11th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for anchor texts being of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading and consider a range of student interests.

Texts consider a range of topics that are high-interest and age-appropriate for Grade 11. Topics include the early American literature, Romanticism, Regionalism, Realism and Modernism. Many of the core texts are CCSS exemplar texts, written by award-winning authors, and contain rich vocabulary, both academic and content-specific. Texts are worthy of careful reading. Examples of these texts include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, students read the following texts that are worthy of especially careful reading:
  • Students read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a CCSS exemplar text. This excerpt uses formal language and gives students a view into the Puritan life. Connections can be made between the scorn Hester receives from her community and issues women face in modern society.
  • Students read The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, a CCSS exemplar text. This text is worthy of a careful read as it is a founding historical document.
  • Students read “Letter to John Adams,” by Abigail Adams. These letters give students a glimpse into the life of a woman during the American Revolution. They were not written for public consumption, so students see and hear the real personality and voice of a person living in the late 1700’s.

• In Unit 2, students read the following texts that are worthy of especially careful reading:
  • Students read Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?,” a CCSS text exemplar. Douglass escaped from slavery and is known as one of the most respected abolitionist leaders.
  • Students read “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman, a CCSS text exemplar. Whitman is often called the “father of free verse” and is one of the most influential American poets. His seminal work, Leaves of Grass, from which “Song of Myself” comes, is considered one of the foremost works of American poetry.
  • Students read an excerpt from Walden by Henry David Thoreau, a CCSS text exemplar. This is one of the most famous Transcendentalist works and is often included in literary anthologies.

• In Unit 3, students read the following texts that are worthy of especially careful reading:
  • Students read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a CCSS text exemplar. This American novel delves deeply into the American Dream.
  • Students read Ronald Reagan’s speech, “Address to Students at Moscow State University,” a CCSS exemplar text. Students read about social, political and economic ideas and events of the 1980’s, so additional background knowledge will be needed. The speech spreads a message of peace.
  • Students read Brown v. Board of Education ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court. This ruling is important in American history as it set a precedent for more civil rights cases and victories.

• In Unit 4, students read the following texts that are worthy of especially careful reading:
  • Students read “Sonnet 116” by William Shakespeare. Students study the form of a Shakespearean sonnet, and note how Shakespeare’s use of poetic elements creates a unique syntax.
  • Students read excerpts from Metamorphoses, a narrative poem by Ovid. Students are familiar with the modern interpretation of Cupid, and can compare and contrast that with the vengeful character in this poem.
  • Students read Cyrano de Bergerac, a drama by Edmond Rostand. There are numerous modern-day references to this famous plot of two men vying for one woman - one ugly but intelligent, the other handsome but dull - and the deception that ensues.

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, qualitative analysis, and relationship to their associated student task.

The instructional materials for Grade 11 meet the criteria for texts having the appropriate level of complexity for the grade. Most texts fall within either the Current Lexile Band or the Stretch Lexile Band for grades 11-12. Texts range from 480L to 1690L; most texts are appropriate for Grade 11 according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and relationship to their associated student task. Some texts do exceed these bands but the tasks are designed to make them accessible. Examples of texts that have the appropriate level of complexity for Grade 11 include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, many of the texts are above the grade level band; however, they are foundational texts for American Literature. For example, Founding Documents of the United States of America has a Lexile of 1690, and has students reading an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
• In Unit 2, students read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with a Lexile of 950. Although this is below the grade band, it is a classic American work by a prominent writer. Students study Regionalism and compares what the idea of freedom means in “Song of Myself” and Huck Finn. Students also study Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” with a Lexile of 790, which is below the grade band, but is included on the CCSS text exemplars. Also, the story and sentence structure is more complex with flashbacks, busts of dialogue and long sentences.
• In Unit 3, students read an excerpt from Farewell to Arms, 480L. Although this excerpt falls far below the grade band, this novel is included on the CCSS text exemplars for 11th grade. Also, the excerpts contain almost entirely of dialogue that does not clearly identify the speaker, which makes comprehension slightly more difficult.
• In Unit 4, students read the science article, “Dumped,” with a Lexile of 1190. This falls within the grade band, and will challenge students with the technical and informative nature of the text along with the domain-specific vocabulary included.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for supporting students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year. (Series of texts should be at a variety of complexity levels appropriate for the grade band.)

The instructional materials provide a variety of texts appropriate for the grade band. These texts increase in complexity as the units progress, and while some texts fall at the high end of the grade level, students are also provided more reachable texts as they learn how to analyze texts. Along with increasing text complexity, the students’ writing also increases in complexity.

In order to increase students’ literacy skills, each text has students complete a First Read lesson, Skill lesson(s), a Close Read lesson which includes a constructed response for each text.

• The First Read has specific protocols for students to follow in order to develop the reading skills necessary to read that type of text as well as to gain a basic understanding of what the text states and how it is conveying that information.
• The Skill lessons contain specific skills activities that will help students read deeper into the text. These lessons include videos that allow students to see models of other students practicing that skill. The students are then lead through the process of applying that skill to the reading selection through both a model and a practice session. The Skill lessons that students are exposed to throughout the year get increasingly more in-depth as appropriate to the literature. Students may practice the same skill multiple times; however, they are practicing those skills with different reading materials and the skills change slightly according to the material and the skill level of the students. This also offers students the opportunity to go back to previous skill videos to see how they used the skill in the past compared to how they are being asked to use it in the current unit. There may be only one skill per lesson or there may be several depending on the complexity of the text and what skills that text specifically offers practice in for the students.
• The Close Read lessons provide students with an opportunity and the structure to read the selection for a second time. There are guided reading practices for the teacher to walk the students through and specific questions for the students to answer in order to increase their reading skills. Students are expected to go deeper into the text during these readings to look at what the reading means and what that reading causes students to think. The questions and activities accompanying these close reads support students in doing this. After the close read, students complete a constructed response which “asks students to synthesize their work in First Read, Skill, and Close Read lessons by providing textual evidence to support analysis of the text.”

