INQUIRY UNIT Curriculum Plan
th
COURSE: Reading II (9 grade, newly exited ESL and below-level non-ESL)
COURSE CODE:
STUDENT EVALUATION
TERM WORK
70%
CULMINATING TASK
30%
TOTAL
100%
COURSE INTRODUCTION:
This unit is centered on the text Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. Ancillary texts include Amelia’s Road, a picture book by Linda Jacobs Altman; “The
Circuit,” a short story by Francisco Jimenez; Children of the Dust Bowl by Jerry Stanley; short story “Home” by Gwendolyn Brooks; Voices from the Fields:
Children of Migrant Farmers Tell Their Stories, by Beth Atkin.
There are also many, many interesting resources on the Internet: poetry, pictures, labor stories, etc.
COURSE ESSENTIAL QUESTION/SUBQUESTIONS:
1. What are the rights of working people?
 What constitutes a fair wage?
 What constitutes fair working conditions?
2. What does it mean to have a home?
 Why is having a home important?
FRONTLOADING ACTIVITY/ACTIVITIES:
1. Anticipation guide about working conditions
2. See, Think, Wonder using photographs of migrant workers
3. K-W-H-L
4. Mind Mapping (maybe)
5. Frayer Model with the word “home” and “fair”
6. “Home” acrostic
DETAILED UNIT PLAN
Tied to standards/sequenced in this order
Standard 1 (Reading): Students will use vocabulary development
and an understanding of text elements and structures to
comprehend literary and informational grade level text.
Objective 3 (Comprehension of Literary Text): Comprehend literature by
evaluating the contribution to meaning of several literary elements
within a work of literature.
a. Describe how conflict, character, and plot work together.
b. Explain how character is developed through implication and inference.
c. Relate themes in literary works to real-life events.
d. Analyze how setting contributes to characterization, plot, or theme.
e. Interpret figurative language in literature (i.e., simile, metaphor,
personification, hyperbole, and symbolism).
f. Identify the speaker in a poetic text.
Standard 2 (Writing): Students will write informational and
literary text to reflect on and recreate experiences, report
observations, and persuade others.
c. Compare/contrast connections between texts, between texts and self,
and between texts and different world connections.
Standard 3 (Inquiry/Research/Oral Presentation): Students will
understand the process of seeking and giving information in
conversations, group discussions, written reports, and oral
presentations.
Objective 1 (Processes of Inquiry): Use the process of inquiry to
examine multiple points of view.
a. Formulate questions to evoke multiple, valid responses from different
points of view.
b. Gather information from multiple sources that reflect varied points of
view.
c. Analyze multiple points of view for credibility.
d. Use primary and secondary sources.
Objective 2 (Written Communication of Inquiry): Write to analyze
multiple points of view.
a. Select an appropriate format to analyze multiple points of view.
b. Compile and analyze information from multiple points of view.
c. Report analysis of multiple points of view using paraphrase, summary,
and/or quotations.
d. Use informal and formal citations where appropriate, to support
inquiry.
BIG IDEAS/UNDERSTANDINGS:
 .The rights of workers are often in conflict with the need of employers to


ESSENTIAL QUESTION AND SUBQUESTIONS:
What are the rights of working people? What are the rights of
employers?
What constitutes a fair wage?
What constitutes fair working conditions?
Poor working conditions for adults can have a negative effect on the
What does it mean to have a home?
welfare of children.
Why is having a home important?
make a profit.
Some businesses do manage to make their employees happy and make a
profit.
FRONTLOADING STRATEGY/IES FOR UNIT:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
MISCONCEPTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED:
Anticipation guide about working conditions.
See, Think, Wonder using photographs of migrant workers
K-W-H-L
Mind Mapping (maybe)
Frayer Model (maybe)
“Home” acrostic
SKILLS NECESSARY for SUCCESS ON FINAL PROJECT:
CONCEPTS: symbolism, theme, why workers come to the US or migrate from
other areas
PROCEDURES: Make inferences, analyze and identify the structural elements
of a piece of literature, use various resources to find information, cite research
sources; literature circle discussion
CHECKLISTS OF CONSIDERATIONS FOR UDL
Learning Styles

Auditory

Visual

Kinesthetic
Multiple Intelligence

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

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Visual/Spatial
Bodily Kinesthetic
Musical
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Verbal Linguistic
Logical Mathematical
Naturalistic
UNIT CUMLINATING TASK: Assessment OF Learning
Concept:
Process:
Product:
Inclusive Technology

WordQ/Speak Q

Kurzweil

Inspiration

Other Programs
Bloom’s Taxonomy

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



Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Evaluation
Synthesis
Literacy Strategies




Setting a Purpose for
reading (e.g. anticipation
guide, heading questions)
Monitoring Comprehension
(e.g.coding text, doubleentry diary)
After-reading processing
(e.g. Question-answer
relationship, Retell, SQ4R)
Word Walls
In one sentence…
Students will use their knowledge of theme and symbolism to create a Story
Quilt that uses symbols and pictures to illustrate the theme(s) in the
book Esperanza Rising. Students will write a one or two page paper
on a labor-related topic of their choice.
ASSESSMENTS
Key Unit Area/SUB-Questions
Specific Expectations
Frontloading Strategy
Should everyone earn the same
amount of money? Why or why
not?
What jobs are meant to be the
kinds of jobs that will support a
family? Which are not?
What makes a wage or salary fair?
Frayer model with the word “fair”
What is a home?
Does everyone need a home?
Who really needs a home?
Whose responsibility is it to provide
a home?
What is symbolic of a home besides To begin to identify theme and
a house or other building?
symbolism – the use of the road and
the keepsake box in Amelia’s Road.
Frayer model with the word “home”
See-Think-Wonder with pictures of
migrant worker “homes”
Use the picture book Amelia’s Road.
“Home” acrostic
A poem?
How might the structure of a piece Read the short story “The Circuit.”
of literature reflect its content and Understand typical plot structure but
or theme?
also how structure can relate to theme.
Assessment For/As Learning: OneSentence Assessment
Students create a list or a picture collage
of things they would put in their own
keepsake box.
Students write “What is my road in life?”
Courtesy of Dept of Special Collections/UCLA Library, A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library, 405 Hilgard Ave, Box 951575, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575;
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb3r29n8xc/?brand=calisphere
Title:
Mexican migrant workers travel by train to Los Angeles (Calif.)
Creator/Contributor:
Daily News (Los Angeles, Calif. : firm), Publisher
Date:
1942
Contributing Institution:
Dept of Special Collections/UCLA Library, A1713 Charles E. Young Research
Library, 405 Hilgard Ave, Box 951575, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575