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Lesson 8

We will write a well-developed analytical response about Chapters 5 and 6 through either a biographical or historical criticism lens.

Lesson Goals

Reading and Knowledge

  • Analyze Relationships: How well do I recognize and interpret important relationships among key details and ideas (characters, setting, tone, point of view, structure, development, etc.) within texts?
  • Analyze Perspective: How well do I analyze how an author’s perspective influences the position, purpose, and ideas of a text?
  • Determine Meaning and Purpose: How well do I use connections among details, elements, and effects to make logical deductions about an author’s perspective, purpose, and meaning in texts?
  • Decipher Words: How well do I use a variety of strategies (e.g., context clues, word study, and vocabulary resources) to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words, phrases, and figurative expressions?
  • Attend to Details: How well do I recognize and interpret language and sentence structures to deepen my understanding of texts?

Writing

  • Form Claims: How well do I develop and clearly communicate meaningful and defensible claims that represent valid, evidence-based analysis?
  • 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

  • Tradebook
    • In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2010

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Write

We will review the section 2 diagnostic.

Review the expectations of the Section 2 Diagnostic Checklist and respond to the following question:

  1. What will I need to do to succeed on the Section Diagnostic?

Activity 2: Write

We will generate our initial thoughts for the section 2 diagnostic.

Step 1

Take a few minutes to gather your thoughts. You might do a free-write, or otherwise jot down ideas as they come to mind when asking yourself the following questions:

  1. What do you know about the biographical or historical lens?

  2. What from the text comes to mind when you think about the biographical or historical lens?

Step 2

Review your Vocabulary Journal. Identify significant words that you would like to use in your response to the Section Diagnostic.

Activity 3: Write

We will organize our thoughts and write a well-developed analytical response.

Write an analytical response about Chapters 5 and 6 through either a biographical or historical critical lens.

  • Choice 1: Biographical lens: How are Julia Alvarez’s personal experiences reflected in In the Time of the Butterflies?

  • Choice 2: Historical lens: How does In the Time of the Butterflies reflect the setting, events, and people who lived under the Trujillo regime?

Support your response with textual evidence from In the Time of the Butterflies and supporting materials you have studied.

You might use the Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool to help you organize your thoughts.

Activity 4: Write

We will revise our draft.

As you read through your response, consider the following questions to guide your editing:

  1. What are the strengths of my response?

  2. What textual evidence am I using to support my claim?

  3. Does the evidence fully support the claim?

  4. Do my analysis and commentary further develop my reasoning?

  5. Is there a logical progression and flow to my response?

Revise your response to reflect your best work.

Activity 5: Write – Discuss

We will reflect on our work and assess how prepared we are for the Culminating Task.

Step 1

Choose at least three of the questions below and respond to them in your Learning Log:

  1. How well did you take necessary action to prepare for the task?

  2. What went well for you during the completion of this task?

  3. What did you struggle with during the completion of this task? How did you push through that struggle?

  4. How well did you actively focus your attention during this independent task?

  5. How well did you develop and use an effective and efficient process to maintain workflow during this task?

  6. What would you do differently during the next Section Diagnostic?

Review your Culminating Task Progress Tracker. Think about all you have learned and done during this section of the unit. Evaluate your skills and knowledge to determine your progress toward the Culminating Task.

Step 2

Review the Central Question of the unit:

What makes a revolutionary?

Use the following questions to guide a discussion with a partner or small group:

  1. What new knowledge do you have in relation to the Central Question?

  2. What are you still curious about in relation to the Central Question?

  3. What is the relationship between the question and the texts you have read so far? How do the texts shed light on the question? How does the question help you understand the texts?

  4. How has your response to the question evolved, deepened, or changed?

In your Learning Log, write your response to Question 3. You will return to this response in later lessons to examine how your understanding of the Central Question has evolved.