To ensure student success and support literacy growth, each type of lesson contains four Access Paths in which teachers can find resources scaffolded for English Language Learners as well as differentiated for different levels of learners. Access 1 are the emerging learners; Access 2 are the immediate learners; Access 3 are the advanced learners, and Access 4 are the approaching learners. These Access Paths provide handouts that offer support for handling text complexity in the areas of purpose, genre, organization, connection of ideas, sentence structure, specific vocabulary, and prior knowledge. The lower level Access Paths also supply Sentence Frames for the Think Questions in the First Read, Guided Reading prompts for the Skill lessons, and a detailed planning outline for the constructed response after the Close Read.

There are multiple assessment opportunities throughout the year for teachers to assess student learning and performance in order to adjust instructional strategies as needed. Teachers use the Placement and Diagnostic Assessments at the beginning of the year. According to the StudySync Core Program Guide, “The placement and diagnostic assessments associated with the program help you decide on an appropriate instructional level for the student; help determine a student’s knowledge of a skill and/or a literacy level.” In addition, there are summative assessments that will help teachers track students progress. “The expectation is for students to score 75% or higher on each summative assessment, with the same benchmark expected for the skill focus areas - Comprehension, Vocabulary, and so on. For students who are below these benchmark levels, refer to Modifying Instruction IF/THEN charts that are part of the Assessment documents specific to each grade level.” The formative assessments vary “in type and duration . . . [and] help teachers adjust instructional strategies, measuring individual student progress at strategic points over regular intervals.

Each unit focuses on the use of textual evidence to support student analysis. This literacy skill helps students evaluate information within texts, organize ideas, make inferences, create claims, and use evidence within their own writing. By the end of the year, students are using textual evidence in independent writing assignments such as argumentative essays.

Examples of increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year include but are not limited to:

• The First Read lessons focus on comprehension and vocabulary. In the First Read lesson for “Letters to John Adams” in Unit 1, students begin by accessing their prior knowledge of John and Abigail Adams and the Revolutionary War by creating a timeline of events and dates they identify. The Access Path offers more direction as students complete the “imagine” exercises “that ask students to consider what their own responses would be in a similar situate to Abigail Adams: married to a politician as war approaches.” The Access Path has students paired with more proficient readers and has them do additional practice with each vocabulary word and provides a Text Glossary chart on the handout that allows students to note the definition of the bold words as well as any other unfamiliar words or idioms they find in the text. Before students read the text, they are taught a comprehension strategy. In this particular lesson, students learn “asking and answering questions,” which is forming questions before, during and after reading to improve comprehension. Teachers model this strategy with a Think Aloud of the first paragraph by saying such things as, “In the first paragraph, Adams mentions "this much injured town." Is she referring to Boston? What has happened there that makes her describe it this way? How does she feel about it all?” After modeling, students read independently and annotate the excerpt. Core students are given general instructions like, “ask questions about passages of the text that may be unclear or unresolved.” Access Path students are provided more support. They listen to the audio of the text and follow the detailed Annotation Guide on the Access handout, which contains instructions like, “Highlight at least two sentences or passages that you have questions about. Enter your questions as annotations.” After reading, students talk in a small group or in a partner discussion about their questions, their answers and the text evidence they found to support their answers. Finally, students answer the “Think” questions. Core students answer the questions and use a rubric to complete two peer reviews. Access Path students are given “Sentence Frames” on the handouts, “At the start of the first letter, Abigail Adams feels ______ about the state of the town. She says that Boston is like_____.” Approaching students on the Access Path are provided a “Find the Evidence” chart that gives them specific tips for how to answer the Think questions, “Look for sentences about Boston in paragraph 1. How does Adams describe the town? What comparison does she make to describe the town?”
• The Skill lessons in the Grade 11 curriculum get increasingly more in depth. Informational text elements is a skill learned and practiced in Units 1, 2 and 3. In Unit 1, the lesson objectives are that students will learn the definition of informational text structure and use strategies for identifying and analyzing these structures. First, students note the three kinds of informational texts discussed - historical and/or journalism, explanatory, and persuasive - and brainstorm what structure would be the best fit for each. Access Path students complete an exercise in which they match the type of text with the best structure. After reading the Model text, students are asked how the Model begins its analysis of Franklin’s writing, describes Franklin’s method of drawing in the reader, and describes Franklin’s purpose. They are also asked if the Model identified a single structure or multiple structures working together, and what the Model said about the effectiveness of the text structures. This lesson requires students to identify the structure of the text and what type of structure best fits different types of informational text. The Unit 3 lesson objectives are to reinforce the definitions and applications of various informational text elements - details, events, people, and ideas - and identify and analyze these elements. This lesson requires students to think about why and how they apply different reading skills and why you may need to evaluate the author’s perspective and point of view in memoirs, autobiographies and biographies.
• The Close Read lessons have students looking deeper into the text at what it means and makes the reader think as well as synthesize their learning from the First Read and Skill lessons. In the Close Read lesson for “Love is Not All” in Unit 4, students begin by comparing their prediction of the bold vocabulary words with the precise meaning. Then, the teacher models a close reading of the first stanza by modeling annotation strategies that ties the text to the focus skill and shows students what they looking for while they read. Students are then to read and annotate the rest of the text after reading the Skills Focus questions, which ask the students to not only find the skill focus but also explain it. For example, “Explain how the figurative language of lines three and four builds upon the first two lines. How does this progression further develop the theme of the poem?” Access Path students are given a Complete the Sentences exercise on the handout to aid them in this process. For example, “Lines 1 and 2 talk about things that people need to _____. Line 3 gives the example of a _____, which is something a drowning man would use to ____. The speaker extends this metaphor using the verbs ____ and ___. These verbs suggest that love has ___that cannot be escaped.” After reading and annotating, teachers lead a whole class discussion about the Skills Focus questions. Access Path students work in small groups or pairs to share and discuss their annotations. The final element to the Close Read lesson is the constructed response, which has students synthesize their learning from the First Read and Skill: Figurative Language lessons. For “Love is Not All”, students answer the following: “Consider the figurative language of the sonnet and how it develops over the course of the poem. Based on your analysis, do you think that Millay considers love to be more of a physical or an emotional feeling? How does she address both aspects of love in the poem? Do you agree or disagree with her final opinion? Refer to strong and thorough textual evidence as you develop and support your argument.” Students brainstorm about the meaning of figurative language as a whole class or in small groups, and then begin planning their essays. Access Path students complete the prewriting activity on the handout that helps them shape the response with sentence starters and labels to make sure all requirements are met. After planning, students read through the rubric and write their final response.

