Ninth Grade - ELA
1: Semester 1
Unit 1: Lord of the Flies
Lesson 1
The Call
Students answer comprehension questions about Chapter 1 that require identifying character actions and motivations (e.g., Jack claims leadership because he is head of the choir; Ralph and Piggy use the conch to organize speaking). Students are prompted to predict which boys will survive and to consider what makes someone likely to survive and what effective leadership qualities are in a survival situation, encouraging thinking about how character traits influence outcomes. Students compare elements of dystopian works and anticipate which elements they might see in Lord of the Flies, connecting character behavior to broader thematic ideas.
Lesson 2
Life on the Island
Students create and maintain STEAL character pages for six main boys (Ralph, Piggy, Jack, Simon, Roger, Sam 'n Eric), recording Speech, Thoughts, Actions, Looks, and Effect on Others with page citations. Students are instructed to add impressions as they continue reading and to notice how the characters are changing over time, including physical appearance changes. Students respond to discussion questions about leadership and Piggy's role and predict future breakdowns of order, prompting consideration of character interactions and consequences.
Lesson 3
Paths in the Jungle
The Character Journal Entry asks students to adopt a character's point of view and answer questions about what the character wants, why they want it, what will happen if they don't get it, and what they must overcome. Students are prompted to write a paragraph describing the character's emotional response and how the character perceives other characters, which requires considering interactions. The lesson asks students to add to STEAL character pages as they read Chapter 4 and to watch for how the signal fire incident changes relationships among the boys, encouraging attention to change in relationships tied to plot events.
Lesson 4
Images from Paradise
Students are instructed to "add to your STEAL character pages" and to "continue to record the characters' actions and thoughts," with explicit direction to "pay careful attention to how you see the characters changing." Question #1 asks students to explain why "things are breaking up," and the suggested answer points to competing priorities (Ralph's shelters vs Jack's meat), which asks students to link character goals and interactions to group conflict. Discussion prompts ask students to consider how older boys treat younger boys, how the littluns treat one another, and why Golding emphasizes the littluns' nightmares, which directs attention to character interactions and internal states.
Lesson 5
Not Hunting, But Hunted
The lesson asks students to add to their STEAL character pages as homework and to review important character developments (e.g., Ralph struggling with leadership, Jack's differing priorities, Piggy's fears), which prompts students to record and notice traits and changes. The "Are Laws Necessary?" activities ask students to explain why Jack would be excited about rules and to design laws or a system for adopting laws, which asks students to consider characters' motivations and interactions. Discussion questions invite students to predict outcomes based on character choices and to consider how willingness to follow rules affects the group, connecting character behavior to consequences in the plot.
Lesson 6
Symbolism, Part 1
Students are directed to add to STEAL character pages as they read Chapter 7, which prompts them to record speech, thoughts, effects on others, actions, and looks. Activity 2 requires students to write a one-page journal entry from a character's point of view that records actions and quotes showing how the boys affect one another and the island and to consider the character's priorities, fears, and trusts. The Parent Plan explicitly asks students to describe each main character's personality traits and impact on the group, and the Chapter 7 questions (e.g., the pig hunt) prompt students to notice interactions that reveal character behavior.
Lesson 7
Bowed and Bowed Again
Students are asked to predict how Jack, Piggy, and Ralph will respond to seeing the bulging creature and then to reconsider those responses using the reader's knowledge that it is a dead parachutist (Activity 1, "The Beast"). Students continue to record characters' actions and thoughts on STEAL character pages as homework, which supports tracking character behavior over time. Discussion questions ask students to explain why boys leave Ralph for Jack and why Jack raids Ralph's group, prompting analysis of character interactions and motivations.
Lesson 8
Defects of Human Nature
The Parent Plan skills list explicitly asks students to "Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme." Activity 1 asks students to choose minor themes supported by character details and to "support those choices by referring to details from the novel," with explicit commentary about Jack's hunger for power, Ralph's selection as leader, and violence shifting control. Homework directs students to "add to the STEAL character pages," which prompts students to record characters' speech, thoughts, effects, actions, and looks as they continue reading.
