Ninth Grade - ELA
1: Semester 1
Unit 1: Lord of the Flies
Lesson 1
The Call
Students are asked to organize ideas into labeled columns for "utopia" and "dystopia," which requires them to separate and contrast characteristics. The "Dystopias" activity page guides students to record titles and answer directed headings (Settings, Plot Ideas, Central Struggles, Common Elements, Anticipation), prompting organization of observations and connections. The materials include graphics on the vocabulary pages and a linked TED-Ed video, providing multimedia and visual aids that students can use to support comprehension.
Lesson 2
Life on the Island
Students complete STEAL character pages that are organized into labeled sections (Speech, Thoughts, Actions, Looks, Effect on Others) and record page-numbered notes, which requires them to collect and organize information about each character. The directions ask students to "start the character pages" with Chapter 1 and to return to the charts as they read, prompting them to track changes over time and make distinctions about character development. The Student Activity Pages are formatted as tables and include small graphics (conch, glasses, silhouettes), providing models of formatting and visual support that students use while taking notes.
Lesson 3
Paths in the Jungle
Students are directed to read and annotate an article, identify the author's thesis and supporting points, and record those items on a provided top-hat graphic organizer. The Student Activity Page explicitly asks students to list the "Author's main argument/thesis," "Key points that support the thesis," and "Your reaction to the thesis," and to "explain thoughts about the article" and answer "Why do you think dystopian literature is popular?" The lesson provides web links to articles (multimedia sources) and a formatted activity page with columns and a sidebar that students use to organize their responses.
Lesson 4
Images from Paradise
Students fill a structured "Five Senses" chart (a table) with quotations, label each example as positive/negative and as "paradise" or "dystopia," and write explanations that indicate how each quotation serves as imagery and whether it suggests paradox or contrast. The "Types of Clauses" activity asks students to write three sentences about the book, each containing a different clause type, and the STEAL character pages require students to record and organize characters' actions and thoughts across entries. These tasks require students to collect, classify, and explain textual evidence using a graphic organizer and organized notes.
Lesson 5
Not Hunting, But Hunted
Students are asked in Option 2 to "Create a system for how the boys can decide on and adopt laws in the community and what the system of rewards and consequences might be" and to "Describe the system in a one-page journal entry," which requires organizing ideas and making distinctions (e.g., whether littluns and biguns should be treated differently). Option 1 asks students to "Draft four or five laws" addressing specific concerns, which requires selecting and organizing content related to a focused topic. The lesson provides a 5-minute video link and an illustration on the student activity page, offering multimedia that students can use to aid comprehension.
Lesson 6
Symbolism, Part 1
Students complete Activity 1 by selecting interpretations for symbols and writing brief, text-supported explanations for their choices, which requires writing to convey an idea and backing it with evidence. The Student Activity Page is titled and organized into sections (symbols, interpretations, instructions), so students respond in a structured worksheet format. In Activity 2 students write a one-page journal entry from a character's point of view, recording actions and quotes and considering priorities and fears, which asks students to organize observations about characters and make connections among ideas.
Lesson 7
Bowed and Bowed Again
Students complete the activity page "The Beast," in which they fill a two-column graphic organizer comparing each boy's likely response based on the characters' knowledge versus the reader's knowledge, requiring them to organize perspectives and draw distinctions. The student activity pages include a labeled chart and a small landscape graphic to support comprehension and to structure student responses. Students also write sentences in their journals that demonstrate understanding of phrase types, which asks them to compose and organize sentence-level information.
Lesson 8
Defects of Human Nature
Students are asked to choose themes that support Golding's major theme, copy a chosen theme on a provided line, record details from the novel, and write a 3-4 sentence explanation of how the main theme supports their choice (Activity 1, Option 1/2). The student activity page provides three large boxes for students to fill with notes or illustrations and lines for a short written explanation, and Option 2 supplies scaffolded explanations of theme choices for students who need structure. The Parent Plan repeatedly directs students to identify minor themes, support choices with textual details, and explain relationships between themes (e.g., power and influence; civilization and survival).
Lesson 9
Symbolism, Part 2
Students complete a 'Recognizing Archetypes' activity that asks them to place characters into labeled categories (The Villain, The Hero, The Innocent, The Mentor) and provide examples, which requires organizing character information under headings. Students also complete an 'Allegory Analysis' chart that prompts them to describe what each character or setting might represent in society, which requires connecting concrete story elements to abstract ideas. The student pages include explicit section headings and simple graphics that model organizing content visually.
Lesson 10
Which Is Better?
Students complete a two-column "Developing Civilization" activity page that asks them to record similarities and differences between the boys and early human civilizations, requiring them to organize complex ideas into comparative categories. Students view a black-and-white illustration of the Colosseum and an aqueduct and are directed to watch a linked Crash Course video, providing graphics and multimedia to aid comprehension. Students write a one-page journal entry from a character's point of view analyzing Jack's leadership and contrasting it with Ralph's and with pre-island civilized life.
Lesson 11
The Film
Students are asked to watch the 1963 film (multimedia) and compare it to the novel, using a provided "Movie vs. Book" chart to record similarities and differences. The chart contains labeled categories (Characters, Setting, Theme, Plot) that students complete to organize complex ideas and make connections and distinctions between text and film. Students also answer focused journal questions about omitted scenes and visual differences, prompting written comparison and analysis.