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.

Most texts include instructional notes and text notes. These are all found in the ELA Grade Level Overview booklet. At the beginning of each unit, there is an overall explanation of the unit. This includes the balance of literary to informational texts, the essential question, and an analysis of the text complexity of particular texts. In response to texts that are above the recommended Lexile band, the publisher provides scaffolds to assist all students in accessing the text. After this report, each text in the unit gets detailed instructional notes that include information on the author, qualitative features, quantitative features, and reader and tasks. The Author section includes the name, gender, nationality and, if needed, translator. The Qualitative Features component contains the publication date, genre, Scaffold Instruction to Access Complex Text (ACT), which is a short summary of the text, and ACT features, which is broken down into three subjects that vary depending on the text, but includes such things as organization, prior knowledge, specific vocabulary, sentence structure and purpose. The Quantitative Features provides the Excerpt Lexile, Full-text Lexile, and Word Count. The Reader and Tasks lists the skill lessons for that text, the close read prompt and the writing form.

Examples of texts being accompanied by text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement include but are not limited to:

• “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes is a poem studied in Unit 3. Within the ACT Features field, teachers are given information on genre, connection of ideas, and prior knowledge. For Genre, teachers are told, “The author’s use of free verse facilitates a more authentic representation of the speaker’s contemplation about identity. The different stanza lengths and absence of a rhyme scheme help emphasize the speaker’s experience wrestling with his own identity and his relationship to others as he considers the significance of the assignment and attempts to complete it.’” Information in “Connection of Ideas” points out the “speaker’s user of binaries - ‘you’ and ‘I,’ and even ‘Harlem’ and ‘New York’ - and the different entities of ideas they represent - help convey that the relationships between things that seem so ‘separate’ are more complex than they may seem.” Prior Knowledge states that students “might benefit from a discussion about Harlem’s development as an African American neighborhood with its own unique culture separate from other parts of the city.“
• The text complexity analysis in Unit 4 examines the literary texts in the unit that include works by Shakespeare and Ovid. The rationale states, “Nine of the eleven texts are literary texts. These include ‘Sonnet 18,’ ‘Sonnet 116,’ and an excerpt from. A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare as well as ‘Love Is Not All,’ ‘On Her Loving Two Equally,’ and excerpts from Metamorphoses and Cyrano de Bergerac. The primary task demands for these texts are analyzing figurative language, tone, irony, story and dramatic elements, and story structure. Students are provided with ample support to meet these text demands, including models of text analyses provided through detailed skills lessons.”

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

Each unit exposes students to high-quality texts that cover a variety of genres, time periods, and cultures with a balance of literary and informational texts. Reading is done independently, as a whole class, aloud, and silently. All of the anchor texts and supporting materials revolve around a central theme and essential question for each unit. Reading materials increase in complexity as the year progresses, and teacher supports are gradually released in order to enable the students to achieve grade-level reading independently.

In 11th grade students read a variety of genres and authors from the classics to modern texts with a heavy emphasis on American writers/American literature, and American sacred documents. Students read fiction (short stories and novels), poetry, and non-fiction (essays, articles, autobiographical excerpts, speeches). The authors are drawn from a mostly the United States, but some texts are drawn from a worldly pool, including authors from Europe, and the United Kingdom. Diverse authors are included within materials.

Examples of students engaging in reading a range of texts include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, students begin the first week’s first lesson by reading the Blast background and materials included in several research links. The next day the students participate in the First Read of Of Plymouth Plantation, in which they read and annotate the text and complete a skill lesson on textual evidence. Day three includes the skill lesson on author’s purpose and author’s point of view, in which students read both the definition and model sections associated with the skill. Students then complete a Close Read of Of Plymouth Plantation, including a detailed reading and annotation of the selection. On the final day, students complete a Blast that has them reading about public shaming, and the complete the first read of The Scarlet Letter excerpt.

• In Unit 2, over the course of five weeks, students complete a full-text study of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and read twelve other partial texts, eight of which are informational. The texts are all related to the unit title of “The Individual.” Informational texts include Inventing Mark Twain, “Racism and Huckleberry Finn: Censorship, Dialogue, and Change,” Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, “Two Ways of Seeing the River,” Forty Years a Gambler on the Mississippi, “Mississippi Drift: River Vagrants in the Age of Wal-Mart,” “The Freedman’s Case in Equity,” and “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses.” Fiction texts include Rainbow’s Journey, “Song of Myself,” The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and “Devin Anse Tells the True History.” Students have opportunities to interact with these texts through whole class read-alouds, individual silent reading, First Reads, and Close Reads.

• In Unit 3, students complete a First Read and a Close Read of “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes. Students also complete one skill lesson on textual evidence, then complete a Close Read of the poem to practice the skills. Students also complete a Blast in which they read about the development of blues music. In Unit 3, there are two full text studies: The Great Gatsby and Their Eyes Were Watching God. Throughout Unit 3, students read additional texts including “Any Human to Another,” Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, A Farewell to Arms, Hiroshima, The Road, The Woman Warrior, “Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry,” and “The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica.”

• In Unit 4, students complete a First Read and a Close Read of Metamorphoses by Ovid. Students also complete one skill lesson on story elements, then complete a Close Read of the myth to practice the skills. Students also complete a Blast in which they read about the dark side of love - stalking. In Unit 4, there are two full text studies: Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Namesake.. Throughout Unit 4, students read additional texts including “Sonnet 116,” “Sonnet 18,” “Love is Not All,” “On Her Loving Two Equally,” Cyrano de Bergerac, “Dumped!,” and “What is Love: Five Theories on the Greatest Emotion of All.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text dependent/specific, requiring students to engage with the text directly (drawing on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text; this may include work with mentor texts as well).

