Ninth Grade - ELA
• Literacy
Literacy Standards
The following standards are literacy standards and not content standards. The evaluation includes units from our science, social studies, and language arts curriculum.
1: Semester 1
Unit 1: Early Civilizations and Migration (600 BCE)
Lesson 1
Preshistory
Students are assigned to read pages 40–43 of the National Geographic Almanac of World History (a named secondary source) and answer specific content questions about human evolution and migration. Students complete comprehension questions that require extracting factual details (e.g., physical differences, tool use, effects of the Ice Age). Students also use a migration map with a key of time ranges and a BCE/CE explanation, and they shade regions according to how long humans lived in each place, engaging with dates on the map.
Lesson 4
Mesopotamia
Students are asked to review secondary-source text (pp. 44-49 of the National Geographic Almanac) and to use that reading and additional research to complete a mini-project on Mesopotamia. Students are directed to read examples of laws from Hammurabi's Code (a primary source cited from AP World History p.42 and an online Avalon link) and to "list four things you can infer" about Babylonian society based on analysis of those laws. Option 2 asks students to provide an example of one of Hammurabi's laws in action in their time‑travel report, requiring use of primary-source material alongside secondary sources.
Lesson 7
New Beliefs and Technologies
Students are asked to read specific pages in the National Geographic Almanac and answer targeted content questions (e.g., what explains China's isolation; how cities protected themselves), which directs them to use the text to respond. The Comparing World Religions chart requires students to record "When and where did it originate?" for each tradition, and the Option 2 voice-over explicitly requires students to state "where and when the religious tradition originated." The homework and some activities instruct students to use readings or do brief research to fill in information about inventions and origins.
Lesson 8
Historical Essay
Students are instructed to go back to readings from earlier lessons to look for specific evidence and to provide parenthetical references in the text showing where information and quotes were found. The lesson gives an explicit citation example (author and page number) and requires that students include parenthetical citations for evidence and quotations. The rubric and revision checklist explicitly require accurate parenthetical citations for quotations and specific evidence throughout the essay.
Final Project
Flow Chart
Students are directed to "use the readings from earlier lessons to help you fill in each piece of the template" when constructing the flowchart, and each flowchart element must include an approximate date and a 2–3 sentence description of its significance. The flowchart rubric requires that descriptions be "informative, well written, and free of error," and the project asks students to note the "specific advantages" of changes such as pastoralism. The unit homework directs students to review readings, headings, and major sections as sources for test preparation.
Unit 1: Lord of the Flies
Lesson 1
The Call
Students work directly with quotations from Lord of the Flies on the vocabulary activity pages, including page numbers linked to specific passages for matching words to context. The Reading and Questions section asks students to read Chapter 1 and answer text-based comprehension questions about events (e.g., what Ralph and Piggy find, how the boys choose a leader). The introduction notes dates and origins (the term utopia coined in 1516; Lord of the Flies published in 1954 and Golding's WWII background) that identify origin and historical context.
Lesson 2
Life on the Island
Students are asked to create STEAL character pages and to record text-based examples with page numbers (e.g., spaces labeled "Notes (include page number)"). The Parent Plan gives model quotes from Chapter 1 and shows students how to record specific lines (for example, Ralph's quoted line) and infer meaning from those citations. The Independent and Dependent Clauses activity directs students to underline independent clauses and bracket dependent clauses in sentences drawn from the text with page references.
Lesson 3
Paths in the Jungle
Students are explicitly told in the Parent Plan Skills to "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text." Students are asked to print and annotate a Guardian article, identify the author's thesis, and record "Key points that support the thesis" on a student organizer, which requires locating supporting evidence in the text. The annotation example includes a footnote citation showing author, date, and publication, and the activity provides web links and URLs to the article source.
Lesson 4
Images from Paradise
Students are asked to find and record direct quotations from the novel on the "Five Senses" chart, including the original sentence and an embellished version, and to explain how each quotation serves as an example of imagery. The directions explicitly tell students to "Include the quotation, note if the description is positive or negative, and explain how the description serves as a good example of imagery." Students are also directed to read Chapter 5 and answer text-based questions that require referencing the chapter.
Lesson 6
Symbolism, Part 1
Students are asked in Activity 1 to "write an explanation supported by the text" for the symbolic interpretations they choose, requiring them to cite textual support. In Activity 2 students must write a one-page journal entry that includes actions and quotes from other characters, which directs students to use direct quotations from the primary text. The Student Activity Page explicitly instructs students to provide text-based reasoning and to back up their choices with support from the novel.
Lesson 7
Bowed and Bowed Again
Students work directly with quoted passages from Lord of the Flies (e.g., phrase examples labeled "Ch 5, p. 77" and "Ch 7, p. 122") when identifying and analyzing phrases. Students record characters' actions and thoughts on STEAL character pages and answer text-based reading questions (QUESTION #1–#4) that require referring to chapter events. The Beast activity asks students to predict and compare characters' responses based on what the characters know versus what the reader knows, requiring students to use specific details from the text to support their analyses.
