Ninth Grade - ELA
• Literacy
1: Semester 1
Unit 1: Early Civilizations and Migration (600 BCE)
Lesson 1
Preshistory
Students are assigned to read pages 40-43 of the National Geographic Almanac of World History and to answer directed comprehension questions (Questions #1-#3) about human evolution, use of fire, and effects of the Ice Age. Students trace and shade migration routes on maps (Activity 1) that require them to interpret the reading and a provided answer-key map of migration time periods. Students complete applied writing tasks ("A Day in the Life" and "Your Own Environment") that ask them to synthesize information from the reading to describe survival strategies and adaptations.
Lesson 2
Early Agriculture
Students are instructed to read pp. 16–17 in the National Geographic Almanac of World History and answer specific comprehension questions about domestication, irrigation, and the relationship between agriculture and craft specialization. Students independently perform research tasks (identifying cities, average rainfall, and images) and complete analytic activities (mapping early farming civilizations, comparing pastoral and agricultural lifestyles, and analyzing uses/challenges of domesticating animals) that require comprehension and use of historical texts and sources. Students also produce written work (a scripted dialogue, Venn diagram entries, and table entries) that demonstrate understanding of the readings.
Lesson 3
Early Civilizations
Students are assigned to read pages 44–49 of the National Geographic Almanac of World History and to answer targeted comprehension questions about irrigation, iron-working, writing systems, and the concept of "civilization." Multiple activities require students to use those readings as sources: they fill a Cultural Hearths chart, complete an Urbanization flowchart tracing farms→villages→cities→civilizations, and summarize Sumerian social organization using pages 44–46. The Elements of Civilization activity asks students to compare features of small villages and complex civilizations using textual evidence, requiring synthesis of information from the assigned readings and linked resources.
Lesson 4
Mesopotamia
Students are instructed to review pp. 44–49 in the National Geographic Almanac of World History and to read examples of laws from the Code of Hammurabi (AP World History: An Essential Coursebook, p. 42). Students answer specific comprehension questions (e.g., roles of priests and temples, form and importance of cuneiform, Hammurapi's legacy, effects of the Iron Age). Students synthesize information and demonstrate understanding by completing a multi-part mini-project (booklet or report/podcast) that requires summarizing geography, economic, political, social, cultural, and religious information from those readings.
Lesson 5
Egypt
Students are assigned to read pp. 50-55 of the National Geographic Almanac of World History and answer guided comprehension questions about hieroglyphs, the Nile's role in pharaonic power, the First Intermediate Period, and differences between hieroglyphs and cuneiform. Students must use information from that reading to complete a multi-page mini-project (booklet) or a WebQuest addressing six historical topics, including mapping, explaining political structure, and describing cultural and religious beliefs. The activities require students to extract, explain, and apply textual information (e.g., filling trade goods boxes, drawing governmental diagrams, and describing gods) to produce written and diagrammatic products.
Lesson 6
Trade and Empire Building
Students are assigned to read specific history text (pp. 56–59 of the National Geographic Almanac of World History) and answer targeted comprehension questions about flooding, trade partners and exports, social class, and religious developments. Students complete activity pages that require them to analyze causes of empire expansion and explain how technologies facilitated growth in trade, producing written responses and examples. Students engage in review and discussion prompts that require synthesizing information from the reading and activities.
Lesson 7
New Beliefs and Technologies
Students are instructed to read pp. 60-62 in the National Geographic Almanac of World History (Ancient China) and selected pages from The One-Stop Guide to World Religions, and to answer specific comprehension questions about those readings. Students complete tasks that require comprehension and synthesis, including answering four text-based questions, filling a comparative chart on world religions, and writing or recording a 2-minute-per-faith voice-over script. Students also analyze technological innovations in a multi-column chart that asks them to apply information from prior readings to political, economic, military, and social contexts.
