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Stage 1 Desired Results

UNIT 1: What makes a good story?

Pacing: 2-3 weeks (foundation mini-unit)

Stage 1 Desired Results

Established Goals:

CCSS:

RL.10.1 - Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 
RL. 10.2 - Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. 
RL.10.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone. 
RL.10.7 - Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musee des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s “Landscape with the FAll of Icarus.”
RL.10.10 - By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 10- CCRA text complexity band independently and proficiently. 
W.10.2 - Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. 
W.10.4 - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. 
L.10.1 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. 
L.10.2 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. 
SL.10.1 - Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. 

Transfer

Students will be able to independently use their learning to….

  • Identify and analyze elements of plot structure
  • Think critically to understand archetypes and the impact of mythology

Meaning

Understandings

Students will understand

  • Conforming to traditions that harm a community results in negative consequences
  • Idealized perception over reality affects an individual’s point of view
  • Human ambition - when unchecked - leads to a tragic fall

Essential Questions

Students will keep considering…

  • What makes a good story?
    How important are traditions in a community?

  • How does the value and impermanence of personal connections impact an individual? 
    How do we define myth?

Acquisition

Students will know…

  • How literary devices create meaning in a text
  • How authors write with an intended purpose
    Archetypes

Students will be skilled at…

  • Analyzing literary devices such as imagery, metaphor, syntax, diction, and point of view
  • Determining theme and connections among genres
  • Evaluating how language informs a reader’s perception
  • Close reading techniques 

Resources

Texts:

  • “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
  • “The Far and The Near” 
  • “Coyotes and the Stro’ro’ka Dancers” excerpt from Storyteller by Leslie Marmon Silko

Videos: 

  • Pixar’s “Introduction to Storytelling” 
  • “Arrow to the Sun” by Gerald McDermott
  • “Coyote Dances with a Star” by Joe Hayes
  • “The Clues to a Great Story” by Andrew Stanton

Suggested Texts/Resources

  • Variation of Daedalus and Icarus myth - Mythology
  • “Musee des Beaux Arts” by W.H. Auden - Poem

Curriculum Writer(s): Lisa Ferrari