Unit 5 — Surviving the Unthinkable
Description
Unit 5 is the longest unit and explores survival through historical fiction, memoir, documentary, and poetry. Students read a novel set during the Sudanese refugee crisis, informational articles about the same events, documentaries, a memoir excerpt from a Titanic survivor, a poem about hurricane survival, and a novel set during Hurricane Katrina. The unit emphasizes conducting research and writing expository essays that integrate multiple sources and perspectives. Students analyze how different genres and media present the same historical events and understand how literature brings history to life. The focus on survival connects to earlier units while adding research and synthesis of sources.
Essential Questions
- What does it take to be a survivor?
Learning Objectives
- Analyze setting and character in literary texts.
- Analyze how text structure contributes to meaning.
- Determine author's purpose and point of view in memoir.
- Determine meanings of words and phrases in context.
- Integrate information from multiple sources and media formats.
- Analyze documentaries and compare presentations of events across sources.
- Write expository research essays that examine a topic and convey information.
- Develop topics with relevant facts, definitions, and details.
- Use appropriate transitions and precise language.
- Conduct short research projects drawing from multiple sources.
- Gather information and assess source credibility.
- Quote and paraphrase while avoiding plagiarism.
- Analyze figurative language and free verse poetry.
- Compare and contrast across genres.
Suggested Texts
- from A Long Walk to Water — fiction
- Sudanese Tribes Confront Modern War — nonfiction
- Salva's Story — documentary
- God Grew Tired of Us — documentary
- from Into the Lifeboat from Titanic Survivor — nonfiction
- from After the Hurricane — poetry
- from Ninth Ward — fiction
Supplemental Resources
- Printed research source sets for comparison
- Graphic organizers for research essay planning
- Citation cards for tracking sources and quotations
- Timeline templates for sequencing historical events
- Chart paper for collaborative note-taking from multiple sources
Language
Reading: Informational Text
Reading: Literature
Speaking and Listening
Writing
Students analyze historical texts and primary sources to understand different perspectives on freedom, justice, and human rights across time periods and cultures.
Students investigate animal behavior, ecosystems, and survival mechanisms through reading and writing activities that connect to life science concepts.
Formative Assessments
- Text-dependent questions on A Long Walk to Water analyzing setting and character
- Analysis of informational articles and documentary about Sudanese refugees
- Close reading of memoir excerpt from Titanic Survivor
- Examination of poetic language in hurricane poem
- Timeline creation integrating information from multiple sources
- Discussion and comparison of how different media present survival stories
- Vocabulary practice with context clues and word resources
- Grammar practice with prepositions and prepositional phrases
Summative Assessment
Write an expository research essay integrating information from literary and informational sources and demonstrating understanding of a historical survival story; HMH Unit Test
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through oral responses to text-dependent questions, recorded explanations of character and setting analysis, or a graphic organizer that maps textual evidence instead of writing a full essay. Visual supports such as character maps, timeline templates, and source comparison charts may be provided as needed.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Because this unit asks students to read across multiple genres and media formats while also producing a research essay, scaffolding should target both comprehension and written output. Provide graphic organizers that help students track information across sources, such as noting how a novel, article, and documentary each present the same survival event. For the expository essay, break the writing process into clearly sequenced stages with checkpoints, and allow students to dictate or use speech-to-text tools when composing drafts. Pre-teaching unit vocabulary related to survival, refugee experiences, and natural disasters will support access to complex texts, and audio versions of longer texts should be made available as needed.
Section 504
Students should be given extended time on close reading tasks and the summative research essay, particularly when integrating information from multiple sources requires sustained attention. Preferential seating and a low-distraction environment are especially important during documentary viewing and independent research. Providing a printed copy of directions and graphic organizers ensures students can reference task expectations without relying on memory across this lengthy unit.
ELL / MLL
The survival theme and historical contexts in this unit — including the Sudanese refugee crisis, the Titanic, and Hurricane Katrina — may be unfamiliar, so building background knowledge through visual media, maps, and image-based resources before reading will support comprehension. Pre-teach key content vocabulary in context, and allow students to use bilingual resources or home-language support when encountering new terms. Simplified sentence frames can help students participate in source comparison discussions and begin drafting expository writing, and pairing text with visual timelines will support their ability to integrate information across sources.
At Risk (RTI)
For students who struggle with reading stamina or research writing, begin with the most accessible entry point in the unit — connecting the survival theme to students' prior knowledge and experiences before introducing new texts. Offer partially completed graphic organizers to help students identify relevant details across sources without being overwhelmed by the volume of material. For the research essay, provide a structured outline or writing frame that guides students through organizing their evidence, and focus expectations on demonstrating understanding of one clear source connection rather than requiring full synthesis across all formats.
Gifted & Talented
Students who are ready for greater depth should be encouraged to examine how the choice of genre or medium shapes not just what information is conveyed about a survival event, but how it positions the reader or viewer emotionally and ethically. In their research essay, challenge them to move beyond summarizing sources toward analyzing the tensions or contradictions that emerge when different genres — such as memoir versus documentary versus historical fiction — present the same historical crisis. Students might also explore questions of whose voices are centered or marginalized in survival narratives, drawing on additional self-selected sources to support a more complex, arguable claim.