Ninth Grade - ELA
• Literacy
1: Semester 1
Unit 1: Early Civilizations and Migration (600 BCE)
Lesson 1
Preshistory
The text explicitly defines BCE and CE (and notes AD/BC), so students are given direct meanings for those chronological terms. Students read assigned National Geographic pages that use discipline-specific terms (e.g., Homo habilis, Homo erectus, hunter-gatherers, land bridges, economic structures, kinship groups) and answer comprehension questions that require using those terms (e.g., describing how Homo habilis changed their environment). The map activity and legend require students to interpret time-range labels and migration terminology when shading routes and dating human presence.
Lesson 3
Early Civilizations
The lesson asks students to "Define the term 'cultural hearth' in your own words" (Activity 1), requiring them to determine the meaning of that term from the readings. Question #4 prompts students to interpret and evaluate the concept of "civilization" and its implications, which asks students to analyze a social-science term in context. The Elements of Civilization and Social Organization activities require students to explain and use terms such as social hierarchy, specialization of labor, surplus, and communication when comparing villages and complex civilizations.
Lesson 4
Mesopotamia
Students read assigned textbook pages and answer comprehension questions that ask them to describe specific terms and concepts (e.g., describing cuneiform writing and the role of priests and temples). Students complete activities that require them to list jobs, label geographic features, and read examples from Hammurabi's Code to infer aspects of Babylonian society. The booklet and activity pages prompt students to describe cultural and political features in writing and to draw diagrams showing social classes, which requires engagement with social and economic vocabulary.
Lesson 7
New Beliefs and Technologies
Students read assigned textbook and reference pages that include domain-specific vocabulary (e.g., "patriarchal agricultural society," "mandate from heaven," "polytheistic/monotheistic," "animism," names of scriptures like Torah and Avesta). Students complete activities that require using those terms to fill a Comparing World Religions chart and to write/record voiceover scripts describing origins, key beliefs, and practices of religions. The Inventions activity asks students to explain political, economic, military, and social/cultural applications of technologies, which requires understanding vocabulary describing political, social, and economic aspects.
Final Project
Flow Chart
Students are asked to define the term "civilization" in a test item and list at least three characteristics that differentiate civilizations from smaller communities. The final project and rubric require students to include and accurately describe terms such as hunter-gatherer groups, pastoralism, agriculture, government, food production, technology and invention, specialization, and religion. Matching and short-answer test items require students to identify civilizations, religious traditions, and related terms (e.g., Code of Hammurabi, hieroglyphics), and students are instructed to use earlier readings to complete the flowchart and answers.
Unit 1: Lord of the Flies
Lesson 1
The Call
The Skills section explicitly lists determining the meaning of words and phrases in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings. The Vocabulary activity requires students to match words to definitions and to passages from Lord of the Flies, providing contextual quotes and images for students to use as clues. The Things to Know and Parent Plan direct students to review and learn specific vocabulary (incredulous, errant, furtive, susurration, sepals, decorum, discursive, leviathan) to understand the text.
Lesson 3
Paths in the Jungle
Students are instructed to "mark words you don't understand and then look them up" and to "re-read the text, replacing the unknown words with the definitions," which directs them to determine word meanings in context. The lesson's annotation guidance explicitly tells students to "circle key terms or words you need to define to understand the text" and to use annotation codes (question marks, stars) to track vocabulary difficulties. These tasks require students to identify unfamiliar words or phrases and test their meanings by reintegrating definitions into sentences.
Lesson 4
Images from Paradise
The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill: students "Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone." In Activity 1 students locate quotations, note whether descriptions are positive or negative, and explain how those descriptions serve as imagery and contribute to a "paradise" or "dystopia" tone. The "Ideas to Think About" prompts ask students to consider social/political questions about groups, order, and laws, linking textual interpretation to social concepts.
Lesson 6
Symbolism, Part 1
Students are asked to label symbolic objects with interpretations such as "science and technology," "intelligence," "civilization," "social order," and "democracy" on the Student Activity Page. The activity requires students to circle the interpretation they agree with for items like Piggy's glasses and the conch and to write text-based explanations supporting their choice. The lesson also defines the term "symbol" and prompts students to consider what objects "do or accomplish" and who they belong to when inferring meaning.
Lesson 8
Defects of Human Nature
Students complete a Vocabulary activity (Activity 2) in which they read sentences from Lord of the Flies and match bolded words to definitions from a definition bank (Option 1). Students also complete a fill-in-the-blank option (Option 2) using a provided word bank and contextual clues, and answer keys are provided to confirm correct meanings. The lesson explicitly tells students they will "learn the meanings of the words and practice recognizing them in context."
