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Lesson 2

We will complete an activity on patients’ rights and complete a close-word study of the term immortal. We will also conduct a vocabulary review.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I use a variety of strategies (e.g., context clues, word study, and vocabulary resources) to determine the meaning of an important word in a text?

  • Can I develop and clearly communicate meaningful and defensible claims that represent valid, evidence-based analysis?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot, Crown Publishing Group, 2010

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Write – Discuss

We will complete a quick-write on patients’ rights and answer discussion questions in order to consider a central issue in the text.

Step 1

Quick-write:

Based on your review of the Nuremberg Code in Section 2 and your reading so far in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, what rights do you think all patients should have? Create a list of rights and at least one reason for each one in your Learning Log.

Step 2

Discuss the rights you listed with your group and answer the following discussion questions:

  1. How does your list compare to the rights Henrietta Lacks and her family had?

  2. How would their story be different if they had the rights that your class listed?

Step 3

Share your answers in a class discussion. Once you have completed the discussion, summarize your notes and how they relate to one of the text’s central issues—race, class, ethics, or science.

Activity 2: Read – Write – Discuss

We will complete a word study on the word immortal.

Step 1

Write down the term immortal in your Vocabulary Journal. Jot down what the word means to you. Include both denotative and connotative meanings. See the Author CraftNote-Taking Tool for definitions of these two terms.

Next, look up the word online and many any additions or revisions to your definition.

Step 2

Respond to the following discussion questions in your Learning Log:

  1. What does immortal mean to the Lackses?

  2. What does immortal mean to doctors working with the HeLa cells?

Write a sentence in your Learning Log that compares the difference between what immortal means individually to the doctors and the Lackses. Then, write a sentence that provides commentary about this difference in understanding, and explain its importance.

Step 3

Share your sentences with your group and pick one sentence to share with the class. Add to or modify your notes as you deepen your understanding of the connotations and denotations of the word immortal.

Activity 3: Read – Write – Discuss

We will review some key vocabulary from chapters 23–25 that is content-specific or challenging. We will pay attention to word use and meaning in the text’s context. We will also write down important terms in our Learning Logs, so that we can refer to them later in the unit.

Step 1

Review the Vocabulary List for Chapters 23-25 of the text. In your group, assign each member a set of words from the list to define. Individually, locate the words as they are used in the text, using the provided page number, and consider the following questions for each:

  1. What is the meaning of the word?

  2. What strategy did you use to determine the meaning (context, morphology, reference resource)?

  3. How is its meaning important to the text?

You might use the Vocabulary in Context Tool to assist you.

Step 2

Discuss your assigned words with your group.

Write down each group member’s words and definitions in your Vocabulary Journal.

Activity 4: Read – Write

We will read chapters 26–28 in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Read and annotate Chapters 26-28 in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Write down new or interesting words in your Vocabulary Journal and respond to the following guiding questions in your Learning Log. Be sure to provide evidence from the text to support your answers:

Chapter 26

  1. Based on this chapter, what new or more nuanced understanding do you have about patient confidentiality?

Chapter 27

  1. Based on this chapter, what new or more nuanced understanding do you have about HeLa cells?

Chapter 28

  1. Based on this chapter, what new or more nuanced understanding do you have about the Lackses?

Complete the reading for homework.