Ninth Grade - ELA
1: Semester 1
Unit 1: Lord of the Flies
Lesson 1
The Call
Students are assigned to begin reading Lord of the Flies and answer chapter questions (Reading and Questions, Homework). The Skills section requires students to determine theme/central idea, provide objective summaries, and analyze word meaning and cumulative impact of word choices. The lesson provides targeted scaffolds: multiple vocabulary activities with definitions, contextual quotes, and images, plus guided discussion prompts and prediction tasks that structure comprehension of the text.
Lesson 2
Life on the Island
Students are directed to read Chapters 2 and 3 of Lord of the Flies and to expand STEAL character pages as they read, requiring sustained reading of a novel and tracking character development over time. Students complete comprehension questions about plot events (e.g., use of the conch, what happens to the fire, Ralph's frustrations) and analyze how complex characters develop and interact, with examples and inference prompts provided. Students also receive scaffolded support at sentence level through explicit instruction and practice identifying independent and dependent clauses, coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, and guided activity pages with examples and an answer key.
Lesson 3
Paths in the Jungle
Students read Chapter 4 of Lord of the Flies and answer targeted comprehension questions that require recall and inference. Students practice close-reading strategies (annotating, underlining topic sentences, marking unknown words) and use a top-hat graphic organizer and STEAL character pages to organize understanding. Students analyze narrator point of view by converting omniscient narration to a first-person character journal and identify the author's thesis and supporting points in a linked article.
Lesson 4
Images from Paradise
Students read chapters of Golding's novel (references to Chapter 4 and homework to read Chapter 5) and answer interpretive questions about plot and character. Students complete an imagery activity that requires them to locate quotations, label connotative tone (paradise/dystopia), and explain how language evokes the five senses. Students practice clause identification and write sentences using noun, adjective, and adverb clauses, and the Parent Plan lists skills to determine figurative and connotative meanings and analyze cumulative impact of word choices on meaning and tone.
Lesson 5
Not Hunting, But Hunted
Students read and analyze multiple chapters and excerpts from Lord of the Flies (examples from Chapters 3 and 5) and are assigned to read Chapter 6 for homework. Students complete comprehension questions about Chapter 6, add to STEAL character pages, and discuss character development. Students perform close analysis of authorial choices (narrative pacing, structure, manipulation of time) through activities that ask them to identify and emulate pacing techniques and compare Example A and B.
Lesson 6
Symbolism, Part 1
Students read Chapter 7 of Lord of the Flies and answer specific comprehension questions about plot and character responses (e.g., environment impacts, Simon's remark, the pig hunt, discovery in the woods). Students complete an activity that asks them to select interpretations for symbols (Piggy's glasses, the conch, the signal fire, the beast, etc.) and write text-based explanations supporting their choices. Students write a one-page journal entry in a character's voice that requires recording actions and quoting other characters to show how the boys affect one another and the island.
Lesson 7
Bowed and Bowed Again
Students read chapters of Lord of the Flies (homework: read Chapter 8; reading and questions) and answer directed comprehension questions about plot and events. The skills list explicitly asks students to determine a theme or central idea and provide an objective summary and to analyze how an author's structural choices create effects such as mystery or tension. Activities require students to analyze dramatic irony (predicting characters' responses from reader vs. character perspectives), complete STEAL character pages, and respond to discussion questions that practice comprehension and analysis.
Lesson 8
Defects of Human Nature
Students read substantial chapters of Lord of the Flies (Chapters 9 and 10) and answer targeted comprehension questions about plot events. Students analyze central and supporting themes through guided activities (Determine the Theme options) that ask them to cite specific textual details and write 3–4 sentence explanations. Students practice vocabulary in context with scaffolded options (matching definitions or fill-in-the-blank) to support understanding of complex language in the novel.
Lesson 9
Symbolism, Part 2
Students read chapters of Lord of the Flies (homework: read Chapter 11) and answer specific comprehension questions about plot events (e.g., who remains in Ralph's tribe, how Piggy dies). Students complete activities that require close analysis of characters (Recognizing Archetypes) and of symbolic/allegorical meanings (Allegory Analysis) and are prompted to determine what characters and settings might represent in society. The Parent Plan lists skills that students should practice: analyzing how complex characters develop and determining a theme and its development.
Lesson 10
Which Is Better?
Students are assigned to read Chapter 12 and to answer targeted reading-and-questions items that require locating and understanding key plot events. Students complete STEAL character pages, a Developing Civilization compare/contrast chart, and a one-page journal entry analyzing Jack's leadership and contrasts with Ralph, requiring analysis of character development and theme. Students are offered a Crash Course World History video and an activity page to provide background and support comprehension, functioning as scaffolded resources.
