Unit 11.5: History – Non-fiction
English as a Second Language
6 weeks
Stage 1 - Desired Results
0B
Unit Summary
3B
In this unit, students will explore historical fiction and non-fiction and their relationship to each other
and to current events. Students will also complete a cross-curricular research project in order to bring
what they are learning in their History class to the ESL classroom and deepen their understanding of
the history of the United States.
Transfer goal: Students will leave the class able to use their research skills and their knowledge of
historical texts and their relationship to examine different types of historical writing and analyze
current events to better understand the world around them.
Content Standards and Learning Expectations
4B
Listening/Speaking
L/S.11.2 Listens and responds to synthesize, explain, describe, support, and discuss information;
answers and formulates closed and open-ended questions.
L/S.11.4 Expresses thoughts and opinions to discuss current events, concepts, themes, characters, plot,
and conflict resolution; makes predictions and inferences, as well as draws conclusions from listening
to a variety of texts, performances, and multimedia sources; listens to sort and prioritize information.
15B
Reading
R.11.2 Analyzes character development; infers the setting in fiction and nonfiction; classifies point of
view.
R.11.3 Classifies parts of the plot, establishes cause and effect, makes connections, predictions, and
inferences in a variety of texts; draws conclusions; analyzes and compares and contrasts conflicts and
resolutions across texts.
16B
Writing
W.11.4 Compares and contrasts two forms of writing on similar topics to write a critical essay.
W.11.5 Applies editing marks, self-correcting methods, and reference sources to revise and edit;
analyzes, organizes, and verifies information to write and revise; completes a final draft using the
writing process.
17B
Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings:
Essential Questions:
5B
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Content (Students will know…)
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Experiences, relationships, history, and
culture influence identity.
Voices from the past speak to us of other
times and places.
Learning about the past illuminates our
understanding of the present.
7B
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6B
Importance of setting in different forms of
literature
Closed and open-ended questions
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How does culture and relationships help
shape identity?
How do good writers bring the past to life?
How do readers make connections to voices
from the past?
Skills (Students will be able to…)
8B
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Listen and respond to synthesize, explain,
describe, support, and discuss information.
Answer and formulate closed and open-ended
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Unit 11.5: History – Non-fiction
English as a Second Language
6 weeks
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Current events
Conflict resolution
Structure and purpose of nonfiction texts
Use and structure of informational text
Content Vocabulary
18B
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Social conflict
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questions.
Draw conclusions from listening to a variety of
texts, performances, and multimedia sources.
Listen to sort and prioritize information.
Infer the setting in fiction and nonfiction.
Analyze and compare and contrast conflicts
and resolutions across texts.
Compare and contrast two forms of writing on
similar topics to write a critical essay.
Verify information to write and revise.
Stage 2 - Assessment Evidence
1B
Performance Tasks
9B
Research Project
19B
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Learning from Other’s Oral Presentations
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Students will choose a topic from American
History involving some sort of social conflict
to research using encyclopedias, magazines,
newspapers, and internet resources, if
available. (Topic suggestions: The Civil War,
the Civil Rights movement, Women’s Suffrage,
Integration, Immigration (current or past),
Terrorism and National Security, etc)
Students will begin by writing closed and
open-ended questions that they want to
answer through their research.
Students will need to use multiple sources to
gather information and synthesize the
information in order to write their reports.
Students will share their research with their
classmates through an oral presentation.
20B
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Other Evidence
10B
During the oral presentations for Performance
Task 1, students will take notes using
attachment 11.5 Performance Task – Oral
Report Response Form.
Students will use the log to record
information they learn about the topics their
peers present.
Students will then sort and prioritize the
information by numbering the points from
most to least important or influential.