Lesson 8
Defects of Human Nature
Students are asked in Activity 1 (Option 1 and Option 2) to choose themes that support Golding's central theme and to "support those choices by referring to details from the novel," including writing 3–4 sentence explanations that cite textual details. Students also respond to guided reading questions (e.g., what Simon finds on the mountain, what Jack's tribe does) that require citing specific events from the text. The unit directs students to use Golding's own quoted remarks (including his WWII comment) as part of evaluating and guiding their analysis.
Lesson 10
Which Is Better?
Students read and analyze a primary literary source (extended Lord of the Flies excerpts including Piggy's quoted question) and discussion questions about Chapter 12. Students compare that primary material to secondary historical material about Rome (text describing the Colosseum and aqueducts and a linked Crash Course video). Students complete a Developing Civilization chart that asks them to compare similarities and differences between the boys and early peoples and write a one-page journal entry analyzing leadership and contrasts between Jack and Ralph.
Lesson 11
The Film
Students are asked to watch the 1963 film adaptation and compare it directly to the novel using a "Movie vs. Book" chart that prompts similarities and differences in characters, setting, theme, and plot. Students must answer journal questions asking whether omitted scenes were critical to the novel's major theme and to describe visuals that differed from their reading. The lesson explicitly identifies the film version and date (1963) and provides sample specific differences (e.g., scenes added, dialogue omitted) in the answer key.
Final Project
Now You Have the Conch
Students are instructed to find passages in the book, write down key phrases or sentences with page numbers, and explain their relevance (Brainstorming pages). The guided outline and Essay Organizer explicitly require students to provide specific examples from the text, including quotes, and the rubric and checklist emphasize supporting ideas with relevant evidence. The Unit Test and activity pages ask students to provide examples from the book for literary devices and to cite textual support in responses.
Unit 2: World Religions (600 BCE - 600 CE)
Lesson 1
Rise of Religions
Students are instructed to find a modern news article and fill an activity page that asks for Article title, Author, Newspaper/website, Date, Summary, and reflection on religion's role, which requires recording the source and its date. Students are assigned skimming sections of the National Geographic Almanac of World History and told to "look specifically for examples" of religion intertwined with government and to "record your examples" for each civilization. Reading-and-questions tasks reference specific page numbers (for example, p. 8 definition of religion and pp. 12-13 for Activity 1) and students are asked to answer questions based on those readings. The Hatshepsut activity directs students to read a Smithsonian article and textbook sections and then respond to questions about how that research relates to gender, religion, and power.
Lesson 2
Shamanism, Animism, Ancestor Veneration
Students are asked to read pp. 12-14 of The One-Stop Guide to World Religions and answer specific content questions, requiring use of that text for responses. In Option 1 students must find three folktales and "look for evidence of the persistence of animist beliefs," comparing stories on an activity page. In Option 2 students research Chinese New Year and Día de los Muertos using provided links and complete a chart describing the holidays and the role of ancestor veneration.
Lesson 3
Hinduism
Students read the One-Stop Guide pages and answer directed comprehension questions (e.g., difference in origin between Sruti and Smriti texts). In Option 1, students examine a primary source slideshow of the Ramayana and are asked to identify the medium and the culture that produced a chosen image and to relate the story to Hindu beliefs. In Option 2, students are instructed to pay particular attention to discussion of caste on specified pages (38 and 40-41) and to base their multi-perspective written responses on that reading.
Lesson 4
Buddhism
Students are directed to read specific pages (pp. 44-53) of a named secondary source (Kemp, The One-Stop Guide to World Religions) and answer targeted questions that point them to exact pages (e.g., the Four Noble Truths on p. 48; the Heart Sutra on p. 49). Students are asked to fill a chart in Activity 1 that explicitly prompts for founding dates and founders/locations for Theraveda, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. The lesson includes a primary-source excerpt (the Heart Sutra) and asks students to explain its meaning in their own words.
Lesson 6
Judaism
Students are assigned a secondary source reading (The One-Stop Guide to World Religions, pp. 66–75 and 120) and must answer specific comprehension questions about origins, practices, and texts of Judaism. Model answers for questions include page references (e.g., "See p. 66" and "See p. 72"), and the slideshow homework asks students to provide citations for images they use. Students also conduct online research for the booklet and map activities, which requires locating source material.
Lesson 7
Christianity
Students are directed to read both primary texts (Matthew 5-7 in Option 2) and secondary articles (specified readings and at least two scientific articles in Option 1) and to summarize those sources on the activity page. The Activity 1 template explicitly asks students to identify Source #1 and Source #2 and write summaries, which requires students to work directly with source material. The parent-plan language and some questions ask students to relate teachings to their historical context, prompting students to consider origin and context in their responses.
Lesson 8
Islam
Students read assigned secondary sources (The One-Stop Guide to World Religions and National Geographic Almanac) and answer content questions about Islam, showing engagement with secondary texts. Students read primary texts (specific Bible chapters and Qur'an chapters are provided) and complete a comparison activity (Venn diagram) that requires them to identify similarities and differences between the two versions. Students create a timeline of Muhammad's life with specific dates (570–632 CE) and write paragraphs explaining the significance of each dated event.