The materials provide a consistent format for students to engage with text-dependent questions and/or tasks. Questions, tasks, and assignments are evident in each of the unit’s three sections: First Read, Skill, and Close Read. Within the units, each text begins with a First Read in which the teacher is modeling reading and thinking aloud using comprehension text-dependent questions. Then students do the first read using text dependent provided either individually or in a small group. Then the teacher completes the Skill lesson using text-dependent questions. Finally, during the Close Read, the teacher models how to do a close read of the text using text-dependent questions that are focused on the skills taught and require students to analyze the text at a deeper level. Some of the text-dependent questions are to be completed verbally and some are intended to be answered in the student’s journal. Each unit is designed in this manner to provide a scaffold-approach to text-dependent and text-specific questioning. Students are required to provide support from the text in most of the work they complete within the unit.

Examples of questions, tasks, and assignments that meet the criteria for this indicator include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1 during the first read of the excerpt The Interesting Narrative of the LIfe of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, the following text-dependent questions are found in the teacher lesson plan:
  • “In the 4th paragraph, why might Equiano have included a description of the flogging of a white man? Cite evidence from the text to support your response.”
  • “In the 3rd paragraph from the end, Equiano describes his fascination with a quadrant, a tool that sailors use to see far away and measure distances. What can you infer about Equiano based on this passage? Does this passage make you feel differently about the slave traders? Provide textual evidence to support your response.”
  • “How is the last paragraph different from the rest of the narrative? Why do you think Equiano makes this change? Support your answer with evidence from the text.”

• In Unit 2, “The Individual,” after the first read of “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?,” the skill focus is on rhetoric. In the Your Turn section, students are asked the following two part selected response question, which requires them to consider a targeted section of the text when considering the rhetorical device of parallelism:
  • Part A - Which of the following provides an example of the rhetorical device of parallelism?

1. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?
2. I answer to him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity;
3. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody.
4. America reigns without a rival.

• Part B - Which of the following provides the best explanation of why Douglass uses parallelism in the Part A passage?

1. To compare the United States to other countries
2. To list all the reasons American celebrate the Fourth of July
3. To provide reasons why the audience should adopt the anti-slavery position
4. To contrast two different views of the Fourth of July celebration

• In Unit 3 after “Any Human to Another," text-dependent questions can be found in the Student Preview of the Close Read. Under the Read tab, students find Skills Questions. Below are questions from the poem “Any Human to Another” by Countee Cullen:
  • Consider the first stanza of the poem. What comparison does the speaker make in this stanza? What theme is suggested by the comparison? Highlight evidence from the text and make annotations to explain your choices.”
  • “The second stanza makes a connection between the speaker’s grief and the reader’s grief. How are the two related? What does this relation imply about the human condition? Support your answer with textual evidence and make annotations to explain your answer choices.”

• In the Unit 4 lesson plan for “On Her Loving Two Equally” under the Skills Focus Questions and Sample Answers, teachers are directed to ask the students, “Consider the first stanza of the poem. Whom does the speaker blame for the situation in which she finds herself? How does this influence the tone at the start of the poem?” The sample answer states, "'Had not Alexis took his part' and 'without my Damon's aid' suggest that she blames the two men for this situation, at least in part. This establishes a somewhat defiant tone at the outset, an unwillingness to accept any guilt or responsibility. Likewise, her claim that her passion is 'divided equally' could be read more as excusing rather than explaining her unwillingness to choose between the two men."

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for having sets of high-quality sequences of text-dependent/specific questions and tasks build to a culminating task that integrates skills (may be writing, speaking, or a combination).

Materials include both text-dependent and text-specific questions and tasks that help prepare students for each unit’s Extended Writing Task. These culminating tasks integrate writing, speaking, or both. There are questions that prompt thinking, speaking, and writing tasks that focus on the central ideas and key details of the text. Reading and writing (and speaking and listening) are taught as integrated skills. The Extended Writing Tasks ask students to explore the theme and essential question of the unit in more depth as they reconsider what they have learned through analyzing texts, conducting research, and contemplating their own life experiences. Each unit has a different mode of writing so that over the course of the year, students demonstrate proficiency in constructing long-form argumentative, argumentative literary analysis, informative/explanatory, and narrative works. Once submitted, these writing assignments can be adapted and delivered as oral presentations. Examples of text-dependent/specific questions and tasks that build to a culminating task include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, the Extended Writing Project focuses on informational writing. Students are asked to write an essay that explains how “the events depicted in both the literature and historical documents you have read introduce and develop a theme related to colonial America’s identity?” In the Close Read of Of Plymouth Plantation, students are told to “Reread the final paragraph and think about the reports the Pilgrims sent back to England. What effect might these letters have had on their friends and relatives overseas? How might their reports have shaped America’s early identity? This question clearly has students thinking about the essential question and will help them gather evidence for their informative essay. The skill lesson for Benjamin Franklin’s “The Whistle” has students identifying and analyzing informational text structures. Learning about the different organizational patterns directly prepares them for writing their own informational essay.

• In Unit 2, the Extended Writing Project focuses on literary analysis and addresses the following prompt: “What ideas do the texts in this unit express about individualism and the relationship between the individual and society, especially during a time of cultural turmoil? How do the texts from this unit reflect the ways Americans defined themselves as individuals in the 19th century?” In the Close Read lesson for “The Cask of Amontillado,” students are given a writing prompt that guides them closer to the Extended Writing project. “What insights about the dark side of human nature does ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ offer its readers? What themes emerge regarding pride and revenge? Consider the symbolism in the story, including the overall story structure of a journey into the underworld. Explain your response using strong and thorough evidence from the text.” This writing prompt has students look at the dark side of human nature, an element that they will later need to consider when synthesizing the three texts to answer the question of how Americans defined themselves as individuals during this time period.

