Unit/Topic:   Looking Inside for Inspiration -Creative Non-Fiction

Enduring Understanding(s):  Students will understand –

• A writer needs to examine his/her inner world for inspiration to write.
• A writer’s world can never be confined.
• Writing is a natural instinct coupled with carefully cultivated crafts.
• Language is essential in the art of writing and perception follows it.
• A personal narrative can provide readers with a distinctive view of the world we live in.
• The art of writing relies on the writing process.

Essential Question(s):

• What’s art? Language art?
• Why do we write?
• How does writing personal narratives help me examine life more closely and gain new perspectives about myself?
• How do we use literary techniques to help improve our writing?
• Why do we need to use the common core writing standards to measure our writing?
• Why is writing process essential to creating a refined work?
• Is  the awareness of audience important in writing? Why or why not?

CCS Standards & Skills (1A/1E):

RI.9-10.3 Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections drawn between them.

RI.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.

W9-10 3a-3f :Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
a. Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation,
establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or
characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
c. Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to
create a coherent whole.
d. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.

e. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.

f. Adapt voice, awareness of audience, and use of language to accommodate a variety

W9-10 2a-2f 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.

a. Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

b. Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions,concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.

c. Use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts.

d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.

e. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.

f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).

W.9-10.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

a. Apply grades 9–10 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work [e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare]”).

b. Apply grades 9–10 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning”).

Academic Vocabulary/Key Concepts (1A):

 Literary techniques & elements such as irony, structure, point of view, diction, pacing  etc. retrospect, perception,

 Assessments

• On-going assessments: journal responses, quick-writes, lesson tools

Mid Unit Assessment: Students will choose three phrases that Rilke uses and describe how

• they build and express Rilke’s advice through the use of language. Prompt: Select three phrases that represent significant pieces of advice and explain how Rilke’s use of language (i.e., particular words) gives each phrase its specific meaning.( RI.9-10.1, RI.9-10.4)
• End-of Unit Assessment: Students will choose three most polished pieces of their personal narratives and publish them in a class website. A common core standard-aligned rubric will be used to measure the quality of their writing.

 

Materials/Resources (1D):

• Copies of “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke
• Copies of “Mogens” by J.P. Jacobson

 

 Grouping Rationale:  (1B) Students are grouped  based on the data collected on each student’s reading, writing , social interactive and self-discipline abilities, time management and leadership skills. Students are grouped heterogeneously to help each other succeed and in the meantime to warrant their individual growth.

Multiple Entry Points: (1B)

• Questions are designed at various level so all students with various abilities can participate in discussion.
• More advanced students can take turns to paraphrase challenging questions to ensure all group members understand the tasks.
• Students can type or take notes by pen.
• The lesson is provided with definitions for possible new vocabulary words in the text
• Reading can be done by a more advanced reader in a group to help those  who may have trouble with reading
• Audio is used.

Lesson 1

Objectives: (1C) students will  be able to challenge Rilke’s criticism and comments on the intangible and inexpressible nature of art after close reading the 1^st letter to  a young poet. Students will begin to understand the connections Rilke is establishing and developing in this section.

Aim: How does Rilke make connection between language and art?

Resources:

“Mogens” by J.P. Jacobson

Agenda

• Introduce the final unit of the course
• Review the unit’s CCS and assessments.
• Close read the 1st letter by Rilke.
• Assessment
• Closing

• Text-Dependent Questions (TDQs) and Activities

 Procedures

Do Now (1A)

Briefly introduce the unit and the texts: Letter One from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet.

Share the purpose of this unit: to continue building upon reading  and writing standards and to consider how these standards operate in the context of informational texts.

Respond: What do you notice about the newly introduced standards as opposed to the standards in Unit 1 &2? How are they different? How are they similar?

Mini Lesson/Guided Practice (1E)
Close read the first paragraph of the and annotate for unfamiliar vocabulary while following the reading. Pay particular attention to words that look familiar but may have a slightly different meaning. We will also do a close reading together of the 1^st paragraph and see how the author develops his meaning through word choice. Use explicit textual evidence to support your answers for the following TBQs.

Qa. “Your letter arrived just a few days ago. I want to thank you for the great confidence you have placed in me.”

1. What might Rilke’s use of the word confidence reveal about the contents of the young poet’s initial letter?

Qb. “I cannot discuss your verses; for any attempt at criticism would be foreign to me.”

2. What might Rilke’s use of the word foreign reveal about the relationship he perceives between art and criticism?

3. What can you infer about the purpose of the young poet’s letter from Rilke’s refusal?

Qc. “Nothing touches a work of art so little as words of criticism: they always result in more or less fortunate misunderstandings.”