Unit 2: Short Stories
Lesson 1
The Gift of the Magi
Students are asked to annotate the text and to record instances of situational and dramatic irony and the story's theme, which requires locating and citing specific passages. The activity pages and question prompts require students to summarize plot, setting, characters, and to answer text-based questions about problems and themes. The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill to "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis," and homework asks students to research allusions and write journal entries connecting those sources to the story.
Lesson 2
The Necklace
The Parent Plan Skills and multiple lesson sections explicitly require students to "cite strong and thorough textual evidence" and to "provide textual evidence from the story to support your ideas." Activity 1 and the Student Activity Page ask students to reread annotations, identify repetitive elements, and use textual evidence to fill out a theme web and to answer "What evidence in the story is there and reflects this theme?" The Homework and APE guidance instruct students to support journal responses with specific examples, direct quotations, summaries, or paraphrases from the text.
Lesson 3
Literary Response
Students are asked to back up observations with examples and quotations from the texts and to find specific examples or quotations to support analyses (Activity 1, Brainstorming). The Details and Support (APE) pages guide students to provide quotations from each story, explain each quotation, and write a sentence that brings the evidence together. The lesson gives a specific citation format ("Quote" (Author's last name).) and the rubric awards points for "Support of ideas with evidence from the text" and for "Explanation of how the evidence supports points."
Lesson 4
Characterization
Students are explicitly asked to support answers with evidence from the story (Question #2: "Support your answer with evidence from the story"). The Characterization activity asks students to record examples from the text in categories (speech, appearance, thoughts, actions, how others respond), to label them direct or indirect, and to highlight examples in different colors. The Character Portrait page includes a space for a quote from the character and sections for direct and indirect characterization, and the lesson opening provides Langston Hughes' dates and the Harlem Renaissance context.
Lesson 5
Edgar Allan Poe
Students are asked to find and record specific examples from the text (Activity 1 directions and Student Activity Page) and to list textual clues in the homework "Crazy Like a Fox?" chart where they place evidence in left/right columns. Students must record 3–4 examples of foreshadowing from the story (Activity 2) and are instructed to quote the corresponding section of the story underneath each panel of their storyboard (Activity 3). The provided answer keys and parent notes show model textual quotations students could cite (e.g., passages about hearing the heart, the vulture-like eye).
Lesson 6
The Lottery
The Parent Plan lists as a skill: "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text." The Student Activity Page directs students to record elements from the story about the black box (physical description, reactions, connections), requiring them to pull details from the text. The lesson explicitly provides the story's date and origin by naming its first publication in The New Yorker in the summer of 1948.
Lesson 7
Everyday Use
The Parent Plan skills list explicitly instructs students to "read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text." Students read the primary text "Everyday Use" and answer questions that require pointing to first-person narration (noting the narrator's use of "I"). Students also conduct research on Alice Walker using provided biography links and complete an "Author's Biographical Data Sheet" that asks for Place of Birth and Birth Date.
Lesson 8
Harrison Bergeron
Students read the primary text "Harrison Bergeron" and view a film adaptation (2081), then compare and contrast the two mediums. The activities ask students to list 3–4 scenes the director added/altered/deleted and 3–4 character changes, and to explain why those changes were made, which requires referring to specific passages or scenes. The lesson includes a direct quotation from the story (George's line) and provides author information (Vonnegut's dates and Slaughterhouse-Five publication) that could be used as contextual information.
Lesson 9
Dialogue
Activity 2 instructs students to "Refer to specific lines or sections of dialogue to support your points," requiring them to cite textual passages when explaining an author's use of dialogue. The Parent Plan Skills explicitly list that students will "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text." Students also practice by writing a paragraph that uses specific dialogue examples from named short stories.
Unit 4: Poetry
Lesson 1
Introduction to Poetry
Students are instructed to mark and annotate poems (underline important words/phrases, insert question marks, use symbols and highlights) and to refer to specific lines (e.g., look at line 3 in "Richard Cory"). Students complete activity pages that ask for a line number, word, denotation, connotation(s), and explanation of effectiveness, and they choose marked words in the homework poem to explain why they are effective. Students are asked to revise their definitions of poetry after comparing their responses with poets' quotations, which requires referring back to the texts they read.
Lesson 2
Sound and Rhythm
Students are asked to listen to an audio recording of "Lord Randall" and follow along in the printed text; the lesson explicitly notes that "Lord Randall" is a folk ballad, anonymous, passed down orally, and first published in the 17th century. Students are asked to explain why the audio and printed versions differ, prompting consideration of the poem's origin and transmission. The lesson directs students to notice musical qualities and repeated sounds in the text while comparing versions.
Lesson 3
Figurative Language
Students are instructed to read poems and identify examples of figurative language by providing stanza and line numbers (e.g., the Figurative Language I activity asks for stanza and line references for similes/metaphors and personification). Option 2 and the student journal tasks ask students to record the exact phrase or line that illustrates a device and to explain how the poem uses that device. Answer keys model citing specific lines and stanza numbers for support (for example, listing Stanza 1, line 1 as the simile in "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud").