• In Unit 4, the Extended Writing Project focuses on the narrative form. Students write a narrative “that draws on themes and story elements in this unit to create a modern tale of love. As you do, reflect on whether you wish to show love as inspiring folly, wisdom, or both.” In the Extended Writing Project skill lesson,Narrative Techniques, students, either individually or as a class, read the Define section of the lesson. In small groups or as a class, they use these questions to spark discussion with classmates about narrative techniques. One example of a question provided is, “Why might a writer use multiple narrative techniques to tell his or her story?” This will assist students in writing their own narratives for the culminating task. During the Close Read of Cyrano de Bergerac, students think about romantic love, “Do you think that this play suggests that romantic love leads to wisdom or folly? Explain your answer using examples and textual evidence from the play.” Before students have to write their own narrative about love, they are asked to analyze how love is portrayed in different texts.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for materials providing frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions (small groups, peer-to-peer, whole class) that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax.

Each unit provides frequent and varied opportunities for students to engage in whole class, small group, and peer-to-peer discussion that reference the text under study and incorporate the understanding and use of academic vocabulary and syntax. A Speaking and Listening Handbook provides teachers with explicit instructions on teaching and modeling collegial discussions, and strategies and handouts to guide students as they practice and assess evidence-based discussions. Checklists and graphic organizers are offered to students to use in preparation for the discussions and rubrics are provided for peers and teachers to assess the academic conversations. Examples of how materials meet the criteria of this indicator include but are not limited to:

• Teachers are provided with language, structures, protocols, graphic organizers, and clear connections to the CCSS in The Speaking and Listening Handbook. This is found as a link that appears on each grade level under the heading “Additional Resources.” The handbook provides aid for teachers as they support students’ speaking and listening skills. The tool provides videos of model discussions and opportunities for students to practice different discussion skills.
  • In Unit 1, during the study of The Scarlet Letter, the students will watch the SyncTV video on The Scarlet Letter in a whole group setting. “With the class, view the SyncTV discussion of The Scarlet Letter. Stop the video at the times given below to ask questions about how the students in the video demonstrate collaborative discussion strategies. Ask your students to explain their reason for selecting each strategy: ‘02:55 Troy clarifies his reasoning about the narrator’s view of the townspeople by putting them in their historical context. After hearing his comments, Taylor begins to adjust her view by making a connection to the idea of teamwork. What two strategies does this mainly demonstrate?”
  • Another tool found in this handbook is the Collaborative Discussions Strategies handout that lists 10 different strategies that students can access and reference when preparing for or during a discussion. This helps them know how to keep a conversation that stalls going or how to extricate a discussion that has gotten off track.

• The First Read lesson in each unit provides teachers with opportunities for students to conduct numerous discussions either in small groups, as a whole group, or with a partner. This happens continuously through the process of preparing to read through the first read. Students are given numerous opportunities to explore the ideas and the texts through speaking and listening with their peers and the model discussions provided. An example of this can be found in Unit 4, “Sonnet 116.” Students discuss the questions and inferences they made while reading. They are to refer to Collaborative Discussions in the Speaking and Listening Handbook and answer questions like: “How can rereading help you understand the intended definition of the multiple-meaning word ‘bears’ in line 12?”

• Throughout the skill sections of each lesson, students are provided with at least two or more opportunities to discuss how the skills they are learning can be applied to the text. They either apply it to a discussion around the skill itself or they apply it to a discussion of how the skill is applied to the model text. In Unit 1, during the Skill: Technical Language section of The Federalist Papers: “No. 10” lesson, students apply their understanding of the skill with reasons and evidence in small or whole group discussion. An example of a discussion that focuses on the skill is the following: “Have students read the definition of technical language. Use the questions below to spur small-group or whole-class discussions about the skill . . . What would be the most useful context in which to use technical language? What would be the least useful context in which to use technical language . . .” An example of a whole group discussion that focuses on the modeled text is: “As students read the Model, use these questions to guide their understanding of how to identify and comprehend technical language.”

• During the Close Read lesson in each unit and text, students are asked to write in response to the text. This provides another opportunity for students to use collaborative discussion strategies, and also encourages and models academic vocabulary. “Project these instructions for the peer review onto the board and review them with your class, so they know what they are looking for when they begin to provide their classmates with feedback. [1] Has the writer clearly expressed his or her central claim or argument in the opening sentences? [2] How well did the writer’s choice of figurative language support his or her main idea? [3] Did you agree with the writer’s interpretation of the figurative language? Why or why not? [4] Were you convinced or persuaded by the writer’s argument by the end of the response? Why or why not? [5] What additional suggestions can you offer that would help strengthen the writer’s response to the prompt?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for materials supporting students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading and researching (including presentation opportunities) with relevant follow-up questions and supports.

Students are given frequent and varied opportunities to engage in speaking, listening, and presenting activities surrounding their study of texts and the associated reading, writing, and research tasks. The opportunities for speaking, listening, and presenting can be found throughout the unit in the Blasts, First Reads, Skills, and Close Reads.

Speaking and listening are also important aspects of the Research Project students complete in each unit. After sharing and discussing the results of individual members’ research findings, each group plans and then delivers a formal presentation in either the narrative, argumentative, or informative mode using multimedia elements such as videos, graphics, photos, and recordings to reinforce its main ideas.

The Speaking & Listening Handbook is utilized during the Research project by students, who will be required to respond critically and constructively to the work of their peers. This handbook also provides teacher support in the form of lesson plans, handouts, checklists, rubrics, and formative assessments that help them teach and assess the Speaking and Listening standards.

In addition to those, the Extended Writing Project at the end of each unit contains various opportunities for whole group, small group and/or peer to peer discussions throughout the different lessons: Extended Writing Project, lessons that cover the writing process (prewrite, plan, draft, revise, edit, proofread and publish); Skill/Skills, lessons that incorporate elements students will need to include within their project; and Blasts, lessons that have a driving question focused on a technique.

Examples of speaking and listening tasks, relevant follow-up questions, and supports include but are not not limited to:

• The First Read lesson for each text contains an introduction to the text prior to the First Read. Students are asked to participate in different types of discussion, sometimes small group, sometimes whole group, sometimes peer to peer, in order to help them activate prior knowledge that will best support them in accessing the text being read and analyzed in that particular set of lessons. This changes throughout but always includes a discussion element. An example of this is found in Unit 1, The Federalist Papers. The teacher is directed to separate students into small groups or pairs to research information about James Madison and assigns or has them self-select a guiding question like the following: “Why is James Madison considered ‘The Father of the Constitution’?” or “How did the Constitution build upon the U.S. Articles of Confederation?”

