The British Royals

Nonfiction Article of the Week Table of Contents 7-21: Always Evolving: The British Royals

Table of Contents 3

List of Activities, Difficulty Levels, Common Core Alignment, & TEKS 4

Digital Components/Google Classroom Guide 5

Teaching Guide, Rationale, Lesson Plans, Links, and Procedures: EVERYTHING 6-9

Article: Aliens: Always Evolving: The British Royals 10-11 *Modified Article: Always Evolving: The British Royals 12-13 Activity 1: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Multiple Choice w/Key 14-15

Activity 2: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Open-Ended Questions w/Key 16-17

Activity 3: Text Evidence Activity w/Annotation Guide for Article 18-20

Activity 4: Text Evidence Activity & Answer Bank w/Key 21-23

Activity 5: Skill Focus – Analyze Tone and Word Choice 24-27

Activity 6: Integrate Sources – Video Clip & Questions w/Key 28-29

Activity 7: Skills Test Regular w/Key 30-33

Activity 8: Skills Test *Modified w/Key 34-37

Activities, Difficulty Levels, and Common Core Alignment

List of Activities & Standards Difficulty Level: *Easy **Moderate ***Challenge Activity 1: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Multiple Choice* RI.7.1 Activity 2: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Open-Ended Questions* RI.7.1 Activity 3: Text Evidence Activity w/Annotation Guide for Article** RI.7.1 Activity 4: Text Evidence Activity w/Answer Bank** RI.7.1 Activity 5: Skill Focus – Analyze Tone*** RI.7.4 Activity 6: Integrate Sources – Video Clip & Questions*** RI.7.9 Activity 7: Skills Test Regular w/Key** RI.7.1, RI.7.4 Activity 8: Skills Test *Modified w/Key** RI.7.1, RI.7.4

Activities, Difficulty Levels, and TEKS Alignment

List of Activities & Standards Difficulty Level: *Easy **Moderate ***Challenge Activity 1: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Multiple Choice* ELAR.5(F) Activity 2: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Open-Ended Questions* ELAR.5(F) Activity 3: Text Evidence Activity w/Annotation Guide for Article** ELAR.5(F) Activity 4: Text Evidence Activity w/Answer Bank** ELAR.5(F) Activity 5: Skill Focus – Analyze Tone *** ELAR.9, 2(A)(B)(E) Activity 6: Integrate Sources – Video Clip & Questions*** ELAR.9(B), 12(F) Activity 7: Skills Test Regular w/Key** ELAR.9, 2(A)(B)(E) Activity 8: Skills Test *Modified w/Key** ELAR.9, 2(A)(B)(E)

All student activities are available in digital format compatible with Google Classroom. They are available in two formats: Google Slides and Google Forms. Google Slides First, I have made all student pages (excluding assessments) in Google Slides format. Students can simply add text boxes to any area they wish to type on. To access the Google Slides for this article, copy and paste the link below into your browser. *Note that you’ll need to make a copy of the folder or slide before you can use it.*

LINK OMITTED IN PREVIEW FILE

Google Forms I have made the assessments available in Google Forms. Here, they are self-grading, and I have set them all up with answer keys so they are ready to go for you. You’ll need to find these two files in your download folder to use Google Forms. The first file contains the links to the Forms, and the second file is explicit instructions for use. Look inside the Google Forms folder.

A Couple of Options for Teaching Article of the Week Units Here are my favorite suggestions for organizing these units with your schedule. *Please note that thumbnails show article 6.1 and activities.

Option A: Quickie Unit Simply complete all lesson activities in order OR pick and choose the activities you want to complete in order. Time Needed: 2-3 fifty-minute class periods Pros: Super flexible; perfect filler around your other units; makes it easy to assign easier components for homework; ideal no prep sub plans if you have to be out for 2-3 days in a row. Cons: Fitting them all in around everything else you’ve got to do.

Option B: Daily Model Use as a class starter or specific routine in your classroom everyday at the same time. Time Needed: 15-20 minutes/day, 5 days/week Pros: IDEAL for block scheduling when you need to always change it up; Great way to fit nonfiction articles in with what you’re already doing. Monday Cons: There are 25 total articles for each grade level, so some weeks you’ll need to skip the articles (I’d skip when doing projects, novels, during short weeks, and plan to finish up right before testing); May be difficult to commit to something Tuesday rigid like this if you’re a type B teacher like myself ;)

Here’s how the daily model works:

Monday: Read article & complete basic comprehension Wednesday activity Tuesday: Text evidence activity Wednesday: Skills focus activity (based on one key skill for each article) Thursday Thursday: Integrate information (other sources) Friday: Assessment

Friday

©2019 erin cobb imlovinlit.com Nonfiction Article of the Week Teacher’s Guide 7-21: Always Evolving: The British Royals Walkthrough I have discussed here how I use each activity and included hints and links to help you, too. Feel free to take or leave what you like. Even if you don’t plan to do every activity, I still recommend reading through this section to get the most out of these activities. Looking for a schedule to follow? Check the previous page for two suggested scheduling options.