Lesson 9
Symbolism, Part 2
The lesson defines key vocabulary such as "archetypes" and "allegory" in the Things to Know and Activities sections, giving students explicit terms to use. Activity 1 asks students to recognize archetypal roles (hero, villain, mentor, innocent) and to provide examples from literature or media. Activity 2 (Allegory Analysis) asks students to describe what Ralph's tribe, Jack's tribe, Piggy, Simon, and the island might represent, and the answer key maps those responses to political and social concepts (e.g., democratic vs. autocratic government; rationalism; morality).
Lesson 10
Which Is Better?
The lesson explicitly defines key terms: it states that "Complex societies are called civilizations by historians" and provides a definition of "savagery." Students are asked to learn what aqueducts were and to consider Roman social practices (Colosseum), exposing them to political/social vocabulary such as government, laws, and infrastructure. The Developing Civilization activity and the Student Activity Page require students to compare social and political features (laws, judges, elections, infrastructure) between the boys and early peoples.
Lesson 11
The Film
The lesson explicitly defines the terms "Adaptations" and "Subtext" in the "Things to Know" section, giving students direct meanings for those words. Students are also told to "review the... vocabulary from the book" and "words in bold" in preparation for the unit test, which directs them to attend to word meaning. The student activity and answer key reference specific words (e.g., conch) and discuss how symbolic items convey meaning, which touches on interpreting vocabulary in context.
Final Project
Now You Have the Conch
Students complete a unit test vocabulary section that asks them to match words (e.g., furtive, susurration, discursive, errant) with definitions, which requires identifying word meanings. In the sample prompt explanation, students are prompted to paraphrase the question and to interpret the phrase "caught up" as referring to peer pressure and mob mentality, demonstrating meaning-in-context work. Brainstorming and text-evidence activities ask students to locate passages, note key phrases or sentences, and explain their relevance, which involves interpreting word and phrase meaning in context.
Unit 2: World Religions (600 BCE - 600 CE)
Lesson 2
Shamanism, Animism, Ancestor Veneration
Students read assigned pages and answer direct vocabulary questions (e.g., Question #2 asks them to define animism and the Things to Know section gives explicit definitions of shamanism, animism, and ancestor veneration). Students are asked to explain a shaman's relationship to the supernatural (Question #3) and to describe how ancestor veneration frames the living/dead relationship (Question #4). In Option 1 activities, students locate folktales and identify elements that show animist beliefs, requiring them to interpret how words and concepts function within stories.
Lesson 3
Hinduism
Students are asked directly to define and explain key terms from the readings (Question #1 asks what an avatar is; Question #3 asks the difference between Sruti and Smriti texts; Question #4 asks students to explain karma in their own words). The Things to Know and Parent Plan note that the Vedic scriptures contributed to the social and political roles of the caste system, and Option 2 requires students to use that discussion of caste to write perspectives from people of different castes. Activities ask students to relate vocabulary and concepts from the text to culture and practice (e.g., linking the Ramayana narrative to Hindu beliefs in Option 1 and describing festivals in Option 3).
Lesson 5
Daoism and Confucianism
Students read pages 54–65 and answer direct comprehension questions that require defining key terms from the text (for example Question #1 asks "What is the Dao?" and the answer quotes the text). Activity 1 asks students to reflect on at least two Daoist concepts (The Dao, Non-Action, Emptiness, Stillness, Acceptance), which requires students to interpret and explain vocabulary as used in the reading. Question #3 asks students to explain how Confucian rites differ from prayer, and Question #4 asks students to explain modern challenges to Confucianism (mentioning democracy, human rights, and women's rights), requiring students to explain social and political vocabulary in context.
Lesson 7
Christianity
Students read primary and secondary texts (Matthew 5-7, One-Stop Guide, Almanac of World History, and archaeological articles) and are asked to summarize and interpret passages (Option 2: "do the best you can to interpret the teachings in your own words"). Students answer comprehension questions that reference political and social contexts (e.g., Roman taxes, emperor as god, persecution) when explaining how Jesus fit into Jewish prophecy and how Romans responded. Students also analyze historical/archaeological articles about the life of Jesus and reflect on reasons scholars investigate corroborating evidence.
Lesson 8
Islam
Students are asked to define specific terms in the Reading and Questions (e.g., QUESTION #1 asks students to describe Ramadan and QUESTION #2 asks, "What is jihad?"). QUESTION #4 asks students to identify and explain the Five Pillars of Islam, which requires determining the meanings of key religious terms (confession of faith, alms, Hajj). The homework asks students to read parallel stories in the Bible and the Qur'an and compare tone and portrayal, requiring students to interpret words and phrases in historical/religious texts.
Final Project
Dimensions of World Religions
Students are asked in the unit test Part I to identify terms (e.g., Karma, The Four Noble Truths, Ch'i, The Torah, The Reformation, The Five Pillars of Islam) by providing basic information about what they are, which belief system they come from, location/time period, and their significance. An answer key in the Parent Plan Section gives clear definitions and contextual significance for those terms. Homework directions ask students to review readings, headings, and major sections and to brainstorm important topics and key names, places, and dates to prepare vocabulary knowledge.
