Students will consider the different ways that humor can be used by a writer to criticize people, practices, and institutions that he or she thinks are in need of serious reform. Students will read satirists ranging from classical Rome to modern day to examine how wit can be used to make important points about culture.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students research an aspect of modern life that they would like to lampoon.
Students read from satirists across history to absorb the style and forms of humor and institutions satirized.
Students write their own satire, drawing on techniques of famous satirists to criticize their targets.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

What is satire, and when is it too harsh?
How can humor and irony make you more persuasive?
What do you think is funny? How far would you go to satirize it?
Who gets more reaction—satirists or protestors?

The laws that govern and the social norms that regulate society are not always fair, legal, moral, or ethical. What is a person to do about all this injustice? What are the hazards of righting injustices or changing social norms? And what are the dangers of doing nothing?

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and annotate Antigone, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” and Pygmalion.
Students write a literary analysis showing the effect of social class or the law on a character’s life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do social class and legal institutions shape literary characters’ lives (and presumably our lives)?
How does social class affect a person in dealing with the law (protect a person, hurt a person)?
How is social class determined in America and in other places in the world?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In our lives, we are constantly telling stories to ourselves and to others in an attempt to both understand our experiences and present our best selves to others.  But how do we tell a story about ourselves that is both true and positive? How do we hold ourselves up in the best possible light, while still being honest about our struggles and our flaws? Students will explore ways of interpreting and portraying personal experiences.  They'll read Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart , analyzing the text through the eyes of one character. They'll get to know that character's flaws and strengths, and they'll tell part of the story from that character's perspective, doing their best to tell an honest tale that presents their character's best side. Then they'll explore their own stories, crafting a personal narrative about an important moment of learning in his or her life.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and analyze Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart , viewing the events and conflicts of the novel through the eyes of one of the central characters.
Students write a two-part narrative project: one narrative told through their character’s perspective and one personal narrative about an incident in their own life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do our conflicts shape and show our character?
How can we tell a story about ourselves that’s both honest and positive?
How do definitions of justice change depending on the culture you live in?
What are ways individuals can react to a changing world? To a community that doesn’t accept us?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this module, students read, discuss, and analyze literary and informational texts, focusing on how authors use word choice and rhetoric to develop ideas, and advance their points of view and purposes. The texts in this module represent varied voices, experiences, and perspectives, but are united by their shared exploration of the effects of prejudice and oppression on identity construction. Each of the module texts is a complex work with multiple central ideas and claims that complement the central ideas and claims of other texts in the module. All four module texts offer rich opportunities to analyze authorial engagement with past and present struggles against oppression, as well as how an author’s rhetoric or word choices strengthen the power and persuasiveness of the text.

Find the rest of the EngageNY ELA resources at https://archive.org/details/engageny-ela-archive .

Image source: "Writing" by Ramdlon at https://pixabay.com/en/writer-writing-paper-letter-author-605764/Unit Overview: The Writers on Writing Unit engages students in reading, analyzing, and creating literacy narratives, or stories about learning to read and write. The unit begins by asking students to view and read literacy narratives, and to analyze author’s literacy narratives through annotation, discussion, and writing a formal analysis essay. As students go through the narratives, they are asked to analyze author technique and purpose, paying close attention to style, syntax, and organization in preparation for writing their own authentic literacy narratives and ultimately creating digital storytelling projects about those narratives. By the end of this unit, students will have composed analysis writing, creative nonfiction, and multimedia stories. They will have had the ability to select certain reading assignments, to work in groups and with partners to brainstorm, edit, and revise, and they will have had guided writing lessons on composing strong sentences. Day 2 Overview:  These plans are for Day 2 of the Writers on Writing Unit. On Day 2, students focus on strong sentences and paragraphs, beginning with student rewriting of mentor sentences, and culminating in analysis of a basic vs. elaborate paragraph from a literacy narrative. Students discuss how description improves meaning in narratives, and look at successful authors to prepare for their own work.Source Citation:  Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, 1849.

