Ninth Grade - ELA
1: Semester 1
Unit 1: Lord of the Flies
Lesson 1
The Call
The Parent Plan Skills section explicitly instructs students to "develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience." The Option 1 activity asks students to record titles and write responses to analytic questions about settings, plot ideas, central struggles, and common elements, requiring composed answers. Option 2 directs students to create journal columns labeled "utopia" and "dystopia" and to list and compare characteristics, which requires students to organize and write ideas for a purpose and audience.
Lesson 3
Paths in the Jungle
Students are prompted to write a one-paragraph character journal entry in first person, answering guided questions (Who am I? Where am I? What do I want? etc.), which scaffolds organization and development of a single-perspective piece. Students complete a top-hat graphic organizer and a Student Activity Page that asks them to identify an author's thesis, list key supporting points, and write their reaction, which requires organizing ideas and responding to purpose and audience. The Parent Plan explicitly lists "Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience" as a targeted skill.
Lesson 4
Images from Paradise
Students practice revising and composing sentences when they fill the Five Senses chart by including an original sentence or embellishing a book quotation and explaining how the wording creates imagery and tone. The Types of Clauses activity asks students to identify noun, adjective, and adverb clauses and to write three sentences about a book, each containing a different clause type. The Parent Plan Skills explicitly state that students will "use various types of phrases and clauses to convey specific meanings and add variety and interest to writing or presentations," connecting instruction to sentence-level style and word choice.
Lesson 5
Not Hunting, But Hunted
Students are asked in Activity 1 to "use slow motion narrative pacing to recreate an important moment from your life," supported by a video and side-by-side examples (Example A vs. Example B) that show how to expand moments with sensory detail and sequences of actions. The lesson provides modeling by comparing a brief summary to a slowed, detailed narrative and highlights techniques (interrupting dialogue with physical and mental detail) for achieving a particular style and effect. In Activity 2 students draft four to five laws or write a one-page journal describing a system for adopting laws, requiring them to generate organized prose for a defined purpose.
Lesson 6
Symbolism, Part 1
Students are asked to write brief text-based explanations on the Student Activity Page by circling a symbol interpretation and writing two to three sentences that support their choice with evidence from the novel. Students are asked to write a one-page journal entry in the voice of a chosen character, recording actions and quotes from other characters and considering that character's priorities, fears, and relationships. The lesson repeatedly prompts students to articulate interpretations in writing and to prepare for a final essay by refining their symbolic analyses.
Lesson 8
Defects of Human Nature
Students are asked to write brief explanatory responses: Option 1 and Option 2 direct students to write 3–4 sentence explanations describing how a chosen minor theme supports the novel's major theme. The student activity page provides structured spaces (three boxes and lines) for students to record details from the book and then write a 3–4 sentence explanation supporting their choice. The homework and parent plan ask students to add to their STEAL character pages and to support theme choices with examples from the text, requiring written summaries and textual evidence.
Lesson 9
Symbolism, Part 2
Students are asked to write short analytic responses on the Student Activity Pages: the "Recognizing Archetypes" page asks students to think of examples of archetypes in literature or media and describe them, and the "Allegory Analysis" page directs students to describe abstract ideas that characters and settings could represent. The Parent Plan Skills section also asks students to "provide an objective summary of the text," and the Reading and Questions section requires written answers to comprehension questions about Chapter 11.
Lesson 10
Which Is Better?
The Parent Plan Skills list explicitly includes "Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience." Activity 2 asks students to write a one-page journal entry from a chosen character's point of view that analyzes Jack's leadership and contrasts it with Ralph's and with pre-island civilization, which sets a clear task, purpose, and audience. The activity allows students to adopt voice (including deceased narrator) and to organize content around analysis and comparison, requiring them to produce a coherent written response.
Lesson 11
The Film
Students complete a "Movie vs. Book" chart that requires them to organize similarities and differences across characters, setting, theme, and plot, and they answer two journal questions in writing about omitted scenes and visual differences. The Parent Plan Skills section explicitly lists that students will "develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach" and notes that students are "better prepared to write a final essay on the book." The activity instructions require written responses that ask students to explain why particular scenes were critical and to describe differences in imagery, which prompt development of ideas in writing.
Final Project
Now You Have the Conch
Students are guided to develop a specific, arguable, and supportable thesis, create an outline (traditional or guided graphic organizer), draft a five-paragraph essay, and follow a multi-step revision and editing process. The lesson includes an Essay Rubric that assesses thesis, support, organization, and grammar/mechanics and an Essay Checklist that instructs students to consider purpose, audience, and format when choosing topics and ideas. Revision and peer-editing activities ask students to evaluate organization, transitions, sentence structure, and style and to make targeted changes before final proofreading.
Unit 2: Short Stories
Lesson 1
The Gift of the Magi
Students are asked to write a descriptive paragraph for homework and to write journal entries researching the Magi, King Solomon, and the Queen of Sheba, explaining how those allusions contribute to understanding the story. Students use graphic organizers (Short Story Elements and Same Story, Different Place pages) to plan and record characters, setting, plot, theme, and details for a rewritten version, which scaffolds organization of ideas. Students also record instances of situational and dramatic irony and annotate texts, practices that support selection of evidence and development of writing content.
Lesson 2
The Necklace
The lesson gives explicit guidance for writing an objective summary (students must include the title and author, focus on central ideas and main plot points, mention setting, use the narrative present, and avoid personal opinion). Students are asked to write a one-paragraph objective summary in their journals and to support ideas with textual evidence and direct quotations. The lesson also teaches a simple response structure (APE: Answer, Prove, Extend) that students are to use when writing responses to literature.
