ELA 8Unit 1:Urban Setting In America

Anchor Question: What does the urban setting contribute to these stories?

Focus Standards:Rl.8.1 W.8.3 SL.8.1 L.8.4Rl.8.6

Overview

•Students continue to explore characters and plots, but this unit takes a unique approach to examining how setting, directly or indirectly, affects these story elements. Students work on citing textual evidence that reveals the setting, analyze the effect of the setting on individuals and events, and write their own urban narrative. This unit ends with an informative/explanatory essay in response to the essential question.

Introductory Activity for the Year• Introductory Activity (for the Year): You will be reading a

variety of literature and informational texts this year, including some genres that you may not have read before. On the Scholastic Reading counts website, students will research and create a spreadsheet of a list of genres (such as adventure, historical fiction, comedy, ancient history, science fiction, and fantasy) that interest them.

• Be sure to select titles, and topics, of enduring interest. • One of your goals by the end of the year is to read books

from at least four genres that are new to you. (RL.8.10, RI.8.10)

Vocabulary

•Find the following information for each vocabulary word: Definition, part of speech, synonyms. (Graphic Organizer)

•Create an illustration/art piece with all vocabulary. (Drawing)▫Examples: comic, collage, abstract,

cartoon, realistic view, setting•Vocabulary List: urban, urbanization,

suburban, city, citify, metropolitan, metropolis

•Rubric

Anchor Question: What does the urban setting contribute to

these stories?• Teacher reads, Alphabet City and City by Numbers

by Stephen T. Johnson• Students analyze the books with the following

questions before and after the reading: ▫What was the author’s purpose in creating these

texts?▫How can we use these books to begin looking at

cities (urban settings) in a different way? ▫What are the advantages and disadvantages to using

picture books to examine setting?• Choose the letter of your first name and last name

and make an initial art piece with a drawing or pictures from home (magazine/printed) to create the letters.

• Rubric

Anchor Question: What does the urban setting contribute to

these stories?• Different accounts, same event. 9/11 (Graphic Organizer)• Explore The Building of Manhattan by Donald Mackay. (short

story)▫ What does it take to build a city like New York City?▫ What were the two most important factors that helped in the

construction of Manhattan?▫ How are the people of New York City connected to the buildings?

• Analyze the song, video, and non-fiction text (National Geographic Story/Blog) by answering the questions before, during, and after each:▫ Compare the questions answered about The Building of

Manhattan to the empathy you have for the people who went through this tragic event. Does that change the way you think/feel about the victims and/or citizens as they went through this tragedy?

▫ How does each resource (media) make connections or distinctions among individuals, ideas, or events?

▫ What is similar and/or different about those connections?▫ How does the urban setting contribute to this tragic event in our

history?• Continue on next slide…

Anchor Question: What does the urban setting contribute

to these stories?• Now that we have researched the tragedy of 9-11 through a plethora

of resources, I want you to create a memorial to the city of New York, it’s people, and of coarse the buildings.

• Groups choose an assignment: Rubric(Make changes to rubric)

▫ RAFT: R=The Twin Towers, Audience=People of New York City, F=song and/or thank you letter, T=You built me, loved me, used me.

▫ Dramatic Skit: Students will memorialize the tragedy of 9-11 through a dance and/or movements with music and/or words.

▫ Play: Create a short play with characters (human or not) to memorialize the city, the buildings, and the people of New York. This can include puppets.

▫ Create a Gift Box: Students will make and decorate a box including gifts to give to the people of New York today as they remember the tragedy. Students will verbally present each object to the class.

Anchor Question: What does the urban setting contribute to

these stories?• Read and compare the portrayal of the grocery bag in the short

story book, Bag in the Wind by Ted Kooser to The Evolution of the Grocery Bag by Henry Petoski. Note Sheet▫ Share comparisons with partners and class.▫ How does the structure (types) affect the meaning?

• Read haiku poems from Stone Bench in an Empty Park by Paul Janeczko and concrete poems from Technically, It’s Not My Fault by John Grandits. ▫ The teacher will show students a tutorial of the different poems as

students take notes and share them with their partners.▫ Then the teacher will read several haiku and concrete poems as an

example.▫ Finally, each student will have a copy of one of each type of poem

and analyze its formation. Students will describe how they know it is one type of poem or the other.

• Write a haiku poem and/or concrete poem about an object similar to a grocery bag that may be found in an urban setting like Baton Rouge and recite it to the class with a visual. Rubric

• Video of tutorial

Anchor Question: What does the urban setting contribute to

these stories?•Read a The Great Fire synopsis and

study guide and find the character(s), plot(s), theme(s), and setting(s) from a story about urban America.▫Identify: character, plot, theme, setting,

implicit, explicit, implied, stated▫Read The Great Fire synopsis and

study guide ▫As you read, fill out the graphic organizer.▫How does the setting affect the story? Note

pages numbers and if the information is implied or stated. (implicit or explicit)

Anchor Question: What does the urban setting contribute to

these stories?•Use the following picture as inspiration to

create your own original story with an urban setting and if time allows, create a photostory.

•Answer the question before, during, and after your story: How does the urban setting contribute to the story?

•Assignment directions and tips•Plan, draft, publish, present•Rubric

Anchor Question: What does the urban setting contribute to

these stories?•Compare and contrast the characters, plots,

themes, and settings in your narrative to the film of the students choice.▫Compare and contrast to the previous story

read with another work with an urban setting.▫Compare and contrast the characters, plots,

themes, and settings. Emphasize the affect/effect of the urban setting on all of the elements.

▫Create a venn diagram to show the similarities and differences between the two stories elements.

Anchor Question: What does the urban setting contribute to

these stories?•Now write an essay answering the anchor

question: Anchor Question: What does the urban setting contribute to these stories?▫Explore types of essay writing and establish a

label for this one. Use a place mat.▫Use the writing process▫Use evidence from the different resources

used in this unit such as: books, short stories, articles, videos, non-fiction text, poetry, etc.

▫ Rubric