Unit 1 Lesson 6: Text Analysis

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Unit 1 Lesson 6

Introduction

In this lesson, students continue to improve their skills in answering text-dependent questions through writing. Students will be introduced to the NY Regents Text Analysis Rubric, evaluate an authentic written response, and write their own responses to a text-dependent question related to “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves.” They will evaluate their own work using the NY Regents Text Analysis Rubric. Though the rubric is used for formal responses to text, this evaluation is meant to be a less formal way for students to become familiar with this rubric.

Standards

Assessed Standard(s)
RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or confliction motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Addressed Standard(s)
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.
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).
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.

Assessment

Assessment(s)
This assessment is a Quick Write with a text-dependent question. There are three purposes of the writing assignment:

  • Students demonstrate their understanding of Stage 2 by writing about the connections between the epigraph and the narrative.
  • Students practice evaluating their writing using the NY Regents Text Analysis Rubric.
  • Students write informative texts that demonstrate the Standard W.9-10.2, using a rubric that will support them in doing so.

This assessment question is a formative one, but the introduction of a formal rubric will allow students to become familiar with the language on the rubric. Once students have completed this writing task and have evaluated it using the rubric, evaluate students’ work to determine how well they understand the text and their ability to use specific evidence to answer a text-dependent question.

  • How is the epigraph’s description of Stage 2 reflected in the girls’ experiences in this section of the text?

Vocabulary

Vocabulary to provide directly (will not include extended instruction)
  • tawny (adj.) – dark yellowish or dull yellowish-brown color
Vocabulary to teach (may include direct word work and/or text-dependent questions)
  • bewildered (adj.) – perplexed and confused
  • disorienting (adj.) – confusing
  • grimace (n.) – a type of facial expression, usually of disgust, disapproval, or pain
  • taunt (n.) – a remark made in order to anger, wound, or provoke someone
  • eradication (n.) – removal of or destruction
  • bipedal (adj.) – walking on two feet

Lesson Agenda/Overview

  • Standards: RL.9-10.1, RL.9-10.3, RL.9-10.4, W.9-10.2
  • Text: “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” (pp. 229–231)
  • Introduction of Lesson Agenda
  • Homework Accountability
  • Introduction of Text Analysis Rubric
  • Evaluate Authentic Work
  • Close Reading of Stage 2 of “St. Lucy’s”
  • Quick Write with Student Evaluation
  • Closing

Materials

  •  Common Core Learning Standards Tool
  • NY Regents Text Analysis Rubric
  • Highlighters

Copies of High Performance Response from Lesson 5

Learning Sequence

  1. Review the agenda and the standards for this lesson: RL.9-10.1, RL.9-10.3, RL.9-10.4, W.9-10.2. Reread the standards and assess your familiarity with and mastery of the standards on your Common Core Learning Standards Tool.
  2. Paraphrase it in pairs.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.
  3. Talk in pairs about how you can apply your focus standard to your text.
  4. Share the previous lesson’s AIR homework assignment: explain how you applied your focus standard to their AIR text.
  5. Distribute the NY Regents Text Analysis Rubric on which formal responses will be evaluated from now on. Not all writing will be evaluated using this rubric, but the Mid-Unit and End-of-Unit Assessments will be evaluated using this rubric.
  6. Read the first two rows of the rubric (Content & Analysis and Command of Evidence) and star an important point in each box. Address the Content & Analysis category. Discuss the Command of Evidence category. Determine the differences between each response level.
  7. Hand out a copy of a model response from Lesson 5’s assessment, specifically Question C: What is also part of Stage 1 that is not directly stated in the Stage 1 epigraph? Read the model student response, and then highlight on the NY Regents Text Analysis Rubric where the writer scored on the first two qualities. a) Describe the qualities you noticed in the response. b)What evidence did the writer supply that was effective and specific?
  8. ( New Activity) Now we’ll do close reading. Form pairs to read and annotate from the Stage 2 epigraph to “St. Lucy’s for our own betterment?” (pp. 229–230) Use the annotation codes and write your thoughts about the text.
  9. The entire class discuss: a) What are some changes that will happen in Stage 2 according to the Stage 2 epigraph? B)What is “disorienting” about looking at the shoes for the narrator and what could disorienting mean? C) What has “bewildered” the girls?  D)What does the word bewildered mean in this context?
  10. Independently read and annotate the section from “Physically, we were all easily capable of clearing the low stone walls” to “Mirabella cocked her ears at us, hurt and confused” (pp. 230–231).
  11. In a whole-class, discuss : a)Who or what is taunting the girls?  B)What can you determine the word taunt means in this context? c) How do the parents (still in the forest) affect the girls? D)Why do the nuns perform a daily eradication? E)What does eradicate mean in this context? F) What two word parts do you see in the word bipedal? G)What can you determine bipedal means by looking at the word parts? H) Why is the word bipedal important to the girls’ development? I) How is Mirabella different from the other girls?

Quick Write with Student Evaluation

  1. Respond to the following text-dependent question:  How is the epigraph’s description of Stage 2 reflected in the experiences of the girls in this section of the text?  Use specific vocabulary from the text in their response
  2. Use the NY Regents Text Analysis Rubric to ensure all components have been addressed.

Homework:  Continue your Accountable Independent Reading through the lens of their focus standard and prepare for a 3-5 minute discussion of their text based on that standard.

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