Unit 2 — Take Control
Description
In this unit, students read literature and informational texts to understand how characters and real people take control of difficult situations. Students analyze characterization through direct and indirect methods and trace how characters rise to face adversity. Through reading myths, short stories, and biographical writing, students examine themes of agency and resilience. Writing focuses on expository and informative text using the RACE strategy to organize ideas and support them with evidence. Students learn to integrate multiple sources and perspectives into their explanations.
Essential Questions
- How do actions define us?
- What helps people rise up to face difficulties?
Learning Objectives
- Determine theme and analyze its development over the course of a text.
- Analyze how story elements interact to create meaning.
- Determine word meanings including figurative and connotative meanings.
- Analyze form and structure and their contribution to meaning.
- Compare written texts with multimedia versions and analyze medium-specific techniques.
- Write informative/explanatory texts using organization and relevant evidence.
- Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to convey information.
- Establish and maintain formal academic style in writing.
Suggested Texts
- Heartbeat — short story
- The Flight of Icarus — myth
- Icarus's Flight — poem
- Rogue Wave — short story
- Women in Aviation — nonfiction
- Thank You, M'am — short story
- A Police Stop Changed This Teenager's Life — article
Supplemental Resources
- Printed word lists with Greek and Latin prefixes and suffixes for vocabulary instruction
- Graphic organizers for comparing characters and analyzing conflict for structuring analysis
- Sticky notes for annotating text and tracking character development
Language
Reading: Literature
Speaking and Listening
Writing
Students examine historical perspectives, cultural contexts, and civic themes through narrative and informational texts, analyzing how authors portray time periods, places, and characters in relation to historical events.
Students use digital platforms and technology tools to produce and publish writing, conduct research, create multimedia presentations, and engage in online collaboration and communication.
Students develop critical thinking, communication, and collaboration skills through discussions, presentations, and written work that prepare them for post-secondary success and informed citizenship.
Formative Assessments
- Note of apology analyzing character motivation and conflict
- Father-son role-play demonstrating character relationships
- Self-help infographic displaying character analysis and advice
- Blog post explaining mythological themes and their modern relevance
- Disaster film proposal using narrative and descriptive techniques
- Group discussion on coping strategies and resilience
- Research project on historical figures and their contributions
Summative Assessment
Write an expository/informative essay analyzing character or historical figure and their actions in difficult circumstances.
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through oral retelling or recorded response explaining how a character or person took control of a difficult situation, with teacher guidance using graphic organizers or sentence frames to structure their analysis of character motivation and actions.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
For this unit's focus on characterization, theme, and evidence-based writing, students may benefit from graphic organizers that visually map character traits, conflicts, and resolutions to support comprehension of complex literary and informational texts. When responding to reading, offer flexible output options such as oral explanations, dictated responses, or sentence frames aligned to the RACE strategy, so that written expression does not become a barrier to demonstrating understanding. Extended time and chunked assignments are especially appropriate when students are synthesizing multiple sources or drafting expository writing. Teachers should provide access to pre-highlighted or annotated versions of texts to help students locate evidence without becoming overwhelmed by density of reading.
Section 504
Students in this unit benefit from extended time on reading and writing tasks, particularly when analyzing multi-paragraph texts for theme or drafting evidence-based expository responses. Preferential seating and a low-distraction environment support sustained focus during close reading and independent writing. Providing printed copies of any on-screen texts or multimedia content ensures consistent access when comparing written and multimedia versions of stories or biographical accounts.
ELL / MLL
Teachers should front-load key vocabulary related to agency, resilience, and characterization before students engage with myths, short stories, or biographical texts, using visual supports such as illustrated word walls or concept maps to reinforce meaning in context. Simplified directions for writing tasks, including a visual model of the RACE strategy with annotated examples, help make the organizational expectations for expository writing concrete and accessible. Where possible, connecting themes of adversity and resilience to students' cultural backgrounds or home-language texts deepens engagement and builds a stronger conceptual bridge to the unit's ideas.
At Risk (RTI)
Students who need additional support should be introduced to the unit's central concept of agency through texts and examples that connect to experiences and challenges they already recognize, building confidence before moving to more complex literary or historical contexts. Breaking the expository writing process into clearly sequenced steps — with checkpoints for planning, drafting, and revising — helps students manage the cognitive demands of integrating evidence from multiple sources. Sentence starters and partial RACE response frames provide accessible entry points for written analysis without removing the expectation of using textual evidence.
Gifted & Talented
Students who are ready for deeper work can examine how different authors across the unit's texts construct the concept of resilience differently depending on genre — comparing, for example, how myth uses archetypal structure to convey agency versus how biographical writing relies on documented cause and effect. Extending the expository essay to incorporate a counterargument or a cross-textual analysis that integrates three or more sources pushes analytical thinking beyond a single character or figure. Students may also explore how medium-specific choices in multimedia versions of stories shape audience interpretation of a character's agency in ways that written narration cannot replicate, developing a more nuanced argument about form and meaning.