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Literacy Journal – which will include:
o Double-Entry Journal – The students will
make a 2 column chart in their notebooks
with the titles “A sentence I like” and “This
makes me think…” Students will write
quotations from what they read and
respond to them making text-to-text, textto-self, and text-to-world connections.
o Dialogue Journal – the student will write
an entry, the teacher will write a response
directly in the journal, the student will
respond, and so on.
o Reading Response Journal – Students will
answer response questions on their silent
or group reading as assigned by the
teacher.
o Reading Log – Students will record titles
and pages read each day.
Anecdotal evidence of comprehension and
participation collected during discussions and
group work
Essay comparing historical fiction novel to
non-fiction novel about the same topic
2
Unit 11.5: History – Non-fiction
English as a Second Language
6 weeks
Stage 3 - Learning Plan
2B
Learning Activities
1B
Read alouds from Historical Fiction and Non-Fiction about a topic in American History
21B
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The teacher will read The Watsons Go to Birmingham (or choose another historical fiction novel
about American History to read) aloud to the class each day during this unit. The read-aloud novel
and accompanying activities should be held concurrently with other lessons in the unit. The
teacher should use this opportunity to demonstrate fluency in reading, to discuss setting, and to
analyze conflicts and resolutions.
The teacher will also read aloud a non-fiction book about the same time period.
Compare and contrast two forms of writing on similar topics to write a critical essay
2B
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Students will compare and contrast the historical fiction novel read aloud with the non-fiction read
aloud to write a critical essay.
The following questions should be answered through the essay:
o What are the differences between writing style of fiction and nonfiction?
o How is the information different in the fiction you read, compared to the nonfiction titles? How
is it the same?
o What kinds of information did you learn from fiction texts that you couldn’t learn from
nonfiction?
o What kinds of information did you learn from factual texts that you didn’t find in the stories
you read?
o Why are there differences in stories about the same historical topic?
Research Techniques
23B
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Teaching Basic Steps to teach Research Skills http://www.crlsresearchguide.org/Big_Six_Steps.asp
Teacher will teach the basic steps on the research process—selecting a topic, note-taking, writing a
thesis statement, making an outline and report writing—introduction, body, and conclusion and
bibliography. See link for activities and graphic organizers, especially attachment 11.5 Learning
Activity – Big 6. http://www.crlsresearchguide.org/00_basic_steps.asp
2TU
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Current Events Discussions
24B
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Students will sign up ahead of time for a day to present a current events news story. On his or her
assigned day, the student will lead a class discussion about a current event he or she is interested
in. The students should prepare a brief oral presentation explaining the situation and starting a
class discussion. All of the students in the class should participate in the discussion and share their
thoughts and opinions on the topic.
Sample Lessons
12B
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Traveling the Road to Freedom Through Research and Historical Fiction
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/traveling-road-freedomthrough-864.html
Timelines and Texts: Motivating Students to Read Nonfiction
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/timelines-texts-motivatingstudents-319.html
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Unit 11.5: History – Non-fiction
English as a Second Language
6 weeks
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Blurring Genre: Exploring Fiction and Nonfiction with Diary of a Worm
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/blurring-genre-exploringfiction-1145.html
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Additional Resources
13B
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News for Teens http://www.channelone.com/
Time for Kids http://www.timeforkids.com/
Breaking News English – Great resources for current events written for ESL students. Includes
audio version, cloze passages, comprehension and discussion questions, extension activities, etc.
Updated daily with a world news story. http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/
“A School Year Like No Other”: Eyes on the Prize: “Fighting Back: 1957-1962″ - PDF Companion
lesson for school integration lesson http://zinnedproject.org/posts/1508
The Zinn Education Project - promotes and supports the use of Howard Zinn’s book A People’s
History of the United States and other materials for teaching a people’s history in middle and high
school classrooms across the country. The website offers more than 85 free, downloadable lessons
and articles organized by theme, time period, and reading level. http://zinnedproject.org/
Teaching Basic Steps to teach Research Skills -http://www.crlsresearchguide.org/Big_Six_Steps.asp
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Literature Connections
14B
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Fiction:
o The Watsons Go To Birmingham – 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
o Out Of The Dust by Karen Hesse
o A Step From Heaven by An Na
o Macaroni Boy by Katherine Ayres
o A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt by C. Coco De Young
o Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Patillo Beals (abridged young adult version recommended)
• Nonfiction:
o The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from
the Black Freedom Struggle, 1954-1990 Edited by Clayborne Carson, David J. Garrow, Gerald
Gill, Vincent Harding and Darlene Clark Hine
o Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen Levine
• Paired Readings – Historical Fiction and Non-Fiction:
o Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen and To Be A Slave by Julius Lester.