These lessons and activities were designed to meet the needs of seventh graders during the second half of the school year. The articles, activities, questions, and assessments will become increasingly rigorous and challenging as we progress through the year.

Article Modified Article

Activities 1-2 • *There are no higher order thinking questions included here – only basic, literal comprehension. • These activities are designed to be completed on an either/or basis, meaning your students should only complete one of them, not both. Activity 1 • Use Activity 1 for a quick cold-read assessment or after you’ve read the article together. I use these to hold students accountable for reading carefully. I recommend having students complete activity 1 without the article as long as they’ve just read the article (so not the next day), unless you’re providing a testing accommodation. • Use Activity 2 for an open-ended option for the same exact questions. Students may have a harder Activity 2 time answering this one without the article, so choose this one if you want students to use the article but still prove that they’ve understood the content.

Activities 3-4 • Again, these activities are either/or, so choose one or the other but not both. • Activity 3 requires students to annotate text evidence in the article and includes an article annotation key. Activity 3 • Activity 4 requires students to choose text evidence from a bank at the bottom. This format prepares students to choose from and distinguish between pieces of text evidence on a state assessment. I recommend mixing it up and going back and forth between these among units until your students are proficient at both methods. Activity 4

Activity 5 • This activity is focused around the main skill for this article: Activity 5 RI.7.4 – Tone, specifically. Complete answer keys included, as always.

Activity 6 • This activity requires students to integrate information from another source or media. • Here, students view a video clip about the same topic. Students will look for different evidence within the video to Activity 6 record. • View the video clip: https://youtu.be/ZmNkcH2o9Go • Backup: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sgsFPk0XiPlfaxwqWM4b1t9CJsdWK5cf/ view?usp=sharing

Activities 7-8 • What’s the best way to make sure your students are prepared for the state assessment? Assess them regularly with that format. I always let my students practice for the first few before I start counting them for a grade, and I always use the basic comprehension assessment (activity 1 or 2) as an easy grade so it levels the playing field. Activity 7 • Activity 7 is the regular assessment. • Activity 8 is the modified assessment. The modified assessment offer students only two answer choices instead of four. Note that only the multiple choice portion of the modified test is different from the original. Simply put, only page one is different. Complete keys included as always (not shown). • In a hurry? I always include only multiple choice questions on the first page in case you’re in a hurry and need to skip the open-ended Activity 8 portion of the test. I don’t recommend skipping regularly but every now and then, I need a grading break.

©2019 erin cobb imlovinlit.com Always Evolving: The British Royals by Nicole Madden England, a part of Great Britain, has lived under In 1651, England entered an ever-changing monarchy for hundreds of years. a period of time with no In a monarchy, power is passed down through a monarch at all. During this family line. The ruling family is called the royal time, England was known family. Each member of the royal family has a royal as the Commonwealth of title, such as king, queen, prince, princess, duke or England. King Charles I duchess. entered into a violent and deadly war against Queen Elizabeth II Struggle for Power Parliament and their began her reign in 1952 after the death For many centuries, the King of England had supporters. After the war, of her father, absolute power. This meant that he was able to King Charles was put on King George VI. make decisions for England without approval from trial by Parliament, found anyone. This started to change in 1215 when the guilty, and executed. A political leader named Magna Carta was written and signed. Noblemen Oliver Cromwell was appointed as head of were in disagreement with the king, and they England. After Cromwell’s death, however, insisted he sign a document limiting his power over supporters of the monarchy took power again and them. restored Charles II as King of England in 1660. In 1265, the monarchy lost a bit more power This began a time in British history known as The when the first Parliament of England was founded. Restoration. In this early version of Parliament, representatives Throughout the 1800s and 1900s, reforms were (always noblemen) came together from different passed that increased the power of Parliament and parts of the country to make decisions. expanded democratic elements of Britain’s government. By 1884, all regular English male citizens were allowed to vote for representatives in Parliament. As England became more democratic, which means government “by the people, for the people,” the monarchy became less and less powerful.

Modern Day Monarchy Today, the royal family has a very different Ancient Aliens function. They no longer have the ability to run the government of the country. A common phrase used to describe the power of the monarchy today Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England is one of 32 current royal residences. ©2019 erin cobb imlovinlit.com Nonfiction Article of the Week Informational Text 7-21: Always Evolving: The British Royals Skill: Text Evidence

Finding Text Evidence Find each piece of text evidence in the article and highlight OR underline it with the color specified.