Lesson 9
Symbolism, Part 2
The Skills section explicitly lists analyzing how complex characters develop, interact, and advance plot/theme. The "Recognizing Archetypes" activity asks students to identify archetypal roles for Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and the littluns and provides descriptions tying characters to roles and to interactions (e.g., Piggy shares Ralph's values but lacks influence; Jack seeks power and stokes fear). The "Allegory Analysis" page asks students to describe what each character and the island might represent, and homework requires students to read Chapter 11 and add to their STEAL character pages, with comprehension questions about character actions and Piggy's death.
Lesson 10
Which Is Better?
The Parent Plan lists the exact skill of analyzing complex characters as a learning goal. Students are asked to add to STEAL character pages as they read Chapter 12, which requires them to track traits and changes over time. Activity 2 asks students to write a one-page journal entry from a character's point of view analyzing Jack's leadership and contrasting it with Ralph and pre-island civilization, directly asking them to consider interactions and leadership effects. The Developing Civilizations activity and the discussion of Piggy's murder prompt students to connect character actions and interactions to the novel's themes (civilization vs. savagery) and plot consequences.
Lesson 11
The Film
Students are explicitly asked to compare characters between the novel and the film using the "Movie vs. Book" chart, with a Characters column prompting similarities and differences. The answer key provides concrete character-focused analysis (e.g., Jack appears more troubled early in the film; Piggy has an added scene that develops his likeability; Simon's encounter with the pig's head differs), connecting character portrayal to plot events and theme. Discussion questions ask students to explain why the boys follow Jack (inviting analysis of motivations like guilt and fear) and to identify omitted scenes that alter the novel's thematic meaning.
Final Project
Now You Have the Conch
Students are directed to use a STEAL character sheet and journal entries to analyze a character and answer questions such as "How does the character change throughout the story? What influences and experiences cause those changes?" The sample prompt asks students to locate and note passages where Ralph and Jack contend for leadership and where the group becomes "caught up," prompting analysis of how leadership and mob mentality influence behavior. Brainstorming and outline pages require students to find specific passages, record page numbers, include quotes as evidence, and explain how those examples support their thesis.
Unit 2: Short Stories
Lesson 1
The Gift of the Magi
Students are asked to record characters, setting, plot (conflict, climax, resolution), and theme on a Short Story Elements organizer for "The Gift of the Magi." Discussion questions prompt students to evaluate Della and Jim's sacrifices and to explain how they can be both "unwise" and "wise," which asks students to interpret character actions and their meaning. Annotation guidance directs students to mark character traits, looks, thoughts, and actions, and a question for "The Necklace" explicitly asks students how the main character changes during the story. Activity prompts (e.g., "Same Story, Different Place") require students to plan characters' responses and explain the irony of their gifts, linking character decisions to outcomes.
Lesson 2
The Necklace
Students are asked to fill out a theme web that includes a prompt explicitly asking "How do the characters (words or actions, etc.) reflect this theme?" Activity directions tell students to re-read annotated sections (e.g., passages showing pride/humbleness) to see how repetitions develop the theme. Discussion prompts model character-focused analysis by asking "How does the author use characterization to develop this theme?" and give examples that trace Mme. Loisel's emotional and physical changes over time.
Lesson 3
Literary Response
The brainstorming and activity pages ask students to identify ways Jim and Monsieur Loisel are alike, note personality traits, and back up those observations with specific examples or quotations from the texts. The APE example has students turn an assertion about the characters into a question, cite quotations showing each man's sacrifice (e.g., Jim selling his watch; Loisel giving up savings), and write an explanation extending how the evidence supports the point. Several prompts direct students to consider how poverty influences the development of the plot and how the stories communicate a moral lesson, and the rubric requires explanation of how evidence supports points.
Lesson 4
Characterization
The Parent Plan lists the exact CCSS standard and the lesson goal tells students they will "observe and analyze how Langston Hughes uses both direct and indirect characterization" in "Thank You, Ma'am." The Student Activity Page asks students to provide examples of speech, appearance, thoughts, actions, and how others respond, labeling each as direct or indirect, and to think about how those characterizations "advance the plot or theme." Reading questions ask students to evaluate whether Roger changed after interacting with Mrs. Jones and to analyze how Mrs. Jones deals with conflict, which prompts analysis of character interaction and change.
Lesson 5
Edgar Allan Poe
Students answer direct questions about the narrator's motivation (Question #1 asks why the narrator wants to kill the old man and identifies the vulture-like eye and insanity). Students analyze point of view and reliability (Question #3 asks why Poe uses first-person and the homework 'Crazy Like a Fox?' asks students to list textual evidence that the narrator is rational versus irrational). Students identify and record examples of foreshadowing that track the narrator's heightened hearing and obsession with the old man's heartbeat, linking that trait from the opening to the confession at the end.
