Ninth Grade - ELA
1: Semester 1
Unit 1: Lord of the Flies
Lesson 3
Paths in the Jungle
Students are directed to read a linked nonfiction article ("Why Is Dystopia So Appealing to Young Adults?") and to print and annotate it, with specific annotation strategies provided (highlighting, circling, margin notes). Students complete a student activity organizer that asks them to identify the author's main argument/thesis and the key points that support it and to record their reactions. The lesson defines terms (thesis, topic sentence, annotation) and models annotation with an image, providing concrete tasks that require reading for main ideas and supporting evidence.
Lesson 10
Which Is Better?
Students read expository passages about ancient Rome (the Colosseum and aqueducts) in the "Things to Know" and Activity 1 sections and view a linked Crash Course World History video to learn definitions of "civilization." Students complete a "Developing Civilization" comparison chart that requires them to extract and synthesize information from those nonfiction passages and the video. Students answer comprehension questions about Chapter 12 and use nonfiction background to inform a one-page journal analyzing leadership and civilization.
Unit 2: Short Stories
Lesson 7
Everyday Use
Students are asked to read online biographical information about Alice Walker using provided web links and to record findings on an "Author's Biographical Data Sheet." Students are also directed to browse multiple nonfiction web pages about African-American quilt making and to complete the "Quilted Heritage" activity page based on those informational sources. These tasks require students to read and extract information from nonfiction texts and to summarize or respond in writing.
Unit 4: Poetry
Lesson 6
Fooling with Words
Students watch Bill Moyers interviewing poets and listen to poets' readings in one-hour videos, which provides exposure to spoken literary content and author perspectives. Students are asked to research a chosen poet online for homework and record biographical and bibliographical details on a Poet Profile worksheet. The lesson provides links to Poetry Foundation and Poets.org as starting points for finding biographical and other written information about poets.
Lesson 10
Poems and Poets
Students read biographical and background information about poets (using provided sites such as Poetry Foundation and Poets.org) and record dates, influences, and notable facts in the Poet Biography Boxes. Students synthesize informational material to create a one-page biographical sketch and use country-comparison data (MyLifeElsewhere) to contextualize cultural influences. Students read explanatory notes about cultural references (e.g., the Hu Xudong example) and write a journal response summarizing the poem and explaining how cultural references enrich understanding.
Unit 5: Nonfiction
Lesson 1
Types of Nonfiction
Students read the prologue and Chapter 1 of I Am Malala and answer specific comprehension questions about plot, relationships, and context. Students complete an "All About a Person" activity that has them classify texts as biography, autobiography, or memoir and cite front/back matter and catalog information as evidence. The Parent Plan and Skills list direct students to interpret words and phrases using a glossary and to assess how point of view or purpose shapes content and style, and students read an interview and a Guardian article to compare perspectives on nonfiction.
Lesson 2
Pakistan
Students are assigned to read multiple chapters of the memoir I Am Malala (Chapters 2–4 and 5–6) and answer specific comprehension questions about setting, character, and events. Students use the book's timeline, a map, and web links (Wikipedia and language resources) to complete a structured "Pakistan" activity page requiring integration of textual and external information. The skills statement explicitly asks students to integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, and the activity asks students to extract historical, geographic, and cultural details from the text and sources.
Lesson 3
The Taliban
Students are directed to read specific chapters of I Am Malala (literary nonfiction) and answer comprehension questions about key events and ideas. Students are asked to determine central ideas and summarize supporting details, practice paraphrasing, and integrate information from a PBS article to write an informational paragraph or create slides. The Parent Plan skills list explicitly includes integrating and evaluating content in diverse media, determining central ideas/themes, summarizing key details, and conducting short research projects.
Lesson 4
Dear Diary
Students are assigned to read Chapters 11–13 of the literary nonfiction book I Am Malala and to read excerpts of Malala's BBC diary, which provides direct engagement with literary nonfiction. Students answer comprehension questions about Malala's feelings, actions, and how the diary authorship was revealed (Questions #1–#4), showing literal comprehension tasks. Students analyze and produce paraphrases using a how-to video, paraphrasing tips, sample paraphrases, and an activity page with modeled answers, which function as scaffolds to support understanding of the text.