Lesson 11
The Film
Students complete a "Movie vs. Book" chart that requires them to identify similarities and differences in characters, setting, theme, and plot between Lord of the Flies the novel and its 1963 film adaptation. Students write journal responses explaining whether omitted scenes were critical to the novel's major theme and describe how film visuals differed from their imagined images, requiring inference and textual recall. Students are asked to analyze how complex characters develop, interact, and advance plot or theme and to review literary devices and narrative pacing in preparation for a unit test.
Final Project
Now You Have the Conch
Students are asked to return to specific chapters (e.g., Chapter 7) and note passages where characters contend and where the group is "caught up," requiring them to locate and cite textual evidence. The unit test and activities require students to identify themes, symbols, literary devices (direct characterization, dramatic irony), paraphrase prompts, and provide objective summaries and explanations based on the novel. Brainstorming and guided outline pages instruct students to find passages, record page numbers, and use those excerpts as support in their essays.
Unit 2: Short Stories
Lesson 1
The Gift of the Magi
Students read and annotate two canonical short stories ("The Gift of the Magi" and "The Necklace") and answer guided comprehension and analysis questions. Students complete graphic organizers for story elements (setting, plot, character, theme) and record instances of situational and dramatic irony and allusion. The Parent Plan explicitly asks students to cite strong textual evidence and to analyze how an author draws on and transforms outside material, and the lesson provides sample annotations, web links for research, and journal prompts as scaffolding.
Lesson 2
The Necklace
Students read and annotate Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace" and use those annotations to identify the central theme(s). Students practice citing textual evidence, analyze how literary elements develop theme, and complete a theme web activity. Students write a one-paragraph objective summary that includes plot, setting, and main idea and use the APE method to support written responses with quotations or paraphrase.
Lesson 3
Literary Response
Students read two short stories and are asked to compare and contrast them, citing specific examples and direct quotations from the texts. Activities require students to read closely (brainstorm similarities, identify themes, irony, narrator role) and to use the APE method to prove and extend claims with textual evidence. The assignment asks students to produce a structured four-paragraph literary response that uses evidence and explanation, and the rubric specifically assesses use of text-based support and inference.
Lesson 6
The Lottery
Students read Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" and perform close reading of passages where the black box is described. They complete a graphic organizer that asks them to record physical descriptions, townspeople reactions, and historical connections to the box, prompting text-based note-taking. The Parent Plan and Skills sections require students to cite strong textual evidence and apply language knowledge, and the teacher-provided answer key and activity directions offer scaffolded support for analysis.
Lesson 7
Everyday Use
Students read the short story "Everyday Use" and answer focused comprehension questions (e.g., identifying the narrator's point of view and explaining the title's significance). They practice textual analysis through activities that require rewriting a scene from another character's point of view, completing a symbolism page linking character details to theme, and researching the author's biography to contextualize meaning. The Parent Plan Skills explicitly list close reading and citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking.
Lesson 8
Harrison Bergeron
Students read Kurt Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron" and answer targeted comprehension questions (e.g., Q1 about societal origins and Q4 identifying third-person limited point of view). Students analyze theme and conflict (questions about equality vs. excellence) and produce written journal responses to synthesis questions about the society and equality. Students compare and contrast the printed story with a film adaptation (2081) using a guided activity page that asks them to identify specific scene/character changes and explain how medium and film techniques alter meaning. The lesson provides contextual background on the author and a "Things to Know" section (including an explanation of voice-over) that supports student understanding as they work through the text and activities.
Lesson 9
Dialogue
Students are asked to skim and re-read sections containing dialogue from selected short stories (e.g., "Everyday Use," "The Lottery") and write a journal paragraph explaining why the author's use of dialogue works, citing specific lines or sections. The homework asks students to create a short scene that could be added to a studied story, requiring them to adopt characters' voices and reference story context. The lesson refers to examples from longer works (Lord of the Flies) to show how dialogue interacts with narration and character development.
Unit 4: Poetry
Lesson 1
Introduction to Poetry
The Parent Plan explicitly lists as a skill: "Read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently." Students read named poems (e.g., "Richard Cory," an Emily Dickinson excerpt, and Billy Collins' "Introduction to Poetry"), mark and annotate texts, and answer directed comprehension and analysis questions on a Poem Response page. Students complete guided worksheets that require identifying denotation and connotation, choosing words to analyze, and explaining word choice effectiveness, providing structured practice (scaffolding) in close reading.
Lesson 2
Sound and Rhythm
Students read and listen to multiple canonical poems ("Lord Randall," "Nothing Gold Can Stay," "The Tyger," "Counting-Out Rhyme" and others), identify alliteration, consonance, assonance, rhyme, and meter, and write journal responses explaining effects of sound and rhyme. Students practice scansion using guided tips and an interactive prosody tool, mark stressed/unstressed syllables, count feet, and determine meter. The lesson provides scaffolded options (Option 1 and Option 2) and step-by-step tips for struggling students, and asks students to produce written explanations and answers on activity pages.