Lesson 3
Literary Response
Students are guided to plan and produce a four-paragraph comparison/contrast paper with a required introduction (including titles, authors, differences, and a thesis), two focused body paragraphs, and a conclusion, which addresses organization. Students use graphic organizers (Brainstorming, Informal Outline, Details and Support) and the APE method to collect, cite, and explain textual evidence, which addresses development of ideas and support. Students are instructed to use transitional words/phrases and to consult a rubric that assesses clarity, thesis, evidence, explanation, transitions, and grammar, which targets coherence and elements of style.
Lesson 4
Characterization
Students analyze Langston Hughes's characterization in "Thank You, Ma'am" and complete a "Characterization" activity sheet that asks them to identify direct and indirect characterization across speech, appearance, thoughts, actions, and others' responses. Students complete a "Character Portrait" homework page in which they plan a main character's physical description, actions, thoughts, quotes, and how others respond, and the lesson notes that at the end of the unit students will write their own short story. The Parent Plan also lists writing-related skills such as using precise words and phrases and developing a topic with relevant details.
Lesson 5
Edgar Allan Poe
Students are asked to record examples of foreshadowing in their journals and to respond in writing to whether the narrator is reliable on the "Crazy Like a Fox?" activity sheet, listing textual evidence in two columns and answering a concluding question. The Parent Plan skills explicitly list using precise words and phrases and domain-specific vocabulary, and the storyboard activity requires students to write the corresponding quoted sections of the story beneath each panel. Multiple activities therefore require students to produce written responses, organize evidence, and select language from the text to support their ideas.
Lesson 6
The Lottery
Students are asked to write a paragraph for homework in which they state an opinion about whether greater public acceptance of dystopian/controversial material is positive or negative and support that opinion with their own evidence and observations. The Controversy activity page directs students to answer written questions comparing The Lottery with another book or movie, including questions about themes and controversy. The Parent Plan Skills list includes expectations to "cite strong and thorough textual evidence" and to "apply knowledge of language... to make effective choices for meaning or style," which connects to writing with evidence and language choices.
Lesson 7
Everyday Use
Students rewrite a scene from Everyday Use from a different character's point of view and write a brief reflective paragraph, practice producing narrative voice and stylistic shifts. Students complete an Author's Biographical Data Sheet and Quilted Heritage and Symbolism activity pages, writing organized notes, descriptions, and short analyses that connect evidence to interpretation. Homework asks students to write 2–3 sentences about personal symbols and to plan how a symbol will be used in their own short story, linking these journal entries to a forthcoming final writing project.
Lesson 8
Harrison Bergeron
Students are asked to write journal entries responding in full sentences to three substantive questions about equality, competition, and societal values, with directions not to answer only 'yes' or 'no.' Students complete a written activity page comparing the printed story to the film 2081, listing scene and character changes and explaining why those changes were made. Students are required to analyze differences in theme and content and to provide written explanations and evaluations of the director's interpretive choices.
Lesson 9
Dialogue
Students review and practice the conventions of punctuating dialogue through assigned readings and workbook exercises on quotation marks and commas. Students analyze an author's use of dialogue by writing a journal paragraph that cites specific lines and considers how dialogue reveals character and affects pacing. Students create a short scene for homework in which each character speaks multiple lines, and the unit culminates in a final short story project where students will include dialogue.
Final Project
Writing a Short Story
Students plan, draft, and revise a 500–700 word short story using explicit stages of the writing process (invention, planning, drafting, revising) and complete activities (brainstorming, plot diagram, character scene) that develop narrative content and organization. Students use a plot diagram to identify exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution to organize events and sequence them coherently. Students practice style choices through focused instruction on "show, don't tell," use of descriptive language, dialogue, symbolism, and guidance on sentence-level mechanics; they also complete reader-review and rubric-based revision focused on big-picture development and organization. The Short Story Rubric and Parent Plan explicitly assess and require clear, coherent writing with appropriate development, organization, and style (including a Style & Mechanics criterion).
Unit 3: Grammar, Part I
Lesson 3
Pronoun Problems
Students are asked in Activity 2 to explain a pronoun topic in their own words and to create either a poster or a short slideshow that includes a title, an explanation, two example sentences with errors, and corrected versions, which requires organizing content for an audience. The poster option asks for an attractive heading, highlighted words, and arrows from pronouns to antecedents, and the slideshow option specifies slide-by-slide organization (title, explanation, examples, corrections). The wrapping-up and parent-plan prompts ask students to share their poster or presentation with family and answer questions, which positions students to address an audience and communicate clearly.
Lesson 4
Commas
Students are instructed to create a comma guide and add rules, explanations, and examples to use as a writing reference, and they complete multiple practice pages that require inserting commas, parentheses, and dashes in sentences. The Parent Plan lists the skill "Choose punctuation for effect," and activities ask students to decide whether to punctuate nonessential elements with commas, dashes, or parentheses and to explain their choices. Homework asks students to write a journal entry about the Oxford (serial) comma, which requires a brief written response applying their understanding.
Lesson 6
Colons and Semicolons
Students are instructed to write two well-developed opening statements (one for the semicolon and one for the colon) that must include specific elements: examples joining independent clauses, an example using a conjunctive adverb + comma, and an example of complex lists for the semicolon, and examples introducing a list and a quotation for the colon. Students must present those paragraphs aloud to a judge, answer follow-up questions with examples or revisions when necessary, and are prompted to use an appropriate style and persuasive voice for the courtroom audience. The activity pages and judge checklist explicitly require organization (a developed paragraph with clear examples) and attention to style appropriate to the persuasive/legal task.