For items 1-4, you’ll be citing textual evidence to support what the text says explicitly. 1. Find the sentence that defines monarchy. Highlight it in blue. 2. Find the sentence that explains the responsibilities of the modern royal family. Highlight it in green. 3. Find the sentence that reveals when Queen Elizabeth II began her reign and highlight it in purple. 4. Find the sentence that reveals the eventual fate of King Charles I. Highlight it in gray.

For items 5-8, you’ll be citing one piece or multiple pieces of textual evidence to support inferences drawn from the text. 5. Find two pieces of evidence that identify the current successor to the throne. Highlight them in orange. 6. Find one piece of evidence from the article that identifies the consequence a royal family member faced for marrying someone not approved by the monarch. Highlight it in yellow. 7. Find four pieces of text evidence that support the idea that the role of the monarchy changed many times between 1200 and 1700. Highlight them in pink. 8. Find four details from the article that supports this statement: Historically, members of the royal family did not have the privilege of choosing their own spouse. Highlight them in red.

Activity 3 ©2019 erin cobb imlovinlit.com Nonfiction Article of the Week Informational Text 7-21: Always Evolving: The British Royals Skill: Analyze Tone A. Analyze Tone Answer each question completely.

1. Read each statement below about the British Royal family’s role today. Write one or two words that describe each statement’s tone in each space to the left. Then, highlight or underline the words or phrases in each statement that contribute most to the tone you identified.

The British Royal family has desperately clung to their power, fearful as they watched on as other European monarchies were destroyed.

The British Royal family strives to reflect modern values as they continue to enjoy a favorable approval rating among the British public.

The British Royal family has continually adapted and changed with society in order to maintain their prominent role in British society.

2. Read each statement below about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Write one or two words that describe each statement’s tone in each space to the left. Then, highlight or underline any words or phrases in each statement that contribute to the tone you identified.

From the included article: Prince Harry, the second son of Charles and Diana, married Meghan Markle in 2018. Meghan, a divorced American commoner, was warmly welcomed into the royal family. From a CNBC article: Prince Harry, grandson to Queen Elizabeth II, married American actress Meghan Markle on Saturday, in a ceremony that took place at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. From an Insider article: Meghan Markle married Prince Harry on Saturday at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Being mixed race, Markle is the first person of color to marry into the British royal family. It's groundbreaking that Meghan Markle, a mixed-race woman, is now a member of the British royal family.

Activity 5 ©2019 erin cobb imlovinlit.com Nonfiction Article of the Week Informational Text 7-21: Always Evolving: The British Royals Skill: Analyze Tone B. Analyze Tone Read each news article excerpt about the royal family. Describe the author’s tone in one or two words. Then, identify the words or phrases from the passage that most convey this tone.

3. From a Fox News Article: Meghan Markle will have yet another baby shower, a new report claims, this time across the pond. The Duchess of Sussex, 37, raised eyebrows with her star-studded baby shower last month in New York City, and now she’ll reportedly have a second celebration at Buckingham Palace. Author’s Tone: Words or Phrases That Convey Tone:

critical, disapproving, yet another, this time, raised eyebrows condescending,

4. From a Marie Claire Article: This morning, Kensington Palace announced that Prince William would become Royal Patron of The Passage Charity and that he would visit them today. It's a sweetly touching move for William; His mom brought him and Prince Harry along to the charity as far back as 1993 to show her sons the importance of volunteer work and caring for others. Author’s Tone: Words or Phrases That Convey Tone:

approving, pleased, sweetly touching move, volunteer work, caring for others positive

5. From a Mental Floss Article: Despite the risks, Elizabeth eventually joined the women's Auxiliary Territorial Service and trained as a truck driver and mechanic in 1945, when she was 18 years old. Queen Elizabeth remains the only female royal family member to have entered the armed forces, and is currently the only living head of state who officially served in World War II. Author’s Tone: Words or Phrases That Convey Tone:

admiring, approving, despite the risks, only female royal family member to have respectful entered the armed forces, officially served in World War II

6. From an Express Article: Prince Charles once shocked crowds when he made a comment about marriage while on a royal visit. The Prince of Wales made a remark about religion - and his then-wife Princess Diana. The quip left reporters "uncomfortable" a royal expert has said. The inappropriate joke was made during a royal excursion before he married the late Princess of Wales. Author’s Tone: Words or Phrases That Convey Tone:

surprised, outraged, shocked crowds, quip left reporters uncomfortable, critical, disapproving inappropriate joke