Lesson 3
Figurative Language
Students read multiple whole poems (e.g., "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," "To His Coy Mistress," "Fire and Ice," "My Heart Leaps Up," and "To a Skylark") and identify and cite stanza and line numbers for figurative language. Students analyze and explain similes, metaphors, personification, symbolism, imagery, irony (verbal, situational, dramatic), paradox, understatement, and overstatement. Students are asked to describe rhyme scheme and meter and to analyze how word choice and devices affect meaning and tone.
Lesson 4
Voice and Tone
Students read multiple poems (e.g., "Mother to Son," "Sick," "Richard Cory," "Those Winter Sundays," Frost's "The Fear") and complete tasks that require comprehension, such as identifying the speaker, listing three things learned about the speaker, and recording words/phrases that convey tone. Students analyze how word choice, sensory images, interruptions, meter, and punctuation (dashes) contribute to tone and meaning, and they compare and contrast tones across poems. Students produce written responses that require understanding the poems (writing letters in a speaker's voice or composing new stanzas consistent with voice and form).
Lesson 5
What Does It Mean?
Students read and analyze multiple poems (e.g., Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!", Sandburg's "Grass", Helton's "Old Christmas Morning", Blake's "A Poison Tree", Bishop's "The Fish"). Students follow explicit, scaffolded steps for comprehension (identify title, read aloud, determine speaker, look up unfamiliar words, write a summary) and then answer guided questions about images, tone, symbols, and theme. Students use background context and vocabulary support (e.g., historical context for Whitman, explanations of Appalachian Old Christmas, definitions of symbolism and allusion) and complete activity pages and homework that require summarizing and interpreting figurative language and extended metaphor.
Lesson 6
Fooling with Words
Students watch a one-hour video of poets performing and are asked to "listen for" elements such as metaphors, allusions, and literal versus figurative language, prompting analysis of poetic language. Students choose favorite poets, explain why, and complete a Poet Profile worksheet that asks them to identify a favorite poem, list additional poems, and answer biographical and reflective questions. The Parent Plan and Skills sections explicitly list demonstrating understanding of figurative language and integrating content presented in diverse media as learning goals.
Lesson 7
Analyzing Poetry
Students practice close reading and annotation by marking and writing notes on poems such as Robert Frost's "October" and by studying a marked-up example of Shelley's "Ozymandias." Students use a Poetry Map graphic organizer to analyze Seamus Heaney's "Blackberry-Picking," identifying word choice, imagery, symbols/allusions, tone changes, sound devices, and figurative language. Students complete a Poetry Puzzle using the word list for Blake's "London," then read the poem aloud and connect their annotations to the original text.
Lesson 8
Types of Poems
Students read and analyze a wide selection of poems (Milton, Shakespeare, Keats, Wilfred Owen, Whitman, Dunbar, Billy Collins) and complete activities that require marking rhyme schemes, tracking iambic pentameter, and identifying sonnet types. Students answer directed comprehension and analysis questions for narrative poems and ballads, complete ekphrasis charts comparing poems and artworks, and watch/read performances to note interpretation differences. Students begin reading The Crossover (a novel in verse) and answer specific comprehension questions about plot and vocabulary.
Lesson 9
The Crossover
Students read and finish Kwame Alexander's novel-in-verse The Crossover, including the sections "Third Quarter," "Fourth Quarter," and "Overtime." Students answer direct comprehension questions about plot and character (e.g., Josh's punishment, privileges, gifts) and complete activities that ask them to analyze how specific sentences, stanzas, or poems contribute to theme and structure. Students practice vocabulary and word-meaning work by comparing the book's in-text definitions to dictionary definitions and by writing vocabulary poems modeled on the author's method. Students also analyze poetic forms (e.g., Tanka) and reflect on the significance of the novel's title and the author's use of basketball rules in journal responses.
Lesson 10
Poems and Poets
Students read a curated set of classic poems by British, Irish, Scottish, and American poets (e.g., Marvell, Burns, Coleridge, Keats, Poe, Dickinson, Yeats) and answer guided questions about themes, meter, literary devices, and tone. Students complete a "Poetry Map" in which they paraphrase the poem, identify word choice, imagery, symbols/allusions, tone, sound devices, figurative language, speaker, summarize in their own words, and state the theme. Students read aloud, annotate, research poet biographies and cultural context, and write a journal response connecting cultural references to meaning.
