Unit 7 — Hidden Truths
Description
Unit 7 concludes the year by examining how stories reveal hidden truths about people and the world. Students read an informational text about storytelling traditions, drama, novels of choice (mythology or fantasy), and poetry about archetypes and fairy tales. The unit emphasizes narrative writing and the power of stories to convey meaning. Students analyze how authors use literary elements to reveal truths and write their own stories. The unit connects to the yearly essential question about fear and hope by examining how stories help us understand ourselves and our world.
Essential Questions
- What hidden truths about people and the world are revealed in stories?
Learning Objectives
- Analyze informational texts about storytelling and narrative traditions.
- Analyze central ideas and how they are conveyed.
- Determine meanings of words and phrases in context.
- Analyze elements of drama including dialogue and stage directions.
- Analyze theme and how it is developed.
- Infer meaning from literary texts.
- Analyze how text structure and narrator point of view contribute to theme.
- Write narratives that develop experiences or events with descriptive details.
- Engage and orient readers with context and characters.
- Use narrative techniques to develop experiences and characters.
- Use transitions to convey sequence and shifts in time.
- Use precise words and sensory language.
- Compare and contrast versions of texts and interpretations.
- Analyze allusions and poetic forms.
- Analyze figurative language and imagery.
Suggested Texts
- from Storytelling — nonfiction
- The Prince and the Pauper — drama
- The Lightning Thief — fiction
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe — fiction
- Archetype — poetry
- Fairy-tale Logic — poetry
Supplemental Resources
- Blank booklets for student narrative publishing
- Printed images or photographs for story inspiration
- Graphic organizers for narrative planning and character development
- Index cards for organizing plot events
- Markers and colored pencils for creating illustrated narratives
Language
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.
Formative Assessments
- Analysis of informational text about storytelling traditions
- Examination of drama elements in The Prince and the Pauper
- Text-dependent questions on novel selections
- Close reading of poems analyzing allusions and figurative language
- Character study and comparison activities
- Narrative writing practice with dialogue and description
- Discussion of versions and interpretations across texts
- Vocabulary and grammar practice with context clues and complex sentences
Summative Assessment
Write a short story or modernized myth that develops characters and events with narrative techniques and descriptive language; HMH Unit Test
Benchmark Assessment
A short-answer task in which students read a brief excerpt from an informational text or story and identify the central idea, explain how a specific literary element reveals a hidden truth, and determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in context. This assesses reading comprehension, text analysis, and vocabulary skills aligned to Unit 7 standards.
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through an oral retelling of a story's central idea and how it reveals a hidden truth, with visual aids such as story maps or images to support explanation. Sentence frames and word banks may be provided to help articulate how authors use literary elements to convey meaning.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students with IEPs benefit from scaffolded support when analyzing how literary elements such as theme, point of view, and figurative language reveal meaning in complex texts. Graphic organizers that break down story structure or character development can help students process and organize ideas before writing their own narratives. For narrative writing tasks, allowing dictation, speech-to-text tools, or structured story-planning templates gives students multiple ways to express their ideas without being limited by handwriting or organizational challenges. Teachers should provide vocabulary supports tied to storytelling and archetype concepts, and offer sentence frames to help students construct analysis and narrative responses.
Section 504
Students with 504 plans should be given extended time for both reading and written tasks, particularly during close reading activities and the narrative writing process. Preferential seating and a low-distraction environment help students maintain focus during longer analytical or creative work sessions. Printed copies of any text displayed on the board and chunked reading passages support access to the complex literary and informational texts featured in this unit.
ELL / MLL
Multilingual learners benefit from pre-taught vocabulary connected to storytelling traditions, archetypes, and literary analysis before engaging with unit texts. Visual supports such as illustrated story structure charts, archetype anchor charts, and culturally familiar storytelling examples help bridge language and content. Teachers should offer simplified written directions for analysis tasks and encourage students to use their home language as a thinking tool when drafting narrative writing before transitioning to English. Pairing image-supported texts with grade-level reading builds both vocabulary and comprehension across the unit.
At Risk (RTI)
Students who need additional support should be connected to this unit through familiar storytelling forms—folk tales, myths, or stories from their own cultural backgrounds—to activate prior knowledge before encountering new texts. Reducing the complexity of initial analysis tasks by focusing on one literary element at a time, such as theme or character motivation, gives students a manageable entry point into the unit's bigger ideas. Structured narrative writing templates that guide students through story elements step by step help build confidence and skill before moving toward independent composition. Frequent check-ins and positive feedback on incremental progress reinforce engagement and momentum.
Gifted & Talented
Advanced learners should be challenged to explore how storytelling traditions across cultures reveal universal truths and archetypes, drawing connections across mythology, drama, poetry, and contemporary fiction at a deeper analytical level. They can investigate how authors deliberately manipulate point of view, structure, or allusion to challenge or subvert a reader's expectations, moving beyond surface-level theme identification to nuanced literary critique. For narrative writing, gifted students may be encouraged to experiment with unconventional story structures or unreliable narrators as a way to convey hidden truths, pushing the sophistication of their craft. Independent inquiry into the history or evolution of a specific myth or storytelling tradition provides meaningful depth and breadth beyond core assignments.