood, and ideas each author wants to convey in her poem.”

In Unit 6, students read an excerpt from the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, and the short story, “The Chrysanthemums,” both by John Steinbeck. Once students read both text selections, they are presented with two writing options at the end of the text selection in After Reading within Extend the Text. The second writing option requires students to compose an analysis essay: "Informative Writing: Write an essay analyzing the importance of setting in both The Grapes of Wrath and ‘The Chrysanthemums.’ Use examples from the novel and the story to support your opinion.”

In Unit 7, after reading “Riprap” and “Pine Tree Tops,” both by Gary Snyder, students complete a Text Extension activity which requires them to use evidence from the text: “Write a comparison-and-contrast essay in which you compare ‘Riprap’ or ‘Pine Tree Tops’ with another poem by a Beat writer featured in this unit. Focus on form, style, language, and imagery, explaining how each poet uses these elements to convey his intended message.”

In Unit 8, after reading “Game” by Donald Barthelme, students complete a text extension activity which requires them to use evidence from the text: “Write a one-page character analysis of the narrator. Base your analysis on details from the story and what you can infer about his life before going underground.”

In Unit 9, after reading “What is Supposed to Happen” by Naomi Shihab Nye, students complete a Text Extension activity which requires them to use evidence from the text: “Stanza 2 uses striking images to portray its setting without actually naming it. Write a one-paragraph explication, or careful analysis of the text, that discusses the effectiveness of the images in stanza 2.”