Lesson 6
The Lottery
Students are asked to record how the townspeople react to the black box on the activity page (‘‘How others react to the box'') and to connect those reactions to the town's history and the symbol's role in the story. The discussion questions prompt students to compare Mrs. Hutchinson's friendly exchange with Mrs. Delacroix at the start and Delacroix's leading role in the stoning at the end, asking what that contrast suggests about Delacroix's character. The parent/answer key also directs students to use textual evidence and to consider how character actions (e.g., nervous grinning, keeping distance) relate to theme and tradition.
Lesson 7
Everyday Use
Students answer targeted comprehension and analysis questions that probe character motivation and change (e.g., Questions 2–5 ask who should get the quilts, whether Dee's anger is justified, why Dee comes home, and the significance of the title). Activity 2 asks students to rewrite a scene from Maggie's or Dee's point of view and reflect on how the change alters reader feelings about characters. Activity 3 and the discussion prompts require students to identify how characters' physical traits and actions (Mama removing the quilts, Maggie's meekness, Dee's name change) symbolize beliefs about heritage and to explain how those actions affect relationships and themes. The Parent Plan also explicitly lists the skill of analyzing how complex characters develop, interact, and advance plot/theme, and students are instructed to cite textual evidence in their responses.
Lesson 8
Harrison Bergeron
Students are asked to evaluate Harrison directly (Question #2: "What do you admire or not admire about Harrison?"), prompting analysis of his traits and actions. The student activity asks learners to list and discuss 3–4 changes in characters (height, age, behavior, dialogue) between the print story and the film and to judge whether those changes are significant. Discussion prompts ask students to compare Harrison's speech in the story versus the film and to consider how changes (e.g., father's role swap, altered speech content) affect characterization and thematic emphasis.
Lesson 9
Dialogue
Students read and discuss examples (Lord of the Flies, The Necklace) showing how dialogue reveals personality, temperament, and background and how dialogue affects pacing. Students write a journal paragraph analyzing how an author uses dialogue, citing specific lines or sections of dialogue to support points. Students complete punctuation exercises and create a short scene in which each character speaks 3–5 lines, practicing using dialogue to develop characters and interactions.
Final Project
Writing a Short Story
Students are asked to create a plot diagram that explicitly notes that "your character should grow and develop through this conflict," linking character development to plot stages (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution). Students must write a scene that includes physical description, interactions with at least one other character, dialogue, actions, thoughts, and use of direct and indirect characterization. The revision and reader-review activities require students to evaluate whether characters are well developed, whether motivations are clear, and to revise using dialogue or symbolism to emphasize theme. The rubric and reader-review forms prompt reviewers to judge characterization, character motivations, and how characterization relates to plot and clarity of theme.
Unit 4: Poetry
Lesson 1
Introduction to Poetry
Students read and annotate the poem "Richard Cory," marking words and phrases that communicate Richard Cory's appeal and identifying specific diction such as "sole to crown," "imperially slim," and "richer than a king." Students are directed to underline words in an Emily Dickinson poem, write denotations and connotations, and explain why original words are more effective than synonyms. In the Poem Response activity, students answer questions about speaker/listener roles (e.g., who "them" refers to) and consider how speaker suggestions differ from readers' expectations.
Lesson 4
Voice and Tone
Students are asked to identify the speaker and list at least three things they know about that speaker for three poems (Activity 1 / Student Activity Page), including the communal speaker in "Richard Cory." The Parent Plan questions prompt students to explain how the point of view of the townspeople in "Richard Cory" is important, linking voice to the poem's meaning. Creative options require students to write letters as or to poem speakers or to write new stanzas in another character's voice, which has students adopt perspectives and portray interactions among characters.
Lesson 5
What Does It Mean?
Students identify the speaker of poems (e.g., questions asking who is speaking for "O Captain! My Captain!" and in the "Grass" activity). Students track changes in a speaker's feelings and perspective across a poem (homework on "The Fish" asks how the speaker feels at the beginning, middle, and end). Students read a narrative poem that is a conversation between two women, which exposes them to character interaction in a poetic text.