4. According to Rilke, what results from criticism?

5. What is Rilke saying about the power of criticism to influence art? Use evidence from the text to support your response.

Qd “Things aren’t all so tangible and sayable as people would usually have us believe; most experiences are unsayable, they happen in a space that no word has ever entered, and more unsayable than all other things are works of art, those mysterious existences, whose life endures beside our own small, transitory life.”

6. What words repeat in this passage? What belief does Rilke challenge through these repetitions?

7. What “life” does Rilke attribute to works of art? How does the life of art compare to human life? It may be necessary to offer students a definition of the word transitory as meaning “something that doesn’t last very long.”

Independent Practice/Group Activity Questions (3D):

 Each group will work on a assigned reading passage from the 1^st letter and do the following activirtes-

1. Read the passage out loud within the group.
2. Select 3- 5 quotations from the passage and ask questions about each quotation. Write down the questions you will use for discussions
3.  What claim can you make together based on the quoted evidence?
4. Group Assignments:
5. Group 1: paragraph 2; Group 2: paragraph 3 from “ You ask whether..” to “Then come close to nature”; Group 3: paragraph 3 from “Then, as if no one…” to “ Turn your attention to it”; Group 4: paragraph 3 from “try to raise up the sunken feelings …” to “ life is devoted”; Group 5: paragraphs 4-7.
6.  Assessment ((1F/3D):Quick Write: Based on reading and class discussion, briefly respond to the following prompt: What relationship is Rilke establishing between language and art? How does this support his assertions about criticism? What evidence supports your thinking?Summary/Closure/ (1F/3D)-For homework, independently reread the second paragraph and annotate, focusing your annotation of the text with the following question: How does Rilke’s approach in the second paragraph compare to his “preface”?
7. Homework (1E)Independently reread the second paragraph and focus their annotation of the text with the following question: How does Rilke’s approach in the second paragraph compare to his “preface”?

Lesson 2

Objectives: Students will be able to use TDQ Orgnizer for Rilke’s letter to examine closely the choices Rilke makes to develop his critique of, and advice to, the young poet.

Aim: How does Rilke continue to develop his critique of and advice  to the young poet?

Do Now:

Share your annotations with your partner. What claims can you make based on your 1st readin( what kind of advice does Rilke give to the young poet)?

Mini Lesson

Notice and Focus, Method, So What?

Evidence 1: ” Things aren’t all tangible and sayable as people would usually have  us believe”

Evidence 2: Most experiences are unsayable…”

Evidence 3: ” … more unsayable than all other works  of art…”

Method: Repetition of “unsayble”, deductive reasoning, binary of expereinces and art

So What-Claim: It is  imprudent/difficult for anyone to criticize a work of art.

Independent Practice/Group Activity Questions (3D):

In pairs, do the following based on the passage assigned-

1. Use Notice and Focus to list all important details on a specific “word”-“topic” of discussion in the “letter”
2. Rank the top three details
3. Method: repetition or binary
4. So What -Claim
5. Put your pair work on a poster paper.
6. Share in class.

Assessment: Respond- “How does your claim reflect the evidence you have collected?”

Homework: Read the rest of the letter (#1) and make a list of important details. Do you still want to keep the same claim you have made? Why? If not, what’s your new claim?

Lesson 3

Objectives: Students will examine and analyze the purpose of the artistic life, a central idea developed by Rilke.

Aim: According to Rilke, what is the purpose of the artistic life? How does Rilke introduce and develop this idea?

New Vocabulary: facile (adj.) – easily done, superficial; facile (adj.) – easily done, superficial

Material: Text-Dependent Questions Organizer—Rilke Tool

Agenda

• Standards: RI.9-10.1, RI.9-10.3, RI.9-10.4
• Text: Letter One from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet
• Homework Accountability
• Text Analysis in Groups: TDQ Tool
• Assessment: Quick Write
• Closing

Do Now:  share the annotations you made for homework in pairs. Annotation-focusing question: How does Rilke’s approach in the second paragraph compare to his “prefatory remarks”?

Mini Lesson

Do a round-robin- each student picks one sentence you deem important for any reason. Find and underline the sentences as we go along.  Together with your own selection of the textual details, how does Rilke develop his CI?

Passage	TDQs	Response
You ask whether your verses are any good… No one can advise or help you—no one (pp. 5–6).	1. What do you notice about the structure of these sentences? What effect does Rilke create through these structural choices?    2. What does Rilke beg the Young Poet to give up?	1. The paragraph begins with four short sentences. (“You ask whether your verses are any good. You ask me. You have asked others before this. You send them magazines.”) This is different from earlier paragraphs that had longer, more complex sentences. Also, these four sentences all start with the word you. They’re repetitive and have parallel structure. The structure of these sentences emphasizes the importance of Rilke’s message.2. The poet has sent his work to lots of people, trying to get advice from others, including Rilke, who begs him to “stop doing that kind of thing.”