Lesson 5
Displacement
Students are assigned to read chapters (Ch. 16-17 and homework Ch. 18-19) of I Am Malala, a work of literary nonfiction, and answer specific comprehension questions about content and events. The lesson provides a brief written summary of skipped chapters to supply contextual scaffolding. The Parent Plan explicitly lists related skills students will practice, including determining central ideas or themes and integrating content presented in diverse media and formats.
Lesson 6
A Day Like Any Other
Students are assigned to read multiple chapters of I Am Malala (a work of literary nonfiction) and answer specific comprehension questions about events, feelings, and outcomes. Students practice drawing evidence by using the APE strategy: answering in their own words, proving with quotations or examples (with page numbers), and extending with explanation or connection. The lesson includes a modeled APE example, a student activity page for organizing responses, and prompts asking students to analyze how and why individuals and events develop and interact over the course of the text.
Lesson 7
Life in England
Students read multiple chapters of the memoir I Am Malala (including assigned chapters and a summary of skipped chapters) and answer specific comprehension questions about differences in setting, character reactions, and motivations. Students watch an 11-minute documentary segment and take notes on guided prompts that ask them to compare the book's account with the filmmaker's account, evaluating differences in emphasis (e.g., the father's role, the portrayal of the mother) and the effectiveness of each medium. Students prepare for and participate in discussions and journal writing that require integrating information from the print text and video and citing details to support their answers.
Lesson 8
Civil Rights
Students read substantial literary nonfiction texts: half and then the full text of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and an excerpt of Frederick Douglass's 1852 oration, and they read biographical/contextual material for Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou. Students perform close-reading tasks (underlining excerpts, answering guided comprehension questions, listing the four steps of a nonviolent campaign, and answering text-based questions about King's arguments and references). Students analyze rhetoric and purpose through activities that ask them to identify historical figures King references, complete a double-entry diary on just and unjust laws, and write journal responses evaluating the persuasiveness of King's arguments.
Lesson 9
Civil Disobedience
Students read and analyze multiple primary-source literary nonfiction texts: excerpts from Henry David Thoreau's essay "Civil Disobedience" and speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. Students complete guided comparisons (Passages Sets A, B, C) where they identify overlapping ideas, decide when it is acceptable to break the law, and explain how each author defines just and unjust laws. Students answer comprehension and short-answer questions on excerpt pages for homework and use activity pages (with directions and space to write) to draw evidence and explain their interpretations. The Parent Plan and Skills list explicitly direct students to draw evidence from texts, determine author purpose/point of view, and analyze rhetoric and seminal U.S. documents.
Lesson 10
Learning from the Past
Students read Elie Wiesel's lecture "Hope, Despair, and Memory" (literary nonfiction) in two guided segments and complete accompanying activity pages that require annotation, vocabulary work, matching exercises, and short-answer responses. Students analyze tone, style, and figurative language (e.g., identify metaphors and rewrite quotes in their own words), cite textual evidence, and draft a paragraph connecting Wiesel's universal claims to other human-rights writers. Scaffolds are explicit: students complete a pre-reading matching exercise, consult vocabulary lists and answer keys, are instructed to annotate the text or take guided notes, and are provided step-by-step activity pages for both halves of the speech.
Lesson 11
A Boy's Story
Students read the literary nonfiction memoir A Long Way Gone (assigned chapters and chronology entries) and answer specific comprehension and analysis questions about the text and author intent. Students complete vocabulary work (look up words, use them in context) and use a map to track the author's movements, and they watch an author interview to integrate multimedia information. The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill: "Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently," showing the lesson targets comprehension of complex literary nonfiction.
Lesson 12
Running from War
Students read multiple chapters of the memoir A Long Way Gone (with summaries for skipped chapters) and answer detailed comprehension questions about plot, character, and events. Students use the APE strategy for a journal response that requires them to Answer a question, Prove it with a quotation from the text, and Extend their thinking. Students practice integrating and citing quotations with explicit instruction, examples, a video, and an activity page that asks them to introduce and punctuate quoted material correctly and to discuss the accuracy and reliability of the author's memories.