Final Project
Now You Have the Conch
Students are guided to introduce a topic and craft a thesis statement (Things to Know; Thesis step on the checklist; guided outline requiring an introduction with a hook and thesis). Students practice organizing complex ideas by developing outlines (Traditional Outline and Essay Organizer), listing three main supporting points, and using the Brainstorming pages to link textual evidence to theses. Students also use the rubric, checklist, and editor pages to arrange ideas logically, check topic sentences and transitions, and review headings, spacing, and indentation before submission.
Unit 2: Short Stories
Lesson 1
The Gift of the Magi
Students use structured graphic organizers (Short Story Elements and Same Story, Different Place pages) to record and organize characters, setting, plot, and theme, which requires selecting and organizing information. Students research the Magi, Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon using provided web links and then write journal sentences explaining the historical significance and how those allusions contribute to understanding the story, which has them make connections between outside material and the text. The lesson provides multimedia links and visual elements (images on activity pages and video links about irony) that students consult as part of their analysis and writing.
Lesson 2
The Necklace
Students complete a theme web activity in which they record a central theme in a center circle and use outer circles to connect textual details, character actions, and repeated literary elements to that theme, which practices organizing ideas visually. Students are instructed to write a one-paragraph objective summary that begins with the title and author and focuses on main plot points, setting, and central ideas, which directs them to introduce the topic and present organized content. The lesson provides a multimedia link ("How to Find a Theme") and a graphic organizer (the theme web) as resources students can use to aid comprehension.
Lesson 3
Literary Response
Students are instructed to introduce the two stories and their authors in the introduction and to write a thesis that names two similarities, which directs how they introduce a topic. Students use provided graphic organizers (Brainstorming Similarities, Informal Outline, Details and Support) to organize ideas into an introduction, two focused body paragraphs, and a conclusion, and they are prompted to make connections and distinctions between the texts. Students are required to gather and cite textual evidence and to use transitional words and phrases to create cohesion and clarify relationships between claims and evidence.
Lesson 4
Characterization
Students are asked to record and label examples of direct and indirect characterization in a structured "Characterization" activity sheet that separates speech, appearance, thoughts, actions, and how others respond, which requires organizing evidence across categories. The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill "Develop a topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience's knowledge of the topic." The "Character Portrait" homework page provides headings and a graphic area for physical appearance and a picture, showing use of formatting and graphics to organize information.
Lesson 5
Edgar Allan Poe
Students complete a 'Characteristics of Gothic Fiction' activity page that is divided into five labeled sections (gloomy settings, melodrama, insanity/madness, terror/horror, decay/death) and are asked to provide text examples under each heading. Students complete the 'Crazy Like a Fox?' two-column chart, listing evidence for the narrator as 'Rational and Trustworthy' versus 'Irrational or Insane,' which requires organizing ideas to make distinctions. Students create a 6–8 panel storyboard that requires them to pair visual panels (graphics) with quoted text, incorporating images alongside written content.
Lesson 6
The Lottery
Students are directed to use a Student Activity Page that includes a graphic of an open wooden box with three labeled sections (physical description, reactions, historical connections) and to record story elements into those categories. The Black Box activity asks students to examine textual descriptions, character reactions, and connections between the box and the town, prompting them to organize complex ideas about symbolism. The Controversy activity page asks students to compare "The Lottery" with another book/movie and to answer structured questions about thematic similarities, differences, and public reaction.
Lesson 7
Everyday Use
Students conduct research on Alice Walker using provided web links and record findings on an "Author's Biographical Data Sheet," which requires them to gather and note biographical facts and parallels to the story. Students complete the "Quilted Heritage" activity using online quilt galleries and are given the option to print and paste a quilt image onto the activity page, integrating multimedia/graphics into their work. Students rewrite a scene from a different character's point of view in their journals and write a brief reflective paragraph about how the change in perspective alters meaning, which asks them to organize ideas and make connections between point of view and theme.
Lesson 8
Harrison Bergeron
Students are asked to compare and contrast the printed short story and a film adaptation by watching the film 2081 and completing a student activity page that asks them to list scenes added/altered/deleted, note character changes, and discuss which concepts are emphasized more in the film. Students must write journal responses to guided questions about equality, competition, and the society in the story, explaining their answers rather than answering yes/no. The lesson requires students to use multimedia (a discussion video and the film) as sources for their written responses and analysis.
Unit 3: Grammar, Part I
Lesson 2
Subject-Verb Agreement
Students are instructed to record notes, examples, and tips on 'Commonly Confused Words' activity pages that use tables and headings for organization, and the lesson provides web links for further explanation and practice. Option 2 asks students to create a short quiz with at least five sentences and to provide explanations for answers, which requires composing explanatory text. The lesson also directs students to write down rules in their journal and to use the formatted activity pages (tables) to organize information.
Lesson 3
Pronoun Problems
Activity 2 requires students to choose a topic (vague pronoun references or shifts in point of view) and teach it to someone using a poster or a short slideshow. The poster option asks for an attractive heading, explanations in the student's own words, two example sentences showing the error, highlighted words/arrows, and corrected versions. The slideshow option requires at least four slides (title, explanation, examples with highlighting/graphics, and strategies with corrected sentences), explicitly calling for formatting, visual highlighting, and multimedia tools.
