ELA 8 Unit 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.8.4 Rl.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.Scholastic Reading counts website spreadsheet 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)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:analyze ▫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)(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:thesongvideoNational Geographic Story/Blog ▫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)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 SheetBag in the Wind The Evolution of the Grocery Bag 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. haiku Stone Bench in an Empty Park by Paul Janeczko concrete Technically, It’s Not My Fault ▫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. Rubrichaikuconcrete 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.synopsisstudy guide ▫Identify: character, plot, theme, setting, implicit, explicit, implied, stated ▫Read The Great Fire synopsis and study guidesynopsisstudy guide ▫As you read, fill out the graphic organizer.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.picture Answer the question before, during, and after your story: How does the urban setting contribute to the story? Assignment directions and tipsdirectionstips Plan, draft, publish, presentPlandraft 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 processwriting process ▫Use evidence from the different resources used in this unit such as: books, short stories, articles, videos, non-fiction text, poetry, etc. ▫ Rubric Rubric