College Writing Curriculum Map
2015-2016
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Final Paper
Title
Personal Narrative Writing
Wealth, Class, and
Employment in America
The Shifting Face of America
Understanding How to Explain
and Process
Understanding Culture and
Diversity
Final Exam
Developing a Persuasive
Argument
End of Unit
Performance
Task(s)
Narrative Paper - How do our
experiences shape who we are?
What techniques does a writer
use to illustrate the nature of an
issue or concept?
Compare/Contrast Paper How does culture shape our values
and expectations of self and other?
How do labels impact our actions and
judgments?
How do we perform or resist
identities?
Research Paper/Argument
Paper - Write an essay on a
controversial issue. Argue that
something about that issue should
be changed, removed, abolished,
enforced, repeated, revised,
reinstated, or reconsidered. Be sure
to propose a plan for carrying out
whatever suggestions you make.
Possible topics:
- Gun Laws
- Graduation requirements
- ROTC programs in schools and
colleges
- Movie ratings
- School prayer
- Fraternities and sororities
- Dress codes in primary and
secondary school
Performance Task:
Personal Narrative- How did the
past shape you into the person
you are today?
Skill Focus:
Clear Focus
Sensory Imagery
Writing to Engage
Using Details
Suggested Texts:
Decoded, Jay-Z (excerpt)
Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt
(excerpt)
“Indian Education,” Sherman
Alexie (In Patterns for College
Writing)
“Only Daughter,” Sandra
Cisneros (In Patterns for College
Writing)
“Financial Aid,” poem by
Carvens Lissaint
The Broke Diaries by Angela
Nissel
Expository Paper - How and
why does class matter? Do we
create our social status or does it
create us? How does class
influence actions and options?
What does it mean to survive in
America?
Performance Task:
Expository Essay – Research and
explain an important topic or issue
using specific examples.
Skill Focus:
Explanatory Writing
Conveying Significance
Specific Research
Suggested Texts:
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
(excerpts)
“Trading Places,”(1983), Directed
by John Land
The Other Wes Moore, Wes Moore
Friday Night Lights (Prologue)
H.G. Bissinger
“My Mother Never Worked,”
Bonnie Smith-Yackel
Nickel and Dimed, Barbara
Ehrenreich
“Cause and Effect” poem by Peter
Spiro
“Gentrify Those Suburban Parking
Lots,” by Ellen Dunham-Jones and
June Williamson
Criticism Paper - What is does it
mean to be American? How are
cultures exchanged, appropriated,
and absorbed?
Performance Task:
Critical Essay – Describe, interpret,
and critique the point of view or
message of any one of the authors
covered in this unit pertaining to
his/her understanding of what it
means to be an American.
Suggested Texts:
Street Corner Society, (excerpt)
William Foote Whyte
How the Irish Became White,
(excerpt) Noel Ignatiev
“Two Ways to Belong in America,”
Bharati Mukherjee (In Patterns for
College Writing)
“Chinese Space, American Space,”
Yi-Fu Tuan (In Patterns for College
Writing)
“The Power of an Illusion,” PBS
“Black and White,” Produced by Ice
Cube
“Race and Self Identification,” Mirah
Riben
“Blacking Up,” Directed by Robert A.
Clift
Performance Task:
Compare and Contrast Paper- Based
on two documents, compare the
approaches of the writers toward
their subject matter and evaluate
which is most persuasive.
Suggested Texts:
“I Want a Wife,” Judy Brady (In
Patterns for College Writing)
“The Men We Carry in Our Minds,”
Scott Russell Sanders (In Patterns for
College Writing)
“Wife Beater,” Gayle Rosenwald
Smith (In Patterns for College
Writing)
“Beyond Beats and Rhymes” Directed
by Byron Hurt
“Race and Self Identification,” Mirah
Riben
“Blacking Up,” Directed by Robert A.
Clift
Texts:
“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan
Swift
“On Dumpster Diving” by Lars
Eighner
College Writing Curriculum Map
2015-2016
Essential
Questions/
Essential
Understandings
EQ: What techniques does a
writer use to illustrate the nature
of an issue or a concept?
EU: Students will learn and
demonstrate mastery of the
processes and techniques used in
narrative writing.
EQ: How do writers link situations
and events together in time?
EU1: Students will be able to
distinguish the difference between
main, contributory, immediate,
and remote causes.
EQ: What process does a writer use
to demonstrate how a sequence of
actions leads to a particular result?
EU: Students will learn and
demonstrate mastery sequencing
actions in process writing.