Unit Overview:  The Writers on Writing Unit engages students in reading, analyzing, and creating literacy narratives, or stories about learning to read and write. The unit begins by asking students to view and read literacy narratives, and to analyze author’s literacy narratives through annotation, discussion, and writing a formal analysis essay. As students go through the narratives, they are asked to analyze author technique and purpose, paying close attention to style, syntax, and organization in preparation for writing their own authentic literacy narratives and ultimately creating digital storytelling projects about those narratives. By the end of this unit, students will have composed analysis writing, creative nonfiction, and multimedia stories. They will have had the ability to select certain reading assignments, to work in groups and with partners to brainstorm, edit, and revise, and they will have had guided writing lessons on composing strong sentences.  Days 3 to 5 Overview:   These plans are for Days 3 to 5 of the Writers on Writing Unit. On day 3, students listen to podcasts about different perspectives on struggling to read. They then complete a pre-assessment, reading and analyzing a literacy narrative with guided style analysis notes. Students will then review the pre-assessment activity in preparation for reading their own selections of professional literacy narratives on day 2. The lesson will culminate with students writing an analysis of a professional literacy narrative. Image source: "Idea" from Pxhere.com

In this 12th grade Extension Module, students can go deeper into analyzing arguments, as they outline, analyze, and evaluate the claims that Michelle Alexander makes in|The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, paying attention to her use of rhetoric to convey her ideas. Please note that this 12th grade Extension Module is an extra module that has been developed as part of the 12th grade ELA modules; grades 9-11 do not have additional or extension modules. A full year of curriculum is available for 12th grade through modules 1-4.

Find the rest of the EngageNY ELA resources at https://archive.org/details/engageny-ela-archive .

Module 12.1 includes a shared focus on text analysis and narrative writing. Students read, discuss, and analyze two nonfiction personal narratives, focusing on how the authors use structure, style, and content to craft narratives that develop complex experiences, ideas, and descriptions of individuals. Throughout the module, students learn, practice, and apply narrative writing skills to produce a complete personal essay suitable for use in the college application process.

Find the rest of the EngageNY ELA resources at https://archive.org/details/engageny-ela-archive .

Tribal Government on the Wind River Reservation is in a state of flux. In the accompanying lessons plans (found in the Support Materials), learn how the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes govern their people, what is the relationship between Tribal, State, and Federal government?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the workings of tribal government on the Wind River Reservation by creating a written report.
Students will understand the differences and similarities between state, tribal and federal governments and their functions, structures, and powers.

This is the first lesson in a week-long, mini-unit contains four individual lessons.  Through the course of all these lessons, students will be introduced to the concept of civil disobedience—people purposefully disobeying a law or protesting nonviolently about laws or social issues they feel to be unjust. They’ll read from, watch, and listen to three examples that address the issue: Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience," Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail," and the Teaching Tolerance documentary Viva La Causa written and directed by Bill Brummel.Activity Description: This lesson focuses on introducing, defining, and providing a basic example of historical civil disobedience using Henry David Thoreau's experience and an excerpt from his essay "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience."This lesson is designed to be used in a blended environment.  Accommodations are listed for non-blended courses.Time needed for activity: ~45 minute class periodResources needed: Online discussion board(s) set up at either pinup.com or answergarden.ch; copies of the "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" excerpt (printed or electronic)

Local government is the government of people’s daily lives. It is your local government that you will interact with most throughout your daily life. In this seminar, you will learn about the role of local government in a community. By the end of this seminar, you will be able to discuss how local government and community members work together. You will be able to compare the structure of local government as a whole to the structure of the government in your community.Standards5.1.4 C - Explain the principles and ideals shaping local and state government.

The Miss Indian America Pageant was launched by Sheridan residents in the 1950's to combat discrimination. In the accompanying lesson plan (found in the Support Materials) students will view the story told through the eyes of Miss Indian America title holders who held a reunion in 2013, serving as grand marshals in the Sheridan, WY Rodeo parade and commemorating a legacy of bridging cultures.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Students will identify the reason why the town of Sheridan, WY started the Miss Indian America Pageant.
Students will define the given vocabulary words.

In the first bend of this unit, students will closely read multiple perspectives on the “American Dream” in
order to collect information to use and integrate that information into an evidence-based perspective.
Students will examine primary and secondary source documents to make informed decisions about
what information to collect that may inspire their writing about “The American Dream.”