Lesson 7
Analyzing Poetry
Students are prompted to identify the poem's speaker and note voice (e.g., the Poetry Map includes a 'Speaker' box and the Ozymandias example labels 1st/3rd person and records the statue's 'attitude = mocking'). Students annotate tone, word choice, imagery, and theme (activities ask them to mark attitude, tone changes, and summarize theme). Students also paraphrase poems and complete explication tasks that connect speaker, language, and theme (e.g., paraphrasing 'Blackberry-Picking' and filling theme and speaker boxes).
Lesson 9
The Crossover
Students are asked directly, "How does Jordan's relationship with Alexis affect Josh?" which prompts analysis of character interaction and its emotional effect. The Wrapping Up question about Jordan using basketball to cope with grief asks students to consider a character's coping and development. The Parent Plan lists a skill to "analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot," which can be applied to character-related scenes. Homework Option 1 asks students to track how the meaning of "crossover" changes as the book progresses, prompting analysis of change over the course of the text.
Final Project
Poetry
Students are asked to create a director's notebook for Frost's narrative poem "The Fear," analyzing the poem as a play and considering characters, set, costumes, and staging. They design costumes for two characters and answer guided questions about setting and appearance, and they plan lighting choices (including how to use the lantern to reveal the stranger). The poetry explication choice asks students to identify the poem's speaker, tone, imagery, figurative language, and the poem's theme and layers of meaning.
Unit 5: Nonfiction
Lesson 1
Types of Nonfiction
The Student Activity Page asks students to "add notes" on how they see characters, setting, and plot events contributing to the theme, and to "write your comparison" including thoughts about character identity. Activity prompts ask students to compare themes and viewpoints across books, and the homework asks specific questions about Malala's relationships and her father's feelings, which requires students to note character traits and interactions.
Lesson 3
The Taliban
Students read Chapters 7, 8, and 10 of I Am Malala and answer comprehension questions that touch on character traits and motives (e.g., how Malala's parents differ from typical couples and why the Taliban oppose education). Students respond to prompts that ask them to consider motivations and methods of those seeking power (e.g., discussion questions about how Fazlullah ensured obedience and why the Taliban forbade TV). The wrapping-up prompt asks students to predict responses when girls express their views, encouraging consideration of interactions and consequences among characters.
Lesson 6
A Day Like Any Other
Students are asked to use the APE strategy to analyze specific decisions Malala or her father made (e.g., why her father kept the school open; why they continued speaking out after a death threat), which requires identifying motivations and citing textual evidence. The Parent Plan lists the skill 'Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text,' and the activity prompts students to provide 'Prove' quotations and an 'Extend' explanation linking evidence to reasoning. Reading questions and follow-up discussion prompts ask students to describe Malala's feelings, her father's guilt, and responses to threats, which require interpreting character reactions and motives.
Lesson 7
Life in England
Students read Chapters 33–36 and answer questions that probe Malala's motivations and family interactions (e.g., "Why does Malala feel she has to be good all the time?" and which family member is struggling most). In the video-compare activity, students take notes and discuss how the filmmaker and the book differ in portraying Malala and her father's influence, how the mother's role is presented, and how media coverage may have affected events. Discussion prompts ask students to consider whether Malala's cultural context will affect her future and whether her father or the media bear responsibility for making her a target, linking character interactions to real consequences.
Lesson 11
A Boy's Story
Students watch an author interview and answer a question that explicitly asks what the book tries to explain, including how violence changed the author's culture and how a "gentle boy" came to do terrible things, which directly addresses character transformation and motivation. Students read opening chapters and answer questions about the narrator's actions (leaving to perform, failing to return home) that provide opportunities to note changes in circumstance and behavior. The homework question about the moon asks students to connect a childhood detail to the author's ongoing perspective, prompting attention to continuity in the narrator's character.
Lesson 12
Running from War
Students answer targeted questions about character behavior and interactions (e.g., why Beah is disgusted by the rebels' treatment of the elderly man; why Gasemu's crying disturbs Beah; advantages and disadvantages of the six boys traveling together). Students use the APE homework to make a claim about the author's inner experience (dreams vs. memories) and are required to "Prove" their answer with a quotation from the text. The comprehension questions about farming, stealing, and escaped encounters require students to explain characters' actions and immediate consequences.