Final Project
Wrapping Up
The Parent Plan explicitly lists "Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience." In Option 2 students write a short paragraph whose sentences "work together as a paragraph to tell a story, give advice, make an observation, etc." and create a quiz with an answer key for a friend or relative (an identified audience). Option 1 asks students to create a neat, accurate, and appealing visual aid tailored to help themselves or others, requiring organization and attention to audience and purpose.
Unit 4: Poetry
Lesson 1
Introduction to Poetry
Students write a timed two-minute list and a written definition of poetry and then revise that definition after reading poets' quotations. Students record denotations and connotations for selected words from poems and write explanations comparing original words with similar words. For homework, students print and mark a poem and write answers to six guided response questions about meaning, word choice, and interpretation.
Lesson 2
Sound and Rhythm
Students write short analytical responses in a journal (Activity 1) explaining why a particular instance of alliteration/consonance/assonance is effective. Students answer multiple written questions on the Rhyme activity page (Activity 2) about rhyme scheme, rhyme types, internal rhyme, and examples of sound devices. Students annotate poems (homework: mark The Tyger) and write reflections about how rhyme and rhythm affect meaning and the reader, and students create words or phrases to match metrical foot patterns in the Rhythm and Meter activities.
Lesson 3
Figurative Language
The homework Option 2 explicitly asks students to write their own poem, instructing them to include imagery that appeals to two or more senses and to use two other figurative language devices (metaphor, simile, personification, symbolism, irony, paradox, understatement, overstatement). The lesson tells students to take sensory notes and suggests reading model poems (e.g., "To a Skylark") to guide their writing. Several activities require students to record examples and analyze figurative devices in journal entries, giving them practice applying language choices in written responses.
Lesson 4
Voice and Tone
Students are asked to produce two kinds of writing: a short letter written as or to a poem's speaker and new stanza/lines written in a different voice, requiring them to explain who they are and why they are writing and to refer to parts of the poem. Directions ask students to write in the same style, rhythm, and rhyme scheme when applicable, and to make the new speaker's lines believable and consistent with the poem. Parent notes and answer keys state that the letters and stanzas should show an understanding of the speaker and content, demonstrating deliberate choices about voice and tone.
Lesson 5
What Does It Mean?
Students are asked to "write a brief summary of the poem in your own words" (with guidance to summarize each stanza for longer poems) and to record answers in a journal. The Student Activity Pages provide multiple prompts with lined spaces for written responses about speaker, images, tone, symbols, theme, and personal reflections. Homework asks students to answer several written questions about extended metaphors in poems and to record those responses in their journal.
Lesson 6
Fooling with Words
Students watch the video, choose a favorite poet, and complete a "Poet Profile" worksheet that asks them to record the poet's name, favorite poem, additional poems, biographical details, and a personal reflection. The homework requires students to research the poet online and write answers to specific prompts (where the poet is from, age, publications/awards) and to explain why they chose the poet.
Lesson 7
Analyzing Poetry
Students practice writing annotations in the margins of poems (e.g., annotating Frost's "October" and Shelley's "Ozymandias") and are directed to write thoughts, questions, summaries, and reactions in a journal. Students complete a Poetry Map graphic organizer that asks them to paraphrase, summarize, identify theme, and record word choice, imagery, tone, and other elements. Students complete a Poetry Puzzle that requires written answers about setting, topic, and patterns and are asked to record how annotation helped their understanding.
Lesson 8
Types of Poems
Students practice composing a Shakespearean sonnet using a provided template that requires correct organization (three quatrains and a closing couplet), prescribed rhyme schemes (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG), and attention to meter (iambic pentameter). Students also write free-verse poems using prompts that require sensory detail, strong verbs, and at least two literary devices (simile/metaphor, personification, apostrophe) to develop imagery and style. Activity pages and prompts ask students to mark rhyme and meter, analyze form, and shape language so that readers can "see the scene," directly engaging development, organization, and stylistic choices appropriate to each poetic task.
Lesson 9
The Crossover
Students are asked to write a vocabulary poem in the author's style (Option 2) that defines a word and uses three 'As in:' sentences drawn from their own life. Students must answer journal prompts about the novel's title (Option 1 homework) asking what 'crossover' means in different poems and whether the word's shifting meanings are effective. Students complete short written responses comparing the book's vocabulary definitions with dictionary definitions on the Student Activity Page and write 3–4 sentence journal reflections evaluating basketball rules (Option 2 homework).
Lesson 10
Poems and Poets
Students complete a structured "Poetry Map" where they paraphrase the poem, identify theme, summarize in their own words, and record word choice, imagery, symbolism, tone, and sound devices. Students fill in "Poet Biography Boxes" with biographical details and can write notes in complete sentences or bullets. Students prepare a one-page biographical sketch (a presentation) that requires organizing key facts, images, dates, and at least three cultural/biographical points. Students write a journal response summarizing a world poem and explaining how cultural references enrich meaning.
Final Project
Poetry
Students are asked to write a one-page, typed, double-spaced argumentative response about whether Bob Dylan deserved the Nobel Prize and to explain their reasons, which requires organizing claims and evidence for an audience. The poetry explication choice directs students to produce a formal analysis (presented digitally) and lists specific organizational elements to address (poem type, rhyme/meter, sound devices, speaker, tone, imagery, figurative language, symbols, literal meaning, theme). The ekphrastic poem and presentation choices require students to study a work of art, take notes, compose a poem, and display it alongside the art, which asks students to match style and form to the task and audience.