Lesson 11
Reciting Poetry
Students are directed to read at least 10 poems from the Poetry Out Loud collection and to choose one to prepare and recite, providing repeated reading practice. The Parent Plan and skills list explicitly ask students to "read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences" and to "cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking," and homework tasks require students to look up unfamiliar words, determine speaker and tone, and analyze imagery and word choice. Students watch and analyze model recitation videos and use marking and pause techniques to demonstrate understanding of enjambment, tone, and meaning while preparing memorized performances.
Final Project
Poetry
Students are asked to read and work with many poems and subgenres (sonnets, odes, ballads, free verse, ekphrasis) and to recite and present poems, indicating regular engagement with poetry. Choice 5 (Poetry Explication) requires students to analyze structure, rhyme and meter, sound devices, speaker, tone, imagery, figurative language, symbols/allusions, literal meaning, and theme, and to present those findings, which practices comprehension and analysis. The unit test (Day 2) asks students to define poetic terms and identify poem types and devices, showing assessment of comprehension. The lesson provides guided questions, review sheets, sample notebooks, activity pages, and links to resources that students use while reading and analyzing poems, which serve as scaffolding and supports.
Unit 5: Nonfiction
Lesson 2
Pakistan
Students are assigned to read chapters 2–4 (and 5–6 for homework) of I Am Malala and answer specific comprehension questions about setting, characterization, and events. Students complete an activity using the book's timeline and web resources to research Pakistan's history and geography and answer targeted questions. Students engage in discussion prompts about symbolism (the magic pencil) and advantages/disadvantages of living in the Swat Valley, which require interpreting meaning and theme.
Lesson 3
The Taliban
Students are assigned to read Chapters 7, 8, and 10 of I Am Malala and to answer comprehension questions about events, characters, and motivations (e.g., questions about Malala's parents, the Matta school, and Taliban opposition to Western culture). The Parent Plan explicitly lists skills students will practice: determining central ideas or themes, summarizing key supporting details, and practicing paraphrasing. Students also complete activities that require summarizing information (writing an informational paragraph or creating presentation slides) and integrating information from a web source.
Lesson 4
Dear Diary
Students read Chapters 11–13 of I Am Malala and answer specific comprehension questions (e.g., how Malala felt about giving speeches; how her BBC diary began). Students practice paraphrasing with guided tips, a linked video ('How to Paraphrase in 5 Easy Steps'), and a Student Activity Page that asks them to analyze example paraphrases and create their own. The activity page includes sample answers and prompts that direct students to restate meaning in their own words, reinforcing textual understanding.
Lesson 5
Displacement
Students are instructed to read Chapters 16–17 of I Am Malala and answer specific comprehension questions (e.g., define IDP, describe differences in schools, report observations upon return), showing direct practice with reading and literal comprehension. The Parent Plan lists skills that students are expected to practice, including determining central ideas/themes, summarizing key supporting details, and integrating and evaluating content presented in diverse media and formats. In the Activities, students research schools around the world, analyze images, make assumptions based on visual/textual clues, and write from a student's point of view, which requires synthesis of text and media.
Lesson 6
A Day Like Any Other
Students are asked to read multiple chapters of I Am Malala and answer specific comprehension questions about events and character reactions. Students use the APE strategy to Answer, Prove, and Extend, requiring them to restate questions, cite quotations or examples from the text, and explain connections. The Parent Plan explicitly lists skills to "Draw evidence from literary or informational texts" and to "Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text." Students complete a graphic organizer and discuss whether decisions were appropriate, which practices close reading and text-based analysis.
Lesson 7
Life in England
Students read multiple chapters of I Am Malala (Chs. 33–36 and optional epilogue) and complete comprehension questions about plot and character (Questions #1–#4). Students watch an 11-minute documentary excerpt and take notes comparing the book and film, answering focused prompts about differences in emphasis, portrayal of Malala's father and mother, and the media's impact. Students write a short journal imagining a world issue and prepare for discussion, which requires integrating what they read with multimedia and discussion prompts.
Lesson 8
Civil Rights
Students read substantial primary texts: half and then the remainder of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," an excerpt of Frederick Douglass's oration, and poems by Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou. Students answer text-based comprehension and analysis questions, record journal responses about King's rhetorical moves and the four steps to nonviolent campaign, and complete matching and written-response activities about the authors and their contributions. The lesson provides structured activity pages (double-entry diary, timeline sorting, 'People of the Past' identification) and guided questions that prompt close reading and textual evidence use.
Lesson 10
Learning from the Past
Students read and analyze Elie Wiesel's Nobel lecture "Hope, Despair, and Memory," completing annotation, vocabulary, and short-answer activities that require citing textual evidence. They compare Wiesel's ideas with excerpts from Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr., identify universal truths, and complete comprehension and synthesis tasks (journal paragraphs, a museum wall project). The Parent Plan and activity pages require students to find quotes, rewrite passages in their own words, and answer questions that demonstrate understanding of complex ideas and rhetorical choices.