Lesson 13
Child Soldier
Students answer targeted text-dependent questions about character motivations and actions (e.g., why the lieutenant shows bodies, why commanders repeat that "The rebels are responsible for everything," why the army works the boys until exhaustion). Day 2 questions ask students to explain what motivates Beah to shoot, whether he feels guilty for Josiah's death, and how he becomes a junior lieutenant. Activity pages ask students to compare how the book and a video portray commanders and recruitment and to analyze the role of rap music in the development of the story and characters.
Lesson 14
Rehabilitation
Students are asked why the boys refuse to go with civilians and why they value guns and drugs as needs, prompting analysis of motivations and identity. Questions about why the author begins to trust Esther and why Beah wounded then killed prisoners require students to interpret interactions and motives between characters. The nightmares/journal activities and the Wiesel's Words task ask students to connect Beah's experiences to larger themes (memory, testimony) and to cite specific examples from chapters 15–17.
Lesson 15
A New Life
Students answer comprehension questions that probe character feelings and choices (e.g., why Beah is worried about living with a family, what happened to Mambu after he left Benin Home, and why Beah couldn't salute Alhaji). Discussion prompts ask students to relate the hunter-and-monkey story to the author's experience and to consider why the memoir ends where it does, which invites linking events and character perspective to theme. The Comparing Memoirs activity asks students to describe each author's personality and purpose, prompting consideration of how a narrator's perspective shapes presentation of events.
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
Students are asked to review and understand characterization (the review instructions for Lord of the Flies and Short Stories direct students to know definitions like characterization). The exam asks students to explain the difference between direct and indirect characterization (Part III, short answer) and to identify examples of effective dialogue that reveal character (Part III, question 6). The discussion prompts ask students to choose a work that explores the "defects of human nature" and explain why (Part IV.C) and the answer key references how a first-person narrator can expose madness ("The Tell-Tale Heart"), which addresses character portrayal.
2: Semester 2
Unit 1: Ender's Game
Lesson 1
Born to Genius
Students are prompted in the Getting Started section to consider Ender's loneliness, anxiety, and the pressure placed on him by authority figures, which asks them to attend to a character's motivations and feelings. The homework for Chapters 1-2 asks students to describe Ender's relationships with Peter and Valentine, prompting students to identify interactions between characters. Activity 2 asks students to rate their views on issues before and after reading, which sets up comparison of how the novel (and its characters' choices) might influence understanding of themes.
Lesson 2
We're People, Not Thirds
The lesson describes Ender as resented by his brother and peers and explains his status as a Third and a product of eugenics, which connects to character motivation and social context. Discussion questions ask students to evaluate Ender's fight with Stilson and to interpret Peter's whispered apology, prompting analysis of character interactions and motives. Homework questions ask how Graff encouraged the other boys to dislike Ender and how Ender differed from the other boys entering the ship, which requires students to consider character actions that move the plot.
Lesson 3
Science Fiction
Students read Chapters 5–6 of Ender's Game and answer guided questions that ask them to describe characters (e.g., "How would you describe Dap?" and "What does the author mean when he said 'Alai was the bridge'?"). The "Questions to Discuss" section asks students to react to Graff's pronouncements and consider how Graff's statements are intended to influence or manipulate Ender. A homework question about how Ender defeats the giant asks students to identify a character choice that affects the outcome of an episode.
Lesson 4
Divergence
The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill of analyzing how complex characters develop, interact, and advance plot/theme. The 'Questions to Discuss' prompt students to describe Bernard and to explain Ender's strategic decisions, and the homework asks students to analyze the contrast between Ender's "cold" anger and Bonzo's "hot" anger. Activity 2 has students analyze Ender's shift from convergent to divergent thinking (defeating the Giant), showing how his choices change his situation and advance events in the game.
Lesson 5
Movement and Time
The lesson asks students to identify a flashback in Chapter 5 and to explain what insights that flashback gives about Ender (Student Activity Page questions 3–5). The flashback activity explicitly directs students to analyze how flashbacks provide insight into a character's thoughts and feelings and how they increase tension (questions 7–8 and the Answer Key). Discussion and homework questions ask students to describe Dink, explain why he refuses promotion, and consider Graff's motives, which prompt students to analyze characters' motives and interactions.
