Unit Summary: During the course of this unit, we will be discussing what empathy means and how an empathetic person behaves and why it matters. In your support groups, you will be expected to define empathy and we will be continually discussing and revising your definitions throughout the course of the unit. Before we read each text for the unit we will be reading background essays to familiarize ourselves with the writer’s life and times he/she lived through. We will start our unit with a short story by Gary Soto called “Born Worker”. We will also be reading the poem “The Rider” by Naomi Shihab Nye about overcoming depression. For most of this quarter, we will be reading The Diary of Anne Frank after a short introduction on the Holocaust.
Unit Objectives:
Texts:
Support Group Roles
Assessments:
Expectations: I have the highest expectations of all my students both in terms of work ethic and behavior. I believe that all students have the ability to receive an A for my class. To do so you must :
I am here to support you in your learning and help you learn as much as possible. I am excited to get started with the new semester and I hope that you have fun and learn as much as you can!
Ms. Zepeda
Rm. 34
[email protected]
Unit Objectives:
- Students will complete multiple and close readings of all the texts.
- Students will understand and use academic and content vocabulary in their writing.
- Students will analyze and evaluate all texts for the unit.
- Students will define and examine the the word empathy.
- Students will revise their definitions of the word empathy.
- Students will generate specific questions (from Costa’s Levels of Thinking and Questioning) relating to the texts of the unit and our discussions in class.
- Students will understand the plot, setting, character development and themes by completing a discussion and analysis of the elements of the story.
- Students will understand the author’s purpose for each text.
- Students will analyze the figurative language of each text and support their opinions with evidence from the texts.
- Students will write a formal essay responding to a specific question about the texts.
Texts:
- “Born Worker” by Gary Soto
- “The Rider” by Naomi Shihab Nye
- The Diary of Anne Frank
Support Group Roles
- Materials Manager - this person will be responsible for making sure all group members have all the materials they need to complete the task of the day. This means getting pencils, paper, poster paper and/or other materials as needed for your group. Materials Managers will also be responsible for collecting any work from each person in your group that needs to be turned in at the end of the period.
- Recorder - this person will record (write, type, etc.) every person’s answer to a question and/or activity.
- Presenter - this person will present each group’s answers and/or opinions to the whole class.
- Facilitator - this person will make sure that every person in the group is participating and following directions appropriately.
Assessments:
- Classwork/Group Work
- Quick Writes
- Homework
- Vocabulary Quizzes
- Presentations
- Unit Essay
Expectations: I have the highest expectations of all my students both in terms of work ethic and behavior. I believe that all students have the ability to receive an A for my class. To do so you must :
- complete all work,
- participate positively in class
- work cooperatively and collaboratively within your support groups and
- communicate with me regularly especially if you are having a difficult time understanding an assignment or need an extension for an assignment.
I am here to support you in your learning and help you learn as much as possible. I am excited to get started with the new semester and I hope that you have fun and learn as much as you can!
Ms. Zepeda
Rm. 34
[email protected]