Unit 2: Short Stories
Lesson 1
The Gift of the Magi
Students are asked to research the Magi, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon and to write sentences describing their historical significance and explain how those allusions contribute to understanding the story. The lesson defines the term allusion and explains situational and dramatic irony, prompting students to identify and examine descriptive language and references. Annotation and journal activities instruct students to mark "words or phrases that seem important" and to record instances of allusion and irony, which requires interpreting words and phrases in context.
Unit 3: Rise of the Empires (600 BCE - 600 CE)
Lesson 4
Roman Empire
Students read explicit definitions and explanations of political vocabulary in the Things to Know and Q&A sections (for example, patricians vs. plebeians, the roles of the Senate and General Assembly). Students read detailed descriptions that define military and social terms (legionary, centurion, cohort, slavery) in the Reading and Questions section. Students are assigned homework to create flashcards for a list of political and social terms (patrician, plebeian, consuls, tribunes, triumvirate, princeps, Pax Romana, etc.) with a hint that they may need to use context or look terms up online.
Unit 3: Grammar, Part I
Lesson 1
Parts of Speech
Students practice identifying parts of speech in context by labeling words in passages (e.g., Parts of Speech Labeling with passages from The Elements of Style and multiple activity pages that require circling and naming pronoun, verb, adjective, and adverb types). In the Jabberwocky activity students untangle inverted sentences, substitute plausible words, and infer the parts of speech and probable meanings of nonsense words from context. Multiple exercises (Pronoun Exercises, Prepositions and Conjunctions, Comparisons) require students to read sentences and determine how specific words function within those sentences.
Lesson 2
Subject-Verb Agreement
Students read explicit explanations and tips for groups of commonly confused words (e.g., a/an, accept/except, affect/effect) and record notes on the provided "Commonly Confused Words" activity pages. Students practice determining correct meanings/usages by circling the correct word in multiple sentence-based exercises (Commonly Confused Words, Set I–VII and Subject-Verb Agreement pages). Option 2 asks students to create a short quiz and write explanations, requiring them to justify word choice in context.
Lesson 5
Review
Students practice identifying and correcting misused commonly confused words in Part I of the Grammar Quiz by crossing out incorrect words and writing the correct word above them. In the homework and answer key, students read explicit explanations for pairs like bad/badly and bear/bare and then choose the correct word in multiple-choice sentences. The activities require students to use sentence context to determine which word form or meaning fits, and students insert or correct words in passages to show understanding.
Lesson 6
Colons and Semicolons
Students read explicit explanations and tips for commonly confused words (breath/breathe, can/may, capital/capitol, coarse/course) and record notes and examples for Set V. Students complete a worksheet that requires them to choose the correct word in context for ten sentences, and they check answers using an answer key. Students also read definitions and usage rules for semicolons and colons and produce written examples in a courtroom-style activity, demonstrating attention to word meaning within sentences.
Lesson 7
Spelling
Students read short explanatory notes that define and distinguish commonly confused words (e.g., explanations for cite/sight/site, council/counsel, discreet/discrete, ensure/insure). Students complete multiple activity pages in which they must choose or circle the correctly used word in sentences (Commonly Confused Words sets and Spelling worksheet), requiring them to use word meanings and context to select answers. The Spelling Detective activity asks students to write clues or mnemonics and to use words in sentences, reinforcing word meanings in context.
Final Project
Wrapping Up
Students practice selecting correct word meanings in contextual sentences on the unit test (Part II: Commonly Confused Words—items 6–12, 9–12). Students create a short quiz using commonly confused words and must refer to their "Commonly Confused Words" pages, which requires choosing words that fit meaning in connected sentences. The test items include politically relevant word pairs (capital/capitol, council/counsel) used in sentence contexts.
Unit 4: Poetry
Lesson 1
Introduction to Poetry
Students practice determining word meanings and nuances through multiple activities: Activity 2 asks students to read poems (e.g., "Richard Cory" and an Emily Dickinson poem), underline words with specific connotations, write denotations using a dictionary, and record connotations and similar words. The Poem Response homework asks students to mark words with positive and negative connotations and explain why chosen words are effective. The Parent Plan and Skills sections explicitly list determining meaning of words and phrases, figurative and connotative meanings, and analyzing the impact of word choices as objectives.
Lesson 3
Figurative Language
The Parent Plan explicitly instructs students to "determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone." Student tasks ask them to read "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" and identify similes/metaphors, personification, symbolism, and imagery with stanza and line numbers and explanations. Activity 2 asks students to find and explain irony, understatement, overstatement, and paradox in short poems and to record and analyze how those devices function in context.