Lesson 6
Performance Is Personal
Students explicitly compare Ender's commanders in the "Competing Commanders" activity by choosing three criteria (examples given: battle strategies, attitude toward Ender, willingness to learn) and scoring Rose, Bonzo, and Petra. The Getting Started prompts ask students to consider what Ender has learned from his commanders and what he should or should not do when he gains leadership, prompting consideration of character influence on Ender. The Text Structure activity and homework questions ask students to analyze conversations among authority figures and how Peter and Valentine control others, which addresses how characters interact and influence events.
Lesson 7
Leaders Motivate
Students are asked in Activity 1 to read about John Locke and Demosthenes and write a journal entry explaining why Peter chose those pen names and how he and Valentine influence each other's personas, prompting analysis of motivations and interpersonal strategy. In Activity 2 students match leadership quotes to characters (Ender, Peter, Valentine, Petra, Rose, Bonzo, Colonel Graff), choose three characters, and explain why a quote fits, asking them to identify who exemplifies leadership or abuses authority. Discussion questions ask students to consider why the narrator reveals Valentine's thoughts but not Peter's and to explain character decisions (e.g., why Valentine lets Peter proceed), prompting analysis of character perspective and motives.
Lesson 8
Flies and Self-Loathing
Students are prompted to evaluate Ender's self-doubt and question whether he emulates Bonzo, Graff, or Peter, asking what qualities he will choose to emulate and whether he will gain a separate sense of self. Students are asked to judge Ender's perception of his own actions (e.g., whether he can evaluate himself objectively after interacting with Bean) and to compare Ender and Bean's similarities and differences. The lesson asks students to compare themes and leadership between Ender's Game and Lord of the Flies, and homework questions probe Ender's interactions with Graff, other commanders, and Bean (e.g., why commanders pick on Ender, why Ender calls Bean to lead a squad).
Lesson 9
Conflict Within and Without
Students identify and sort specific examples of Ender's internal and external conflicts using a provided chart and text boxes (e.g., Ender's identity struggle, conflicts with Stilson/Peter/Bonzo, isolation by instructors, gravity challenges). Students are asked to write a paragraph addressing how a conflict impacts relationships, advances the plot, and produces character change. Students choose and justify which conflict they feel is central to the novel's theme and write a journal paragraph describing how that conflict develops over the course of the text.
Lesson 10
View from Valentine
The lesson directs students to notice the shift to Valentine's point of view and explains third-person omniscient narration, giving students access to multiple characters' thoughts. Comprehension questions ask students to explain Peter's jealousy, why Valentine visits Ender, and why Ender says he hates himself, prompting analysis of motivations and interactions. The wrapping-up prompt asks students to consider how adults used Valentine to get Ender to continue fighting, linking character interaction to plot and theme.
Lesson 11
Thud, Whump, Huut
Students answer targeted comprehension questions about Graff's description of Ender as "damaged merchandise" and why authorities lie to him, prompting analysis of Ender's mental state and others' motivations. Students compare specific scenes between the novel and its movie/comic adaptations, noting omitted internal narration (for example, Ender's thought about Peter) and judging whether those omissions compromise characterization. Discussion and wrap-up prompts ask students to consider how Ender's knowledge of being used will affect him and whether he has responsibility to make amends, linking character choices to later consequences.
Lesson 12
Campbell's Comparisons
Students watch a video and record the 12 steps of Campbell's Hero's Journey and then choose six steps to describe parallels between those stages and events in Ender's Game, which asks them to map Ender's path from status quo through trials, crisis, and return. Students are prompted to recall the traits that made them root for Ender and to compare their initial and final responses to a thematic survey, providing examples from the novel that influenced their views. Discussion prompts ask students to consider characters' reactions and motives (e.g., how Dink will feel later, why Mazer supports destroying the buggers), which invites consideration of character motivations and moral choices.
Lesson 13
The Enemy's Gate Is Down
Students are asked to identify Colonel Graff's story as a distinct subplot with its own beginning, middle, and end and to consider Graff's motivations and role in Ender's life. The Discovering Subplots activity directs students to list mysteries and unanswered questions about Graff, Ender, and Peter/Valentine (e.g., "Does Graff have Ender's best interest in mind?"; "Will Peter try to start a war?"). Discussion prompts ask students to explain how each subplot enhances the main plot and what themes or ideas would be diminished if a subplot were removed.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
Students are asked to compare and contrast military and civilian leadership in Box 5, citing examples (including Peter and Valentine) that require analysis of character behavior and influence. In Box 6 students map six hero's-journey steps to Ender's experiences and create a storyboard, which asks them to trace character development over the course of the novel. Part III asks students to identify internal and external conflicts in Ender's Game and in Silas Marner, prompting analysis of characters' motivations and interactions. Box 2 (Flashbacks) and Box 3 (Text Choices) require students to produce a flashback and rewrite passages from Ender's perspective, directing students to explore characters' thoughts and interactions with others.
