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Lesson 2

We will preview a text from each pathway, recording our initial thoughts and impressions and discussing the various options available for study in this unit. With each reading, we will practice our analysis skills and determine the main idea of each previously read text in order to determine our interest in each pathway.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I express an accurate understanding of the central ideas of various pathway texts?

  • Can I determine points of connection among various pathway texts?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • Excerpt from Covering: The Hidden Assault on our Civil Rights, Kenji Yoshino, Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC., 2006
    • “Prologue: The Woman in the Photograph,” excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot, Crown Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC., 2011

Optional

  • Unit Reader
    • “A Fable for Tomorrow,” excerpt from Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, HMH Brands and Media, 1962

Materials

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Write

We will return to the excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and discuss its essential elements and overall theme before reading more texts representative of each pathway.

Reviewing your notes and answers from the previous lesson, think about the main idea presented in this excerpt.

After you review the passage, respond to the following questions:

  1. In a sentence or two, what is the main idea of the excerpt? (Make sure the main idea you identify agrees with the overall idea of the excerpt.)

  2. What are three to four sentences presented in the text that represent the main idea or enhance your thinking on the topic?

Activity 2: Read – Discuss

We will explore texts representative of each pathway so that we can choose a pathway topic and team. For each text, we will continue identifying the main idea and supporting details.

Access Rachel Carson’s "A Fable for Tomorrow.”

Skim the text. While skimming, pay attention to repeated ideas, themes, and connections to pathways, and discuss your reading with a partner who has read the same text.

Respond to the following questions with your partner:

  1. What is the main idea expressed in this reading?

  2. What are three to four sentences presented in the text that represent the main idea or enhance your thinking on the topic?

  3. What pathway is represented by this reading?

  4. Based on what you have read, would you like to further explore this topic?

Activity 3: Read – Discuss

We will explore texts representative of each pathway so that we can choose a pathway topic and team. For each text, we will continue identifying the main idea and supporting details.

Access the excerpt from Covering by Kenji Yoshino.

Skim the text. While skimming, pay attention to repeated ideas, themes, and connections to pathways and discuss your reading with a partner who has read the same text.

Respond to the following questions with your partner:

  1. What is the main idea expressed in this reading?

  2. What are three to four sentences presented in the text that represent the main idea or enhance your thinking on the topic?

  3. What pathway is represented by this reading?

  4. Based on what you have read, would you like to further explore this topic?

Activity 4: Discuss

We will debrief on what we have read and note any topics that seem worthy of study for the remainder of the unit.

Reflecting on the two articles you have skimmed during this section in addition to the excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, respond to the following questions with a partner:

  1. What reading stands out to you thus far? Why?

  2. What pathway appears the most interesting? Why?

  3. What questions do you have about the three texts you have read?