Unit 5: Nonfiction
Lesson 1
Types of Nonfiction
Students are asked to write definitions for biography, autobiography, and memoir in their own words, demonstrating practice with producing concise explanatory writing. Students are asked to write a comparison between books that includes themes, viewpoints, character identity, and evidence, which requires organized, evidence-based writing. Students are also asked to write a short journal response to an article and to answer written comprehension questions about I Am Malala.
Lesson 2
Pakistan
Students answer specific comprehension and short-response questions after reading Chapters 2–6 of I Am Malala, requiring them to produce written answers to Questions #1–#3 and homework prompts. The Student Activity Page directs students to use book and web sources to find answers and provides blank lines for written responses to seven labeled questions about Pakistan. The activity asks students to research, synthesize information (using the timeline and web links), and record their findings in writing.
Lesson 3
The Taliban
Students are instructed to write an informational paragraph that begins with a strong introductory sentence, uses transitional words and phrases (with a specific reference to a grammar book), avoids choppy sentences, and ends with a mini-conclusion. Option 2 asks students to create slides that combine text and visual aids and to note image sources, with explicit direction that all text be in their own words. The lesson's skills list explicitly names producing clear and coherent writing with appropriate development, organization, and style.
Lesson 4
Dear Diary
Students analyze and produce paraphrases in multiple guided activities, including evaluating sample paraphrases for accuracy and reliance on original wording and writing their own paraphrases of provided excerpts. Students receive concrete tips on word choice, sentence order, and when to quote vs. paraphrase, and they complete a writing product: a one-page diary entry about a significant event. The Parent Plan also lists producing clear and coherent writing and writing narratives using effective technique and well-chosen details as targeted skills.
Lesson 5
Displacement
Students write short answers to comprehension questions about Chapters 16–19, producing focused written responses. Students choose photos of schools, record school name/location/grade, list three assumptions, and write 3–4 sentences from a student's point of view about likes and dislikes. Students research transportation types, write advantages and disadvantages for four modes, and assemble those pages into a mini-book to share with family.
Lesson 6
A Day Like Any Other
Students are directed to use the APE strategy (Answer, Prove, Extend) on the Student Activity Page, which requires them to write an answer that includes part of the question, provide textual evidence or quotations with page numbers, and extend with an explanation or connection. The Parent Plan specifies that answers should be complete sentences and that the 'prove' section must include specific examples or quotations from the text, and the 'extend' section should explain how the evidence supports the answer. The example walkthrough models organizing a response into a clear three-part structure (answer, proof, explanation).
Lesson 7
Life in England
Students are asked to write an informal journal response identifying a world issue they care about and imagining how they would make a difference. The unit notes that students' final project will be to write a paper about an important issue, and the Parent Plan repeats that the journal will help students begin thinking along those lines. The lesson therefore requires students to produce written work related to a defined audience/task (imagining future work that could merit a Nobel Prize).
Lesson 8
Civil Rights
Students are asked to write brief journal responses to video clips and to reading (e.g., answer questions about the Freedom Riders videos and list the four steps to a nonviolent campaign after reading King's letter). The "African-American Authors" activity asks students to write one- or two-sentence descriptions of each author's contribution (Part II). Students complete a "Just and Unjust Laws -- Double Entry Diary" where they record and analyze their thoughts in writing, and the homework asks students to produce a creative written response (an original or found poem) to the Children's Crusade.
Lesson 9
Civil Disobedience
Students are asked to analyze excerpts from Thoreau and King and to explain overlapping ideas, requiring written comparison and synthesis (Activity 1). Activity 2 directs students to decide which thinker they agree with and to explain how their views align, producing sustained written responses in the "Your Views" spaces. The Homework asks students to read excerpts and answer questions in writing, and the Parent Plan explicitly lists skills such as developing a topic with relevant facts, drawing evidence from texts, and establishing and maintaining a formal style and objective tone.
Lesson 10
Learning from the Past
Students are asked to draft a paragraph in which they identify a universal-truth statement from Wiesel's speech and compare it to one or two other advocates, using quotes from each to support their argument. Students create a model museum wall that requires one- or two-sentence explanations and a clear, formal description of the point they want to make, explicitly instructing a formal tone. The Parent Plan lists skill goals that students must meet: develop the topic with well-chosen facts and establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone.
Lesson 12
Running from War
Students are taught specific strategies for integrating quotations into their writing (introducing with a complete sentence + colon, using a short introductory phrase + comma, or embedding a portion of the quote) and practice choosing correct punctuation on the Student Activity Page. Part II of the activity asks students to introduce a supplied quotation in context, and the homework requires students to use the APE strategy (Answer, Prove using a quotation, Extend) to write a journal response that integrates a quotation and explains how it supports their claim. The Parent Plan explicitly lists skills including writing informative/explanatory texts, developing a topic with relevant facts and quotations, and demonstrating command of conventions such as colons and punctuation.
Lesson 13
Child Soldier
Students are asked to write a journal response about the memoir controversy ("Write a response in your journal about this controversy"), requiring them to explain and defend a position. Multiple student activity pages ("Role of Rap," "Different Accounts," and the "Child Soldiers" chart) prompt students to produce written answers comparing sources, analyzing the role of music, and listing advantages/disadvantages, and reading comprehension questions require short written responses to textual prompts. Homework asks students to use activity pages to explore symbolism and development, which requires organized written explanation.