• After the first reading in the First Read section of the lesson, students are then asked, again to work in some group arrangement that will require them to verbally process through what they have just read and to pinpoint some specific information that is imperative to understanding the text more deeply. An example of this is found in Unit 3, “Theme for English B.”. The teacher lesson plan directs the teacher to discuss students’ questions and inferences they made while reading. Under the heading Discuss, teachers are provided with the following suggestion: “In small groups or pairs, have students discuss the questions they asked and inferences they made while reading. To help facilitate discussions, refer to Collaborative Discussions in the Speaking & Listening Handbook.”

• During the Skill lesson for each text, students are introduced to a new skill they will practice with the text. There is a video explanation of the skills, a written explanation that supports the video, and a model discussion of a group of students discussing how that skill is applied to the text they are studying. Students are asked to participate in different types of discussion, sometimes small group, sometimes whole group, sometimes peer to peer, in order to think about different aspects of the skill. An example of this is found in Unit 2, during the Skill: Irony lesson for “Story of an Hour.” Teachers are directed to have students discuss irony with the whole-class or in a small-group using questions such as: “Do you think that irony in a story is always intentional? Why or why not?” and “How might someone’s wrong perception of an event somehow convey the truth of the situation?”

• Students then engage in a Close Read of the text being studied. The text offers extensive support for the teacher to model how to apply the skill to the text being read and follow up questions are provided in the lesson plans. Students are offered the opportunity to work in different types of collaborative situations in order to discuss their close read of the text and to delve deeper into their findings. This is seen in the Unit 4 Close Read for “Sonnet 116”. Teachers are told to use the sample responses to the Skills Focus questions at the bottom of the lesson to discuss the reading and the process of analyzing figurative language with questions like: “Reread the first four lines of the poem. Explain why the speaker of the poem uses the word ‘love’ twice in the second line. How does the first use differ from the second use?” and “Reread lines 7 and 8 in the poem. To what or whom is the speaker referring with the clause ‘although his height be taken’? Explain how these words relate to other figurative language in the poem.”

• The Blasts lessons contain short informational passages, research links to deepen content knowledge and a driving question that students respond to in one hundred and forty characters or less. Students discuss the driving question and context in different collaborative situations: large group, small group and/or peer to peer. An example of this is found in Unit 1, “The Whistle.” Teachers are instructed to lead a whole class discussion about the title and the driving question for the Blast, “What’s the best way to give advice?” After students draft their initial responses to the driving question, they are separated into pairs and given questions like the following to discuss: “Why do you think the writer begins with an example of the topic rather than a definition of the central term?” and “What do you think of the suggestions about when you should give advice?”. Then students look at the “Number Crunch” section of the Blast. The teacher breaks them into pairs and has them make predictions about “what they think the number is related to.” After they click on the number, the students discuss in a large group “if they are surprised by the revealed information.”

• Further opportunities for speaking and listening are also found in the Research Tab within each unit. In Unit 1 of Grade 11, research what shaped America’s early identity. As students consider and plan their research, the teacher reviews the Big Idea Blast and Unit Trailer, and leads a large group discussion about the subject of the research in relation to the unit texts with questions like: “How did the role of religion change over the course of this period in time?” and “Keep in mind that not everyone agreed with every decision or declaration begin made during this revolutionary period of time. Where can you see evidence of conflict and disagreement?” Once students have reviewed and discussed the subject, they are separated into small groups and are either assigned or self-select a topic. While researching, students are given the opportunity to review and discuss their sources and research in order to amalgamate their information into one presentation.

• In Unit 3, the Extended Writing Project is Informative Writing. In the Skill: Thesis Statement lesson, there is a whole class or small group discussion about thesis statements with questions, such as “How does a clear thesis statement help the reader of a literary analysis essay?” During the Extended Writing Project: Plan lesson, the teacher is instructed to lead a whole class discussion that reviews the characteristics of literary analysis organizational structures. In the Blast: Audience and Purpose lesson, teachers are instructed to lead a whole class discussion about the title and the driving question, “Who is your audience and what is the purpose for your extended writing project essay?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria that materials include a mix of on-demand and process writing and short, focused projects. Each unit of study asks student to engage in both on-demand writing and process writing in a variety of forms, including full-length essays, short constructed responses, peer reviews and Blasts.

Students engage in on-demand writing via Blasts, constructed response questions that accompany the Close Read lesson of each text, as well as in the ELA Assessment PDF that is part of each grade level. The Blasts are 140 character writing responses to modern media connections to the literature and themes students are studying. The constructed response questions demonstrate students’ understanding of the reading and language skills and additional experience with the featured mode of writing. Within the ELA Assessment PDF, teachers are provided with multiple on demand writing opportunities that students can complete in correlation with each unit in the year. These assessments include all three modes of writing (explanatory, narrative and argumentative) in a format that mimics the on-demand writing expectations of the state required tests.

Process writing is found in the Extended Writing Project at the end of each unit. Each of the four units covers one of these essential writing forms: narrative, informative/explanatory, literary analysis, and argumentative writing. These Extended Writing Projects take students through the writing process including the following: prewriting, planning, drafting, revising, and editing/proofreading/publishing. Students explore different aspects of the writing process and are given a variety of writing practice opportunities to hone their skills and enhance their understanding of each unit’s particular writing form.

Examples of on-demand and process writing include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 4, during the study of Metamorphoses, students complete an on-demand writing task via Blast: Cupids Dark Side. Students are given some information in regards to the blast to think about and discuss as a class or in small groups; then they are asked to use that discussion information to draft their initial response to the driving question, “At what point does romantic attraction become unhealthy?”. After further research and discussion, students are to write their own blast using the draft they wrote in their notebook. They will revise or rewrite it based on the research and discussion that has happened throughout the lesson.The Blast is 140 characters or less linking it to modern media.