Lesson 4
Voice and Tone
Students are instructed to determine meanings of words and phrases in context, including figurative and connotative meanings, as stated in the Parent Plan skills. Students look up unfamiliar tone words using the provided Tone List and record words or phrases from poems that convey tone (e.g., recording words/phrases for "Those Winter Sundays" and "Yesterday"). Students analyze how specific word choices and sensory images contribute to tone in activities such as the Frost "The Fear" exercises where they identify sight and sound images and note their effect on mood.
Lesson 6
Fooling with Words
Students are directed to "listen for... metaphors and allusions or literal versus figurative language," which asks them to attend to word meaning in context during readings. The Parent Plan lists the skill "Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings," which requires students to interpret words and phrases as they are used. Students watch poets perform and are asked to decide which lines or images they like, prompting attention to how language creates meaning.
Lesson 7
Analyzing Poetry
The Parent Plan skills explicitly tell students to "determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings" and to analyze the impact of word choice on meaning and tone. Activity 1 directs students to annotate words and phrases (mark unfamiliar words, write questions, comment on words/phrases that convey strong images) and the Poetry Map includes a dedicated "Word Choice" box for analyzing denotation and connotation. The Poetry Puzzle asks students to mark nouns, verbs, and sensory words from William Blake's "London" and to infer the poem's setting and topic; a Historical Note connects those marked words to social problems in Blake's time.
Lesson 9
The Crossover
Students are prompted to compare the book's vocabulary entries with dictionary definitions using the Student Activity Page that lists specific words and asks them to discuss differences and how the book's method aids understanding. Students may write their own vocabulary poem (Option 2) modeling the book's three "As in:" sentences, using people and events from their lives to demonstrate word meaning. The Parent Plan Skills explicitly instruct students to determine the meaning of words and phrases as used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings and to analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices; the homework also asks students to trace how the meaning of "crossover" changes across poems.
Lesson 10
Poems and Poets
Students are asked to analyze word choice and other figurative language on the Poetry Map (sections include Word Choice, Other Figurative Language, Tone, and Speaker). The Parent Plan explicitly lists as a skill: "Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone." In Activity 4 students must research cultural references in poems (example entries include "poison milk powder," "bombs," and "communism") and explain how those references enrich the poem or reveal political/social context.
Lesson 11
Reciting Poetry
Students are instructed to mark unfamiliar words and look up their meanings and pronunciations as part of the homework steps. The lesson asks students to consider why the poet chose certain words and analyzes how word choice creates images (the Housman example). The Parent Plan explicitly lists determining the meaning of words and phrases, including figurative and connotative meanings and analyzing the cumulative impact of word choices, as a targeted skill.
Final Project
Poetry
The Parent Plan section explicitly tells students to "determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings," and to analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone. Choice 5 (Poetry Explication) asks students to identify notable word choice, figurative language, tone, imagery, and layers of meaning and to highlight words on presentation slides. The unit test and Part I short-answer items require students to define denotation vs. connotation and other vocabulary (meter, onomatopoeia, voice), giving students practice identifying word meanings in context.
Unit 5: Nonfiction
Lesson 1
Types of Nonfiction
The Parent Plan lists a skills goal that students will "interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone." The Student Activity Page includes a "Vocabulary study" section in which students look up and write definitions for biography, autobiography, and memoir in their own words. The homework directs students to consult the book's glossary if they encounter unfamiliar terms while reading the prologue and chapter 1.
Lesson 3
The Taliban
Students are given explicit definitions in the "Things to Know" section (for example, talib = "student", Taliban as fighters seeking a theocracy, and Sharia law defined as Islamic religious law with an explanation of the Taliban's interpretation). Students are directed to read chapters of I Am Malala and an external PBS article about the Taliban and then summarize who they are, where they are located, and what they believe. The Wrapping Up section tells students they will practice paraphrasing, and both activity options require students to put information into their own words rather than copy text.
Lesson 4
Dear Diary
The Parent Plan explicitly lists interpreting words and phrases, including technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, as a targeted skill. The Student Activity Page asks students to analyze and produce paraphrases of sentences containing political/social vocabulary (e.g., "The Taliban's current goal...", "edict banning all girls"), and the activity tips instruct students to find synonyms, change sentence order, re-read context, and look up unfamiliar words. The paraphrase analyses require students to judge accuracy and word-choice shifts, which involves determining meanings as used in the text.
Lesson 5
Displacement
Students are explicitly asked in Question #1 to define the abbreviation IDP and explain its meaning as 'internally displaced persons,' linking the term to people who left their towns due to conflict. The chapter summary and questions also include politically and socially loaded terms (e.g., Taliban, sharia law, refugees) that students read and encounter in context. Option 1 and the parent plan ask students to research school conditions in other countries, which may prompt students to look up and interpret related social or political vocabulary.