Lesson 14
Rehabilitation
Students are asked to write analytic responses in multiple places: Option 2 of Activity 1 requires students to state a conclusion about the conduct of the two sides and provide examples or quotations from the text to support that conclusion. The "Wiesel's Words" activity asks students to circle a quotation and explain how it relates to A Long Way Gone, including specific examples from the book or video. The homework options ask students to write journal entries analyzing a personal dream or one of Beah's nightmares, record page numbers, and explain symbolic meaning or connections to memory.
Lesson 15
A New Life
Students practice summarizing Chapter 20 in a 1–2 paragraph journal entry and are given step-by-step guidance on identifying main ideas, annotating, selecting important points, and using transitional words to make sentences flow. Students create a marketing flyer or a simple webpage for a nonprofit, writing text about the organization's background, how it helps others, and its accomplishments while considering layout, images, and audience. Students complete a "Comparing Memoirs" activity in which they answer guided questions about each author's style and rhetoric, producing written responses that analyze purpose and audience.
Final Project
Expository Essay
Students are guided to identify audience and purpose (writing for peers who completed the unit) and to develop a focused research question and expository thesis that answers it. Students plan and organize a five-paragraph essay, use an APE (Answer, Prove, Extend) paragraph structure, and are instructed to include clear transitions and a concluding statement. The rubric and activities require students to select and integrate three key facts, use quoting/paraphrasing/summarizing with in-text citations, and produce a Works Cited page. Students are directed to revise, proofread, and format their final draft, and the Parent Plan explicitly lists producing clear, coherent writing with development, organization, and style appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
Students are asked to draft and revise paragraph-length responses in Part IV: Discussion and are explicitly instructed to "read back over the paragraphs and revise them as needed." Part V: Quoting and Paraphrasing requires students to introduce and correctly integrate quotations and to paraphrase passages, practicing incorporation of source material and sentence-level punctuation. The Skills list and multiple places in the activities reference revising previous writing assignments and completing the informative essay from the Nonfiction unit, indicating opportunities to produce organized writing.
2: Semester 2
Unit 1: Ender's Game
Lesson 4
Divergence
Students are explicitly asked to write a definition of science fiction on the Science Fiction Quiz and to label/examples and match genre terms, which require short written responses. In Activity 2 students must generate at least three alternative uses for common items (paper clip, bowl, sheet), producing multiple written ideas. The homework requires students to write answers to four comprehension questions about Chapter 7, producing extended short-answer writing.
Lesson 5
Movement and Time
Students are asked to write answers on the Student Activity Page: they define a flashback, name functions, locate and quote an example, and explain how the flashback gives insight and increases tension. An optional activity asks students to narrate movements using strong descriptive phrases when they have a peer move their pipe-cleaner figures, which practices choice of descriptive language and style.
Lesson 6
Performance Is Personal
Students are asked to write evaluation criteria and record scores in the "Competing Commanders" activity, which requires them to organize their points of view and justify rankings. In the "Text Structure" activity students must write responses that identify foreshadowing, explain how conversations create tension, discuss character roles, and describe stylistic differences between sections of the text. The homework questions require written answers explaining character actions and motivations.
Lesson 7
Leaders Motivate
Students are asked to write a journal entry explaining the links between the personalities of Peter and Valentine as they write under the pen names "Locke" and "Demosthenes," which requires them to organize ideas and provide a reasoned explanation. In Activity 2 students match leadership quotes to novel characters and complete a chart where they must explain in writing why a particular quote fits a character, requiring them to connect quote (evidence) to interpretation. The homework questions also require short written answers that summarize and explain events and character choices from Chapter 10.
Lesson 9
Conflict Within and Without
Students are asked to write a paragraph addressing three questions about a conflict's impact on relationships, plot development, and character change, which requires composing connected prose that explains and analyzes. Activity 2 asks students to write one to two paragraphs (5–6 sentences) speculating on the author's reason for a chapter title and where the phrase could appear, requiring development of an interpretive claim. The Student Activity Page also has students organize evidence into a chart and circle the theme they feel is central, supporting planning and selecting content for writing.
Lesson 10
View from Valentine
Students are asked to produce original acrostics (Option 1 and Option 2) that require them to choose words or craft a sentence around a character's name, which asks them to organize language for a specific brief task. The Parent Plan notes that Option 2 challenges students to form sentences within the acrostic, and the Skills section identifies assessing how point of view or purpose shapes content and style. The lesson also asks students to reflect on narrator point of view, which connects to choices of style and purpose in writing.
Lesson 11
Thud, Whump, Huut
Students are asked to produce written comparisons when they re-read a scene from the book and "take notes on the differences" after watching the movie, and to "decide if the Marvel comic left out some words" and record what narration or dialogue was omitted on the Comic Adaptation activity page. The lesson requires students to answer text-dependent questions for Chapters 14 and 15, producing written answers that summarize and explain events and character motivations. The activity pages prompt students to judge whether omissions "compromised the original novel" and to provide written justification for that judgement.
Lesson 12
Campbell's Comparisons
Students record the twelve steps of the Hero's Journey in their journals and fill a six-box graphic organizer in which they choose six steps and describe parallels to Ender's Game. Students complete the "Your Views on the Issues" rating table and later compare their answers, which requires written reflection. The homework asks students to read an article that will be used in a later activity that may prompt written responses.
