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Lesson 10

We will develop a short personal reflection, essay, or narrative while considering the second Central Question: What compass might you carry as you undertake your journey in the world?

Lesson Goals

Reading and Knowledge

  • Summarize: How well do I establish and explain an accurate understanding of the central ideas of the section texts?
  • Evaluate Effects: How well do I evaluate how the author uses literary devices to communicate meaning in a text?
  • Compare and Connect: How well do I recognize points of connection among the section texts, including connections among textual elements and perspectives, to make logical, objective comparisons in my writing?
  • Determine Meaning and Purpose: How well do I use connections among details, elements, and effects to analyze the author’s perspective, purpose, and meaning in this section’s texts to develop my writing?

Writing

  • Gather and Organize Evidence: How well do I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence to demonstrate understanding of what I read in a written summary of a text ?
  • Form Claims: How well do I develop and clearly communicate meaningful claims that represent valid, evidence-based analysis of the central idea of a text?
  • Organize Ideas: How well do I sequence and group sentences and paragraphs and use devices, techniques, descriptions, reasoning, and evidence to establish coherent, logical, and well-developed narratives and explanations?
  • Gather and Organize Evidence: How well do I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence to demonstrate an understanding of the section texts and topics to support claims and develop ideas in my writing?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • “Kindness,” Naomi Shihab Nye, Far Corner Books, 1995
    • “Living Like Weasels,” Annie Dillard, Harper Perennial, 1982
    • “Sojourns in the Parallel World,” Denise Levertov, New Directions Publishing, 1996
    • “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost, Poetry Foundation
    • “To Be of Use,” Marge Piercy, Penguin Random House, 1982
  • Digital Access
    • Quotations Handout, Odell Education
    • “Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address,” Steve Jobs, Stanford University, 2005

Optional

  • Digital Access
    • “Emma Thompson Reads Naomi Shihab Nye’s Poem ‘Kindness’,” S Bettina Brand, YouTube
    • “‘Kindness’ by Naomi Shihab Nye, a Poetry Film by Ana Pérez López,” Naomi Shihab Nye and Ana Pérez López, On Being Project

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read

We will review the task and our planning as we prepare to write a personal response for the Section Diagnostic.

Step 1

Review the prompt and expectations for the Section 1 Diagnostic. You have already drafted Part 1, an explication of the meaningful text you selected.

Reread your explication, noting the important ideas you want to connect to in Part 2 of the task.

Step 2

Review the three choices you have for your personal response:

  • Option 1: A reflective narrative, in which you tell the story of how you came to understand the text and find meaning in it.

  • Option 2: A personal essay, in which you discuss the central stories and ideas of the selected text and how they might be significant as a compass for you.

  • Option 3: A personal narrative, based on a meaningful story from your own life that is somehow connected to the stories and ideas in your selected text.

Based on the choice you have made, review the plan you developed for homework and prepare to write your reflection, essay, or narrative in class.

Activity 2: Write

We will draft our personal response to a selected text from section 1 for the Section Diagnostic.

Write a personal response to the text you selected, keeping in mind how you explicated the ideas in that text. As you write, consider the Central Questions:

  1. What does it mean to live a life well-lived?

  2. What compass might you carry as you undertake your journey in the world?

Activity 3: Read – Write

We will review and revise our draft for the Section Diagnostic, considering the expectations from the section 1 diagnostic checklist.

Step 1

Review the expectations of the Section 1 Diagnostic Checklist:

  • Indicate your understanding of the text you have selected, its key ideas, and its details.

  • Respond to the selected text personally, indicating how and why it might be meaningful to you.

  • Reference the selected text, either through your own storytelling or through specific citations from the text.

  • Develop your ideas with descriptive details, examples, and explanations.

  • Organize your ideas in a logical structure.

  • Use correct and effective grammar and spelling to clearly communicate your ideas.

Review and revise your draft personal reflection, essay, or narrative. Try to meet the expectations to the best of your ability.

Step 2

Prepare to submit your two-part personal response to the selected text, including the Summarizing Text Tool you developed for that text and the Part 1 explication you developed in the previous lesson.

Activity 4: Write – Discuss

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

Step 1

Choose at least three of the questions below regarding the Section Diagnostic 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 these struggles?

  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?

Step 2

Now, find your Culminating Task Progress Tracker. Think about the knowledge you have gained and the skills you have practiced thus far in the unit. Use the Culminating Task Progress Tracker to do the following:

  • Add or refine any skills and content knowledge required for the Culminating Task.

  • Evaluate how well you are mastering the skills and knowledge required for the Culminating Task.

Step 3

Review the Central Question of the unit:

What does it mean to live a life well-lived?

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

  1. What new knowledge do you have that relates to the Central Question?

  2. What are you still curious about that relates to the Central Question?

  3. What is the relationship between the Central 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 4. You will return to this response in later lessons to examine how your understanding of the Central Question has evolved.

Activity 5: Read

For homework, we will read the personal essay we were assigned in preparation for the first lesson of section 2.

For homework, read the personal essay you were assigned by your teacher in preparation for the first lesson of Section 2.

Consider the following initial guiding questions as you read. They will be the basis for your opening discussions of your essay with your seminar team.

Personal Essay Guiding Questions:

  1. Why were you initially interested in this essay as one you wanted to read and discuss? What about its key words or summary drew you to it?

  2. What are your first impressions of the essay, the perspective of its author, and the central ideas it seems to be about?

  3. What do key words and details in the first few paragraphs of the essay suggest about its author’s perspective on life and view of the world?

  4. What personal story (or stories) does the author present to illustrate the central ideas of the essay?