Lesson 11
A Boy's Story
The Parent Plan explicitly lists "Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently." Students are assigned to read A Long Way Gone (chronology entries and Chapters 1 and the opening pages), answer targeted comprehension questions, and complete vocabulary exercises tied directly to the text. Students also locate Sierra Leone on a map and watch an author interview to integrate multiple sources of information related to the book.
Lesson 12
Running from War
Students are assigned chapters of A Long Way Gone to read and answer guided comprehension questions (specific questions for Chapters 2, 5, 6–7, 8, and 11). Students are given summaries of skipped chapters as scaffolding and asked to use the APE (Answer, Prove, Extend) strategy to write responses that require quoting and explaining textual evidence. Students practice textual analysis and integration of quotations through a focused activity (Part I/II) that asks them to choose correct punctuation, introduce quotations in three ways, and produce written examples using book passages.
Lesson 13
Child Soldier
Students are assigned chapters of A Long Way Gone to read and answer comprehension questions that require inference and textual support (e.g., questions about why commanders repeat lines, the effects of drugs, and motivations for violence). The Parent Plan skills explicitly list citing strong textual evidence, evaluating arguments and claims, and integrating content from different media, which students practice in the "Different Accounts" activity comparing the book and a video. Students also complete analytical tasks (journal on memoir accuracy, "Role of Rap" activity, and the Child Soldiers advantages/disadvantages chart) that require synthesizing and interpreting the text.
Lesson 14
Rehabilitation
Students are assigned to read Chapters 15–17 of A Long Way Gone and answer targeted comprehension questions about events, character reactions, and nightmares. Students complete activities that require them to draw evidence and quotations from the text (e.g., Option 2 journal response, the 'RUF vs. Government Soldiers' comparison, and the 'Wiesel's Words' page). The Parent Plan explicitly lists skills students practice, including drawing evidence from texts, analyzing how the author unfolds events, and determining author point of view, and offers differentiated activity options and teacher prompts as scaffolding.
Lesson 15
A New Life
Students read multiple chapters of A Long Way Gone (Chapters 19–21) and are asked specific comprehension questions about events and characters. Students summarize Chapter 20 in 1–2 paragraphs using step-by-step scaffolding (pre-reading, annotation, selecting main ideas, writing in own words) and are given chapter summaries as models. Students compare two memoirs by drawing evidence about style, point of view, purpose, and central ideas and complete a guided Comparing Memoirs activity that asks them to cite examples and reflect on authorial choices.
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
Students answer multiple-choice, fill-in, short-answer, and essay/discussion questions that require comprehension and analysis of novels (Lord of the Flies), short stories, and poems (e.g., questions about voice, tone, sound devices, imagery, figurative language, symbolism, point of view, theme, and irony). Students perform poem analyses (identify rhyme scheme, alliteration, personification, enjambment), explain symbolism and characterization in Lord of the Flies, and synthesize ideas across nonfiction authors (e.g., connections between Thoreau and MLK, Yousafzai and Beah). Students also practice quoting and paraphrasing, annotating texts, and producing paragraph-length responses that demonstrate understanding of literary elements.
2: Semester 2
Unit 1: Ender's Game
Lesson 1
Born to Genius
Students are assigned to read the novel's introduction (pp. xi-xiii) and Chapters 1-2 and to answer specific comprehension questions about character relationships and plot events. Students research Orson Scott Card's life and historical context using the About the Author activity, and rate and later discuss their views on thematic issues (e.g., violence, adult authority) using the Your Views on the Issues survey. The Parent Plan lists a target skill of initiating and participating in collaborative discussions on grades 9-10 texts, and class discussion prompts ask students to explain and defend their positions after reading.
Lesson 2
We're People, Not Thirds
Students are assigned to read Chapters 3–4 of Ender's Game and answer specific comprehension questions (e.g., why the I.F. officer visited, how Ender differs from other boys). The Parent Plan lists a skill objective that students will "determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text" and "analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone," which students practice through the vocabulary activity and discussion prompts. Students engage in text-based discussion questions (e.g., whether Ender should have fought Stilson, why characters say certain things) and analytic activities (collage on the significance of "third," research on eugenics) that require interpreting themes and context from the text.
Lesson 3
Science Fiction
The Parent Plan explicitly lists the targeted skill: "Read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed." Students read Chapters 5-6 of Ender's Game for homework and answer specific comprehension questions about characters and events. Students complete guided activities (graphic organizer, article reading, and Quiz Prep fill-in/matching exercises) that require them to identify genre features and distinguish science fiction from fantasy. Students participate in discussion prompts that ask them to analyze Graff's assertions and provide reasoned responses.