Lesson 13
Child Soldier
Students are assigned chapters of the memoir A Long Way Gone (literary nonfiction) and answer targeted comprehension questions about plot, motivation, and cause/effect (Questions for Chapters 12–14). Students complete analytic activities that require citing textual evidence, evaluating claims about the memoir's accuracy, and comparing the book's account with a video of the author (Different Accounts activity). Students analyze thematic elements (role of rap music), the effects of drugs and conditioning, and fill graphic organizers that require integrating information across text and media.
Lesson 14
Rehabilitation
Students read assigned chapters of the memoir (Chapters 15–17) and answer targeted comprehension questions about events, motives, and nightmares. Students complete structured activities (the "RUF vs. Government Soldiers" page and the "Wiesel's Words" page) that require them to draw evidence and quotations from the text to support conclusions. Students analyze authorial choices and argumentation (identifying point of view, how ideas/events are unfolded) and choose between an easier or more advanced option, providing scaffolded entry points.
Lesson 15
A New Life
Students read multiple chapters from A Long Way Gone (a memoir) and I Am Malala, answer text-dependent comprehension questions, and summarize Chapter 20 in 1–2 paragraphs. Students receive step-by-step scaffolding for summarizing (read, annotate, select main ideas, write in own words) and are prompted to draw evidence and analyze authors' rhetoric and style on a Comparing Memoirs activity page. Students also complete activities that require citing examples, comparing themes, and producing written products (flyer or webpage) based on research from nonfiction organization sites.
Final Project
Expository Essay
Students are instructed to use works they read in the unit as inspiration and potentially as one of their three sources, to locate and read appropriate online sources, and to record and transform information via quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. The lesson requires students to gather information on a K-N-S chart, to extract three key facts from sources, and to produce in-text citations and a Works Cited page; the Parent Plan explicitly lists "Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research."
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
Students are prompted to review the Nonfiction unit and its review sheet and may be asked direct questions about nonfiction texts and authors (e.g., Malala Yousafzai, Ishmael Beah, Thoreau, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Elie Wiesel). The exam and discussion prompts require students to explain relationships among nonfiction authors, analyze controversies in memoir (A Long Way Gone), describe civil disobedience (Thoreau and King), and answer comprehension questions such as why the Taliban targeted Malala. Part V asks students to quote and paraphrase a passage, requiring comprehension and synthesis of nonfiction prose.
2: Semester 2
Unit 1: Ender's Game
Lesson 1
Born to Genius
Students are instructed to read pp. xi-xiii of the author's Introduction and then use Internet research to complete the "About the Author" activity, requiring them to identify historical events from 1957–1963 and explain Card's influences. Students answer targeted nonfiction questions about how Asimov inspired Card, where Card got ideas about war and the military, and the genres/projects Card has worked in, which requires extracting and synthesizing factual information. The lesson also asks students to review the author's influences and the origins of Ender's Game, reinforcing comprehension of nonfiction background material.
Lesson 3
Science Fiction
Students are directed to read a nonfiction article about the science fiction genre via a provided web link and to use that article along with an introduction to fill out a graphic organizer on the "Science Fiction" page. Students complete comprehension activities (definition fill-in, classification of scenarios as science fiction or fantasy, matching items to terms) and a quiz-prep sheet based on the informational material. The Parent Plan explicitly states that students "read an article to learn about the genre of science fiction and then filled out an organizer about the features of science fiction."
Lesson 7
Leaders Motivate
Students are asked to "Read about John Locke and Demosthenes (using the following resources or other reference material) and watch the short presentation on Demosthenes," and then to "Reflect" and write a journal entry linking those nonfiction sources to characters. The Parent Plan skills explicitly ask students to "Analyze how the author draws on and transforms source material," which requires reading and interpreting historical/nonfiction material. Activity worksheets ask students to match and interpret quotations from real historical figures and then apply those quotations to characters in the novel, requiring comprehension of the quoted nonfiction statements.
Lesson 12
Campbell's Comparisons
Students are assigned to read a Forbes magazine article ("Four Leadership Lessons from Ender's Game") for homework and are told they will complete an activity using this article the next day. The lesson also asks students to record and analyze the Hero's Journey steps from a video and to apply them to Ender's Game, demonstrating some engagement with analytical, nonfiction-adjacent material.