Lesson 4
Commas
Students are asked to create a comma guide using a provided graphic organizer or a poster/booklet/slideshow, organizing rules into labeled sections such as "Items in a Series," "Between Coordinate Adjectives," and "Separating a Compound Sentence." They analyze and distinguish punctuation uses (e.g., commas vs. dashes vs. parentheses) by explaining choices for selected sentences and by producing paired sentences showing essential vs. nonessential clauses. The materials point students to webpages and a video and explicitly invite use of colors, graphics, and slideshow multimedia to aid comprehension.
Lesson 6
Colons and Semicolons
Students are asked to write well-developed opening statements for both the semicolon and the colon that introduce each punctuation mark as a topic and use listed claims to organize ideas. Students must include specific examples (joining independent clauses, conjunctive adverb use, complex lists for semicolons; introducing a list, a quotation, and an instructional example for colons) and address common mistakes, which requires making distinctions and connections between uses. Students also present their statements aloud and answer probing questions, demonstrating organized explanation and analysis of the concepts. The student pages and activity prompts include headings and illustrative graphics that model organized presentation.
Lesson 7
Spelling
Students practice making distinctions between similar words by completing multiple 'Commonly Confused Words' activity pages (Set VI, Set VII) and by reading tips that explain usage differences (e.g., council vs. counsel, cite/sight/site). Students organize spelling knowledge by creating a spelling journal or highlighted word list, recording notes and examples on activity pages, and making detective cards that underline tricky parts and include mnemonic clues. Students use multimedia resources (a linked video about compliment/complement and online spelling games/programs) as supports for comprehension.
Final Project
Wrapping Up
The mini-project Option 1 asks students to make a visual aid that "graphically explains the tips or tricks" for a grammar topic and allows use of posters or digital tools (Creately, Google Drawings, Canva), which requires students to organize information and include graphics/formatting. Option 2 requires students to write a short paragraph that incorporates at least five commonly confused-word items so that "all of your sentences work together as a paragraph," which asks students to produce coherent organized writing. The Parent Plan lists producing "clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task," reinforcing that students will produce organized products.
Unit 4: Poetry
Lesson 1
Introduction to Poetry
Students set a two-minute write to produce and then revise a personal definition of poetry after reading poets' quotations, showing practice introducing a topic and comparing perspectives. Students annotate poems and complete denotation/connotation worksheets in which they record a word's denotation, list connotations, propose similar words, and explain why the original word is more effective, showing practice organizing analysis and making distinctions. Student Activity Pages are titled and formatted with labeled sections and visual elements (quotes page, illustration, line#/word/denotation/connotation fields) that students complete, modeling organized presentation of information.
Lesson 2
Sound and Rhythm
Students listen to audio recordings and analyze differences between versions, identify and label sound devices (alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia), and mark poems with colored pencils. Students write short journal responses explaining why a particular sound repetition is effective and answer structured questions about rhyme scheme, internal rhyme, and alliteration on activity pages. The lesson provides charts and a multimedia audio link that students use to support their analysis of rhythm and meter.
Lesson 6
Fooling with Words
Students watch a one-hour video of poets performing (multimedia) and are asked to choose a favorite poet to research further online. Students complete a structured 'Poet Profile' worksheet that contains labeled sections (Poet Name, Favorite Poem, Additional Poems, Questions About the Poet, Personal Reflection), which provides formatting/headings for recording information. Students are directed to use Poetry Foundation and Poets.org to gather biographical information and list other poems, practicing organization of factual details.
Lesson 7
Analyzing Poetry
Students are asked to complete a Poetry Map graphic organizer with labeled boxes for Word Choice, Imagery, Symbols or Allusions, Tone, Sound Devices, Speaker, Summary, and Theme, which organizes analysis into discrete, related sections. Students annotate poems (Robert Frost's "October" and other examples), write marginal notes and journal reflections about how annotation helped understanding, and are guided to paraphrase and summarize "Blackberry-Picking." The lesson includes a sample annotated poem image and explicit annotation methods (underline/circle, margin notes, summaries, questions) that structure students' written analysis.
Lesson 8
Types of Poems
Students complete an Ekphrasis Analysis chart that asks them to organize observations in columns (subject of the artwork; what the poem says about the work; emotions evoked; how the poem changes meaning), requiring them to make connections and distinctions between visual art and poetic text. Students use a sonnet template that formats writing into labeled sections (First Quatrain, Second Quatrain, Third Quatrain, Couplet) and follow a prescribed rhyme/meter structure, practicing organizational choices. Students view multimedia (Billy Collins video; animators' interpretations of Whitman) and answer guided questions, using those media to support comprehension and analysis. The free-verse activity page prompts students to brainstorm sensory details in a table and to organize descriptive language and strong verbs before composing.
Lesson 9
The Crossover
Students are asked to analyze and explain meanings in writing when they answer journal questions about how the word "crossover" changes meaning across poems and whether those uses are effective (Homework Option 1). Students compare and analyze vocabulary definitions by examining how the author defines words versus a dictionary and explain how the book's method aids understanding (Vocabulary Option 1). Students may also create a vocabulary poem that models the author's format, using organized "As in:" lines that connect word meaning to personal events (Vocabulary Option 2). The lesson includes multimedia links (YouTube) that students can view as background or context for the text.
Lesson 10
Poems and Poets
Students are asked to prepare a one-page biographical sketch (using PowerPoint/Prezi or other tools) that lists the poet's name, country, language, dates, and at least three facts, and are encouraged to include images and statistics from linked sites. The Poet Biography Boxes and Poetry Map templates require students to organize information into labeled sections (Known For, Influences, Biographical Details; Word Choice, Imagery, Theme, etc.). Activity 4 directs students to write a journal response that summarizes a poem and explains how cultural references enrich meaning, requiring students to connect biographical/cultural information to textual evidence.