Independent Practice/Group Activity Questions (3D):

Complete Rilke’s tool in pairs. Add more of your own selection of details and create TDQs and respond to them.

Passage	TDQs	Response
There is only one thing you should do… must I write? (p. 6).	3. How might your understanding of the tone of Rilke’s message change if the word only was removed?4. How does Rilke embody the “reason” for writing? What image of the inner life of an artist does Rilke create?5. What questions is Rilke imploring the young poet to ask of himself? According to Rilke, what answer must an artist give?6. How might your understanding of Rilke’s message change if your was replaced with the word the in the sentence “the most silent hour of your night”?
Dig into yourself…must become a sign and witness to this impulse (p. 6).	7. How can the understanding of “your night” that you developed in question 6 help you to make meaning of Rilke’s reference to the “humblest and most indifferent hour”?8. What might Rilke’s response to the Young Poet be if he answered no to these questions?

Assessment: Quick Write-How does Rilke’s approach in the second paragraph compare to his “prefatory remarks”?

Homework: Read from “Then come close to Nature” through “the objects that you remember” and briefly respond in writing to the following question: What might Rilke mean by “Nature” in this passage? Use evidence from the text to support your response.

Lesson 4

Objectives: Students will analyze Rilke’s use of repetition, figurative language, and word choice to determine how these specific details shape and refine the central ideas of this text.

Aim: What is Rilke asking the young poet to focus on when he advises “the creator must … find everything in himself”?

RI.9-10.2

Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.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.
RI.9-10.3	Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections drawn between them.
RI.9-10.4	Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).

New Vocabulary:

• immersion (n.) – the act or state of being dipped or submerged in a liquid
• facile ( adj.) – easily achieved, effortless

Do Now:

Share responses to the focusing question of your homework : What might Rilke mean by “Nature” in this passage?

Mini Lesson

Use questions to uncover CI and evidence to support your responses-

1. Why might Rilke describe traditional forms of poetry as “facile,” and then caution the young poet that these forms are in fact “the hardest to work with”?

2. What is Rilke asking the young poet to embrace when he counsels him to try “as if no one had ever tried before”?

Independent Practice/Group Activity Questions (3D):

Part A

Read aloud in their groups from “If your everyday life seems poor” to “far in the distance.”   AND RESPOND TO the following TDQs before sharing out with the class:

1. How does Rilke’s assertion that “for the creator there is no poverty and no poor, indifferent place” build upon his earlier reference to “humblest and most indifferent hour[s]”?

2. According to Rilke, what is the artist’s “jewel beyond all price”? How does this kind of reflection develop an artist’s inner life? Hint: Focus your analysis on the verbs Rilke uses in this passage.

3. According to Rilke, where is the artist’s true home?

———————————————————–

Part B

Read aloud in PAIRS  from “And if out of this turning within” to “that is the only way one can judge it.”and respond to  the following TDQs before sharing out with the class:

1.  How does Rilke’s use of the word “natural” in this passage compare to your understanding of his use of “Nature” that you developed for homework?

2. According to Rilke, what makes art “good”?

——————————————————–

Part C

Read aloud in their groups from “So, dear Sir,” to “to whom his whole life is devoted.” AND RESPOND  to the following TDQs  before sharing out with the class:

1.. What does Rilke’s use of the words burden and bear it suggest about how he understands the life of an artist?

2.  What kind of “reward” is Rilke referring to when he counsels the young poet to accept his destiny “without ever asking what reward might come from outside”? Use evidence from the passage that you explored in Lesson 2 to inform your response.

3.What might Rilke’s choice to capitalize Nature but use the lowercase for creator suggest about how he understands the relationship between artist and inspiration?

Assessment: What is Rilke asking the young poet to focus on when he advises that the creator must “find everything in himself”? What steps does the young poet have to take to become “a world for himself”?

Homework:

In the next lesson you will write a paragraph in which you will use sentences or phrases from Rilke’s letter to explain how the author uses language to advise the young poet. Select from 3 to 5 of Rilke’s phrases, sentences, or words from the entire Letter One that are strong examples of powerful language choices in preparation for the Mid-Unit Assessment.

Lesson 5

Objectives: Students will prepare for and complete an assessment of standards RI.9-10.1 and RI.9-10.4 using the Rilke text.

Aim: How does Rilke express his advice to the young poet through use of language?

CCS

RI.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.
RI.9-10.4	Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).