Lesson 13
The Enemy's Gate Is Down
Students write one- to two-sentence summaries of four leadership lessons on the "Leadership Lessons: Forbes Four" activity page and describe how to apply one lesson to their own lives. On the "Discovering Subplots" page students list unanswered questions, note moments of mystery or tension, and complete a three-column table comparing Graff/I.F., Ender (main plot), and Peter/Valentine, producing short written responses and answers to posed discussion questions. Several prompts ask students to prepare answers and to explain how subplots enhance the main plot, which requires students to produce written explanations and analyses.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
Students are asked to write a one- to three-paragraph flashback that could be inserted into a specific scene (Box 2), requiring narrative development and a departure from the present scene. Students rewrite a three- to four-paragraph passage from third-person into first-person voice (Box 3), practicing perspective and stylistic choices. Students write a two- to three-paragraph compare-and-contrast essay on military versus civilian leadership (Box 5), practicing expository organization and development for a specified purpose and audience. The unit test and acrostic tasks require students to use vocabulary in sentences and answer short written responses, reinforcing sentence-level clarity and genre knowledge.
Unit 2: Grammar, Part II
Lesson 2
Capitalization and Numbers
Students practice sentence-level clarity and conventions by choosing correctly capitalized sentences and writing the rule that explains them, and by completing capitalization quizzes. Students practice number-formatting choices by recording rules and examples on a "Writing Numbers" page and are asked to choose and be consistent with a preferred style for numerals. Students practice word-usage and audience-appropriate word choice through the commonly confused-words activities, including filling blanks in a letter to Aunt Claire using correct word forms.
Lesson 3
Sentence Fragments and Run-on Sentences
Students practice identifying and correcting sentence-level problems (fragments and run-ons) through readings, online quizzes, and the "Fragments and Run-ons" activity page. Students analyze and apply verbals and verbal phrases in targeted exercises, which supports accurate sentence construction. Students produce a 1–2 page narrative (Creative Writing Challenge) that requires using target words correctly, revising their draft, and sharing with a parent.
Lesson 4
Modifier Errors
Students read explicit instruction on misplaced, dangling, and squinting modifiers and complete the "Modifier Problems" activity page where they rewrite sentences to correct misplaced and dangling modifiers. Students practice sentence-level revision by comparing original and corrected sentences (Option 1) and by creating a five-question modifier quiz with an answer key (Option 2). Students also apply corrections on exercise pages and check answers against an answer key, reinforcing sentence-level clarity.
Lesson 5
Hyphens and Apostrophes
Students read explicit rules and summaries about hyphen and apostrophe use and complete focused activities that require them to rewrite sentences with correct hyphenation and possession. Students edit a travel-influencer passage to circle, insert, or remove apostrophes and they complete hyphen exercises that ask them to explain how hyphenation changes meaning. Students also take notes, consult an answer key, and complete an online hyphen quiz to check and refine their sentence-level punctuation.
Lesson 6
Word Choice
Students practice concise word choice by rewriting sentences in the "Avoiding Wordiness" activity and by crossing out redundancies in the "Avoiding Redundancy" worksheet. Students work on audience-appropriate style by taking notes on formal vs. informal language for homework and by editing a college-application paragraph in the "College Essay Editor" activity. Students review clause usage and punctuation (that/which, restrictive vs. nonrestrictive) in Activity 2, which supports clearer sentence-level expression.
Lesson 7
Verb Voice and Mood
Students are asked to create a communicative product (poster, slideshow, comic strip, card game) that explains the subjunctive mood to a younger audience, which requires them to adapt style and content for a specific task and audience. The assignment instructions tell students to focus on basics rather than exhaustive detail and to explain mood briefly, guiding purpose and audience choices. The rubric evaluates that the message is "clear and cohesive," that the project "provides useful strategies/techniques," and that the project is free of grammar and punctuation errors, which directly targets clarity, coherence, and conventions in student work.
Lesson 8
Parallelism
Students read an explicit explanation of faulty parallelism (e.g., the Rashad example) and rewrite sentences to correct nonparallel constructions. Students complete a Parallelism activity page that asks them to list coordinating conjunctions, describe parallel items in lists and comparisons, and give examples/problems for correlative conjunctions and voice consistency. Students are directed to a Towson University module and linked exercises to practice identifying and correcting parallel structure.
Final Project
Wrapping Up
Students are asked to plan and produce two mini-projects (slideshow, poster, explanatory guide, or song/skit) that require defining terms, providing examples, and tailoring explanations to a specific audience (elementary or teen/adult). The mini-project rubric explicitly asks that information be appropriate for the target audience, that each mini-project clearly explain the topic, and that work demonstrate understanding of the topic. The unit activities require students to correct paragraph-level problems (fragments, run-ons, punctuation, commonly confused words) and to convert passive to active voice, which addresses sentence- and paragraph-level clarity.
Unit 3: Informational Texts
Lesson 2
Outliers
Students are asked to answer questions on the "What Is an Outlier?" page that require them to explain reasoning (e.g., justify whether a data point or response is an outlier). The vocabulary activities ask students to select synonyms, make notes, and insert chosen synonyms into sentences, which requires them to write context-sensitive word choices. Homework includes short-answer questions that require written explanations of causes and effects (e.g., explaining the Matthew Effect and how cutoff dates affect success).
