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Lesson 6

We will refine and revise our Section 1 Diagnostic to demonstrate how our understanding of what it means to be an American has expanded or changed after reading additional texts.

Lesson Goals

Reading and Knowledge

  • Gather and Organize Evidence: How well do I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence to demonstrate an understanding of texts and topics, support claims, and develop ideas?
  • Analyze Relationships: How well do I recognize and interpret important relationships among key details and ideas about my pathway topic within texts?
  • Compare and Connect: How well do I recognize points of connection among texts, textual elements, and perspectives to make logical, objective comparisons?
  • Evaluate Information: How well do I evaluate the relevance and credibility of information, ideas, evidence, and reasoning presented in texts?

Writing

  • Refine and Revise: How well do I revisit, refine, and revise my understanding, knowledge, and work based on discussions with others and feedback and review by myself and others?
  • Remain Open: How well do I change my ideas or perspective based on new, credible information and experiences?
  • Form Claims: How well do I develop and clearly communicate meaningful and defensible claims that represent valid, evidence-based analysis?
  • Organize Ideas: How well do I sequence and group sentences and paragraphs and use devices, techniques, descriptions, reasoning, evidence, and visual elements to establish coherent, logical, and well-developed narratives, explanations, and arguments?
  • Develop Ideas: How well do I sequence and group sentences and paragraphs and use devices, techniques, descriptions, reasoning, evidence, and visual elements to develop coherent, logical, and well-developed narratives, explanations, and arguments?
  • Use Conventions to Produce Clear Writing: How well do I apply correct and effective syntax, usage, mechanics, and spelling to communicate ideas and achieve intended purposes?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • “Address to the Nation on the September 11 Attacks,” George W. Bush, Public Domain, 2001
    • “President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address,” 2009, Barack Obama, Public Domain, 2009
    • “The Great Society,” Lyndon B. Johnson, Public Domain, 1964

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read

We will revise our section 1 diagnostic.

You were given the following prompt in your Section 1 Diagnostic:

“You have been reading, discussing, and thinking about what it means to be an American. You will continue to discover and explain what it means to be an American. Read ‘The Great Society’ by former president Lyndon B. Johnson, ‘Address to the Nation on the September 11 Attacks’ by former president George W. Bush, or former president Barack Obama’s second inaugural address.

You were then told to write a response to the following questions:

  1. What does it mean to be American?

  2. How has the notion of being an American changed over time?

During this lesson, you will revise your response from Section 1 to demonstrate your more sophisticated understanding of the topic based on the new information you have gleaned from your research.

Activity 2: Read

We will analyze our section 1 diagnostics and determine how we need to revise them.

Read Part 1, Understanding My Work and Deciding What to Revise, of the Section 1 Diagnostic Revision Handout.

Choose one or two questions to answer to help you focus your revisions. Discuss your original draft and the questions you chose with a partner from your research team.

Activity 3: Read

We will revise our section 1 diagnostics to identify counter perspectives and add them to our writing.

Read Part 2, Adding a Counter Perspective, from your Section 1 Diagnostic Revision Handout.

You might want to confer with a partner from your research team about your thoughts on what counter perspectives to add, and how to include them in your draft.

Activity 4: Write

We will revise our section 1 diagnostics.

Read Part 3, Revising My Draft and make decisions about what types of revisions your draft needs to make it stronger. Then, revise and rewrite your draft. Your revision should be a better, more developed version of your Section 1 Diagnostic. Respond to the following question:

  1. How should I revise this draft to make it the best reflection of my work?

Revise your diagnostic.

Be sure to incorporate applicable vocabulary you have written down in your Vocabulary Journal to enhance the quality of your paper.

Activity 5: Read

We will reflect on our new writing.

Read Part 4, Reflecting on My Revisions, from your Section 1 Diagnostic Revision Handout. Write a short reflection that explains your revisions.

Activity 6: Discuss

We will assess how prepared we are for the Culminating Task.

Take out your Culminating Task Progress Tracker. Think about all you have learned and done during this unit. Evaluate your skills and knowledge.

  1. How prepared are you to succeed on the Culminating Task?

  2. What do you need to know and learn to do to succeed?