Final Project
Poetry
Students are asked to create a poetry explication using presentation software (PowerPoint, Prezi, or Google Slides) and to place poem excerpts on individual slides while demonstrating aspects such as rhyme, meter, sound devices, speaker, tone, imagery, figurative language, symbols, literal meaning, and theme. Several final project choices require students to combine words and images or multimedia (ekphrastic poem displayed side-by-side with artwork, visual interpretation as animation/video/storyboard/comic, director's notebook with sketches and pasted images, and setting a poem to music or creating a slideshow with background audio). The instructions direct students to organize their explication across slides and to use creative highlighting and visual elements to communicate different analytical points.
Unit 5: Nonfiction
Lesson 1
Types of Nonfiction
Students are asked to write definitions for biography, autobiography, and memoir in their own words and to use the "All About a Person" activity to record observations about a chosen book, including comparisons of themes, viewpoints, and evidence of accuracy. Students examine front and back matter and note features such as a map, table of contents, glossary, and timeline when classifying I Am Malala. Students also write a short journal response after reading a Guardian article comparing cultural approaches to fiction vs. nonfiction.
Lesson 2
Pakistan
Students are directed to use the book's timeline, a map in the front matter, and web links (Wikipedia and a language site) to answer the Pakistan activity questions. The Student Activity Page asks students to synthesize information from those multimedia and graphical sources to respond to specific questions about history, geography, and language. The Parent Plan lists a skill to "Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats," which aligns with using graphics and online sources.
Lesson 3
The Taliban
Students are instructed in Option 1 to begin with a strong introductory sentence that introduces the topic and main idea, use transitional words and phrases for flow, develop body sentences that answer specific informational questions, and end with a concluding sentence. Option 2 directs students to create slides that combine visual aids (images, maps, diagrams) and text to communicate key information and to cite image sources. The homework activity has students list and classify education barriers, requiring them to organize information into categories and make distinctions among causes (poverty, conflict, exclusion, isolation).
Lesson 5
Displacement
Students are asked to create a photo report (Option 1) by pasting pictures, recording the school's name, location, and grade level, writing three assumptions about the school, and conducting brief research about school conditions and statistics. In Option 2 students assemble a mini-book by choosing four transportation types, pasting or drawing images, and writing advantages and disadvantages for each, then folding and formatting the mini-book. The activities reference web links and pictures, requiring students to use multimedia and graphics as part of their product.
Lesson 6
A Day Like Any Other
Students are directed to use the APE strategy (Answer, Prove, Extend) and to restate part of the question in their answer, which guides them to introduce a topic and provide organized evidence. The activity requires students to provide quotations or specific examples from the text (Prove) and to explain connections or opinions (Extend), which asks them to organize ideas and make connections. The lesson includes a graphic organizer image (the APE visual and Student Activity Page) to help students structure their responses.
Lesson 7
Life in England
Students are asked to write an informal journal response identifying a world issue and imagining how they would make a difference, and they are told their final project will be a paper about an issue important to them. Students watch an 11-minute documentary and other video excerpts and take notes comparing the filmmaker's account with Malala's book, analyzing differences in focus, emphasis, and impact. Students prepare to discuss and evaluate content presented in diverse media, integrating observations from both print and multimedia sources.
Lesson 8
Civil Rights
Students cut out timeline excerpts and arrange them in chronological order on the "Civil Rights Overview" activity, which requires them to organize events and distinguish steps forward and steps backward. Students complete graphic organizers (the "Students in Action" pros/cons chart) and a double-entry diary for "Just and Unjust Laws," requiring them to record, compare, and analyze ideas. Students watch multiple assigned videos and read primary texts (e.g., King's letter, Douglass excerpt) and then record organized journal responses that draw connections between media, documents, and historical developments.
Lesson 9
Civil Disobedience
Students analyze paired excerpts from Thoreau and King using a three-column comparison table labeled Thoreau, Overlapping Ideas, and King, and they are directed to highlight similar phrases and explain overlapping ideas. Students read sets of passages on specific topics (America, role of government, voting) and write which author's view they agree with and explain the alignment of their views. The materials include explicit formatting and graphics (comparison tables, headings, icons such as scales, a government building, and a ballot box) that students use while organizing and comparing ideas.
Lesson 10
Learning from the Past
Students read and annotate Elie Wiesel's speech and complete activity pages that require organizing responses in side-by-side sections and answering focused short-answer questions. Students draft a paragraph identifying a universal truth in Wiesel's speech and compare it with quotations from other advocates (MLK, Malala, Thoreau). Students create a model museum wall that requires choosing images/graphics, writing one- or two-sentence formal explanations, and arranging visual and textual elements (including the option to use design apps or multimedia).
Lesson 12
Running from War
The Skills list explicitly states students will "Write informative/explanatory texts" and "Develop the topic with well-chosen...quotations," and the lesson requires students to use quotations and the APE (Answer, Prove, Extend) strategy in journal responses. The Using Quotations activity and Student Activity Page give specific practice for integrating quotations and punctuation, and Part II asks students to introduce a quotation including its context. The lesson also includes a multimedia link (Blending Quotations video) that students watch to reinforce quotation-integration techniques.