• In Unit 1, during the close read of “Song of Myself,” students engage in a multi-step constructed response to the following prompt: “Imagine that you were to write your own ‘Song of Myself.’ What would your themes be and what advice would you give you readers? How would the content of your poem compare with Whitman’s?” Students brainstorm about different themes and how some may be related as a whole-class. Next, the students write using a rubric to guide the process, and once finished, they participate in two peer reviews of each other’s writing.

• In Unit 2 of the ELA Assessment PDF, students complete an Argumentative Performance Task: The joining together of individuals into groups is the basis for the progress of society as well as personal development and enjoyment. The group, however, can also threaten the individual’s identity, particularly as individuals give up autonomy and self-understanding as they feel pressure to conform to the conventions of their society. Imagine you are researching the complicated balance between the individual and society in nineteenth-century American literature. Consider how literary sources from the time period reveal the complex struggle between the individual and the group, and which options the authors present as ways to navigate successfully between the two. A literary analysis argument essay is a piece of writing that analyzes story elements and then argues a point of view about the writing. The argument could be on many different topics, such as a shared theme or a comparison of two characters. For this task, you will write a literary analysis argument essay related to the topic of the individual’s relationship to society. Before you write your essay, you will read three sources that reveal the insights of authors about the complicated interplay between the individual and society. After you have reviewed these sources, you will answer some questions about them. Briefly scan the sources and the three questions that follow. Then, go back and read the sources carefully to gain the understanding and evidence you will need to answer the questions and write an essay. In Part 2, you will write a literary analysis argument essay examining how these sources discuss the complex relationship between the individual and society. Use evidence to formulate an argument about the three sources and then to support your point of view.”

• In Unit 3, the Extended Writing Project focuses on argumentative writing. Students probe the unit’s essential question, “How did the nation’s impressions of itself and others lead people to redefine the word ‘American’ over the course of the 20th century?”, as they write an argumentative essay proving how an event, discovery or trend redefined the American identity. Other lessons on the Extended Writing Prompt include skills lessons on research and note-taking, thesis statements, organization of argumentative writing, supporting details, body paragraphs and transitions, and sources and citations. Short constructed responses that accompany all Close Read lessons in the unit help students demonstrate understanding of the specific reading and language skills developed in conjunction with the texts, such as explaining the emphasis of “That’s American” in “Theme for English B,” evaluating rhetorical strategies in the arguments of Plessy v. Ferguson, and supporting a claim with textual evidence about the justices in Brown v. Board of Education.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for materials providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards.

The materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria that materials provide opportunities for students to address different text types of writing. The materials provide for a variety of writing tasks across the school year that vary in length and depth, tie to classroom texts and Big Ideas, and represent equally narrative, informative/explanatory, literary analysis, and argumentative writing.

Students engage in writing activities throughout each unit. Students write short constructed responses as part of each Close Read lesson for each text in the unit. This informal writing allows students to demonstrate understanding of the specific text while practicing the featured type of writing. Students engage in informal writing through the annotations that students create as they closely read the various units in the text.

In addition to these shorter, less formal writing opportunities, each of the four units of study contains an Extended Writing Task that takes place at the end of the unit. These writing prompts are linked to the unit texts; throughout the units, students are given opportunities across the school year to learn, practice, and apply writing types addressed in the standards. StudySync also provides guidance and support from peers and adults to develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. Students are given opportunities to use digital sources for research and presentation. Examples of opportunities to address different text types include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, in the Extended Writing Project, students write an informative/explanatory essay. Students “...probe the unit’s central question—What shaped America’s early identity?—as they write an informative/ explanatory essay that explains how events depicted in literature and historical documents of the unit introduce and develop a theme related to colonial America’s identity. In response to the EWP prompt, students will examine closely how the unit selections relate to the unit theme—We the People—and will reflect on a theme related to colonial America. The unit’s selections written by or written about the social, political, and personal events associated with early America provide a context for students as they select the theme they will explore and begin their informative/explanatory writing.” A rubric is provided to help monitor student progress.

• In Unit 2, the Extended Writing Project focuses on literary analysis, a form of argumentative writing. Students write an essay that “...probe[s] the unit’s central question—How does one person find his or her place in society?—as they write a literary analysis that draws on the unit’s selections to reflect on individualism and the relationship between the individual and society, particularly during a time of cultural turmoil. In response to the EWP prompt, students will examine closely how the unit selections reveal different aspects of the unit’s theme—The Individual—and reflect on how Americans defined themselves as individuals during the 19th century. As students do so, they are helped to understand what a literary analysis is, and why it is an important writing form.”

• In Unit 3, in the Extended Writing Project, students write an argumentative essay that “...probe[s] the unit’s central question—How was being American redefined in the 20th century?—as they write an argumentative essay about a major historical event, scientific discovery, or cultural trend. In response to the EWP prompt, students will select an event, a discovery, or a trend that enables them to relate to the unit theme—Modern Times—and to reflect on how it redefined the American identity. The unit’s fiction and nonfiction selections from 20th century America provide a context for students as they begin their essays.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for materials including frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information appropriate for the grade level.

The materials provide students with writing activities that vary in length and purpose in response to a variety of texts. The First Read lesson for each text requires students to complete short answer questions that are text-dependent. The Close Read lessons at the end of each text include an extended writing prompt that requires students to synthesize all of the close reading and skills work that they have done with the text. At the conclusion of each Full-Text Unit, there are two opportunities for long-form writing responses that are connected to an anchor text. One of these is always analytical in nature and requires an argumentative or informative/explanatory response to the whole text. Lastly, the Extended Writing Project requires students to return to the texts they have read over the course of a thematic unit in order to draw evidence from and analyze these mentor texts. Examples of evidence-based writing to support careful, well-defended analyses include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the First Read of Of Plymouth Plantation, students are asked a short answer question that will require them to access the text in order to answer the question: “How do the Pilgrims demonstrate their values in their daily effort to survive in a harsh environment? Cite one example from the text and explain how this reflects the Pilgrims’ beliefs and values.” The question requires them to go back into specific areas of the text, use details to answer a basic comprehension question, and then apply that information to an analysis question that cannot be directly found in the text, but which builds on discussions had throughout the first read of the text.