In the second bend of this unit, students will engage in a short-research process to create a draft of
argumentative speech on the “American Dream” with a specific purpose, audience, and tone in mind.
They will use their inquiry research questions from bend one to begin analyzing search results and citing
and gathering relevant, accurate, and credible information.

Learn what the futures of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes are, and how the tribes will retain their culture and tradition while preparing to move into the future? In the accompanying lesson plan (found in the Support Materials) students will understand the importance of education and perservation of the culture.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Students will demonstrate an understanding about the importance of education and preservation of the language and culture among the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribe from the past, present, and future.
Students will learn about the Federal Indian Policy to civilize Native Americans through the establishment of Native American Boarding Schools incorporating key vocabulary words.
Students will learn about how the practice of forced assimilation contributed to the diminished use of the Shoshone and Arapaho people’s lifestyle, languages, and traditions.
Students will discuss the development of Indian boarding schools in the United States and Wyoming.
Students will analyze the differences between the early educational experiences of the Native American and non-native students.
Students will examine the importance of education as a value that the Shoshone, Arapaho, and non-native communities share.
Students will consider how Native American students and non-native students can learn from each other to dispel the myths and stereotypes that exist in contemporary society.
Students will learn why oral traditions are important.
Students will understand why respect for elders is important in the tribe.
Students will gain an awareness of why traditional dancing and singing is important to traditions and culture.
Students will explore the significance of the buffalo to the Shoshone people living on the Wind River Reservation.
Students will learn that through traditional concepts of understanding, the Shoshone people, as well as many other Plains tribes, were able to survive through their sustenance on the buffalo.
Students will discuss the relationship that Native American people have with the buffalo (i.e., spiritual, sustenance, etc.) and how oral traditions play a critical role in the preservation of Native ways of knowing.

A guide to a University course, including assessment rubrics, where students produce a research-based (OER) podcast. Taught at the University of Leeds by Antonio Martínez-Arboleda.

Learn how and when the Eastern Shoshone came to Wyoming, what are the Shoshone values, and what are the people of the Eastern Shoshone like? In the accompanying lessons plans (found in the Support Materials), students will gain an understanding of the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868 including its importance to the state of Wyoming and the Eastern Shoshone Tribe in 1868 and today. The American Bison, or Buffalo as preferred by most tribes, has a significant existence among the Native American people. For thousands of years, the great American Buffalo roamed the Great Plains, migrating from north to south, searching for areas on which to thrive. The Shoshone people depended on the buffalo for many things that included food, clothing, and shelter. Every part of the buffalo was used and provided for the people.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Students will study (Highlight, paraphrase and report) the Treaty of 1868 between the Eastern Shoshone Tribe and the United States Government.
Students will learn about the Eastern Shoshone people through the use of research and technology.
Students will understand that the history of the Shoshone people in the Wind River Mountains dates back thousands of years.
Students will understand that the circle of life continues in a perpetual cycle and is passed on through oral tradition. These stories often taught a lesson to young people.
Students will understand the indigenous perspective of interconnectedness. Students will understand how bison populations were devastated by western expansion.
Students will learn how to construct, read, compare and analyze different population graphs.
Students will understand how the diets of the Shoshone people varied depending on the areas in which they lived.
Students will acquire knowledge of the Wind River Reservation communities and be able to identify these locations on a map.
Students will be able to further describe how their culture has shaped them.
Students will be able to define the concept of culture.
Students will be able to explain some of the attributes of culture.

Students will gain an understanding of the Northern Arapaho people located on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. In the accompanying lessons plans (found in the Support Materials), students will learn how the Northern Arapaho come to Wyoming, what are the Arapaho values, and why were Arapaho tribal names changed?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Students will be able to evaluate what geographical places were used by the Arapaho people and understand how historical events changed the future for the Arapaho people.
Students will compare and contrast between their social and ceremonial structures.
Students will understand the hierarchy of the Arapaho Tribe.
Students will analyze how their social and ceremonial structures contribute to their cultural identity.

This plan helps students identify expository writing and learn how to draft their own expository essays.