Lesson 13
Child Soldier
Students complete a "Different Accounts" activity that asks them to fill parallel "Book" and "Video" columns and watch a six-minute Ishmael Beah video, requiring them to compare and organize information across media. Students complete a "Child Soldiers" chart that has separate spaces for "Advantages" and "Disadvantages," prompting them to organize complex ideas and make distinctions from different points of view. Students use a "Role of Rap" activity page with directed questions and visual icons, and the lesson explicitly integrates a video link and structured activity pages (headings/graphics) as sources for their responses.
Lesson 14
Rehabilitation
Students complete a structured comparative worksheet titled "RUF vs. Government Soldiers" that asks them to highlight actions that both groups committed and to record Yes/No responses and supporting examples, which requires organizing information and making distinctions. In Option 2 students must write a journal response stating a conclusion about whether the government committed war crimes and provide examples or quotations from the text to support that conclusion, practicing selection and analysis of content. The "Wiesel's Words" activity directs students to re-watch an author video (multimedia) and explain which quotation applies to the memoir, linking multimedia evidence to their explanatory writing.
Lesson 15
A New Life
Students are given step-by-step guidance for writing summaries (read, annotate, identify main points, write in your own words) and asked to summarize Chapter 20 in 1–2 paragraphs. The Comparing Memoirs activity asks students to make explicit connections and distinctions between two texts (e.g., how education is addressed, which opportunities would improve each memoirist's situation). The lesson offers two production tasks — a flyer and a web page — that require students to organize background information, describe how an organization helps, and include images/formatting or multimedia and use online tools.
Final Project
Expository Essay
Students are instructed to choose a topic, develop a research question, and write an introduction that states a thesis and lists three supporting points (Homework; Part 1 and Homework sections). Students plan organization using a K-N-S chart and the APE (Answer, Prove, Extend) method to turn each key point into a body paragraph and are directed to use transitional words and phrases to connect ideas (Part 2, Part 4, rubric excerpts). The rubric and revision/proofreading steps require students to provide a concluding statement and to arrange development and style appropriate to audience and purpose, and the lesson gives specific page-formatting requirements (title, margins, font, double-spacing, Works Cited).
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
The exam tasks ask students to compose extended responses: Part IV requires students to provide thorough paragraph answers to prompts that compare authors, analyze themes, and explain relationships among texts, which requires organizing ideas and making connections. Part V asks students to introduce and smoothly integrate quotations into their own writing and to paraphrase passages, which practices introductions to embedded material and source integration. The answer key and a multiple-choice item explicitly define revision as improving thesis, organization, and support, signaling attention to organizing and refining written ideas.
2: Semester 2
Unit 1: Ender's Game
Lesson 2
We're People, Not Thirds
Students complete the Planned Procreation activity page by brainstorming reasons for family planning under four labeled categories (Religious; Environmental/Ethical; Personal/Financial; Governmental/Legal), which requires them to sort and distinguish influences. Students may choose the collage option and assemble text, magazine clippings, photographs, quotes, or drawings, which uses graphics and multimedia to represent a topic. Students who choose to research eugenics are asked to record ten facts, showing engagement with topic-specific information.
Lesson 3
Science Fiction
Students read an article and complete a graphic organizer on the Science Fiction page that asks them to define the topic, list common themes, name historical eras and authors, and state key differences between science fiction and fantasy. Students sort scenarios into hard vs. soft science fiction and match short statements to genre elements, practicing organization and making distinctions. The lesson provides visually divided activity pages with graphics and a web link (multimedia) to support comprehension.
Lesson 6
Performance Is Personal
Students choose three evaluation criteria, write them in labeled columns, assign numeric scores, total them, and create a ranked leaderboard in the "Competing Commanders" activity, which requires organizing multiple ideas and distinctions about leadership. Students review the opening conversations of chapters and answer targeted questions on the "Text Structure" page, identifying foreshadowing, explaining how conflicting opinions create tension, naming roles of authority figures, and describing stylistic differences, which requires synthesizing information and making connections across text elements.
Lesson 7
Leaders Motivate
Students research John Locke and Demosthenes and write a journal entry explaining links between the two sets of personalities, which requires organizing ideas and making connections. Students complete a graphic organizer (Character / Quote / Reason) matching quotes about leadership to novel characters and explain their choices, which requires analysis and distinctions among concepts like power, authority, and leadership. The materials include web links and a short video presentation to use multimedia and include printed activity pages with speech-bubble quotes and cut-and-paste phrase fragments as graphics that students interact with.
Lesson 8
Flies and Self-Loathing
Students complete a graphic organizer that asks them to compare and contrast Lord of the Flies and Ender's Game across categories such as Setting, Leadership, Theme, Power, Responsibilities, Fears, and Consequences, which requires organizing complex ideas and making distinctions. The lesson explicitly defines comparison and contrast as a strategy to analyze literature, and prompts students to think about themes, leadership, and consequences and to describe similarities and differences. Students also design a logo for an army and are asked to research animal symbolism, which asks them to gather and present information using a visual graphic.
Lesson 9
Conflict Within and Without
Students sort and organize specific examples of internal and external conflict using a provided chart and by cutting and pasting text boxes into the appropriate categories, which uses a graphic organizer to make distinctions. Students write a paragraph responding to three questions about a conflict's impact on relationships, plot development, and character change, and they write a 1–2 paragraph journal entry speculating about the chapter title and its thematic foreshadowing. The lesson includes an image/table comparing internal and external conflicts that students use to support their analysis and to choose which conflict is most central to the novel.