EU2: Students will be able to
understand and use causal chains.
EQ: How do writers explain or
evaluate a subject by helping readers
see the similarities and differences
between it and another subject?
EU1: Students will be able to know
and identify the different aspects of
the comparison and contrast paper.
EU1: Students will be able to
demonstrate mastery of the compare
and contrast paper structure in their
writing.
EU3: Students will be able to
demonstrate mastery of the cause
and effect structure in their
writing.
Texts
Decoded, Jay-Z (excerpt)
Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt
(excerpt)
“Indian Education,” Sherman
Alexie (In Patterns for College
Writing)
“Only Daughter,” Sandra
Cisneros (In Patterns for College
Writing)
“Financial Aid,” poem by Carvens
Lissaint
The Broke Diaries by Angela
Nissel
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
(excerpts)
“Trading Places,”(1983), Directed
by John Land
The Other Wes Moore, Wes Moore
Friday Night Lights (Prologue)
H.G. Bissinger
“My Mother Never Worked,”
Bonnie Smith-Yackel
Nickel and Dimed, Barbara
Ehrenreich
“Cause and Effect” poem by Peter
Spiro
“Gentrify Those Suburban Parking
Lots,” by Ellen Dunham-Jones and
June Williamson
Street Corner Society, (excerpt)
William Foote Whyte
How the Irish Became White,
(excerpt) Noel Ignatiev
“Two Ways to Belong in America,”
Bharati Mukherjee (In Patterns for
College Writing)
“Chinese Space, American Space,”
Yi-Fu Tuan (In Patterns for College
Writing)
“The Power of an Illusion,” PBS
“Black and White,” Produced by Ice
Cube
“I Want a Wife,” Judy Brady (In
Patterns for College Writing)
“The Men We Carry in Our Minds,”
Scott Russell Sanders (In Patterns for
College Writing)
“Wife Beater,” Gayle Rosenwald
Smith (In Patterns for College
Writing)
“Beyond Beats and Rhymes” Directed
by Byron Hurt
“Race and Self Identification,” Mirah
Riben
“Blacking Up,” Directed by Robert A.
Clift
Content
Connections (SS,
Science, Math,
World Lang, Art,
Music, Other)
Interpersonal Relationships,
History, Economic. Race
Relations/Stereotyping, Creative
Writing
Sociology, History, Economic,
Stereotyping, Government
Sociology, History, Assimilation,
Race Relations/Stereotyping
Interpersonal Relationships, Gender
Dialogue, Pop Culture/Media,
Societal Norms and Standards
EQ: How do we effectively defend
our beliefs?
EU1: Students will be able to write a
supportive argument that speaks to
a common experience.
EU2: Students will be able to write
an argument that appeals to the
reason of the audience.
EU3: Students will be able to write
an argument that contains the
elements of emotion, logic, and
character (ethos, pathos, and
logos).
History, Economics, Media, Culture
College Writing Curriculum Map
2015-2016
Reading
Standards
Central to Unit
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.2
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.6
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.2
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.6
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.2
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.6
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.2
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.6
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.2
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.6
Writing
Standards
Central to Unit
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2 a-f
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.6
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.7
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2 a-f
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.6
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.7
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2 a-f
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.6
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.7
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2 a-f
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.6
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.7
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2 a-f
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.6
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.7
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.1 a-b
Speaking/
Listening
Standards
Central to Unit
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1a-d
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.2
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.6
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1a-d
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.2
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.6
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1a-d
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.2
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.6
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1a-d
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.2
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.6
Language
Standards
Central to Unit
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.1a-b
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.2 a-b
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.3 a
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.1a-b
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.2 a-b
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.3 a
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.1a-b
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.2 a-b
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.3 a
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.1a-b
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.2 a-b
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.3 a
Grammar
Sadlier-Oxford Level Gold
Chapters 3 (Narrative Writing)
Chapters 5 and 6 (Parts of
Speech and Sentence Structure)
Sadlier-Oxford Level Gold
Chapter 4 (Informative Writing)
Chapters 7 and 8 (Parts on
Sentences and Clauses)
Sadlier-Oxford Level Gold
Chapter 4 (Informative Writing)
Chapters 9 and 10 (Verbs and
Phrases)
Sadlier-Oxford Level Gold
Chapter 4 (Informative Writing)
Chapter 11 and 12 (Pronouns and
Modifiers)
1185L–1385L
1185L–1385L
1185L–1385L
1185L–1385L
Increasing Text
Complexity
(Lexile Bands)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.1a-b
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.2 a-b
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.3 a
1185L–1385L