o A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl by Patricia McKissack and Rosa Parks: My
Story by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins
o Thunder on the Tennessee by G. Clifton Wisler and A Nation Torn Apart by Delia Ray
• Literature Timeless Voices, Timeless Theme, Bronze
o The Third Wish by Joan Aiken page 199 (Modern Fairy Tale: Analyze)
o A Boy and a Man by James Ramsey Ulman page 210 (Story: Predict)
o from Into Thin Air, pages 218 (Story: Conflict with Nature)
o The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes page 299 (Story: Suspense, Cause and Effect)
o The Dying Cowboy Traditional by Folf Song page 300 (Story: Cause and Effect)
June 2012
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Unit 11.5: History – Non-fiction
English as a Second Language
6 weeks
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The Real Story of a Cowboy’s Life by Geaoffrey C Ward page 309 (Story: Cause and Effect,
Suspense)
The Little Lizard’s Sorrow from Vietman Translated by Mai Vo-Dinh page 315 (Folk Tale: Infer)
Justin Lebo by Phillip Hoose page 346 (Story: Third-Person Point of View)
The Rider by Naomi Shihab Nye page 351 (Story: Make Inferences)
Amigo Brothers by Piri Thomas page 352 (Story: Make Inferences)
The Walk by Thomas Hardy page 359 (Story: Make Inferences)
The Luckiest Time of All by Lucille Clifton page 398 (Story: Recognize Author’s Purpose)
After Twenty Years by O. Henry pages 453 ( Fiction: Surprise Ending)
Heartache by Anton Chekhov page 506 (Story: Make Inferences, Setting)
Suzy and Leah by Jane Yolen page 512 (Story: Make Inferences, Setting)
Tenochtitlan: Inside the Aztec Capital by Jacqueline Dineen page 623 (Essay: Analyze)
A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley, Act I by Charles Dickens, dramatized by Israel Horovitz
page 644 (Play: Elements of Drama)
A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley, Act II by Charles Dickens, dramatized by Israel Horovitz
page 663 (Play: Characterization and Theme in Drama)
Sarafina! Bring Back Nelson Mandela by Hugh Masekela page 685 (Play: Characterization,
Dramatic Performance)
Popocatepetl and Ixtlaccihuatl by Juliet Piggott page 811 (Legend: Predict)
The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton page 822 (Folk Tale: Interpret)
The Algonquin Cinderella by Idries Shah 825 (Folk Tale: Interpret)
Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story From China by Ai-Ling Louie page 829 (Folk Tale: Inference)
His Just reward by Lone Thygesen-Blechar and George Blecher page 833 page (Folk Tale:
Inference)
Djuha Borrows a Pot by Inea Bushnaq page 834 (Folk Tales : Compare and Contrast)
All Stories Are Anansi’s, Retold by Harold Courlander page 840 (Folk Tale: Analyze)
Phaethon, Son of Apollo by Olivia E. Coolidge page 854 ( Myths: Predict)
Demeter and Persephone by Anne Terry White page 858 (Myth: Analyze)
Narcissus by Jay Macpherson page 862 (Myth: Predict)
Icarus and Daedalus by Josephine Preston Peadoy page 864 (Myth: Cause and Effect)
June 2012
Adapted from Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe
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