Lesson 8
Civil Rights
Students read and analyze large excerpts of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," answering questions that ask them to interpret phrases (for example, identifying the "tragically misconception of time" and what idea King is pointing to). In Activity 4 students read King's explicit definition of just and unjust laws and write reactions in a double-entry diary, which requires them to explain the meaning and moral implications of those terms. In the "People of the Past" activity students identify historical figures referenced in King's letter and explain the references, demonstrating work with allusions and the meanings of phrases tied to historical/political contexts.
Lesson 9
Civil Disobedience
Students read and analyze multiple excerpts from Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" and King's speeches (Activities 1 and 2) and are directed to highlight and compare phrases that discuss similar ideas. Students answer written questions about the excerpts (Homework and Student Activity Pages) that require them to interpret claims such as what makes a law just or unjust, the role of government, and the conditions when it is acceptable to break the law. The texts contain domain-specific political and social vocabulary (e.g., "unjust laws," "moral law," "segregation statutes," "government," "voting") that students must engage with while explaining overlapping ideas and positions.
Lesson 10
Learning from the Past
Students are instructed to look up unfamiliar terms and write each term, who/what it relates to, and a full-sentence definition in the Vocabulary section (e.g., Balfour Declaration, xenophobia, Auschwitz, Gestapo, ghetto, nationalism). The activities direct students to annotate the speech and "note the definitions of words you need to look up," and to complete matching exercises and vocabulary-based multiple-choice and short-answer items before and after reading. The teacher/parent answer keys provide explicit definitions for many politically and socially relevant terms (e.g., nationalism, xenophobia, apartheid, Treblinka, war crimes).
Lesson 11
A Boy's Story
The Parent Plan skills list explicitly states students will "Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings." Activity 1 directs students to write tentative definitions, fill vocabulary into sentences drawn from the book, and then look up each word and record a dictionary definition in their own words. The lesson points out and gives examples of initialisms and acronyms (e.g., RPG, UNAMSIL) and asks students to read the chronology entries about the civil war and answer questions about groups like the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
Lesson 13
Child Soldier
In Day 2, Question #1 students are asked to identify what the white tablets are, with instructions that they should figure out from context that the pills are stimulants and addictive and may be methamphetamine. The "Different Accounts" activity directs students to compare the book's wording with the video (e.g., whether boys were "forced to fight" vs. "forcefully recruited"), which requires interpreting phrase meaning across two sources. The Things to Know/Homework sections explicitly present terms like "war crime" and the International Criminal Court, providing domain-specific vocabulary about political/legal aspects of conflict.
Lesson 14
Rehabilitation
The lesson defines Geneva Conventions and non-combatants in the "Things to Know" section and asks students to "Review what the Geneva Conventions are." Activity 1 lists specific war-crime terms (e.g., torturing civilians, enlisting children under 15, forcing civilians to join) and requires students to decide whether the government army committed each crime and to cite examples/quotations. A comprehension question asks students to explain why Beah says he "needed" guns and drugs, prompting attention to word choice and meaning in context.
Final Project
Expository Essay
Students are asked to use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary as one of the listed skills in the Parent Plan. The lesson includes a K-N-S graphic organizer with a vertical 'Learned Terms' section and prompts students to list keywords they used to find sources. Activities require students to identify and record sources and keywords, and to note terminology when developing research questions and theses.
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
Students answer denotation vs. connotation questions and complete fill-in-the-blank vocabulary items (e.g., foreshadowing, allusion, rhetoric, dystopia) that require defining words as used in texts. Students paraphrase and integrate quotations from Wordsworth, which requires determining meaning of phrases in context. Poetry and poem-analysis tasks ask students to identify figurative language, sound devices, and symbolism as those devices function in specific poems. Nonfiction activities and prompts ask students to explain political/social terms and contexts (e.g., why the Taliban targeted Malala, how the term "war crimes" applies to Wiesel and Beah, and civil disobedience in Thoreau/King).
2: Semester 2
Unit 1: Ender's Game
Lesson 2
We're People, Not Thirds
The Parent Plan lists the skill of determining the meaning of words and phrases (including figurative and connotative meanings) and analyzing word choice. Activity 1 gives students a vocabulary matching task with nine words (e.g., conscript, impassively, dirigible) and definitions to solidify understanding. The lesson explicitly defines 'eugenics' in the Things to Know section and has an Option 2 activity (Planned Procreation) where students research governmental/legal and social reasons influencing family planning.
Lesson 4
Divergence
Students are asked to write a definition of "science fiction" and to label given statements as science fiction or fantasy, which requires them to determine the meaning of the genre term as used in example texts. The matching exercise asks students to connect terms (soft science fiction, hard science fiction, anachronism, romanticization) to sentences that exemplify them, requiring students to interpret how those words are used in context. The lesson also prompts review of terms such as "polyglot," "convergent thinking," and "divergent thinking," and includes activities that require students to apply those definitions to examples.
