Critical Reading Unit - PBworks

1 C o p y r i g h t e d M a t e r i a l ; f o r C l a s s r o o m U s e O n l y 2011 Critical Reading unit A One-Marking-Period Course for Grade 6 By Janet Chai, Andrea Florczak, & Juliana Meehan Tenafly Middle School 1 Contents unit PLAN .. 3 17 going on 18 by Anna Quindlen .. 7 A Day at the Zoo by Jack Prelutsky .. 9 Abandoned Farmhouse by Ted Kooser .. 10 All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury .. 11 Changed by Naomi Shihab Nye .. 15 Eleven by Sandra Cisneros .. 16 Failure is a Good Thing by Jon Carroll.

2 19 Hope by Gary Soto .. 20 I m Nobody by Emily Dickenson .. 21 In New Jersey Once by Maria Mazziotti Gillan .. 22 Aprender el ingl s by Luis Alberto 23 Learning English by Luis Alberto Ambroggio .. 23 Meteor Watch by Naomi Shihab Nye .. 24 Momentum by Catherine Doty .. 25 Mr. Entwhistle by Jean Little .. 26 My Dad is Better Than Your Dad by Andy Griffiths .. 27 Oranges by Gary Soto .. 28 Priscilla and the 29 Public School #18: Paterson, New Jersey by Maria Mazziotti Gillan .. 31 Purple by Alexis Rotella.

3 32 Shells by Cynthia Rylant .. 33 Smoky Night by Eve Bunting .. 36 Survival of the Fittest by Soledad O Brien .. 39 Taco Head by Viola Canales .. 41 Thank You, M am by Langston Hughes .. 43 The Candy Bite by Viola Canales .. 46 The Follower by Jack 48 The Little Boy and the Old Man by Shel Silverstein .. 51 The Marble Champ by Gary 52 The Rider by Naomi Shihab Nye .. 55 2 The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost .. 56 They Are My Friends by Margaret 57 Vacation by Rita Dove .. 60 Vocabulary Lesson by Ann Wagner.

4 61 3 unit PLAN Tenafly Public Schools Curriculum Continuum Template Mindful Students Subject Area: Language Arts Grade: 6 Team Members: Janet Chai, Andrea Florczak, Juliana Meehan Created: July, 2011 unit Name: Critical Reading (one-marking-period course) Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts: ,2,3,4,5,6,9,10 ,2,3,4,5,10 ,4 , 5,6 STAGE 1: DESIRED RESULTS Transfer Students will be able to independently use their learning Approach texts fiction and nonfiction, prose and poetry with a Critical eye and uncover perspectives and messages Read for the purpose of stimulating and extending thought Read for enjoyment Uncover layers of meaning in the world by viewing it with a Critical eye, extending beyond texts to include issues and people Enduring Understandings (Meaning).

5 Students will understand Readers read with particular lenses; shaped by/acquired through personal history, preferences, viewpoints, experiences, and these lenses impact what and how they read and make meaning from a text. Critically analyzing texts uncovers the writer's and the reader's personal lenses, allowing the reader to draw varied meanings from the Reading . By comparing and contrasting texts we arrive at deeper understandings of the world and ourselves. The world is fraught with layers of meaning that take a Critical eye to uncover.

6 Reading changes the reader. Reading invites interpretation - a text may have several meanings, dependent not only on the writer's perspective but also that of the reader. Reading helps us realize things in the world and gives us new perspectives. Discussing a text leads to greater understandings and insights. Writing about a text leads to greater understandings and insights. 4 Essential Questions (Meaning): Students will keep What particular lenses do you bring to your Reading ? How do books reshape our understandings?

7 What can we learn from books about ourselves? About each other? About the world? What strategies do active readers use to comprehend text? What is the proper way to conduct a classroom discussion? How can we engage in class discussions around our Reading in a way that builds and strengthens us as a Reading community? What is the value of a classroom discussion? How do we write about Reading in a way that illuminates others about our Reading experience? How does writing about our Reading lead to greater understanding and insights?

8 Performance Tasks (Acquisition): Students will How to make meaning from our Reading How to analyze texts through various lenses and uncover deeper, possibly hidden, meanings How to summarize and reflect on a text, verbally and in writing How to write about Reading , supporting ideas with evidence from the text How to conduct a classroom discussion in which multiple viewpoints are presented, considered, and respected How to work with peers in uncovering meanings from texts How to compare and contrast texts verbally and in writing to gain deeper insights Skills (Acquisition): Students will be skilled Composing brief Critical responses to their Reading on a regular basis Practicing a variety of comprehension strategies, including (but not limited to): drawing inferences; making predictions; visualizing; responding to Reading through short and long writing pieces.

9 Deciphering figurative language; learning new words through context clues, word roots, and connotation Comparing and contrasting their own viewpoints with those of their classmates Writing critically about ideas found in Reading and supporting their ideas with textual evidence Sharing ideas and enhancing understandings through respectful and orderly classroom discussion 5 STAGE 2: EVIDENCE Assessments: Students will show that they really understand by evidence Formative Formulating questions and observations about whole-class texts in various ways, including but not limited to Post-it responses, T-charts, T/S connections, excerpting key passages, annotation Engaging in orderly discussions of whole-class texts in which all viewpoints are heard, considered, and respected Quick-writes for analysis and discussion Quizzes on selected Reading skills, , making inferences.

10 Supporting ideas with evidence from text, understanding words in context, interpreting figurative language Frequent practice in writing about Reading and supporting ideas through textual evidence Summative Writing about Reading through explaining and supporting their inferences with textual evidence Keeping a Reading journal according to a rubric Quizzes on selected Reading skills, , making inferences, supporting ideas with evidence from text, understanding words in context, interpreting figurative language Engaging in orderly discussions of whole-class texts in which all viewpoints are heard and respected STAGE 3: LEARNING PLAN Provide a balanced mix of quality short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that can be analyzed by the whole class Ensure silent Reading on a daily basis Conduct frequent minilessons in discrete Reading skills including but not limited to teacher demonstrations followed by student practice in.