Lesson 4
Voice and Tone
Students are asked to identify and record specific words and phrases that convey tone on the Tone activity page (e.g., "Words or Phrases Conveying Tone" columns) and to list three things they know about a poem's speaker using evidence from the text in the Voice chart. In Option 1 (Letter) students must refer to parts of the poem and explain why they are saying what they are saying, and in Activity 2 students must note exact lines/phrases that show tone (with an answer key providing quoted examples).
Lesson 5
What Does It Mean?
Students read poems closely and identify specific words and phrases (for example, the lesson lists images such as "bleeding drops of red," "pale and still," and other lines from "O Captain! My Captain!") and are asked to write summaries and record answers in a journal. Students are directed to read background/origin information about poems and authors (Whitman's admiration of Lincoln and Lincoln's assassination date, Sandburg's "Grass" published in 1918, and the Appalachian "Old Christmas" origin) and to use that context to interpret meaning. Activity pages prompt students to look up unfamiliar words, determine the speaker, identify symbols, and explain how allusions and historical references help their understanding.
Lesson 7
Analyzing Poetry
The lesson directs students to annotate poems by underlining/circling important words, writing thoughts in the margin, and writing a short summary, which requires pointing to specific words and lines as support. The Poetry Puzzle and its Historical Note ask students to infer where and when "London" takes place and to connect Blake's context to the poem, prompting attention to origin/time. The sample Ozymandias annotation explicitly lists the poet with life dates (Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792–1822), and the Poetry Map activity asks students to look up the Bluebeard reference, which engages with origin/allusion.
Lesson 8
Types of Poems
Students read multiple primary poetic texts (Milton, Shakespeare sonnets, Keats, Browning, Dunbar) and complete activities that require close textual work (marking rhyme schemes, following iambic pentameter, identifying sonnet type). The Sonnet Types activity directs students to use a pencil to mark rhyme scheme at the end of each line and to "see if you can follow the iambic pentameter," which asks students to derive evidence from the text. The lesson also provides explicit origin/date information for forms and authors (e.g., Petrarch -- 14th century; Shakespeare -- 16th century), which students encounter while analyzing poems.
Lesson 10
Poems and Poets
Students are asked to read and annotate poems using the 'Poetry Map' and to paraphrase, summarize, and identify theme, imagery, sound devices, and tone, which requires close reference to the poem text. Students must research poets using the 'Poet Biography Boxes' and record date of birth/death, country, and language, and Activity 3 directs students to take notes on culture-specific information and origin. Activity 4 explicitly asks students to 'look back at the biographical information' and to research references in the poem (the example cites the poem's 2008 date and specific cultural events).
Lesson 11
Reciting Poetry
The Parent Plan lists as a skill that students should "read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text." Students are directed to read and mark up poems, look up unfamiliar words, determine the speaker and tone, and note what makes performances effective in a journal, which practices close reading and referencing the text for interpretation. The homework asks students to consider why the poet chose certain words and to use those textual details to shape pauses and delivery.
Final Project
Poetry
Students are asked to use the poem itself for concrete design choices in the Director's Notebook (e.g., "Be sure to use the poem for details" and a hint to look at line 33). The Poetry Explication choice requires students to perform close, line-level analysis and to highlight words and examples (e.g., marking examples of alliteration, assonance, rhyme, tone) in a presentation. The Bob Dylan opinion task directs students to read secondary articles and lyrics and tells students to give credit if they use other writers' arguments or quotations.
Unit 5: Nonfiction
Lesson 1
Types of Nonfiction
Students are asked to examine a book's catalog record, title page, front matter, and back matter on the "All About a Person" activity page and to "Give specific examples" from those places to support whether the book is a biography, autobiography, or memoir. The activity asks students to "Support your comparison with specific examples" when comparing books and to note features (map, table of contents, glossary, timeline, pictures, "true story" label) that indicate nonfiction. Students read the interview with Patricia McCormick and are asked to explain her role in writing I Am Malala and whether her involvement affects the book's classification, which attends to questions of authorship and origin.
Lesson 2
Pakistan
Students read chapters of Malala's memoir (a primary source) and are directed to use web links (secondary sources) to answer guided questions. The activity instructs students to use the book's timeline (pp. 219-235) to answer Questions 2 and 7, which require specific dates (e.g., creation of Pakistan and wars in 1947 and 1965). The Parent Plan notes integrating and evaluating content presented in diverse media and formats.
Lesson 4
Dear Diary
Students read chapters of I Am Malala and excerpts from Malala's BBC diary and are asked to paraphrase and analyze specific quoted lines. The lesson labels a diary line with its date (3 January 2009) and identifies the origin (BBC diary), and the Student Activity Page includes source footnotes for original excerpts (e.g., The New Yorker, GRIN). The Things to Know section instructs students that they must give credit to their sources when quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing.
Lesson 6
A Day Like Any Other
The lesson requires students to use the APE strategy where the "Prove" step explicitly directs students to "Provide evidence to support your answer. Use specific examples and quotations from the text." The Parent Plan lists the skill: "Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research," and the rubric states quotations should include the page number from the book. The student activity page and example model students answering a question, proving it with a quotation and citing the page.