Lesson 4
Divergence
Students are assigned to read Chapter 7 of Ender's Game and to answer specific comprehension questions (four targeted questions with answers provided). The Parent Plan lists a skill to "Analyze how complex characters...develop over the course of a text," and the lesson includes discussion prompts about Bernard, Ender's anger, and the author's word choice. The lesson also directs students to review vocabulary (polyglot) that will appear in the reading and offers discussion questions that prompt textual analysis.
Lesson 5
Movement and Time
Students perform close readings of Ender's Game action sequences in Activity 1, using text to visualize and narrate motion. Students analyze flashbacks in Activity 2 by defining the device, locating a specific example in Chapter 5, explaining insights about Ender, and describing how the flashback increases tension. Homework asks students to read Chapter 8 and answer targeted comprehension questions about characters and plot details.
Lesson 6
Performance Is Personal
Students are assigned Chapter 9 of Ender's Game for reading and must answer comprehension questions, showing direct practice in reading and understanding literary text. Students complete a "Text Structure" activity that directs them to identify foreshadowing, analyze how conversations create tension, and describe stylistic differences, which practices comprehension of authorial choices. Students complete the "Competing Commanders" activity and rubric scoring to analyze complex characters and leadership choices, which requires interpreting character actions and motivations. Vocabulary review and guided discussion questions provide supports that scaffold comprehension and discussion of sensitive language and thematic issues.
Lesson 7
Leaders Motivate
Students read an excerpt and are assigned Chapter 10 of Ender's Game and answer specific comprehension questions about plot and characters. Students analyze authorial choices (e.g., why the narrator reveals Valentine's thoughts but not Peter's), write journal entries linking Peter/Valentine to Locke and Demosthenes, and match/apply historical quotes to novel characters using graphic organizers. The lesson includes web links and activity pages that require students to synthesize background information with textual evidence.
Lesson 8
Flies and Self-Loathing
Students are asked to read Chapter 11 of Ender's Game and answer specific comprehension questions, which requires direct reading and understanding of the text. Students complete a structured compare-and-contrast activity (graphic organizer) between Ender's Game and Lord of the Flies that asks them to analyze setting, leadership, themes, fears, responsibilities, and consequences. The lesson includes explicit instructional signals to analyze text structure and to evaluate Ender's perception of his own actions, and provides activity pages and prompts that scaffold analysis (e.g., Student Activity Pages and guided discussion questions).
Lesson 9
Conflict Within and Without
Students identify and categorize examples of internal and external conflict from Ender's Game using a chart and provided text boxes. Students write journal paragraphs analyzing how a title allusion foreshadows plot developments and explaining which conflict is central to theme. Students answer focused reading-comprehension questions about Chapter 12 and are asked to consider how conflicts affect relationships, plot development, and character change, and the parent plan explicitly lists close reading and citing textual evidence as a skill.
Lesson 10
View from Valentine
Students are asked to read Chapter 13 (and part of Chapter 14) of Ender's Game and answer specific comprehension questions that check plot, character motivation, and thematic ideas (four Q&A items per chapter). Students are taught the concept of a third-person omniscient narrator and prompted to analyze how point of view shapes content by imagining the story from different perspectives. Students practice vocabulary from the chapters and produce acrostics tied to character names or themes, providing scaffolded language work linked to the reading.
Lesson 11
Thud, Whump, Huut
Students are asked to finish reading Chapters 14 and 15 of Ender's Game and answer literal and inferential comprehension questions about plot, character motivation, and themes. Students perform close reading and analysis by comparing specific book scenes to their movie or comic-book adaptations, taking notes on omitted or changed information and judging effectiveness. Student activity pages prompt students to identify narration or dialogue omitted in the comic, evaluate whether pictures communicate the missing content, and explain how those omissions affect meaning.
Lesson 12
Campbell's Comparisons
Students read and work with the novel Ender's Game by identifying and recording the 12 steps of the Hero's Journey and selecting six steps to describe explicit parallels between the novel and Campbell's framework. Students complete a graphic organizer linking stages (e.g., Call to Adventure, Trials, Return) to specific scenes in the novel and answer discussion questions that require citing examples (e.g., Dink's perspective, Mazer's rationale). Students also retake a thematic survey and compare pre- and post-reading responses, explaining how evidence from the novel changed their views.
