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Lesson 7

We will complete a final analytical statement from the text, this time adding a closure statement and textual support. We will complete a close analysis of Chapter 38 and study Henrietta Lacks’ legacy and complete a final vocabulary review for the book.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I recognize and interpret important relationships among key details and ideas in the text?

  • Can I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence to demonstrate an understanding of the text and topics, support claims, and develop ideas?

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: Read – Write – Discuss

We complete an analytical statement about the important ideas in this book with textual support.

Step 1

Individually, pick one chapter from the homework to analyze and one of the following categories from the Author CraftNote-Taking Tool to focus your analysis: diction and tone, imagery and figurative language, representation, structure, or syntax.

Access the Analyzing Relationships Tool and write down the following guiding question at the top:

What effect does Skloot’s use of _____ have on the reader’s understanding of the text?

Put your chosen category in the blank space.

Review the chapter and take notes as you find details that relate to your category. Choose three key details from the text and use the Analyzing Relationships Tool to examine the details and come to an analytical conclusion about Rebecca Skloot’s craft in the chapter.

When writing an analytical statement, identify the technique and its effect on the reader. Then, provide an example to support your statement.

In your Learning Log, write the following:

  • the technique that Skloot devises by using the terms on the Author CraftNote-Taking Tool

  • an example of this technique from your reading

  • the purpose of the technique and its intended effect

Step 2

Next, create three sentences for your analytical statement. Use the sentence frame below:

In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot uses _____(literary technique) to _____ (purpose). For example, _____. (Transitional Phrase) _____(Example 2). Overall, _____ (summary statement).

Step 3

Share your sentences with your group and discuss the following questions:

  1. Is this a style or structure that makes Skloot stand out from other authors that you have read?

  2. How is Skloot’s specific purpose in this text different from the purpose of other texts you have read?

Select one sentence from the group to share with the class.

Add to or modify your notes in your Learning Log based on the discussion. You will update your Author CraftNote-Taking Tool in an upcoming activity.

Activity 2: Read

We will read chapter 38 as a class and use text-specific questions to analyze the text.

Listen and follow along as your teacher or one of your peers reads the final chapter in the book. After you complete the reading, answer these text-specific questions in your Learning Log:

  1. What do you learn in this chapter that adds to your understanding of the text?

  2. Why do you think Rebecca Skloot ends the book this way?

  3. At the end of the book, Deborah says that she wouldn’t mind returning as a HeLa-type cell. Why is this important? What does this tell you about Deborah’s journey?

  4. Does the text end on a positive or negative note? Explain using details from the text to support your conclusion.

When you have completed the questions, discuss the answers with your group. Choose one answer to share with the class. Add to or modify your notes as you deepen your understanding.

Activity 3: Read – Discuss – Write

We analyze the legacy of Henrietta Lacks by completing a Word Map and a quick-write.

Look up the word legacy and discuss the connotations and denotations of the word with your group. Complete a Word Map of the word legacy in your group.

When you have finished, pick one box to share with the class.

Complete a quick-write in your Learning Log, answering the following question:

  1. What is the legacy of Henrietta Lacks?

Once you have completed the quick-write, share your ideas with your group and pick one idea to share with the class. Add to or modify your notes during the group and class discussions as you deepen your understanding.

Activity 4: Read – Write – Discuss

We will review some key vocabulary from chapters 33–37 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 back to them later in the unit.

Step 1

Review the Vocabulary List for Chapters 33-37 of the text. 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 this 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 a 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 5: Read

For homework, we will read “Where Are They Now” and the afterword from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

For homework, read and annotate "Where Are They Now" and the afterword from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Respond to the following questions in your Learning Log:

  1. How do the readings add to your understanding of the text?

  2. What further questions do you have about the subject or the text?