Unit 3: Informational Texts
Lesson 4
The 10,000 Hour Rule
Students are asked to summarize Sections 1–3 and respond to questions that focus on how Bill Joy is introduced, why he is omitted from Section 2, and how Section 3 adds to understanding of Bill Joy and the 10,000-hour rule. Activity 2 directs students to track the key opportunities The Beatles or Bill Gates had and to record those opportunities in their books or journals. The homework asks students to create a visual that communicates how the chosen example (Beatles or Gates) ties to the chapter's bigger ideas and development of the chapter's central claim.
Lesson 6
The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes
Students read and answer questions about cockpit transcripts and crew behavior (Activities 2 and Day 2 questions), identifying mitigated speech, Power Distance Index, and how deference affected communication. They analyze specific interactions (captain vs. first officer), predict outcomes from details in the narrative, and evaluate whether these interactions support Gladwell's thematic claim that cultural values contributed to crashes (Activity 4 and Activity 5).
Lesson 9
Writing about History
Students read multiple firsthand testimonies (John S. Smith, Robert Brent, and Colonel Chivington) describing actions, motives, and interactions at Sand Creek and identify details such as flags raised, who was killed, and acts of mutilation. Students analyze motives and reliability (Primary Falsehoods) by examining Chivington's testimony and discussing his political ambitions as a possible motive. Students compare perspectives by creating split-perspective magazine covers or writing editorials that require them to represent and contrast how different actors and authors portray the events and participants.
Unit 4: Drama
Lesson 2
How to Read Drama
The Applying Aristotle's Six Elements activity asks students to identify the protagonist, evaluate whether the character is true to life/likeable/good, name obstacles overcome, and identify character flaws. Journal questions and the discussion prompts ask students to explain Mrs. Wright's motive, compare Mrs. Wright to the bird, and describe how Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters change in opinion, highlighting character interaction and development. The answer key and activity pages direct students to explain how the women's discovery and decision to hide evidence affect the investigation and the play's themes (justice/feminism).
Lesson 4
A Raisin in the Sun
Students read Act I and answer targeted questions asking them to describe Ruth, Walter's frustration with Ruth, Beneatha's goals, and interactions (e.g., Asagai and Beneatha). Students complete a "Characters and Their Dreams" chart recording ages, adjectives Hansberry uses, and each character's dream, tying those dreams to the play's theme. Students analyze dialect and speech patterns to infer character (homework/lesson material on AAVE and phonetic samples) and stage or draw scenes to observe characters' actions and interactions in performance.
Lesson 5
Act II
Students complete a Character Analysis worksheet that asks them to describe a character's biography, physical traits, psychological profile, mannerisms, and predict reactions to others. Students answer scene questions that require noting how characters respond to events (e.g., Ruth and Walter's reactions to Mama's decision; the family's response to Karl Lindner). Students analyze Hansberry quotes and connect them to characters and themes, and they write reader-response paragraphs using textual evidence (APE) to support claims about characters.
Lesson 6
Act III
The Parent Plan lists the skill "Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text," which explicitly aligns with analyzing character development and interactions. Reading questions ask students to explain Beneatha's change of heart about becoming a doctor and Walter's decision about Lindner, prompting analysis of character choices and motivations. The "A Dream Deferred" activity asks students to choose a play character and explain how that character's dream has been deferred and which poem comparison best describes the outcome, linking character experience to theme.
Lesson 7
Fences
Students are asked to compare characters directly in Activity 2, filling out sections for characters that prompt consideration of goals, attitude, and obstacles and to compare specific pairs (Walter and Troy; Rose and Mama; Cory and Beneatha). The comparison activity also asks students to compare theme and plot, and the provided instructor notes explicitly point out that Fences covers several years and that characters change and grow, linking character change to plot outcomes. Activity 3 requires students to watch an interview with the actors and write at least three insights about their characters, prompting analysis of character motivations and interactions.
