ELA Unit Overview Grade 7, Quarter 4, 3-5 Weeks

How Technology Affects the World and its People Unifying Concept: Credibility in the Technological Age Reading Focus: Informational Writing Focus: Argumentative

Overview: Students will explore ways in which technology is used in every day life and across cultures. Using multiple resources, including the internet, informational texts, multicultural books, The Hunger Games, and excerpts from The Language of Literature, students examine historical and contemporary needs for technology, and the effects of different technologies on people, communities and cultures. Through engaging in Literature Circle discussions and Socratic Seminars, students analyze texts, generate questions for inquiry projects, and argue the pros and cons of technology using facts and evidence from the texts to support their claims. Through collaboration, students identify and investigate community problems that require technological solutions, and consider the effects of such technologies; students then and take action to solve the problems. To conclude the unit, students create and display multi-media presentations to demonstrate what they learned throughout the Unit.

Purposes: To analyze the relationship of power, gender, age and traditional views To compare and contrast traditional views with contemporary views To research using a variety of resources and technology To locate answers, and verify truths To examine the challenges of learning a new culture To inquire into local and global issues, both independently and collectively To identify problems and explore methods for solving them Enduring Understanding: Essential Questions: Individual and shared inquiry necessitates thinking and problem 1. How does technology affect my understanding of the world? solving to create new understandings, activate prior knowledge, 2. What kinds of facts and evidence are most effective for support in research? and engage in the process of research to answer a question and 3. How do I determine if my researched information is reliable and valid? discover the truth. 4. How will I know if I have convinced my audience? Target Standards are emphasized during the quarter and used in a formal assessment to evaluate student mastery. Highly-Leveraged1 are the most essential for students to learn because they have endurance (knowledge and skills are relevant throughout a student's lifetime); leverage (knowledge and skills are used across multiple content areas); and essentiality (knowledge and skills are necessary for success in future courses or grade levels). 7.RI.3 Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events). 7.RI.8 Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims. 7.W.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. 7.L.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 7 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. Supporting are related standards that support the highly-leveraged standards in and across grade levels. Reading 7.RL.7 Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film). 7.RI.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings. 7.RI.9 Analyze how two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their presentations of key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different interpretations of facts. 7.W.1. Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence. 7.W.7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation. 7.SL.5 Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points. Constant Standards are addressed routinely every quarter. 7.RL.1,10 7.RI.1,10 7.W. 4, 5, 6,10 7.SL.1, 2, 6 7.L.1, 2, 6 Selected Readings of Complex Texts Extended/Short Texts: Multicultural Adoptions: The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins Half a World Away, Cynthia Kahodata “Crown of Wild Olive, A,” Rosemary Sutcliff, p. 709 Revolution is Not a Dinner Party, Ying Chang Compestine “Difference a City Year Makes, The,” Lauren Beckham p. 219 Under the Blood Red Sun, Graham Salisbury “Jabberwocky,” Lewis Carroll, p. 458 “Key Item,” Isaac Asimov, p. 432 “Looking for America,” Virginia Hamilton, p. 774 “Time To Talk, A,” Robert Frost, p. 198 “What Do Fish Have to Do With Anything,” Avi p. 206 “Winter Poem,” Nikki Giovanni, p. 387 Growing Up, Russell Baker, p. 621 “From Short Story to the Big Screen,” O.Henry p.173 Additional Instructional Resources TEDTalk – “One Story, One View” video and transcript https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en How Creativity Powers Science, Jennifer Cutraro https://student.societyforscience.org/article/how-creativity-powers-science Argumentative Writing Guide http://www.azed.gov/assessment/files/2014/05/7-8-argumentative-writing-guide.pdf Performance Assessments Formative Assessments: Summative Assessments:

ELA, Office of Curriculum Development© Page 2 of 3 Daily Journal Entries Socratic Seminars Literature Circles Argumentative Essays Analyzing Multicultural Texts Inquiry Projects and Presentations Engagements Answer Key Only School City Assessment – The Hunger Games

1This definition for highly-leveraged standards was adapted from the “power standard” definition on the website of Millis Public Schools, K-12, in Massachusetts, USA. http://www.millis.k12.ma.us/services/curriculum_assessment/brochures

ELA, Office of Curriculum Development© Page 3 of 3