Lesson 8
Historical Essay
Students are instructed to "go back to the readings from earlier lessons to look for specific evidence to support [their] main points," and to provide parenthetical references for quotations and specific evidence (an example citation is given). The rubrics for both options require that the essay "covers the impact of agriculture" and that "accurate parenthetical citations for quotations and specific evidence are provided throughout," which requires students to read source texts and extract relevant information. The assignment asks students to choose evidence, track changes across societies, and compare similarities and differences, prompting use of history/social-studies texts as source material.
Final Project
Flow Chart
Students are directed to use the readings from earlier lessons to fill in the flowchart template and to review the readings as part of homework preparation. The unit test includes short answers and paragraph prompts (e.g., describing a day in the life of a hunter-gatherer, listing changes from the Neolithic Revolution, defining "civilization" and its characteristics) that require students to comprehend and synthesize historical information. The final project asks students to include images, dates, and 2–3 sentence descriptions of significance for multiple historical developments, which requires reading-based comprehension and summary of content.
Unit 1: Lord of the Flies
Lesson 10
Which Is Better?
Students read explanatory passages about Roman aqueducts and the Colosseum and view an accompanying illustration that describe engineering and social practices of ancient Rome. Students are directed to consider prior learning about early civilizations and to use a linked Crash Course video to review what makes a civilization. Students complete a 'Developing Civilization' activity chart that asks them to compare the boys' lives and mindsets with those of early human civilizations.
Unit 2: World Religions (600 BCE - 600 CE)
Lesson 1
Rise of Religions
Students are assigned specific history/social studies readings (The One-Stop Guide to World Religions pp. 8-9 and 12-13; National Geographic Almanac pp. 44-61, 66-67; and a Smithsonian article on Hatshepsut) and must answer direct reading questions. Students must skim almanac sections to find and record examples of religion intertwined with government and complete comprehension tasks (answering questions, writing a paragraph, summarizing a news article). Students must locate a modern news article, summarize it, and reflect on the role of religion in conflict, requiring synthesis of information across texts.
Lesson 2
Shamanism, Animism, Ancestor Veneration
Students are asked to read pp. 12–14 of a history/social-studies text and answer four targeted comprehension questions about animism, shamanism, and ancestor veneration. Students independently research folktales or modern holiday practices (Día de los Muertos, Chinese New Year), locate sources, and complete analytic activity pages comparing stories or describing the role of ancestors. Students synthesize information into a Dimensions of World Religions booklet and summarize how the seven dimensions function, demonstrating analysis and integration of social-studies content.
Lesson 3
Hinduism
Students are assigned to read specified pages of The One-Stop Guide to World Religions and answer targeted reading questions (e.g., defining an avatar, Harappan religion influences, Sruti vs Smriti, and explaining karma). Students independently complete analytical activities that require comprehension of the reading, such as summarizing a portion of the Ramayana slideshow, writing multi-paragraph perspective pieces on the caste system, or researching and storyboarding a Hindu festival. Students also complete homework filling the Hindu section of a Dimensions of World Religions booklet, which requires synthesizing information from the assigned text and additional online research.
Lesson 4
Buddhism
Students are instructed to read history/social-studies content (pp. 44–53 of The One‑Stop Guide to World Religions) and then answer specific comprehension questions (e.g., naming the Four Noble Truths, explaining the Heart Sutra). Students fill out Activity 1 comparing Theraveda, Mahayana, and Vajrayana as they read and complete Activity 2 by recording dimensions and a map for Buddhism. Homework options require students to summarize and synthesize the life and teachings of the Buddha in a reaction paper or an illustrated/narrative timeline, all of which require reading comprehension and use of the assigned text.
Lesson 6
Judaism
Students are assigned to "Read The One-Stop Guide to World Religions" (pp. 66–75 and p. 120) and to answer four content questions that require them to describe origins, practices, and textual overlaps of Judaism. Students complete two activities (filling a "Dimensions of World Religions" booklet and creating a map of the Jewish diaspora) that require extracting and synthesizing information from the reading and from independent online research. Students also complete a homework research task (investigate a Jewish holiday and produce a narrative or slideshow) that requires comprehension and presentation of historical/social-studies content.