Lesson 13
The Enemy's Gate Is Down
Students analyze Ender's Game by identifying and explaining subplots (Graff; Peter and Valentine) using the "Discovering Subplots" activity, listing unanswered questions, and comparing subplot structure to the main plot. Students practice analyzing author choices and text structure as listed in the Parent Plan skills (e.g., how ordering events and parallel plots create tension or mystery). Students summarize and apply leadership themes from a Forbes article, linking textual evidence to thematic interpretation and personal application.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
Students read and respond to Ender's Game through a unit test that asks them to define science fiction, identify and give examples of flashbacks, and provide internal and external conflicts from the novel. Students complete sustained analytic tasks in the Think-Tac-Toe final project (e.g., writing a one- to three-paragraph flashback, rewriting passages into first-person, comparing military and civilian leadership, and creating a six-step hero's-journey storyboard) that require close reading and interpretation. The Parent Plan lists explicit reading skills for students to practice, including reading closely, citing textual evidence, analyzing structure and word choice, and determining themes.
Unit 3: Informational Texts
Lesson 3
The Matthew Effect
The Parent Plan explicitly lists the target skill: "By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range." Students are assigned Sections 1-3 of "The 10,000 Rule" in Outliers and must answer focused comprehension questions (e.g., explain the 10,000 rule, relate it to examples), demonstrating reading-for-understanding. Students complete scaffolded activities (Option 1 and Option 2) that require translating text information into visual forms and sketching graphics from descriptive passages, which require close reading and interpretation of complex informational content.
Lesson 5
Harlan, Kentucky
Students are instructed to read "Harlan, Kentucky" (pp. 162-176) and the footnotes, underline unfamiliar words, and answer specific comprehension questions about patterns of violence, "culture of honor," and a psychology experiment. Students complete a vocabulary activity that has them guess meanings from context, consult dictionaries (link provided), record pronunciations, and verify definitions. The Parent Plan lists skills such as citing strong textual evidence and drawing evidence from texts, indicating students are expected to support analysis with the text.
Lesson 8
With Malice Toward None
Students are asked to read Abraham Lincoln's "Second Inaugural Address" (via the provided web link) and answer comprehension questions that probe meaning and author's intent. Students identify and analyze rhetorical strategies (parallelism, antithesis, allusion) on an activity page, citing quotes and explaining intended effects. The Parent Plan lists skills students practice explicitly: determining central ideas, analyzing development of ideas, and citing strong textual evidence.
Unit 4: Drama
Lesson 1
What Is Drama?
The Parent Plan Skills section explicitly lists the grade 9 reading standard and an objective to analyze text structure. In Activity 1, students watch video clips of plays and record genre identifications in a journal, practicing classification of dramatic texts. In Activity 2, students review script components (acts, scenes, lines, stage directions), stage directions, and map stage layouts, and they identify stage types for clips viewed earlier.
Lesson 2
How to Read Drama
Students read and watch the one-act play Trifles (script and performance links) and answer guided comprehension questions about plot, motive, and symbolism. Students read an instructional article on how to read drama and complete structured activity pages that ask them to apply Aristotle's six elements of tragedy to analyze plot, character, diction, theme, melody, and spectacle. The Parent Plan explicitly lists the grade 9 standard and describes students applying those analytic tasks to the play, with an answer key and review prompts provided.
Lesson 3
Life and Times
Students read the introductory essay (pp. 5–14) and the cast and setting pages (pp. 21–22) and answer specific comprehension questions about setting and time period. Students are given vocabulary definitions (e.g., tenements, presage), historical background about segregation and the Civil Rights Act, and are asked to watch a short History Channel video to support understanding of context. Students read a biographical article about Lorraine Hansberry and review stage directions before beginning Act 1, providing contextual and procedural supports.
Lesson 4
A Raisin in the Sun
Students read Act I of the play and answer specific comprehension questions about character, plot, and motives. Students complete vocabulary-in-context activities tied to the play and consult dictionaries as needed. Students analyze characters and their dreams, write a one-paragraph summary with setting and plot, and perform or stage scenes to demonstrate understanding of dramatic elements.
Lesson 5
Act II
Students read Act II (Scenes 1–3) of A Raisin in the Sun and answer specific comprehension questions about plot and character for each scene. Students practice vocabulary in context and then consult dictionaries to confirm meanings, supporting comprehension. Students write a reader-response paragraph using the APE method (Answer, Prove, Extend) and analyze Hansberry excerpts, requiring them to cite evidence and explain character development. Students complete a character analysis and write a monologue, demonstrating interpretation of character motivation and events in the drama.
Lesson 6
Act III
Students finish reading Act III of A Raisin in the Sun and answer targeted comprehension questions about character motivations and plot developments (e.g., Beneatha's change of plans, Walter's decision about Lindner). Students read and analyze Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem," define key vocabulary (e.g., "defer"), identify five similes, analyze imagery (including the final line "Or does it explode?"), and connect the poem's comparisons to characters' deferred dreams. Students complete vocabulary matching and quotation-to-person quiz items that require text-based understanding and recall.