Lesson 7
Life in England
Students read specific chapters of I Am Malala and watch an 11-minute documentary segment, then are asked to take notes and compare how the book's account differs from the filmmaker's account. The activity directs students to specific locations in the book (top of p. 75, bottom of p. 106, p. 184) and to particular moments in the video (quote around 3:10), and asks students to consider the filmmaker's focus, portrayal of Malala's father and mother, and the media's role. The Parent Plan notes the filmmaker spent six months with the family in 2009 and that the video was made after Malala had been shot, supplying origin/date details for consideration.
Lesson 8
Civil Rights
The Parent Plan lists the skill 'Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis,' and students read primary texts (Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and an excerpt from Frederick Douglass) and answer analytic journal questions. Activities ask students to underline portions of King's excerpts, match King's references to historical figures, and arrange timeline excerpts in chronological order using dated squares. Students also respond in journals to questions about the most persuasive arguments and complete a double-entry diary distinguishing just and unjust laws.
Lesson 9
Civil Disobedience
Students are asked to analyze excerpts from Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" and King's speeches by highlighting phrases and filling an "Overlapping Ideas" column, which requires identifying specific textual passages that support comparisons. Activity directions and the Parent Plan skills explicitly tell students to "draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis," and students answer questions about specific quoted passages. Some source attributions and dates appear in the materials (e.g., "From Essay on Civil Disobedience, 1849" and King's speech dated August 28, 1963), which are present on student pages for reference.
Lesson 10
Learning from the Past
Students are asked to find and copy specific passages: the activity sheet explicitly directs them to "Find a quote from the text that supports this." Students are instructed to annotate the speech, complete short-answer questions after reading, and use quotations when comparing Wiesel with other figures (Activity 3 asks for a quote from each person mentioned). The Parent Plan lists the skill "Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research."
Lesson 11
A Boy's Story
Students are asked to read the Chronology entries for 1978 through January 2002 to learn who was involved with the war and how it began and progressed, which directs them to use dated information. Students watch an author interview and answer questions such as what the author says the book tries to explain, requiring them to draw on the author's spoken account (origin of the information). Students answer comprehension questions tied to specific pages (e.g., p. 3, pp. 5-17, and other page citations in the vocabulary activity), which requires using the text to respond to prompts.
Lesson 12
Running from War
Students are required to use quotations to support answers through the APE strategy's 'Prove' step, which instructs them to "Use a quotation from the text to support your answer." Activity 1 explicitly teaches and has students practice integrating and punctuating quotations (introducing quotes with a colon, a phrase with a comma, or integrating portions into a sentence). The Student Activity Page Part II asks students to introduce a specific quotation from Chapter 5 with contextual information, and the reading comprehension questions require students to answer based on assigned chapters.
Lesson 13
Child Soldier
The Parent Plan lists as a skill: "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis..." and the Different Accounts activity instructs students to "Give examples or quotes from the book to back up your answer." The memoir controversy activity requires students to evaluate claims from an Australian newspaper about Beah's timeline (1993 vs. 1995) and to write a journal response considering whether inaccuracies matter. The Different Accounts task also asks students to compare the book and a video interview (different origins) and to record what the book and video say about the same topics.
Lesson 14
Rehabilitation
Students are asked to provide supporting examples or quotations from A Long Way Gone in multiple activities (Option 1 asks for quotations to show whether the government army committed war crimes; Option 2 requires stating a conclusion and providing examples or quotations from the text). Students must cite specific examples from the book or the author interview/video when completing the "Wiesel's Words" page. The student activity page directs students to highlight and record textual actions and to note page numbers for nightmares, prompting direct reference to the text.
Lesson 15
A New Life
The lesson reviews quoting and paraphrasing (noting students previously practiced these skills) and gives explicit summarizing steps that tell students to annotate texts and "include the page or paragraph number so you can find it later." The Parent Plan Skills list includes "Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research." The summary instructions also allow inclusion of brief quotations if students enclose them in quotation marks and copy accurately.
Final Project
Expository Essay
Students are instructed to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries as evidence and to record the source for each key fact (Day 2: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing). The lesson requires in-text citations (parenthetical author or title) and a separate Works Cited page with proper MLA-style formatting. Students are taught to evaluate source credibility and timeliness (look for .edu/.gov, reputable news sources, and to consider when an article was written) and to assess the usefulness of each source for their research.
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
Students practice integrating and punctuating quotations and paraphrasing in Part V, where they are asked to correctly introduce and quote a Wordsworth excerpt and paraphrase selected passages. Students review and analyze texts from the Nonfiction unit (e.g., Malala, Ishmael Beah, Thoreau, Wiesel) and respond to discussion prompts that require explaining relationships among authors, controversies about accuracy, and how authors use experiences to persuade or inform. Short-answer and discussion tasks (Parts III and IV) require students to explain themes, use examples from texts, and support claims about nonfiction works and authors.