Lesson 3
The Matthew Effect
The lesson asks students to write in a journal to brainstorm factors that contribute to sports success and to mark their top three choices (Activity 2). The homework includes short-answer questions that require explanation and synthesis (e.g., explain the 10,000-hour rule and argue which part—talent or preparation—plays a bigger role). The Parent Plan explicitly lists "Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience."
Lesson 4
The 10,000 Hour Rule
Students are asked to write brief summaries for Sections 1–3 and to answer focused analysis questions on the "Looking Closely" page, requiring them to compose coherent responses about Gladwell's structure and evidence. Students are prompted to record key opportunities for The Beatles or Bill Gates in their book or journal as they read Sections 4–6, which requires organizing information in writing. The Parent Plan lists skills such as determining a central idea, drawing evidence, and analyzing how an author's ideas are developed, which students must demonstrate in their written answers and summaries.
Lesson 5
Harlan, Kentucky
Students are asked to write an informal journal reflection about who settled their area, stereotypes about the area, and how those settlers may have influenced local culture. Students are directed to take notes, do brief research, and then share their findings with family, which requires them to organize information for a real audience and purpose. The lesson's Skills list explicitly names producing clear and coherent writing as an expected skill.
Lesson 6
The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes
Students are asked to write journal responses to prompts (e.g., explain why Gladwell structures Chapter 7 and predict the ethnic/cultural issue) and to jot observations comparing cultural-dimension scores in a journal. In Activity 5 Option 2, students complete a written chart identifying criticisms, Gladwell's responses, and evaluating the effectiveness of those responses. Vocabulary activities require students to write synonyms/antonyms and use vocabulary words in context.
Lesson 7
Rice Paddies and Math Tests
Students are asked to produce a diagram or infographic that "clearly and effectively communicates the concept" and to ensure the final product is neat, attractive, and free from grammar and punctuation errors, which requires composing written labels/captions for an audience. The Skills list asks students to "translate quantitative or technical information ... into visual form" and to "draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis," implying students must organize and cite content. Students must also present findings to a parent and explain concepts from the chapter, practicing shaping information for an audience.
Lesson 8
With Malice Toward None
Students identify and analyze rhetorical strategies (parallelism, antithesis, allusion) by completing a chart that requires quoting the speech, naming the device, and explaining its effect. Students analyze the organization of Lincoln's speech and review a common persuasive-speech structure (background, main message, forward-looking statement). For homework, students choose three sentences from the address and write them as a three-item bulleted list representing those three organizational parts.
Lesson 9
Writing about History
Students are asked to write an editorial (Option 2) that uses facts from sources to persuade readers the attack was unnecessary, unjust, and excessive. The Parent Plan lists writing skills students will practice, including "Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content" and "Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence." Students also complete shorter writing tasks (a journal paragraph planning a visit) that require organizing ideas for a specific purpose and audience.
Lesson 10
Science Writing
Students read a middle-school science booklet and complete the "Investigating Claims in Science Writing" activity page, where they explain how the author supports specific claims and identify methods (e.g., explanation, example, illustration) used to clarify terms like "centripetal force." Students answer targeted questions (e.g., define equilibrium, distinguish centrifugal vs. centripetal force) and evaluate audience appropriateness by discussing whether the booklet provides enough detail for a middle-school audience. The lesson explicitly lists characteristics of good science writing (clarity, simplicity, logical structure, accuracy, objectivity) and methods writers use to define unfamiliar terms, which students reference in their analyses.
Lesson 11
Technical Writing
Students plan, draft, revise, and produce a short how-to guide, including an introduction, ordered steps, tips, conclusion, and a Works Cited section. Students practice organization and formatting by adding titles, headings, bulleted/numbered lists, glossaries, and infographics to make information easy to find and understand. Students evaluate audience needs (they are instructed to assume readers know little or nothing), revise for clarity, and test the guide by having another person follow it without verbal help.
Lesson 12
Logical Fallacies
Students are asked to write a persuasive essay as the final project and to begin preparing for it in the next lesson. Students can choose Option 2 to write their own short speech, note where they used ethos, pathos, and logos, and deliver the speech to an audience. Students analyze model speeches (Lou Gehrig) for appeals and are given a sample speech that demonstrates an introduction, supporting examples, and a conclusion.
Final Project
Argumentative Research Essay
Students are directed to produce a five-paragraph argumentative research essay using the classical argument structure (introduction/narration, confirmation, concession/refutation, conclusion). They draft a clear thesis, gather and integrate evidence from at least five credible sources, include in-text MLA citations and a Works Cited page, and follow an essay rubric that assesses thesis, content development (including counterargument), organization, transitions, and style. Students also revise their drafts using the rubric and adapt their writing for an oral audience, shortening sentences and choosing appropriate tone and visual supports.
Unit 4: Drama
Lesson 1
What Is Drama?
Students are asked in the homework to write a paragraph in their journal recalling a live play or imagining differences between live theater and film, with specific prompts about the play, setting, characters, and feelings. The activities require students to watch clips, identify genres and stage types, and review terminology that students can use as content in their paragraph. The Parent Plan repeats that students will think through the questions and write a reflective paragraph, indicating an explicit student writing task.
Lesson 2
How to Read Drama
Students are prompted to write answers in a journal and to complete the "Applying Aristotle's Six Elements of Tragedy" activity page, which asks them to describe plot, character, and theme in sentence responses. The activity page directs students to "Answer the questions in each block. Try to answer each question in just one sentence," requiring them to produce written explanations and organize responses by category (Plot, Character, Thought, Diction/Melody/Spectacle). The lesson includes specific short-answer prompts (e.g., "Is the plot centered on a discovery or on a reversal of fortune? Explain.") that ask students to develop and support brief written claims.