Lesson 7
Christianity
Students are asked to read specified history/social-studies texts (One-Stop Guide to World Religions pp. 76-85 and Almanac of World History pp. 98-99) and to read primary and secondary historical sources such as Matthew 5-7 and secular archaeology/history articles (Smithsonian, National Geographic). Students must answer directed comprehension and analysis questions, summarize source content, and reflect on historical context and the relationship between scripture and historical/archaeological evidence. Students are assigned homework (Crash Course video, Pew report) and booklet work that require independent reading, synthesis, and written responses about the spread and historical development of Christianity.
Lesson 8
Islam
Students are assigned to read specific history/social-studies–oriented texts (The One-Stop Guide to World Religions, pp. 86-95, and National Geographic Almanac of World History, pp. 114-117) and then answer directed comprehension questions. Students create a timeline of Muhammad's life with written paragraphs explaining events and their significance, and they fill in the Dimensions of World Religions booklet, requiring extraction and synthesis of information from readings. Students complete a homework comparison of parallel stories from the Bible and the Qur'an (with a Venn-diagram activity) that requires close reading and comparative analysis of historical/religious texts.
Final Project
Dimensions of World Religions
Students are asked to review the readings from the unit (including headings and major sections) and to use online review questions and notes to prepare for the test. Students must answer identification questions that require stating what a term is, which belief system it comes from, and its significance. Students must write a 5–7 paragraph essay (within a 45-minute time limit) that requires describing origins, deities, tenets, practices, and comparing similarities and differences across faiths, demonstrating synthesis of the unit readings.
Unit 2: Short Stories
Lesson 1
The Gift of the Magi
Students are asked to go online and research the Magi, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon using linked primary and secondary sources (Matthew 2:1-12, 1 Kings 10:1-10, and a PBS page). They must take notes on who these figures were, write sentences describing their historical significance, and explain how those references contribute to understanding the short story. The Parent Plan explicitly frames this as researching historical/literary references and reflecting on their significance in a journal entry.
Lesson 7
Everyday Use
Students are directed to read online biographical information about Alice Walker using two provided web links and to record findings on an "Author's Biographical Data Sheet." Students are also assigned homework to "learn more about the art of quilt making" using three museum/web links and to complete a "Quilted Heritage" activity page that asks them to describe cultural meaning. Students use the information they gather from these nonfiction sources to draw parallels between Walker's life, quilt-making traditions, and the story's themes.
Unit 3: Rise of the Empires (600 BCE - 600 CE)
Lesson 1
Persian Empire
Students are assigned to read pp. 72–73 of the National Geographic Almanac of World History and then answer specific comprehension questions that require summarizing Persia's beginnings, describing Zoroastrianism, explaining Cyrus's government, and explaining how the empire ended. Students are asked to use the reading to complete Activity 2, which directs them to analyze facts, interpret them into a coherent narrative, and record politics, religion, and culture for comparison with other empires. Students are also instructed to return to the readings or do online research as needed to fill in their chart and timeline, supporting independent information gathering from historical texts.
Lesson 2
Greek Empire
Students are asked to read specific pages in two history texts (pp. 86-89 in National Geographic Almanac of World History and pp. 78-top of 90 in AP World History: An Essential Coursebook) and then answer guided reading questions. Students must use information from those readings to complete activities: add Greece to a map, add the Greek empire to a timeline, and fill a politics/religion/culture chart using color-coded notes. The reading tasks require students to extract factual details (e.g., differences between Sparta and Athens, roles of women, reasons for colonization, purposes of theater) and apply them in written responses and graphic organizers.
Lesson 3
Qin and Han Empires
Students are assigned specific history texts (pp. 90-93 of National Geographic Almanac of World History and pp. middle 98–middle 105 of AP World History: An Essential Coursebook) and are asked to read them and answer targeted comprehension questions about Qin and Han government, causes of civil war, Confucian influence, and Han innovations. Students are instructed to preview Activity 2 while reading, to extract and record information on politics, religion, and culture, and to add information to a timeline and map, which require synthesis of the reading. The lesson also includes discussion prompts that require students to use their reading to compare causes of imperial collapse and to evaluate the importance of Han inventions.