2: Semester 2
Unit 1: Ender's Game
Lesson 1
Born to Genius
Students are asked to read pp. xi–xiii of the book's introduction and to use Internet research to complete the "About the Author" activity. In that activity students must name three historical facts from 1957–1963 and identify where Card got his ideas about war and literary influences such as Isaac Asimov. Students also use introduction material and online sources to answer specific factual questions about the author's life and the novel's origins.
Lesson 5
Movement and Time
Students are prompted to locate and record a specific flashback from Chapter 5 (p. 44) and to answer questions about what insights it gives and how it increases tension, which requires referring to the text. The Student Activity Page asks students to provide examples of flashbacks from other books or films, and the answer key models quoting a passage from Ender's Game, encouraging textual reference. The pipe-cleaner close reading activity directs students to conduct a careful reading of an action sequence and to narrate motions using strong descriptive phrases, which asks them to base descriptions on specific textual details.
Lesson 6
Performance Is Personal
Students are asked to review the opening conversations of chapters and to "Provide an example from the text" when explaining how those conversations create tension, which requires locating and using textual passages. Homework questions ask students to read Chapter 9 and answer specific content questions (e.g., what image upset Graff, how Peter and Valentine controlled people), which requires referencing details from the text. The Text Structure activity explicitly prompts students to "identify examples of foreshadowing" and to describe stylistic differences, directing them to cite chapter openings as support.
Lesson 7
Leaders Motivate
Students are asked to read about John Locke and Demosthenes using provided web links and a short presentation, and then write a journal entry describing links between those historical figures and the novel characters. The Parent Plan lists a skill to "analyze how the author draws on and transforms source material," which directs students to examine connections between primary/secondary sources and the text. In Activity 2, students work directly with attributed quotations from historical figures and match them to novel characters, engaging with source attributions.
Lesson 9
Conflict Within and Without
The Parent Plan skills list explicitly tells students to "cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text," which directs students to use text-based support. In Activity 1 students identify examples of internal and external conflict from Ender's Game, place provided text boxes into a chart, and write a paragraph addressing how the conflict affects relationships, plot development, and character change, which requires students to support interpretations with textual details. Activity 2 asks students to write a journal entry about Card's choice of the Latin allusion and to consider its origin (Julius Caesar), prompting students to connect a historical origin to meaning in the text.
Lesson 11
Thud, Whump, Huut
Students are asked to re-read a scene in the novel and re-watch the same scene in the film, taking notes on differences and on which information or dialogue was omitted or changed (Option 1). In the comic-book option students complete a "Comic Adaptation" activity page that requires quoting passages, listing narration or dialogue that was omitted or changed, and judging whether the comic communicated the omitted text through pictures. Reading comprehension questions for Chapters 14–15 ask students to extract specific details from the text (e.g., why Ender is surprised Mazer shows up; why authorities lie).
Lesson 12
Campbell's Comparisons
Students watch a video summarizing Campbell's 12-step hero's journey, record the steps, and are directed to choose six steps and "describe the parallels you see between the six steps you chose and the novel," which requires them to produce examples from Ender's Game. The Activity 1 student page provides space for students to fill in specific stages and give novel examples. Activity 2 asks students to retake an issues survey and, if their views changed, to be prepared to discuss reasons and "provide examples from the novel that they feel most influenced them." The homework directs students to read a Forbes article (a secondary source) to use in a later activity.
Lesson 13
The Enemy's Gate Is Down
Students review and summarize a Forbes article and complete the "Leadership Lessons: Forbes Four" activity, which requires them to write one- to two-sentence summaries of lessons drawn from that secondary source. Students analyze Ender's Game primary text by identifying and comparing subplots, listing unanswered questions, and citing supporting details in discussion questions and activity sheets. The Parent Plan skills list includes "summarize the key supporting details and ideas," indicating students practice referencing textual details to support analysis.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
The Skills section explicitly instructs students to "cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text." Several activities require students to refer directly to Ender's Game (e.g., provide examples of internal/external conflict, rewrite passages from Ender's perspective, and write flashbacks), which ask students to use textual material. The Historical References activity directs students to look up NATO and the 1955 Warsaw Pact and to list similarities and differences and explain why the author used that reference.
Unit 3: Informational Texts
Lesson 2
Outliers
Students are directed to re-read specific pages (p. 3, p. 7, pp. 10-11) to find how Gladwell defines "outlier" and to explain how the Roseto study functions as an analogy, which requires locating and using text passages. Homework questions ask students to cite details from "The Matthew Effect" (pp. 15–34)—for example, identifying the months many players were born and explaining the role of the cutoff date—and to explain the origin and meaning of the phrase "Matthew Effect," pointing to the Bible verse included at the chapter start. Vocabulary and activity pages require students to use words in context and insert synonyms based on quoted sentences from the book.
Lesson 3
The Matthew Effect
The Parent Plan explicitly lists "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis" as a targeted skill. Homework questions (e.g., explain the 10,000 rule and relate it to sports examples) require students to locate and use specific details from the Outliers chapters. Option 2 asks students to read the TIMSS paragraph carefully and create a graphic that communicates the study findings, which requires extracting specific textual information.