Lesson 6
Performance Is Personal
Students are given explicit vocabulary to review (puerile, invective) with dictionary-like definitions and instructed to review them for the assigned reading. Students are provided a historical note explaining that the 'Second Warsaw Pact' in the novel references the real Warsaw Pact and that 'pact' denotes membership while historians note an imbalance of power among members. The parent-plan discussion prompts consideration of an ethnic slur and its historical violence, which connects words/phrases to social and historical context.
Lesson 7
Leaders Motivate
Students read passages that explicitly define key terms such as authority, institutions, power, and leadership (e.g., authority is permission/support from an institution; power is the ability to do something). Students read about historical political figures (John Locke and Demosthenes) and are directed to research those figures using reference links, exposing them to political vocabulary and rhetoric in historical contexts. Students complete quote-matching and apply quotes about leadership to novel characters, engaging with vocabulary about power and leadership in varied phrasings.
Lesson 9
Conflict Within and Without
Students are asked to interpret the Latin allusion "Veni, vidi, vici," learn its meaning, and write one to two paragraphs explaining why the author chose that phrase and how it foreshadows plot developments. The lesson provides examples of social and political situations (e.g., Japanese-American internment, state laws banning interracial marriage, restrictions on third children) that use historically and socially charged vocabulary. The conflict activities require students to locate and label phrases or text boxes from Ender's Game into categories (internal vs. external) and to explain how those items relate to theme and plot.
Lesson 10
View from Valentine
Students are given explicit definitions to review (for example, dirigible, albedo, ascetic, impassively, and feint) and are instructed to review these vocabulary words for Chapters 13 and 14. Students are asked to create acrostics that require selecting words tied to characters and themes, which practices word retrieval and use. The lesson also asks students to review the definition of third person omniscient narrator, reinforcing meaning of narrative terms.
Lesson 11
Thud, Whump, Huut
The lesson explicitly defines and asks students to review the term onomatopoeia, giving examples (buzz, thump, swoosh). Students are asked to compare passages in the novel with movie or comic adaptations and to note what narration or dialogue was omitted or changed using the provided "Comic Adaptation" activity page with quoted passages and prompts.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
Students complete a dedicated vocabulary section (Part I) in the unit test where they must use the word "invective" in a sentence, define "polyglot," and choose correct words (puerile, ascetic, dirigible) to fill contextual sentences. Students solve an acrostic puzzle using unit vocabulary (e.g., anachronism, romanticism, onomatopoeia, leadership), reinforcing word meanings from the unit. In Box 8 (Historical References) students research NATO and the Warsaw Pact, identify member countries, and list similarities and differences between the historical Warsaw Pact and the fictional Second Warsaw Pact, applying political/historical vocabulary in context.
Unit 2: Grammar, Part II
Lesson 4
Modifier Errors
Students choose correct words from a word bank in Part 1 (e.g., peak/peek/pique, passed/past) and fill blanks using sentence context. Students sort words by meaning in Part 2 and identify incorrect colloquial phrases in Part 3, requiring them to interpret word usage. Students check answers against an answer key, practicing determination of word meaning as used in specific sentences.
Lesson 5
Hyphens and Apostrophes
Students read passages and fill in commonly confused words (e.g., the Commonly Confused Words Set XII activity where they choose between real/really and principal/principle) and check answers against an answer key. In the hyphen activity, students explain how meaning changes between paired sentences (hyphen or no hyphen) and rewrite sentences to clarify meaning. In the apostrophe editing task, students mark up a multi-sentence travel post to correct possessive and contraction uses, which requires interpreting how words and phrases function in context.
Lesson 8
Parallelism
Students choose the correct homophones (there/their/they're, to/too/two, who/which/that) in multiple activity pages, using sentence context to select the appropriate word and decode a hidden message. Students correct misuse of commonly confused words in a longer passage (the Terrible Advice Column), which requires interpreting how each word functions in the sentence. Students also read short explanatory tips that define uses of words like to/too/two and there/their/they're and apply those definitions to sentence-level practice.
Unit 3: Informational Texts
Lesson 1
What Are Informational Texts?
Students are asked in Homework Question #5 to determine the meaning of the phrase "egalitarian ethos" from the context of the Outliers passage and then look up both words in the dictionary to confirm their inference. The Student Activity Page asks students to locate text features such as a glossary and bold or italicized vocabulary words, prompting students to notice where unfamiliar terms may be defined. The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill "Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science" as a learning objective.
Lesson 2
Outliers
Students are asked to read vocabulary words in context on the "Chapter One Vocabulary" page and use a thesaurus and dictionary to find synonyms that match both denotation and connotation. The activity lists specific words (arbitrary, profoundly, patronage, beneficiary, persist) and asks students to test synonyms by inserting them into the original sentences. The Parent Plan explicitly states that students will "determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text," including connotative meanings.