Lesson 4
Roman Empire
Students are instructed to read pages 80-85 of the National Geographic Almanac of World History and then answer targeted comprehension questions about republican government, the army, slavery, and the Pax Romana. Students complete activities that require them to extract and apply information from the text, including adding Rome to a map, adding events to a timeline, and filling a chart comparing politics, religion, and culture for the Republic and Empire. The homework asks students to create flashcards of key terms from the reading, reinforcing vocabulary and factual comprehension.
Unit 5: Nonfiction
Lesson 1
Types of Nonfiction
Students are asked to read a set of nonfiction works about people who struggled for equality (an essay, a speech, memoirs, and accounts related to civil rights, abolition, and the Holocaust) and to begin reading I Am Malala (Prologue and Chapter 1) for homework. The Parent Plan lists skills students will practice: interpreting words and phrases in a text and assessing how point of view or purpose shapes content and style. Students complete comprehension questions about I Am Malala and use text features (glossary, table of contents, timeline, front/back matter) to support understanding.
Lesson 2
Pakistan
Students read multiple chapters of I Am Malala and answer comprehension questions about life in Pakistan and the impact of the Taliban. Students use the book's timeline (pp. 219-235), a world map, and web links (Wikipedia and a languages site) to research historical and geographic facts about Pakistan (e.g., Indus River Valley civilization, date and circumstances of Pakistan's creation, wars with India). Students complete a Student Activity Page that asks specific history/social-studies questions and requires integration of information from textual and visual sources.
Lesson 3
The Taliban
Students read Chapters 7, 8, and 10 of I Am Malala and answer specific comprehension questions about content and causes. Students read the PBS Frontline article "Who Are the Taliban?" and use that information to write an informational paragraph or create slides that summarize where Taliban members are located, who they are, and what they believe. Students practice paraphrasing and summarizing information from sources and are asked to integrate information from text and web resources into coherent written or visual products.
Lesson 4
Dear Diary
Students are assigned to read Chapters 11–13 of I Am Malala and excerpts from Malala's BBC diary and then answer specific comprehension questions (e.g., how Malala felt about giving speeches; how her diary began; how Gul Makai was identified). Students analyze sample paraphrases of sentences about Taliban aims and research study findings and produce their own paraphrases of quoted historical/textual passages. Students also write a one-page diary entry applying comprehension of narrative content and perspective.
Lesson 5
Displacement
Students read Chapters 16–17 of I Am Malala and answer targeted comprehension questions asking them to define IDPs, compare schooling contexts, and summarize what the family found on return. The Parent Plan lists skills that students will practice, including integrating and evaluating content in diverse formats, determining central ideas or themes, summarizing key supporting details, and conducting short research projects. In Activity 1, students examine worldwide classroom photos, make evidence-based assumptions, and research school conditions and statistics for specific countries, requiring synthesis of textual and visual information.
Lesson 6
A Day Like Any Other
Students read specified chapters of I Am Malala (Ch. 20, 23, 24) and answer comprehension questions that require literal and inferential understanding (e.g., what happened on Oct. 22, Malala's reaction to threats). Students use the APE strategy (Answer, Prove, Extend) to cite quotations or specific examples from the text and then explain how that evidence supports their answers. The Parent Plan explicitly asks students to draw evidence and analyze how individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Lesson 7
Life in England
Students are assigned to read Chapters 33–34 of I Am Malala and to finish the book as homework, demonstrating engagement with a historical/memoir text. Students answer targeted comprehension questions (QUESTION #1–#4) about differences in setting, character perspective, and adjustment, showing practice in understanding and summarizing content. Students watch and take notes on an 11-minute documentary segment and then compare and discuss how the book and film present the same events, practicing integration and evaluation of information from multiple media.