Lesson 11
Thud, Whump, Huut
Students are asked to compare the novel to a movie or comic adaptation by rereading a scene and re-watching or by reading the first ten pages of the comic and completing a "Comic Adaptation" activity page. The activity page requires students to list narration or dialogue omitted or changed, judge whether Marvel communicated omitted words through pictures, and note whether omissions compromise the novel. The lesson directs students to take notes on differences, consider omitted or changed information/dialogue, and discuss which version is more effective, using multimedia (film) and graphics (comic pages) as source material.
Lesson 12
Campbell's Comparisons
Students watch a video that summarizes Campbell's 12 "hero's journey" steps and record those steps in their journals. Students choose six steps and use the Hero's Journey activity sheet (a six-box graphic organizer) to describe parallels between those steps and episodes in Ender's Game. The activity uses multimedia (the video) and a formatted graphic organizer to support students' analysis and organization of ideas.
Lesson 13
The Enemy's Gate Is Down
Students complete a "Discovering Subplots" activity that requires them to fill a three-column table (Graff and the I.F.; Ender's Story; Peter and Valentine) with mysteries and questions, using the table to organize comparisons and distinctions among plots. Students write one- to two-sentence summaries of four leadership lessons on the "Leadership Lessons: Forbes Four" activity page and place those summaries into four labeled boxes with a central "My Life" circle, using the graphic organizer to connect ideas to personal application. Students prepare to answer discussion questions that ask them to compare how the Graff subplot is structured differently from the Peter/Valentine subplot, prompting analysis of organization and textual structure.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
Students are asked to write two to three paragraphs comparing and contrasting military and civilian leadership (Box 5), which requires organizing complex ideas and making distinctions between leadership types. In the Historical References activity (Box 8) students research NATO and the Warsaw Pact, color a map, sort country boxes into columns, and list two similarities and two differences, which asks them to organize information and use graphics to aid comprehension. The storyboard (Box 6) and book-cover (Box 1) tasks explicitly invite use of visual or multimedia formats for presenting organized ideas.
Unit 2: Grammar, Part II
Lesson 2
Capitalization and Numbers
Students record rules, examples, and preferred styles on organized activity pages (e.g., the "Writing Numbers" grid and the "Commonly Confused Words" tables) and fill in notes under the Words / Notes, tips, and examples columns. Students place a check mark beside correctly capitalized sentences and then write the rule that explains each pair, which requires them to state distinctions and organize explanatory information. The lesson provides web links and an online quiz for reference and practice, and student pages include headings, tables, and illustrations that students use while recording and organizing information.
Lesson 4
Modifier Errors
Students sort commonly confused words into categories and complete a multi-part activity page with labeled sections (Part 1–Fill in the Blanks, Part 2–Word Sorting, Part 3–Spot the Fake), which shows organized presentation and practice. Students create a five-question modifier quiz (Option 2) with an answer key, requiring them to assemble and organize content and distinctions among error types. Students draw paired cartoons of original and corrected sentences (Option 1) on a labeled "Modifier Madness" page, using graphics to clarify meaning differences.
Lesson 7
Verb Voice and Mood
Students are asked to create a clear explanation of the subjunctive mood for a younger audience and to "explain briefly what mood is" and "mention the two types people are more familiar with -- indicative and imperative," which requires introducing the topic. The assignment gives product options (poster, slideshow, comic strip, card game) that explicitly invite formatting, graphics, and multimedia. The project rubric requires a clear, cohesive message, definitions, examples/context, and useful strategies, which directs students to organize ideas and provide distinctions and examples.
Final Project
Wrapping Up
Students are asked to create products (a slideshow, poster, explanatory guide, or song/skit) that explain a grammar topic and show differences among concepts (e.g., commonly confused words, active vs. passive voice). Students must plan content, clearly define terms, and provide examples for a target audience (explicit in the Explanatory Guide and Slideshow directions). The slideshow and guide options explicitly instruct students to use text with graphics and allow audio/video/animations, and the rubric requires each mini-project to clearly explain the topic and be useful to others.
Unit 3: Informational Texts
Lesson 1
What Are Informational Texts?
Students locate and analyze a wide range of informational text features (headings and subheadings, table of contents, index, charts/graphs, sidebars, glossary, footnotes/endnotes, appendix, bibliography, lists, and formatting aids) by finding examples in Outliers and checking them off on the Student Activity Page. Students compare the book's "Contents" page to typical tables of contents and explain how its organization differs, practicing making distinctions about how information is presented. Students watch a TED talk (multimedia) by Malcolm Gladwell and answer targeted questions about how he presents and reorganizes information, linking multimedia to comprehension of ideas.
Lesson 3
The Matthew Effect
Students are asked to translate data from the book into new visual formats (Activity 1, Option 1) by creating a bar chart, pie chart, or pictograph and to title and clearly label their charts. In Option 2, students must convert written descriptions into a sketch or diagram that would replace or supplement a paragraph (the TIMSS study), showing practice in representing complex information visually. The Parent Plan also states students will "translate quantitative or technical information... into visual form" and "produce clear and coherent writing," linking the activities to organization and presentation of information.
Lesson 4
The 10,000 Hour Rule
Students summarize Sections 1–3 and answer analysis questions that require them to explain how Gladwell develops and organizes his points (Activity 1). Students are asked to mark key opportunities in Sections 4–6 and then transform those notes into a visual product (flowchart, infographic, diagram, PowerPoint slide) that communicates how an example ties to the chapter (Homework/Activity 2). The Parent Plan explicitly lists translating information into visual form and analyzing how an author arranges ideas as targeted skills.