• In Unit 2, in the Close Read of Walden, students are asked to identify and react to two central ideas: “Identify two central ideas in the excerpt from Walden and explain how they develop and interact over the course of the text. Then explain your reactions to these ideas. Do you agree or disagree with them? Do you think that Thoreau’s ideas are still relevant to life today?”

• In Unit 3, in the Full Text Study of The Great Gatsby, at the conclusion of reading the text, the students read the companion texts: “The Road to West Egg” by Christopher Hitchens, H.L Mencken’s review of the novel, and one other critical essay they find on their own. They then write an essay in response to this prompt: “In a research project, investigate the meaning of the phrase ‘The Great American Novel’ . . . After exploring the critical discussion surrounding the novel, develop your own theory about whether The Great Gatsby should be considered a Great American Novel. Why or why not?”

• In Unit 4, in the Close Read of “Love is Not All,” students respond to a prompt asking them to examine the figurative language in the sonnet. The prompt states, “Consider the figurative language of the sonnet and how it develops over the course of the poem. Based on your analysis, do you think that Millay considers love to be more of a physical or an emotional feeling? How does she address both aspects of love in the poem? Do you agree or disagree with her final opinion? Refer to strong and thorough textual evidence as you develop and support your argument.”

• The Extended Writing Project in Unit 3 requires students to access the texts within the unit by having students write an argumentative essay. “You have been reading about the many rapid changes in America in the 20th century, some of which shaped entire generations. What major historical events, scientific discoveries, or cultural trends do you think had a significant impact on how Americans redefined themselves during that century? Choose two texts from this unit and write an essay arguing how an event, a discovery, or a trend redefined the American identity. (You may include one Blast as one of the texts.) Along with information from the selections, include research from at least three other credible print and/or digital sources to support your ideas. Remember to address at least one counterclaim to your central argument.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for materials including explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application both in and out of context.

The materials include a student edition and an annotated teacher edition of the Grammar, Language, and Composition Guide. The guide is separated into two parts: Grammar and Language Workbook and the Grammar and Composition Handbook. The Grammar and Language Workbook offers lessons to provide additional instruction and practice of specific grammar or language needs and can be used by the teacher for whole class, small group, or individual practice depending upon students’ needs. The lessons can be used for pre-teaching or reteaching. The Grammar and Composition Handbook focuses specifically on grammar and usage, with each chapter focusing on a specific grammar or usage skill. The lessons provide instructions, practice, and review, and the lessons and tasks build in complexity.

Grammar and usage instruction and practice is also embedded in each of the units of study. Under the Overview tab, there is a section called Key Grammar Skills which lists all of the in-context grammar lessons contained in each text in the unit and where they can be found. Not only can students practice specific grammar/language convention skills, they have opportunities to apply them in context in both reading (First Read) and in writing (Extended Writing Project).

The teaching of grammar, usage, and mechanics happens throughout the Core Program and is designed to help students develop a complex understanding of language that they can use to enhance their comprehension of texts. The grammar strand is structured around instruction, practice exercises, and student application. After receiving direct instruction and completing a practice handout on the lesson’s grammar, usage, or mechanics concept, students are prompted to analyze the use of this concept in a given text and answer questions about the purpose and effect of the concept. They may also be prompted to practice the skill through short revision tasks. Core concepts are revisited with opportunities for application throughout a grade level. Language instruction is also provided strategically throughout a unit’s Extended Writing Project, which gives students the immediate opportunity to apply grammar, usage, and mechanics concepts to their own writing, by revising their drafts to incorporate the concept and editing their drafts to apply it correctly. Examples of explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards include but are not limited to:

• The Grade 11 StudySync Grammar and Language Workbook is divided into five parts: grammar, usage, mechanics, vocabulary and spelling and composition. Each part has units that cover specific skills. For example, in Part 4 Vocabulary and Spelling, Unit 13 focuses on vocabulary and spelling and includes lessons that cover learning from context, word roots, prefixes and suffixes, and basic spelling rules. Part 5, Composition, “contains lessons on basic writing skills such as writing effective sentences, building paragraphs, and paragraph ordering, areas some students may benefit from additional instruction as they develop their writing” (StudySync Core Program Overview 6-12. 59)

• The Grade 11 StudySync Grammar and Composition Handbook is divided into four parts: ready reference, grammar, usage and mechanics, composition, and resources. Each part has chapters that are “targeted to a specific grammar or usage skill. The chapter begins with a pretest, is followed by instruction and practice, then ends with a post test” (StudySync Core Program Overview 6-12 59). For example, in Part 2, Grammar, Usage and Mechanics, Chapter 5 focuses on Verb Tenses and Voice and contains eight lessons that cover the principal parts of verbs, regular and irregular verbs, tense of verbs, perfect tenses, progressive and emphatic forms, consistency of tenses, voice of verbs and mood of verbs.. Students are given a pretest with four parts that asks students to “write the correct form of the verb in parentheses,” label the verb tense and rewrite sentences by correcting verbs that are in the wrong tense. Then the students go through the eight lessons practicing each skill. After the lessons, students take the posttest that has do the same as the pretest with new sentences.

• The Key Grammar Skills under the Overview tab for Unit 4 shows that grammar lessons appear in the First Read lessons of Cyrano de Bergerac, “Dumped,” “What is Love: Five Theories on the Greatest Emotion of All,” and in the Extended Writing Project lessons Draft, Revise and Publish. The First Read of “Dumped” by Helen Fisher has students complete a lesson on syntax and then has them “select a topic that they find interesting and have an emotional connection to. Challenge them to write two sentences about that topic . . . use formal and objective writing style . . . then vary the syntax of their sentences to make their writing more emotionally charged.” The Draft lesson in the Extended Writing Project focuses on commas and nonessential elements with interjections, parenthetical expressions, and conjunctive adverbs. Students learn about them, read the model sentences and complete exercises. Then, students reread their own essays “in order to insert or delete commas and resolve any usage problems where needed.”