Lesson 8
Civil Rights
Students are assigned to read primary historical texts including Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (read in two parts) and an excerpt of Frederick Douglass's 1852 oration, and to read poems and biographical material by Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou. Students complete comprehension and analysis tasks such as listing the four steps of a nonviolent campaign, answering text-dependent questions about King's arguments and references, matching historical figures King cites, and completing a double-entry diary on just and unjust laws. Students also read a timeline of civil rights events and arrange excerpts chronologically, and they record answers and reflections in journals and activity pages.
Lesson 9
Civil Disobedience
Students read and analyze primary-source excerpts from Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" and speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr., using activity pages that present passages side-by-side for comparison. Students highlight parallel phrases, complete a comparison table (Thoreau, Overlapping Ideas, King), and explain areas of agreement and disagreement. Students answer comprehension and short-response questions on excerpt pages as homework and are directed to draw evidence from the texts to support analysis. The Parent Plan lists related skills such as drawing evidence, analyzing seminal U.S. documents, and determining author purpose.
Lesson 10
Learning from the Past
Students read Elie Wiesel's speech "Hope, Despair, and Memory" (both first and second halves) and complete associated activity sheets that require annotation, vocabulary work, matching exercises, and short-answer comprehension responses. Students also read an excerpt of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech, watch a video of his delivery, and are asked to compare claims across Wiesel, MLK, Thoreau, and Malala using direct quotations. The Parent Plan lists skills students practice, including drawing evidence from informational texts to support analysis, and developing topics with relevant facts and quotations.
Lesson 11
A Boy's Story
Students are directed to read the Chronology section (pp. 222–224) to learn who was involved in the war and how it progressed, which requires reading a history/social-studies text. Students independently read assigned pages of the memoir ("New York City, 1998" and Chapter 1, pp. 3–17) and answer comprehension questions about causes, events, and consequences. The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill "Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently," and students also use a map of Sierra Leone and an author interview to integrate multiple informational sources.
Lesson 12
Running from War
Students read multiple chapters of A Long Way Gone and answer specific comprehension questions that check understanding of events, characters, and plot summaries. Students summarize skipped chapters and complete activities that require them to cite text evidence, including using quotations correctly and applying the APE (Answer, Prove, Extend) strategy. Students complete Part I items that require choosing correctly punctuated quoted sentences and Part II items that require integrating a quotation into their own writing.
Lesson 13
Child Soldier
Students read Chapters 12–14 of A Long Way Gone and answer specific comprehension questions about events, motives, and character actions. Students write a journal response about the memoir's accuracy and complete homework prompts analyzing the role of rap and the causes/effects of child soldiers. Students complete activities that require citing textual evidence, evaluating arguments, and comparing the book with a video account, integrating information from multiple media.
Lesson 14
Rehabilitation
Students read specified chapters of A Long Way Gone and answer comprehension questions that require citing page numbers and textual details. Students analyze and evaluate claims (e.g., whether the government army committed war crimes), draw evidence from the text to support conclusions, and compare events to the Geneva Conventions. Students complete written activities that ask them to quote passages (lieutenant's speech, RUF soldier dialog) and to explain how Elie Wiesel's quotations relate to Beah's memoir.
Lesson 15
A New Life
Students read Chapters 19–21 of A Long Way Gone and answer targeted comprehension questions that require recall and inference about events and character reactions. Students practice summarizing a full chapter, including annotating, identifying main ideas, and writing 1–2 paragraph summaries in their journals. Students compare and analyze two memoirs (A Long Way Gone and I Am Malala), drawing evidence to assess author purpose, point of view, rhetoric, and style.
Final Project
Expository Essay
Students are instructed to choose topics inspired by unit texts (speeches, memoirs) and to locate and read multiple credible print and online sources (.edu, .gov, major newspapers) using a K-N-S chart and source-selection guidance. Students practice quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing evidence from those sources, note sources for each key fact, and synthesize three key facts into body paragraphs with in-text citations. Students create a Works Cited page and are directed to assess source timeliness and credibility and to integrate information from multiple authoritative sources into their essay.