Lesson 4
The 10,000 Hour Rule
The Parent Plan skills list explicitly states that students should "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text." Activity 1 directs students to answer specific analysis questions about Sections 1–3 of Outliers based on their reading (the Looking Closely worksheet prompts students to explain significance, structure, and how sections develop ideas). The Parent Plan discussion questions ask about the mid-1950s as an ideal birth period and the answer key points students to Endnotes and page references, which draws attention to dates and source notes.
Lesson 5
Harlan, Kentucky
The Parent Plan Skills list explicitly includes "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text" and "Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research." Students are instructed to read Chapter 6 and its footnotes and to do brief research on who originally settled their area, which directs them to consult textual sources and notes. The reading questions require students to answer specific content-based questions about the chapter (e.g., describing patterns of violence and explaining the University of Michigan experiment).
Lesson 6
The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes
Students read Chapter 7 of Outliers (a primary source) and a Korean‑American blog post plus Gladwell's response (secondary sources) and are asked to identify the blog author's primary objections and Gladwell's replies (Activities 4 and 5). The Parent Plan explicitly lists skills including "Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis" and "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis." Activities require students to fill a chart noting specific criticisms, how Gladwell responds, and to evaluate effectiveness, and to refer to footnotes and transcript excerpts in the book.
Lesson 7
Rice Paddies and Math Tests
Students are asked to read specific sections of Outliers and answer directed comprehension questions that require reference to the text (for example, questions about why Asian children learn to count faster and differences in farming). A skills list instructs students to draw evidence from informational texts and to "cite strong and thorough textual evidence" to support analysis, and students must produce an infographic that condenses information from the book and may incorporate outside sources with credited citations. Students also complete activities (note-taking, presenting findings, and citing examples) that require using details from the chapter to explain claims about counting systems and rice farming.
Lesson 8
With Malice Toward None
The Parent Plan lists as a skill that students will "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis" and the activities require students to quote lines from Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address to identify literary devices and explain their effects. The Student Activity Page and answer key show students selecting specific quotes (e.g., "With malice toward none..." and other excerpts) and analyzing their rhetorical function. The lesson also labels the text as a primary source and gives its date (March 4, 1865), so students are provided with the origin and date of the document.
Lesson 9
Writing about History
Students are asked to compare secondary-source claims with supporting primary-source material via a graphic organizer titled "Firsthand Accounts," with a column labeled "Supporting Primary Source" where they place primary quotations that back secondary claims. The Parent Plan shows students matching specific primary-source testimony (for example, John S. Smith and Robert Brent quotations about flags and the victims) to secondary-source claims. The Skills list explicitly names the standard: "Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information."
Lesson 10
Science Writing
Students are explicitly directed to "cite specific textual evidence (including precise details from the text) to support an analysis of a piece of scientific writing" in the Skills list. Students read specified pages from an online science booklet and complete activities that require explaining how the author supports claims and which methods the author uses to explain terms, which asks students to refer to text details and illustrations.
Lesson 11
Technical Writing
Students are instructed to back up the introduction to their how-to guide with information from an outside source, to put quoted information in quotation marks, and to record where they got the information. The lesson requires a "Works Cited" section and shows a sample MLA citation (including publisher and an accessed-on date) and tells students to give credit to sources used in their introduction. The Guide Checklist explicitly requires that the benefit be supported by an outside source, properly credited.
Lesson 12
Logical Fallacies
Students read and analyze primary and secondary sources such as Andrew Jackson's speech and Lou Gehrig's 1939 farewell address, highlighting passages and identifying at least three examples of fallacious reasoning. Students locate specific passages (use a highlighter or copy text) and link those excerpts to named fallacies, and they analyze short political quotations in Option 1 for fallacies. The activities require students to point to particular lines or examples in texts (e.g., selecting Fallacy Bank items or marking text in the Jackson speech) when explaining which fallacy applies.
Final Project
Argumentative Research Essay
Students are directed to record quotes or ideas from sources on the "Present the Evidence" activity page and to write responses that tie those quotes to their thinking. The lesson requires students to include in-text MLA citations as they draft paragraphs and to produce a Works Cited page listing sources. The Credibility and Content sections ask students to check author, publisher, purpose, bias, and the currency of web pages (when first published/last updated) and to prefer .edu/.gov origins.
Unit 4: Drama
Lesson 2
How to Read Drama
Students read and watch Susan Glaspell's Trifles (with links to the script and a performance) and answer questions that require identifying concrete textual details (e.g., naming three clues the women find and explaining how Mrs. Wright is like the bird). The student activity pages prompt students to analyze plot, character, diction, symbolism, and to cite examples from the play (e.g., figurative language, dialect, and specific stage details). The lesson explicitly notes the date/origin of the play (first performed/published in 1916) and asks students to 'note' that context as they watch.
Lesson 3
Life and Times
Students read Robert Nemiroff's introduction (which names the play's production date, 1959) and the play's setting and cast pages and answer specific comprehension questions. Question #3 asks students to consider the end of World War II and the play's 1959 production date to provide a date range (students answer "Between 1945 and 1959"), showing use of dates from the text. Students also read the text of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and watch a History Channel video and are asked factual questions about what the act prohibited and which events led to it.