Lesson 5
Harlan, Kentucky
Students are asked to do brief research on who originally settled their area, take notes on stereotypes and their accuracy, and write an informal journal reflection sharing findings with family. The Parent Plan skills list includes producing clear and coherent writing and drawing evidence from texts, and the homework requires students to compare their area with other regions, which prompts making connections and distinctions. Students are also instructed to take organized notes and share findings, which implies some organization of ideas for presentation.
Lesson 6
The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes
Students are asked to write journal responses explaining why Gladwell structured the chapter and to predict the ethnic/cultural issue, requiring them to explain complex ideas in writing. Students analyze text structure and author organization in Activity 2 and Day 2 questions, identifying how points are introduced, developed, and connected. In Activity 5 Option 2, students complete a chart that requires them to organize criticisms, summarize Gladwell's responses, and evaluate effectiveness, and the lesson offers multimedia/graphic options (comic-strip tools, a comparative table, images) for some activities.
Lesson 7
Rice Paddies and Math Tests
Students are asked to create a diagram or infographic that explains a concept from the reading, requiring them to select, organize, and condense information into a visual form. The assignment explicitly allows and encourages use of digital media (embedding audio files, pictures) to enhance audience understanding. Option activities require students to present findings to a parent and explain how the Chinese counting system works, which engages students in introducing and explaining a topic orally.
Lesson 8
With Malice Toward None
Students analyze how Lincoln organizes ideas by answering questions about the speech's structure and rhetorical choices and by completing a chart that asks them to identify quotes, literary devices, and intended effects (a tabular activity). For homework, students select three sentences that fit a three-part organizational pattern (background, main message, forward-looking) and write them as a three-item bulleted list, practicing concise organizational formatting.
Lesson 9
Writing about History
Students complete a two-column graphic organizer that asks them to connect specific secondary-source claims to supporting primary-source excerpts, requiring them to organize information and make connections between source types. Students analyze how an author organizes information (homework question asking for the sequence of subtitles) and discuss organizational choices in class discussion prompts. Option 1 (split-perspective magazine cover) explicitly allows students to use images and online tools, and several activities ask students to collect and cite evidence from multiple documents.
Lesson 10
Science Writing
Students read labeled sections of a science booklet ("Section 1: Forces" and "Circular Motion and Fictitious Forces") and answer comprehension questions that explicate concepts and distinctions (e.g., equilibrium, centripetal vs. centrifugal). Students complete an activity page that asks them to identify the author's methods for explaining terms (highlighting, explanation, example, illustration) and to evaluate whether the booklet is appropriate for a middle-school audience. For homework, students watch a video (multimedia) about centrifugal force and compare the effectiveness of the written explanation versus the visual explanation.
Lesson 11
Technical Writing
Students practice introducing a topic and explaining its benefits in the Day 1 homework where they write an introduction that states the skill and backs it with outside-source support. In Activity 1 students reorganize a dense paragraph by adding a title, headings/subheadings, bulleted/numbered lists, and highlighted vocabulary; Activity 6 directs students to add headings/subheadings and navigation aids. Activity 5 and related instructions require students to create and insert an infographic (or other diagram) and Activity 6 allows inserting digital graphics and a Works Cited, showing use of formatting, graphics, and multimedia.
Lesson 12
Logical Fallacies
Students watch four short videos and complete the "Common Fallacies" activity page, using multimedia to learn and identify fallacy types. Students read and analyze speeches (e.g., Andrew Jackson, Lou Gehrig) and highlight or cite specific passages, organizing examples by fallacy type and matching examples from a Fallacy Bank. Students are asked to write a short speech (Option 2) in which they state their intended audience, present a position, and label where they used ethos, logos, and pathos.
Final Project
Argumentative Research Essay
Students are instructed to introduce a clear thesis and organize their essay using the classical argument structure (Introduction/Narration, Confirmation, Concession/Refutation, Conclusion) and to write a five-paragraph argumentative paper. Students are directed to use transitions and to establish clear relationships among claims, counterclaims, reasons, and evidence, including in-text MLA citations and a Works Cited page. Students must create a slideshow and adapt oral presentation materials, including at least two visual aids (charts, graphs, images) with source credit, and follow formatting requirements (title slide; essay formatting: 12 pt font, 1" margins, double-spaced).
Unit 4: Drama
Lesson 1
What Is Drama?
The lesson uses clear headings (e.g., "Things to Know," "Activity 1: Types of Drama," "Activity 2: Drama Terminology") and includes diagrams and web links so students view multimedia (videos and stage diagrams) to aid comprehension. Students are asked to watch clips and record genre guesses in their journals and to write a paragraph for homework recalling a play and answering guided questions. The vocabulary and stage-layout diagrams model organization of information and include graphics that students are asked to consult when identifying stage types.
Lesson 2
How to Read Drama
Students are prompted to organize analysis using the "Applying Aristotle's Six Elements of Tragedy" activity page, which is divided into labeled blocks (Plot, Character, Thought, Diction/Melody/Spectacle) and asks targeted questions that require students to describe unity of plot, identify protagonists, and explain theme. The lesson includes a graphic (Aristotle/Plato/Alexander busts) and multimedia links (a video performance of Trifles and an online script) that students are directed to use to support their analysis. The activity directions ask students to answer each block in one sentence, guiding concise organization of ideas.