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
Students review the Nonfiction unit and are asked to analyze and synthesize authors and texts (e.g., explain how Malala Yousafzai and Ishmael Beah have used their experiences to help others, how Thoreau influenced Martin Luther King, Jr., and how the term "war crimes" applies to Wiesel and Beah). Students answer discussion prompts requiring paragraph-length explanations of civil disobedience, memoir accuracy (A Long Way Gone), and the importance of writing about the horrors of war. Students also practice quoting and paraphrasing Wordsworth and respond to exam questions that require comprehension and analysis of nonfiction passages and speeches.
2: Semester 2
Unit 1: Ender's Game
Lesson 1
Born to Genius
Students are asked to read the author's introduction (pp. xi–xiii) and to use Internet research to answer questions about historical events from 1957–1963, which directs them to locate and extract historical facts. The lesson's "Things to Know" and Activity 1 explicitly reference Cold War context (e.g., civil defense drills, Sputnik, Cuban Missile Crisis) so students connect the novel to specific historical/social studies content. The student activity requires students to name three historical facts from that era and to report where Card got his ideas about war and the military, tasks that involve reading and summarizing informational sources.
Lesson 7
Leaders Motivate
Students are directed to read about John Locke and Demosthenes using the provided web resources and to watch a short presentation, then write a journal entry linking the historical figures to characters (Activity 1). Students match and interpret quotations from historical leaders and apply those quotations to novel characters (Activity 2), which requires reading and interpreting history-related texts and statements.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
The Historical References (Box 8) directs students to look up NATO and the 1955 Warsaw Pact, color and categorize member countries, and list two key similarities and two key differences between the historical Warsaw Pact and the fictional Second Warsaw Pact, including a rationale for the author's use of the reference. Box 4 (Leadership or Power?) asks students to select two historical quotes from an earlier activity and insert them into imagined moments in the novel, requiring students to read, interpret, and apply historical quotations to a new context.
Unit 3: Informational Texts
Lesson 1
What Are Informational Texts?
Students are assigned to read informational texts that deal with history and social science topics, specifically beginning Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and a homework selection "The Roseto Mystery" (pp. 3–11), and they answer specific comprehension questions about causes, research findings, and vocabulary in context. Students complete an activity that has them locate and identify informational text features in Outliers (table of contents, index, footnotes/endnotes, charts/diagrams, headings/subheadings, bibliography, etc.). The Parent Plan explicitly lists the related skill of reading and comprehending 9–10 grade-level nonfiction with scaffolding and determining meanings of words and phrases used in history/social science texts.
Lesson 2
Outliers
Students read a nonfiction chapter ("The Matthew Effect," pp. 15–34) and answer specific comprehension questions about content (e.g., why birthday cutoff affects hockey success). Students analyze how the author defines and develops the idea of an "outlier," including examining analogy and rhetorical strategies. Students practice vocabulary in context by finding synonyms and testing them in sentences, and they complete activity pages that require explanation and justification of answers.
Lesson 5
Harlan, Kentucky
Students are assigned to read "Harlan, Kentucky" (pp. 162–176) including footnotes, and to underline unfamiliar words as they read. They answer targeted comprehension questions that require recalling explicit content (e.g., pattern of violence) and making inferences (e.g., defining "culture of honor" and explaining experimental findings). The Parent Plan and Skills list explicitly require students to "cite strong and thorough textual evidence" and to "draw evidence from literary or informational texts" for analysis and reflection. Vocabulary activities require students to determine word meanings from context, consult dictionaries, and pronounce terms, supporting comprehension of the informational text.
Lesson 6
The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes
Students read multiple extended nonfiction sections (Chapter 7 of Outliers, pp. 177–223, including footnotes) and answer targeted comprehension and analysis questions (Activity 2, Day 2, Homework). Students identify central ideas and structure (predicting outcomes, noting the author's order of evidence), cite textual details (answer keys prompt specific page-based evidence), and evaluate author's claims by reading and analyzing a critical blog post and Gladwell's response (Activities 4–5). The Parent Plan skills list explicitly asks students to draw evidence, determine central ideas, analyze development of ideas, and determine an author's point of view and rhetoric.