W.9-10.2

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

Agenda

• GO over the “Aim” of the  lesson and remind students of the mid-unit assessment
• Do Now
• Mini Lesson
• Student independent practice
• Assessment: Quick Write

Do Now: Share your short response to lesson 4 homework assignment.

In your groups, discuss the words and phrases you selected.

• Identify the way that Rilke uses the word or the phrase.
• Examine how that word or phrase helps develop a specific piece of advice that Rilke offers.

Remember to do these three things in your discussion:

1. Ask questions and build upon one another’s ideas.
2. Return to the text.
3. Add good thinking by your group members to your notes.

Debrief the session to ensure you  have understood the connection between  evidence and Rilke’s use of language.

Mini Lesson: Quotation Integration

An important component of textual analysis is integrating quotations in a way that strengthens the point that you wish to make.

Step I

Select a quote you’d like to integrate into your piece: “go into yourself and see how deep the place is from which your life flows”

Step II

Select a word, or several words, from that quote that carry significant ideas: “go into yourself,” “how deep the place is,” and perhaps “your life flows.”

Step III

Compose a sentence that includes those words and includes the point you want to make: Rilke tells the poet to go inside to “go into [himself].” He says that this is where he will see “how deep the place is” where his “life flows” from.

Independent Practice

Mid-Unit Assessment: Students will choose three sentences or phrases that Rilke uses and describe how they build and express Rilke’s advice through use of language.

Prompt: Use the sentences or phrases that you selected for homework (chosen to represent significant pieces of advice) and explain how Rilke’s use of language (e.g., particular words or use of words) gives each phrase its specific meaning. Then explain how these three sentences or phrases contribute to

Rilke’s central advice. In your answer be sure to

• Include an introductory sentence.
• Write each quote plus a sentence or two that explain the quote and any notable choice of words; you may note a metaphor, a word in italics, or perhaps repetitions.
• Write a concluding sentence that explains how the three sentences or phrases you chose contribute to Rilke’s overall message.
• Follow conventions of standard English.
• Integrate at least two of the vocabulary words we discussed from this text.

Use the NY Regents Text Analysis Rubric to evaluate these paragraphs.

Lesson 6 PBA ( Performance-Based Assessment)

In this unit, we’ll read texts focusing on the topic of “Shifts in Power”. We’ll read texts of various genres and mediums but the purpose of such reading is to write an argumentative essay in a letter form on whether a citizen who defies his/her government can become a threat to that government’s stability.

Enduring understanding

Students will understand that-

• Individual rebellion may serve to help a society progress.
• Obeying societal laws may be our legal obligations but not our moral obligations.
• There are fundamental differences between civil disobedience and riots.

Essential Questions-

• Why do people disobey laws?
• Does a person who breaks a lay always indicate s/he is our enemy? Why or why not?
• Why is it important that individuals dare defy conventional beliefs?
• Does civil disobedience cause government’s instability?

CCS

RI.9-10.1,

Citing strong and thorough evidence to support anaylsis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences draw from the text

RI.9-10.

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in details its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

Texts: See handouts

Materials:

• Copies of texts
• copies of summative assessment task
• copies of rubric
• copies of check list
• copies of lesson tools

Lesson 1

Objectives: Students willl examine the image and analyze the details they will observe. They will also be able to draw a claim based on the patterns that exit among the details.

Aim: What claim can we make by observing the image?

Do Now: Examine the image and make a list of details you have observed.

Mini Lesson

Avoid jumping into a conclusion-

How to read an image?

1. Write down as many details as you can that stand out for you for any reason.
2. Rank the details.
3. What pattern or repetition or connection you can see among the top three details?
4. What do the details suggest to you? What questions do you have after examining the details?
5. What point can you make by putting the three details together?
6. Write a caption that summarize what you thing the image is about( point).

Guiding Questions:

1. What stands out when I first examine this text?

How does this text make me feel?

Text-Specific questions:

1. What emotions does the image evoke?

2.What details stand out for you?

Independent Practice

Listen to a TED speech  by Dalia Mogahed “The Attitudes that Sparked Arab Spring”

Independent Practice:

Listen to the speech and do the following ( Using Question Tool)-

1. What idea does the text present?
2. Write a brief response.
3. Cite details from the text to support your response.
4. What words or phrases stand out as I read? Annotate the text as you listen.
5. Compare the details you have collected.
6. Discuss what the details suggest to you.
7. Identify questions you may have after examining and discussing the details.

Assessment: What is the speech mainly about? What stands out when I first examine the text?What internal and external conflicts are described in the speech?

Homework: What is the connection between the speech in Ted and the image in the NYTimes? What claim can you make based on the two texts? Use evidence from both sources to support your claim.