Lesson 13
The Enemy's Gate Is Down
The lesson asks students to "Review the article you read for homework last night on lessons learned from Ender's Game" and directs them to complete the "Leadership Lessons: Forbes Four" activity, where students label four leadership lessons from a Forbes article and write one- to two-sentence summaries. The Parent Plan explicitly states that students read an article from Forbes magazine for homework and wrote short summaries and a personal application in the "My Life" circle.
Unit 3: Informational Texts
Lesson 1
What Are Informational Texts?
The Parent Plan Skills section explicitly lists the Grade 9 RI.9-10.10 expectation. Students begin reading Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers as the unit's primary text and complete a homework assignment ("The Roseto Mystery," pp. 3–11) with specific comprehension questions. Students also analyze informational text features in Outliers using the Student Activity Page and participate in guided discussions and a TED talk viewing to support understanding.
Lesson 2
Outliers
Students are assigned to read the literary nonfiction chapter "The Matthew Effect" (pp. 15–34) and answer specific comprehension questions that check understanding of key ideas (e.g., why birthdates affect hockey success, the Matthew Effect). Students complete activities that analyze how the author defines and develops the concept of "outlier," including identifying analogies and rhetorical strategies from the Introduction. Students practice vocabulary in context using thesaurus/dictionary work and guided synonym selection to support comprehension of complex language.
Lesson 3
The Matthew Effect
The Parent Plan explicitly lists the RI.9-10.10 skill and other related reading skills. Students read chapters of Outliers (Assigned homework: Sections 1–3 of "The 10,000 Rule") and answer specific comprehension questions that ask them to explain the 10,000-hour rule, summarize relationships to earlier examples, and interpret author claims. Activities require students to determine central ideas, translate quantitative/technical information from the text into visual forms (Option 1 and Option 2), and review vocabulary and informational-text features.
Lesson 4
The 10,000 Hour Rule
Students read multiple sections of Chapter 2 of Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers (Sections 1–6) and are asked to finish the chapter in class and for homework. Students summarize each section, cite textual evidence, analyze how Gladwell develops and arranges ideas across sections, and mark key opportunities in the text as they read. Students translate textual/quantitative information into a visual form (flowchart, infographic, diagram), and an answer key and teacher prompts are provided as supports.
Lesson 5
Harlan, Kentucky
Students are assigned to read a literary nonfiction chapter ("Harlan, Kentucky," pp. 162–176) including the footnotes, which requires working with text complexity. Students are directed to underline unfamiliar words, use context clues, consult dictionaries (link to Collins Dictionary), and complete a vocabulary activity that requires guessing and verifying meanings. Students answer comprehension and inferential questions (e.g., pattern of violence, culture of honor, University of Michigan experiment) and are asked to draw connections to their own region in a reflective homework task. The Parent Plan explicitly lists skills such as citing textual evidence, drawing evidence from texts, and verifying word meanings.
Lesson 6
The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes
Students are instructed to read multiple sections (Sections 1–14, pp. 177–223) of Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers and answer detailed questions that require summarizing, predicting causes, and citing specific details (Activities 2 and Day 2/Day 3 question sets). Students analyze how the author unfolds ideas and structure (homework on chapter structure, Activity 4's evaluation of Gladwell's conclusions) and engage with footnotes and vocabulary to clarify meaning (Chapter 7 Vocabulary activities and explicit footnote reading). Students also read and evaluate a critical article and Gladwell's response, complete charts comparing criticisms and responses, and produce written or oral analyses that require drawing evidence from the texts.
Lesson 7
Rice Paddies and Math Tests
Students read specified sections (pp. 224–249) of the literary nonfiction book Outliers and answer targeted comprehension questions for each section. Students complete activities that require drawing evidence from the text, determining central ideas, and analyzing how the author unfolds ideas (skills listed in the Parent Plan). Students translate quantitative/technical information into visual form (infographic) and present or explain findings to a parent, demonstrating comprehension and application of the text's ideas.
Lesson 8
With Malice Toward None
Students are asked to read Abraham Lincoln's "Second Inaugural Address" (linked) and answer text-based questions about meaning and tone. The lesson's skills list and activities require students to determine central ideas, analyze how ideas are developed and organized, cite textual evidence, and analyze rhetoric and literary devices such as parallelism, antithesis, and allusion. Classroom tasks ask students to identify quotes, label the literary device, explain the intended effect, and choose sentences that show the speech's organizational structure.