Lesson 8
Shakespeare
Students read introductory material and a passage from Act 1 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet and use an activity sheet that asks them to identify the speaker, interpret meaning (including hidden meanings), determine actions, and identify each speaker's desires. The activity sheet directs students to visualize the scene, rewrite the passage in their own words, and reflect on how the passage relates to the play's theme and its impact on the storyline. The materials also direct students to use a forthcoming list of characters and their relationships as they continue reading.
Lesson 9
Romeo and Juliet
Students use a character map to identify relationships among over 20 characters, which helps them track interactions (e.g., family ties, confidants). Students read and answer questions about characters' motivations and interactions in Act I (for example, why Romeo is sad, Tybalt's reaction to Romeo at the party, and Juliet's line "My only love sprung from my only hate!"). Students are prompted to summarize key events in journals and respond to prompts about Juliet's potential marriage, which asks them to consider character decisions and social pressures.
Lesson 10
Figurative Language
Students read Act II (Scenes 1–6) and answer comprehension questions that ask about character interactions and motives (e.g., why Friar Lawrence is concerned about Romeo's sudden change of love; what Friar hopes marriage will do). Students describe relationships (e.g., Juliet and the Nurse), summarize the most important events in journal entries, and imagine what they would say to Romeo as Friar Lawrence. The sonnet and scene activities prompt students to explain conflicts Shakespeare summarizes, linking character choices to plot obstacles.
Lesson 11
Nuanced Meaning
Students read Acts 3 (Scenes 1–5) and answer questions that ask about character motives and reactions (e.g., why Romeo at first refuses to fight and then fights after Mercutio's death). The text-messaging activity asks students to rewrite a six-line exchange to show the relationship, plot of the scene, and the characters' emotions. The Parent Plan explicitly tells students their modern version should demonstrate understanding of character relationships, plot of the scene, and emotions the characters feel.
Lesson 12
Time and Tension
Students are asked explicitly to consider "How does Juliet show herself to be a forceful character?" and to summarize the most important event in Act IV. The reading questions require students to identify Juliet's plan (take a potion; stab herself if it fails) and the Nurse's reaction when she finds Juliet, and the activity asks students to analyze Friar Lawrence's and the Nurse's monologues for time-related language that ties to Juliet's situation. The Parent Plan discussion prompts also ask what Juliet's urgency to take the vial shows about her.
Lesson 13
Tragic Hero
The parent-plan skills explicitly list the standard, telling students to analyze how complex characters develop, interact, and advance plot or theme. Students complete a detailed "Timeline and Character Development" chart where they record actions/attitudes by act and scene, consider actions affecting others, and decide whether a character is static or dynamic and round or flat. The Tragic Hero activity asks students to evaluate Romeo and Juliet against criteria (including flaws and leadership) and to explain how Romeo meets or fails those criteria, prompting analysis of motivations and consequences.
Lesson 14
Modern Retelling
Students are asked to complete a "Two Versions" chart that includes a specific row titled "How characters are portrayed," prompting them to note character portrayals in both the Luhrmann film and the Globe Theatre production. Activity 3 directs students to choose three specific areas to discuss (examples given include portrayal of Mercutio and Friar Lawrence), to provide specific examples from both productions, and to "extend" by discussing the significance or effect of those differences. The checklist requires each paragraph to contain specific information or examples from both productions and to end with an explanation of the significance or effect of those differences.
Final Project
Drama
Students are asked to define and differentiate dynamic vs. static characters, round vs. flat characters, and the concept of a tragic hero on the unit test, giving them vocabulary for character analysis. Students complete projects (podcast interviews, playlists with explanations, comic strips/storyboards, songs, news pages, costumes, and set designs) that require them to adopt characters' perspectives, explain choices tied to specific acts/scenes, and justify why creative choices fit particular characters. The Parent Plan skills explicitly name analyzing how and why individuals develop and interact over the course of a text, indicating students are expected to engage with character development and interactions in their work.
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
Students are asked to learn the difference between static and dynamic characters and round and flat characters and to review how these concepts apply to plays like A Raisin in the Sun and Romeo and Juliet. Short-answer prompts require students to compare static and dynamic characters with examples from Ender's Game, A Raisin in the Sun, or Romeo and Juliet and to justify their answers. Multiple-choice and short-answer items ask students to identify flat characters, provide examples of conflicts involving characters, and give examples of foreshadowing and character-driven events.