FRESHMEN SHORT STORY UNIT

Unit Title: FACT-BASED PARAGRAPH

Length: valid with selected stories Projected Dates: November-January (second quarter)

Overview of unit: Students learn to support a premise through facts extracted from the text.
Text Types and Purposes: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of
substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Enduring Understandings: Essential Questions:

A statement is only an opinion unless is it What makes for a convincing statement?
adequately supported by facts How does an opinion become credible?

Focus Standards (List CCSS addressed)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what
the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4 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 (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets
a formal or informal tone).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text,
order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such
effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2 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.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations
for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising,
editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a
specific purpose and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update
individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other
information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research,
reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks,
purposes, and audiences.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital
 sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering
the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas,
avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis,
reflection, and research.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly,
concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization,
development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.5 Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio,
visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning,
and evidence and to add interest.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English
grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.3 Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in
different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully
when reading or listening.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning
words and phrases based on grades 9–10 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of
strategies.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.6 Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific
words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career
readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a
word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

Objectives: To be able to meet these standards, students need to be able to do the

following:This is where you include Bloom’s revised Taxonomy and Webb’s Depth
of Knowledge:

1, Students will have completed read the assigned short story..

2. Students will have viewed the fact-based paragraph PPT
3. Students will have learned how to make a claim with significance and support it through a variety of
sources.
4. Students will learn how to properly cite a source through an electronic format tool, such as
www.easybib.com.
5. Students will have the opportunity to express their opinion through a well-stated, fact-based
paragraph.

Resources/Materials reccommended:

Texts: (current) Holt Freshmen Textbook

Supplemental literary texts: stories can be found on various Internet websites

Short Stories:
“The Most Dangerous Game”
“The Cask of Amontillado”
“The Gift of the Magi”

Informational Texts: Shmoop CCSS handout

Art/Music/Media: n/a

Procedure:
Students will view the PPT: “Writing the Fact-Based Paragraph” following the steps:
1. Making the claim
2. Analyzing the topic
3. Valid reasoning
4. Relevant evidence
5. Presentation

Assessments:

Unit: (required)
A well-written paragraph incorporating the designated procedure for selected short story.

Benchmarks: (eventually)

Formative:
The fact-based paragraph serves as a measurement of following requirements and directions,
and will provide a means of assessing the acquirement of focus standards, as well as fulfill
understanding unit terms, literary elements, and comprehension of studied material. This is a
means of preparing students for the SBAC test in that they practice synthesizing and
exemplification.