Lesson 4
The 10,000 Hour Rule
Students are asked in the discussion prompts to explain the meaning of the phrase "Achievement is talent plus preparation," which requires interpreting a specific phrase from the text. The skills list instructs students to "determine an author's point of view or purpose" and to "analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view," which involves examining word choice and phrasing. Activities require students to cite textual evidence and analyze how Gladwell develops ideas across sections, tasks that implicitly ask students to interpret language in context.
Lesson 5
Harlan, Kentucky
Students are instructed to lightly underline unfamiliar words as they read and to use the Chapter 6 Vocabulary activity to guess meanings from context and then record dictionary definitions. The activity directs students to verify their preliminary determinations (guess + look-up), to note pronunciations, and to consult a specified online dictionary. The Parent Plan Skills explicitly list determining or clarifying unknown words using context clues, analyzing word parts, consulting general and specialized references, verifying inferred meanings, and acquiring domain-specific vocabulary.
Lesson 6
The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes
The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill: "Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials." Activity 1 requires students to use a dictionary, write synonyms/antonyms, and use vocabulary in context on the Chapter 7 Vocabulary pages. The lesson introduces and has students work with social-science vocabulary (e.g., theocracy, hierarchical, autocratic, Power Distance Index, uncertainty avoidance) and asks students to compare and interpret country scores in relation to texts they have read.
Lesson 7
Rice Paddies and Math Tests
Students are given a pre-reading vocabulary list (autonomous, efficacy, recompense, disparagement) with definitions to review before reading. The Parent Plan skills explicitly include tasks to 'consult general and specialized reference materials' to determine or clarify precise word meaning and to 'identify and correctly use patterns of word changes' that indicate different meanings or parts of speech.
Lesson 8
With Malice Toward None
Students answer Question #3 by identifying that the war was fought over the keeping of slaves and by explaining the adjectives "peculiar" and "powerful" used to describe that interest. Students identify an allusion to Matthew 7:1 and explain how that reference shapes meaning and audience appeal. Students learn definitions of rhetoric, parallelism, and antithesis and apply those terms to interpret specific phrases in Lincoln's speech.
Lesson 9
Writing about History
Students are given explicit definitions of 'primary sources' and 'secondary sources' and a note explaining that 'squaw' is an antiquated, offensive term, which introduces vocabulary and word-meaning. The lesson states that "language can have profound effects and influence the way we interpret sources," and students complete activities (Firsthand Accounts, Primary Falsehoods, Two Points of View) that require analyzing testimony language and comparing wording between primary and secondary accounts. The Parent Plan skills list also instructs students to "evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric," which requires attention to how words and phrases function in texts.
Lesson 10
Science Writing
Students read specific pages on forces and circular motion and answer direct questions asking them to define equilibrium, distinguish centrifugal and centripetal force, and explain why centrifugal force is called "fictitious." The Investigating Claims activity asks students to explain how the author supports claims (e.g., noncontact forces are invisible) and to identify the methods the author uses to clarify the term "centripetal force" (highlighting, explanation, example, illustration). The Parent Plan Skills list explicitly asks students to determine the meaning of domain-specific words and phrases in a scientific or technical context and to cite textual evidence for analysis.
Lesson 11
Technical Writing
Students are asked to identify jargon and specialized vocabulary, mark unfamiliar terms in text, and create glossary entries (Activity 4: Glossary). Students must highlight glossary terms in their how-to guides and produce a ‘Final Glossary' with definitions for reader reference. The lesson includes an explicit example translating specialized medical jargon into plain language and asks students to annotate passages to highlight terms that need explanation.
Lesson 12
Logical Fallacies
Students complete Part I of the "Common Fallacies" activity by filling in vocabulary blanks (e.g., premise, non-sequitur, straw man). Students are asked to look up and record definitions for additional fallacies (hasty generalization, false dilemma) and to "review the vocabulary covered in this lesson." Students read historical political speeches (e.g., Andrew Jackson, Bush, Bernie Sanders, JFK) and highlight or identify language tied to fallacious reasoning and rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos).
Unit 4: Drama
Lesson 2
How to Read Drama
The lesson asks students to analyze diction/language with explicit prompts: identify figurative language, explain how language shows differences between characters, note dialect, and explain how language evokes feelings. Students also answer questions about subtext and stage directions and apply Aristotle's elements to Trifles, which asks them to interpret symbolic language (e.g., the bird simile) and social dialogue differences between men and women.