Lesson 4
A Raisin in the Sun
Students are asked to write a journal paragraph summarizing Act I that includes setting, main characters, and the plot of each scene, plus a sentence predicting Act II. A sample summary is provided in the Parent Plan as a model for students to reference. The Day 2 character-chart activity and vocabulary/context activities give students material to organize and develop content for that summary.
Lesson 5
Act II
Students are asked to write a reader-response paragraph using the APE (Answer, Prove, Extend) method and to support claims with specific examples and quotations from the play. Students complete a Character Analysis worksheet that requires organized biographical, physical, and psychological writing and then write a six-sentence monologue (Option 1) that must reflect the chosen character. Students also record song titles and write journal entries about what each song says about the American Dream and respond to Hansberry quote prompts, all requiring multi-sentence written responses.
Lesson 6
Act III
Students write answers to comprehension questions for Act III and complete the "A Dream Deferred" activity, which asks them to define "defer," identify five similes in Langston Hughes's poem, analyze imagery, and relate the poem to a play character by explaining which comparison best describes that character's deferred dream. Students also complete a written quiz matching vocabulary words to definitions and matching quotations to characters. These tasks require students to produce written explanations and textual analysis in response to specific prompts.
Lesson 7
Fences
Students are asked to produce written comparisons on the Student Activity Page, filling chart sections for theme, characters, plot, and setting and writing at least two sentences about similarities and differences. Students must write a paragraph with at least three insights after watching the interview with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. Students are assigned a homework paragraph in their journal answering what they learned from reading the play and watching the movie.
Lesson 8
Shakespeare
Students are asked to "rewrite the passage in your own words" and complete written responses on the activity sheet that require identifying speaker, meaning, actions, and desires, which require composing coherent summaries. Students must create a chronological "Shakespeare Timeline" using book, video, and web sources, organizing information into a written graphic organizer. The activity pages include spaces for written responses and a sample summary is provided in the parent plan, indicating students will produce written summaries and organized timeline entries.
Lesson 9
Romeo and Juliet
Students are asked to write brief journal summaries of the most important event for Act I scenes and to answer targeted comprehension questions for multiple scenes, which requires composing coherent short responses. Students must write answers to guided prompts about the Globe Theatre (e.g., listing at least three challenges) and respond to Renaissance marriage prompts in their journals, including pros/cons and explanations. Homework requires students to note specific production details while watching a performance, which involves organized note-taking and descriptive writing.
Lesson 10
Figurative Language
Students write brief summaries in journals after reading scenes and answer directed comprehension questions, practicing concise explanatory writing. They explain examples of oxymorons and paradoxes in writing, rearrange sonnet lines and write an explanation of the sonnet's conflict, and complete a spouse-survey comparison that requires written reflection. Multiple activities ask students to explain meanings (idioms, euphemisms) or respond in writing to prompts such as what they would say to Romeo.
Lesson 11
Nuanced Meaning
Students write brief summaries in their journals of the most important event in each scene of Act 3, which requires them to organize and convey key ideas. On Day 2 students rewrite a 3–6 line exchange between two characters as modern text messages, using modern language and emojis and are asked to compare the modern version to the original to show understanding of relationship, plot, and emotions. In Part III students compose sentences using synonyms with positive and negative connotations, practicing word choice and sentence-level style.
Lesson 12
Time and Tension
Students are asked to read Act IV and answer structured comprehension and analysis questions in writing. Students are directed to write a journal entry summarizing what they think is the most important event in the scene. The Student Activity Page requires students to record counts of time-related words and to respond in writing to specific analytical prompts about scenes and monologues.
Lesson 13
Tragic Hero
Students write a journal summary of Act V and answer guided questions about key events, demonstrating practice in summarizing. Students complete the Timeline and Character Development activity, filling in scene-by-scene actions and writing explanations deciding whether characters are static/dynamic and round/flat, which requires organized, structured responses. Students use the Pyramus and Thisbe worksheet to record similarities between texts, producing comparative written notes.
Lesson 14
Modern Retelling
Students are instructed to write an informal three-paragraph analysis with a clear thesis that names three areas of difference, and each paragraph must begin with a topic sentence that answers a focused question. The lesson teaches the APE method (Answer, Prove, Extend) to structure each paragraph and requires specific examples from both productions and an explanation of significance or effect. The checklist directs students to type, read aloud, revise, and edit their paragraphs, reinforcing organization, development, and clarity. The lesson also references parallelism and earlier grammar lessons to support appropriate sentence-level style and structure.
Final Project
Drama
The Parent Plan skills list explicitly names the standard and the lesson requires students to produce written work for multiple purposes (e.g., write a paragraph describing each costume, write set-design explanations, write podcast and commercial scripts, compose news article leads, list playlist explanations and sample lyrics, and write song lyrics). The student-facing rubric assesses Mechanics and Content and the directions ask students to plan, draft, cite sources, revise, and present their written products to an audience.
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
The Parent Plan skills list explicitly names "Produce clear and coherent writing" and "Write routinely over extended time frames," indicating students are expected to produce polished writing. Students are asked to revise previous writing (for example, "revise writing assignments or projects from previous units, such as the essay from Informational Texts") and to complete Part IV discussion responses requiring 1–3 paragraph answers. Part V (Grammar and Usage) includes sentence-revision tasks (rewrite for brevity, fix parallelism, prefer active voice) that require students to edit for clarity and style.