Lesson 4
A Raisin in the Sun
Students complete a "Characters and Their Dreams" graphic organizer, recording ages, adjectives, and each character's dreams, which requires organizing information into a structured chart. Students listen to assigned multimedia (accent samples and videos) and take journal notes, then answer guided questions connecting those media to ideas about dialect and college success. Students write a one-paragraph summary of Act I that asks them to include setting, main characters, and the plot of each scene, and they write short journal responses to prompts about the videos and dialect.
Lesson 5
Act II
Students complete a Character Analysis page that requires them to organize biographical, physical, and psychological information under clear headings, providing explicit formatting and organization. Students write a Reader Response paragraph using the APE (Answer, Prove, Extend) structure, which directs them to state a claim, support it with evidence from the play, and explain connections. Students analyze Hansberry quotes by relating them to characters, which asks them to make connections and distinctions among ideas in the text. Students also listen to linked songs (multimedia) and write about what each song says about the American Dream.
Lesson 7
Fences
Students watch the Fences movie and a 16-minute interview with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, using multimedia to gather information and insights. Students complete a provided comparison chart (graphic organizer) that asks them to organize observations about theme, characters (with prompts like goals, attitude, obstacles), plot, and setting. Students write at least two sentences comparing similarities and differences and a paragraph listing at least three insights from the interview, thereby practicing making connections and distinctions between the two works.
Lesson 8
Shakespeare
Students are asked to use the "How to Read a Shakespeare Play" activity sheet to read, analyze dialogue (identify speaker, meaning, actions, desires), visualize the scene, and "rewrite the passage in your own words," which requires summarizing and connecting details to theme. Students are directed to create a chronological "Shakespeare Timeline" using a graphic organizer with dated boxes and a Globe-Theatre diagram, which requires selecting and organizing factual information. The homework requires students to watch a mini-biography video (multimedia) and synthesize book, video, and web sources into the timeline.
Lesson 9
Romeo and Juliet
Students are given a labeled character map (graphic) to track relationships and asked to watch videos and take a virtual tour of the Globe Theatre (multimedia) to aid comprehension. Students are asked to write journal summaries of Act I scenes and to answer guided questions about Renaissance marriage, which require brief explanatory writing about events and context. The lesson includes headings, image labeling, and external multimedia links that model use of graphics and video for understanding.
Lesson 10
Figurative Language
Students are asked to write journal summaries of scenes and to explain why Shakespeare uses many oxymorons and paradoxes, which requires them to organize ideas and provide explanations. The sonnet activity asks students to reorder lines, mark the rhyme scheme, and explain the major conflict the sonnet summarizes, prompting analysis and synthesis of information. The spouse survey uses columns and headings for students to list and compare physical traits, character qualities, and other qualities, providing a formatted way for students to organize and compare information. The lesson includes multimedia (watching Act II) and graphical activity pages that students use when completing tasks.
Lesson 11
Nuanced Meaning
Students write journal summaries of the most important event in each scene (Day 1 and Day 2), which requires them to state and organize the key point of a topic. In the "Nuances in Meaning" activities, students identify denotations and connotations, choose meanings for bolded words from a word box, and produce sentences using synonyms with positive and negative connotations, which requires making distinctions between word meanings and organizing contextual information. In Activity 2, students rewrite a six-line exchange as modern text messages and are asked to compare the original scene to their modern version, demonstrating connections between original text, character relationships, plot, and tone.
Lesson 13
Tragic Hero
Students complete a Timeline and Character Development chart that asks them to organize Acts/Scenes and list actions/events, then draw conclusions about whether characters are static or dynamic and round or flat. Students complete a two-column 'Pyramus and Thisbe' comparison sheet to identify similarities between the source text and Romeo and Juliet, making connections across texts. Students watch multimedia (TED-Ed and other videos) to learn definitions (e.g., types of heroes, dynamic vs. static) and then answer journal questions summarizing and explaining those concepts.
Lesson 14
Modern Retelling
Students are asked to create a thesis statement that names three areas of difference and to write a short, organized three-paragraph analysis with a topic sentence for each area. They are guided to use the APE method (Answer, Prove, Extend) to organize evidence and explanations, and to include specific examples from both productions in each paragraph. Students use a provided "Two Versions" comparison chart (a two-column table) while watching a film (multimedia) and a Globe Theatre performance to collect organized notes for their analysis.
Final Project
Drama
Students are required to create informational products that include introductions and lead material (e.g., the news webpage must have a masthead and four article leads that state the who/what/when/where and serve as hooks). Students must write explanatory paragraphs for costume and set designs that identify characters, acts/scenes, and explain design choices. Several projects require use of formatting, graphics, and multimedia: the news page must include photos with captions, the podcast/commercial require scripted audio/video, playlists require song listings and sample lyrics, and the rubric and activity pages provide templates and headings for organization.
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
Students are asked to produce multi-paragraph discussion responses (Part IV) requiring organized, coherent answers to prompts, and short-answer/essay items ask students to explain counterarguments, analyze Outliers, and compare works, which requires selection and organization of ideas. The exam includes multiple short-answer and essay-style prompts that require students to explain rhetorical devices (ethos, logos, pathos), give examples, and make distinctions (e.g., types of conflict, primary vs. secondary sources). One prompt (Part IV, question F) explicitly directs students to consider formatting aids in Gladwell's Outliers (headings/subheadings, footnotes, bulleted lists) as features of informational texts.