Lesson 7
Fences
Students watch the movie Fences and are instructed to compare it to A Raisin in the Sun by noting similarities and differences in theme, characters, plot, and setting. Students complete a Comparison activity page that asks them to write at least two sentences about how the works are alike and different and to compare specific character pairs (Walter/Troy, Rose/Mama, Cory/Beneatha). Students also watch an interview with the film actors/director and write a paragraph listing at least three insights about characters, practicing analysis of dramatic representation across mediums.
Lesson 8
Shakespeare
Students read introductory material from the Folger Shakespeare edition and examine Act 1 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet. They use a structured activity sheet that directs them to read the passage, use contextual clues or a dictionary for unclear words, identify speaker, meaning, actions, and desires, visualize the scene, and rewrite the passage in their own words. The Folger edition notes and the activity questions prompt students to interpret challenging words, summaries, and how sentences relate to the whole. Homework and follow-up reading begin the whole-play reading with a character list provided for additional support.
Lesson 9
Romeo and Juliet
Students read all of Act I of Romeo and Juliet and answer specific comprehension questions for Scenes 1–5 and subsequent homework scenes. Students write journal summaries of the most important event in each scene and complete guided questions (e.g., why Romeo is sad, reactions to the party). Students use supports such as a character map, brief definitions (comic relief, dowry), a Globe Theatre video/virtual tour, and teacher-provided question prompts; the Parent Plan also lists the RL.9-10.10 standard as a targeted skill.
Lesson 10
Figurative Language
Students read Act II (Scenes 1–6) of Romeo and Juliet and answer specific comprehension questions and write scene summaries, demonstrating direct engagement with a Shakespearean drama. They analyze poetic form by cutting, ordering, and marking the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearian sonnet and explain how the sonnet summarizes the play's conflict. Students identify and explain oxymorons, paradoxes, puns, idioms, and euphemisms in textual excerpts and complete targeted activity pages that require citing lines and explaining meanings.
Lesson 11
Nuanced Meaning
Students read Act 3, Scenes 1–5 of Romeo and Juliet (text and video) and answer targeted comprehension questions and write journal summaries of the most important events in each scene. Students complete a multi-part "Nuances in Meaning" activity that asks them to identify meanings of bolded words in context, select definitions from a word box, and find synonyms with positive and negative connotations. Students rewrite a six-line exchange as modern text messages, demonstrating understanding of character relationships, plot, and emotions.
Lesson 12
Time and Tension
Students are directed to read Act IV of Romeo and Juliet and answer specific comprehension questions and to write a journal summary of the most important event in the scene. Students complete a focused activity that asks them to identify and count time-related words across the play and to analyze how time references and pacing create tension in specific scenes. Students analyze Friar Lawrence's monologue, Capulet's repeated references to "tomorrow," Juliet's solitary waiting, and the Nurse's language, linking textual details to effects like suspense and foreshadowing.
Lesson 13
Tragic Hero
Students read Act V of Romeo and Juliet and answer specific comprehension questions and write a scene summary, demonstrating direct engagement with a grade-9–10 drama. Students analyze character development across acts by completing a timeline and deciding whether characters are static/dynamic and round/flat, showing sustained comprehension of complex character arcs. Students compare Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe (poetry/excerpt) with Romeo and Juliet and watch scaffolded videos (hero types; dynamic vs. static characters) to support understanding of genre, theme, and source transformation. Students prepare and interpret monologues, with explicit tips to examine context and unfamiliar language, indicating practice with dense Shakespearean text and performance-based comprehension.
Final Project
Drama
Students prepare for and take a unit test that asks them to identify quotes, answer short-answer questions about plot (e.g., why Romeo is banished) and literary concepts (dynamic vs. static, round vs. flat, tragic hero), and identify literary devices. Students are asked to re-read scenes several times before designing sets and to label panels/boards with act and scene and write summaries for comic strips/storyboards. Project tasks (news site, playlist, costume descriptions, set design paragraphs) require students to summarize scenes, cite evidence, and explain choices about characters and events.
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
Students are required to finish and review multiple full-length texts (Ender's Game, A Raisin in the Sun, Romeo and Juliet) and to use unit review sheets before taking the semester exam. The exam and review activities ask students to identify narrative point of view, foreshadowing, types of conflict, character development (static vs. dynamic), themes, and to produce paragraph-length answers comparing and analyzing texts. Multiple item types (multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and discussion prompts) ask students to demonstrate comprehension and analysis of stories, dramas, and informational texts. The wrap-up and discussion tasks prompt students to write 1–3 paragraph responses that require synthesis of textual evidence and reasoning.