Lesson 4
A Raisin in the Sun
Students determine the meaning of vocabulary words using context from quoted excerpts of the play (vocabulary activity uses bolded words from specific lines). Students record the specific adjectives and descriptions Hansberry uses for each character in the "Characters and Their Dreams" organizer, drawing directly from the play's stage directions and text. Students write a one-paragraph summary of Act I that asks them to include the setting (time and place), indicating attention to the date/location of the primary text.
Lesson 5
Act II
The reader-response activity (Activity 3) directs students to "Provide evidence to support your answer. Use specific examples and quotations from the text," which requires students to cite textual evidence from the play. The homework on American music asks students to "Record the song's title and the year it was written/released" and to answer what each song says about the American Dream and why it was written, which asks students to attend to date/origin information for primary sources (songs). The Hansberry excerpts activity has students read autobiographical excerpts and respond, engaging students with a secondary/authorial source to analyze.
Lesson 6
Act III
Students read Act III and the poem "Harlem" and complete an activity that asks them to identify five similes in the poem and analyze the imagery (e.g., identify lines and compare the last line "Or does it explode?" with other images). Students are asked to relate specific poem comparisons to a character's deferred dream in the play, which requires pointing to lines and images as support. The lesson text also provides explicit provenance information about the poem (Langston Hughes, published 1951; Harlem Renaissance origin).
Lesson 8
Shakespeare
Students read primary text (Act 1 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet) and secondary material ("Reading Shakespeare's Language" and "Shakespeare's Life") and answer targeted questions about content (e.g., why readers struggle with Shakespeare, the Globe Theatre, the plague). Students use the activity sheet to analyze a passage by identifying speaker, meaning, actions, and desires, and they consult margin notes in the Folger edition to interpret challenging words and summaries. For homework, students gather dates and facts from the book, a video, and web resources to build a timeline of Shakespeare's life, which requires locating specific historical dates (e.g., 1564, 1599, 1616).
Lesson 9
Romeo and Juliet
Students read Act I and answer specific comprehension questions that require locating details in the text (e.g., identifying that Sampson 'bites his thumb' and quoting the Prince's warning). Students write journal summaries of important events from scenes and note textual reactions (for example, Romeo and Juliet's immediate kiss). Students also consult secondary sources (a Globe Theatre video/virtual tour and an article on Renaissance weddings) as part of assigned activities.
Lesson 10
Figurative Language
Students read primary text (Act II scenes of Romeo and Juliet) and answer comprehension questions about events and character actions. Students are asked to circle oxymorons and underline paradoxes in quoted lines, explain what those examples mean, and rearrange and analyze lines from a sonnet using the play text. Activities also require students to identify puns, idioms, and euphemisms in provided Shakespearean excerpts and modern examples.
Lesson 12
Time and Tension
Students are directed to read Act IV of Romeo and Juliet and answer specific comprehension questions that refer to scenes and lines (e.g., Scene 1, Line 90) which requires locating passages in the text. The Student Activity Page instructs students to use the online play (MIT link) to search for specific time-related words and record how many times each appears, asking them to list ways time is mentioned in Friar Lawrence's monologue and analyze scene-by-scene uses of time. The activity asks students to analyze how these time references create tension, which requires pointing to textual examples.
Lesson 13
Tragic Hero
Students read Act V of Romeo and Juliet and answer specific comprehension questions about events and dialogue. Students complete a 'Timeline and Character Development' activity that requires them to record actions by act and scene (e.g., Act 1 Scene 5, Act 3 Scene 1), locating events in the primary text. Students read excerpts of Ovid's "Pyramus and Thisbe" and complete a comparison chart to identify similarities between that (ancient) source and Romeo and Juliet; the lesson text explicitly names Ovid and gives his dates and Roman origin.
Lesson 14
Modern Retelling
Students are asked to watch the Luhrmann 1996 film and the 2009 Digital Theatre Globe Theatre production and to complete a "Two Versions" comparison chart noting specific differences in character portrayals, major changes, use of setting, and use of color. Activity 3 directs students to choose three specific areas to discuss and to "prove your point by providing specific examples from the two productions." The homework checklist requires each paragraph to contain specific information or examples from both productions.
Final Project
Drama
The Skills section explicitly lists "Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research," and the Final Project instructions require that students cite outside information with in-project references and a Works Cited page. The rubric includes a "Sources" category evaluating use of resources and citing, and the News project asks students to include a masthead with a date (suggesting attention to date/origin) and to credit images. Several projects require students to note act and scene or reread scenes (set design, costumes, comic strip), which asks students to use details from the play.
Semester Exam
Semester Exam
The Parent Plan skills list explicitly tells students to "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis" and to "Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research." The assessment items ask students to explain the difference between primary and secondary sources and give examples, and Discussion question B asks students to evaluate a source's credibility using features like author qualifications and publisher. Several short-answer and discussion prompts allow or instruct students to refer back to texts when explaining themes or supporting claims.