Lesson 7
Rice Paddies and Math Tests
Students read specified sections of a nonfiction chapter independently (Sections 1–3 and 4–7 of Chapter 8) and answer targeted comprehension questions about content, central ideas, and details. Students are asked to draw and cite textual evidence, determine central ideas and how they develop, and translate quantitative/technical information into visual form (infographic or diagram). Students complete activities that require explaining differences in counting systems, practicing language-based examples, and producing a graphic that communicates concepts from the text.
Lesson 8
With Malice Toward None
Students are asked to read Abraham Lincoln's "Second Inaugural Address" via the provided web link and answer comprehension questions that probe meaning (e.g., why Lincoln keeps the speech short; interpretation of his sentence about hope; restating the cause of the war). Students identify and analyze rhetorical strategies and literary devices (parallelism, antithesis, allusion) by locating quotes from the speech and explaining their intended effects. Students practice organizing and summarizing the text by selecting sentences that demonstrate background, main message, and forward-looking statements and by citing textual evidence in analysis tasks.
Lesson 9
Writing about History
Students read multiple history/social studies texts: three secondary summaries (National Geographic, NPS, Arapaho Project) and primary eyewitness testimonies (John S. Smith, Robert Brent, Col. Chivington). Students answer targeted comprehension questions (e.g., list facts all sources agree on, how the camp signaled peace, why the camp was located at Sand Creek, organization and evidence in a research article). Students complete analytic activities requiring them to cite primary evidence to support secondary-source claims, evaluate testimony accuracy (Primary Falsehoods), compare points of view (Two Points of View), and write an editorial using facts from the texts.
Lesson 12
Logical Fallacies
Students are asked to print out and read Andrew Jackson's Speech to Congress on Indian Removal and to highlight at least three passages that show fallacious reasoning, then be prepared to discuss which fallacies they found. Students read and analyze other historical or political speeches and excerpts (e.g., George W. Bush, Bernie Sanders, John F. Kennedy) to identify hasty generalizations, false dilemmas, straw men, non-sequiturs, and ad hominem attacks. Students also read Lou Gehrig's 1939 speech and answer questions about how the speaker uses ethos, pathos, and logos, demonstrating comprehension of a historical text's claims and support.
Final Project
Argumentative Research Essay
Students are directed to locate at least five high-quality sources using library research databases and regular websites, and to read and take notes from those sources for use in their argumentative essays. The lesson gives historical/social-studies-related topic prompts (e.g., Sand Creek Massacre, Confederate monuments, Columbus Day) and asks students to gather facts, statistics, and background information and to integrate that information into their papers. Students must evaluate credibility, assess accuracy and currency of sources, and produce a Works Cited page in MLA format, which requires reading and using source content.
Unit 4: Drama
Lesson 3
Life and Times
Students read Nemiroff's Introduction (pp. 5–14), the cast and setting notes, and a biographical article on Lorraine Hansberry, engaging with historical background about Chicago, the Great Migration, and segregation. Students read the text of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and watch a History Channel video about the Act, take notes, and answer guided comprehension questions. Students respond to specific prompts that require them to identify setting, provide a date range for when the play takes place, and recall factual details about Hansberry and mid-20th-century civil rights events.
Lesson 8
Shakespeare
Students read the Folger edition introductory sections "Reading Shakespeare's Language" and "Shakespeare's Life" (pp. xvii–xxxvi) and answer specific questions about historical facts (e.g., the Globe, the plague, dates and events). Students gather information from the book, a mini-biography video, and web resources to create a chronological "Shakespeare Timeline," placing events such as births, deaths, theatre openings/closings, and troupe formation on a timeline. Students identify historical changes that affected Shakespeare (e.g., printing, discovery, translation of classics) and use textual notes and the activity sheet to clarify meanings and summarize passages.
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
Students review the Informational Texts unit, including history as a type of informational writing, and study Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers as an informational text. Students answer questions that require understanding historical writing concepts (e.g., difference between primary and secondary sources) and evaluate source credibility for research. The exam tasks require students to explain cultural/historical explanations from Outliers and to analyze features of historical writing in short-answer and discussion prompts.