Lesson 3
Life and Times
Students are given explicit definitions for words such as "tenements" and "presage" in the Things to Know section and the instructor text (Nemiroff's introduction) also explains "presaged (foretold)." Students watch a Civil Rights Act of 1964 video and are asked to explain the narrator's phrase, "The stroke of a pen proved more powerful for the fight for civil rights," which asks them to determine meaning of a phrase in a historical/political text. The lesson includes and exposes students to political and social vocabulary (Brown v. Board of Education, Civil Rights Act, segregation, restrictive covenants, Great Migration, Black Belt) in reading and video sources.
Lesson 4
A Raisin in the Sun
Students are asked to determine the meanings of bolded vocabulary from Act I using context and, if needed, a dictionary (Activity 1: "Act I Vocabulary" directions and excerpts). The Student Activity Page lists targeted words (vindicated, proposition, permeated, heathenism, mutilated, assimilationism, raptly) and requires students to match them to definitions based on context. The Parent Plan Skills explicitly tell students to determine or clarify unknown words, use context clues, and consult general and specialized reference materials to find pronunciation, precise meaning, or part of speech.
Lesson 5
Act II
Students are asked to read vocabulary words in the play's context, write what they think each word means, and then look up the correct definition in a dictionary and revise their answers (Activity 1). The Parent Plan skills explicitly direct students to determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words using context clues and to consult general and specialized reference materials. Students also answer comprehension questions that define socially charged language from the play (for example, they define "assimilationist Negro" as someone who would give up his own culture to submerge in the dominant culture).
Lesson 6
Act III
Students are prompted to define the word "defer" and explain the phrase "dream deferred" on the "A Dream Deferred" activity page, directing them to determine meaning from the poem's context. They identify five similes in Hughes's poem and analyze the imagery of the final line ("Or does it explode?"), which requires interpreting phrases as they are used in the text. The homework quiz asks students to match eight vocabulary words (e.g., precipitately, deliberately, prefigured, intently) to definitions, practicing word-meaning determination.
Lesson 8
Shakespeare
The activity sheet directs students to use contextual clues or a dictionary for unclear words and includes a "Word Understanding" step explaining Shakespearean spellings and meanings. Students are asked to interpret challenging words and phrases using the Folger edition notes (Question #2) and to rewrite passages in their own words (summarize), which requires determining word and phrase meaning. The Parent Plan Skills list explicitly lists determining or clarifying meanings, using context, consulting reference materials, and verifying inferred meanings.
Lesson 9
Romeo and Juliet
Students read a historical article titled "Weddings and Dowries" and answer journal questions about why having a daughter marry was a financial burden, which requires understanding the economic term dowry. The lesson explicitly defines dowry in the "Things to Know" section and asks students to read Act I and interpret Juliet's line "My only love sprung from my only hate!", asking them to determine its meaning in context. Students also answer comprehension questions about social relationships and public marriage ceremonies based on the historical reading.
Lesson 10
Figurative Language
Students are asked to identify and explain figurative language in context (e.g., circle oxymorons, underline paradoxes, and explain their meanings from Romeo's speech). They complete activities that require determining meanings of idioms and euphemisms (underline idioms and record the real meaning of euphemisms) and find or create puns, demonstrating attention to wordplay and multiple meanings. The Parent Plan explicitly lists objectives for determining the meaning of words and phrases in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings and analyzing the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.
Lesson 11
Nuanced Meaning
Students read excerpts from Romeo and Juliet and are asked to determine meanings of bolded words in context using provided word boxes (Parts I and II). The lesson defines denotation and connotation and asks students to analyze positive and negative connotations and produce synonyms with sentences (Part III). The answer key and activity pages require students to map archaic or unfamiliar words (e.g., physic, gyves, fleer) to modern meanings, demonstrating practice in deriving meanings from context.
Lesson 12
Time and Tension
Students are directed to search the play for specific time-related words (minute, hour, day, week, year, Wednesday, Thursday, to-night, to-morrow) and record how many times each word is mentioned. Students analyze Friar Lawrence's monologue and are asked to list the ways he mentions time, and they examine Capulet's repetition of "tomorrow" and the Nurse's monologue for time references and foreshadowing. The activities require students to explain how those time-related words and phrases contribute to tension and suspense in Act 4.
Final Project
Drama
Students are directed to "use the 'Unit Review Sheet' to help you review definitions and important concepts," and the parent plan lists "Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings." The unit test includes items requiring students to identify literary devices (pun, idiom, euphemism, oxymoron) and to match quotes to speakers, which requires understanding words and phrases in context.
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
Students are asked to define and explain the meanings of words and phrases such as idiom, oxymoron, euphemism, flashback, rhetoric, jargon, mitigated speech, and foreshadowing in multiple fill-in-the-blank and short-answer items. Students must explain the meaning of the term "outliers" as used in Gladwell's Outliers and identify the cultural/social factor Gladwell attributes to airline crashes, which requires interpreting social vocabulary in an informational text. Students answer a direct question about the difference between primary and secondary sources, demonstrating understanding of historical vocabulary used in historical writing.