Lesson 9
Writing about History
Students read multiple literary nonfiction texts including three modern summaries (National Geographic, NPS, Arapaho Project) and historical nonfiction accounts (congressional testimonies, archival article) and answer directed comprehension questions about facts, sequence, and aftermath. Students analyze organization and structure by listing subtitles and explaining the author's organizational choices for the article "The Search for the Site of the Sand Creek Massacre." Students compare and evaluate primary and secondary sources using a graphic organizer (with a completed example row) and complete activities that require citing textual evidence, assessing reasoning, and identifying differing points of view.
Lesson 12
Logical Fallacies
Students read and analyze multiple pieces of literary nonfiction: Lou Gehrig's farewell speech (Option 1) and Andrew Jackson's Message to Congress (Option 2), with explicit tasks to highlight weak arguments and find at least three fallacies. Students answer guided questions about ethos, pathos, and logos and complete activity pages that require identifying premises, non-sequiturs, straw man, ad hominem, slippery slope, bandwagon, hasty generalization, and false dilemma. The lesson provides scaffolded options (easier Option 1 and more difficult Option 2), videos, and answer keys to support comprehension and analysis of the texts.
Final Project
Argumentative Research Essay
Students read and use a variety of nonfiction sources (library databases, encyclopedia entries, news/journal articles, and chapter excerpts such as from Outliers) to gather evidence and identify competing viewpoints. Students follow directed activities that require them to summarize source ideas, extract quotes/statistics, note source citations, and organize background information into the classical argument structure. Students also evaluate online sources for credibility and content (author, publisher, bias, accuracy, currency) and watch videos about misleading statistics and graphs to interpret numerical information.
Unit 4: Drama
Lesson 3
Life and Times
Students read Robert Nemiroff's introduction to A Raisin in the Sun (pp. 5–14), the cast and setting notes (pp. 21–22), and a biographical article on Lorraine Hansberry, and they answer specific comprehension questions about these texts. Students read the text of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and watch a History Channel video, take notes, and prepare to answer questions about the Act. Students complete short-answer items requiring them to provide date ranges, identify setting, and summarize factual details from the nonfiction materials.
Lesson 5
Act II
The lesson includes Activity 2, where students read excerpts from Lorraine Hansberry's autobiographical collection To Be Young, Gifted and Black and answer analytic questions about those nonfiction excerpts. The Parent Plan explicitly states students use those excerpts to relate Hansberry's autobiographical writing to A Raisin in the Sun, requiring interpretation of ideas and connections across texts. Students are asked to explain which characters the quotations describe and to analyze how quotations apply to the play, demonstrating comprehension and analysis of literary nonfiction content.
Lesson 8
Shakespeare
Students are directed to read the nonfiction sections "Reading Shakespeare's Language" and "Shakespeare's Life" (pp. xvii–xxxvi) and to answer specific comprehension questions (Questions #1–#6) about language, historical events, and influences. Students use an activity sheet that prompts vocabulary strategies (use context or a dictionary), identification of main ideas (speaker, meaning, actions, desires), visualization, and summarizing in their own words. For homework, students synthesize information from the book, a video, and web resources to create a chronological timeline of Shakespeare's life, demonstrating integration of nonfiction sources.
Lesson 9
Romeo and Juliet
Students are assigned to read informational web content about Shakespeare's Globe (watch a video and take a virtual tour) and to read the webpage section titled "Weddings and Dowries" about Italian Renaissance marriage. Students answer comprehension questions and journal prompts about those informational resources and discuss specific factual details (e.g., theater features, dowry practices). The homework directs students to note concrete nonfiction details while watching a recorded stage production (costumes, set, staging choices).
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
Students are directed to review the Informational Texts unit and the Unit Review Sheet and to understand the ideas presented in Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. The exam pages require students to explain Gladwell's claims (e.g., why Roseto residents were outliers), identify rhetorical appeals (logos, pathos, ethos), analyze logical fallacies and mitigated speech, and evaluate source credibility. Several short-answer and discussion prompts ask students to analyze whether Outliers is informational or persuasive and to cite evidence from that work.