MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Curriculum and Instruction
Department of Language Arts/Reading
English Language Arts (ELA) Exemplar Lesson
GRADE 6 ELA EXEMPLAR LESSON – Teacher Copy
Learning Objectives
Quarter 4, Weeks 35-36
05/06/13 – 05/17/13
The goal of this lesson is to provide students an opportunity to explore targeted passages of complex text. Through teacher Read Alouds, audio
listening, careful student independent reading and rereading, and scaffolded discussion of text-dependent questions, students will investigate the
form and characteristics of an autobiography. Vocabulary is learned from context and writing fosters a deeper understanding of text. The lesson
culminates in an evidentiary writing activity. Teachers may further scaffold activities to address individual students’ needs.
Rationale: This lesson focuses on an excerpt from Helen Keller’s autobiography. It guides students through an analysis of the autobiography as a
literary analogy. It culminates in the generation of an essay in which students present and support arguments for Keller’s accurate record of events
of her relationship with her teacher, Anne Sullivan. Through a close reading of the dramatic events, students will be able to analyze how the
relationship between Keller and Sullivan evolves.
Text Title: “The Story of My Life” – Helen Keller
McDougal Littell Literature, pp. 786-791
“Letter to Miss Keller” p. 792
Genre/Text Structure: Literary Nonfiction
Targeted Text Selections
“The Story of My Life”, p. 788-789, lines 1-23; p. 790-791, lines 31-55; p. 791, lines 64-78
“Reading for Information Letter to Miss Keller”, p. 792
Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
[RI.6; W.6; SL.6]
http://www.corestandards.org
Lesson Sequence
PERFORMANCE TASK /CULMINATING INDEPENDENT WRITING ASSESSMENT:
Helen Keller appears to have remembered a great deal about her life. Write a well-supported one-page analytical essay in which you
present and support arguments for the accuracy of Keller’s record of events of her relationship with her teacher, Anne Sullivan. Support
your claim with details and quotations from the autobiography.
Activities 1 - 2:
GUIDING QUESTION(S):
How does Keller feel about her limits?
How did Anne Sullivan help Helen Keller move past her limits?
What does Keller not understand about the words she is spelling?
Were Keller’s memory of events accurate or invented?
Which details in this passage might not have been in included in a biography?
How does Keller feel about her limitations now?
1. Use Communication, Information and Media connections at www.classzone.com, www.discoveryeducation.com, or other online
resources such as www.braillebug.org/helen_keller_bio.asp to explore the life of Helen Keller.
2. Each student will read an excerpt, first independently, then through closer analytical reading. It is essential that students grapple
with challenging text on their own as frequently and independently as possible. Listen to the excerpt by using the McDougal Littell
Audio Anthology CD, if available, or a website such as Animated Hero Classics: Helen Keller at
www.discoveryeducation.com.
3. Returning to the text, the teacher will lead students through a set of text-dependent questions to compel closer rereading and
analysis of the autobiography. The targeted text should be in front of the students as they engage in their discussions.
4. Allow time for students to complete notes on the relationship between Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan.
Activity 3:
GUIDING QUESTION(S):
What can you infer about the relationship between Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan by looking at this photograph of them?
Is the written version or the film version, The Miracle Worker, the BEST adaptation of Keller’s “Water Scene”? Why?
2012-2013
1
GRADE 6 ELA EXEMPLAR LESSON
Quarter 4, Week 35-36
05/06/13 – 05/17/13
1. Obtain copies of dramatic depictions of the play or 1962 film, The Miracle Worker starring Anne
Bancroft and Patty Duke.
2. View the Water Scene at www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUV65sV8nu0 or from The Miracle Worker.
3. Use the Story Map for the Movies to record information about the film.
4. Draw a conclusion about the descriptive detail in the written version versus the details in the film
version.
Activity 4:
GUIDING QUESTION(S):
Why does President Roosevelt send Keller this letter?
What clues about Keller’s adult life does the letter provide? What do you learn about Anne Sullivan?
Would Keller agree with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s description of Anne Sullivan as a “liberator”—a person
who frees a prisoner or captive? Why or why not?
1. The teacher/students will read “Letter to Miss Keller” on page 792. The piece may be read aloud or played in its entirety on audio at
www.classzone.com.
2. Rereading is embedded in the text-dependent questions and discussion activities.
3. Students will independently reread pages 792.
4. Students should discuss and write about the initial meaning they have made from reading the letter.
Activity 5:
GUIDING QUESTION(S):
Were Keller’s memory of events accurate or invented?
Which details in this passage might not have been in included in a biography?
How does Keller feel about her limitations now?
1. Helen Keller appears to have remembered a great deal about her life. Conduct a final discussion of text-dependent questions and
allow time for students to complete notes on the accurate portrayal of events in Helen Keller’s autobiography.
2. Students prepare to write a documented response to take a position on the accuracy of Keller’s record of events of her relationship
with her teacher, Anne Sullivan.
3. Write a well-supported one-page analytical essay in which you present and support arguments for the accuracy of Keller’s record of
events of her relationship with her teacher, Anne Sullivan. Support your claim with details and quotations from the autobiography.
Targeted Text Selection
Vocabulary
Teacher Activities and Techniques
p. 788-789, lines 1-23
Text-Dependent Questions
The most important day I remember in all my life underlined words:
GUIDING QUESTION(S):
is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield insufficient contextual
How does Keller feel about her limits?
Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I clues
How did Anne Sullivan help Helen Keller move past
consider the immeasurable contrasts between the
her limits?
BOLD words: Tier Two
two lives which it connects. It was the third of words
March, 1887, three months before I was seven years
Return to the text, and ask students a small set of guiding
old.
questions about the targeted sections.
On the afternoon of that eventful day, I stood on dumb - unable to
the porch, dumb, expectant. I guessed vaguely from speak; mute.
(Q1) Reread lines 6-15. In what way does the first-person
my mother’s signs and from the hurrying to and fro
point of view help show Keller’s thoughts and feelings?
in the house that something unusual was about to
happen, so I went to the door and waited on the
Possible answer.
steps. The afternoon sun penetrated the mass of
The use of the first-person point of view lets readers experience
honeysuckle that covered the porch, and fell on my
Keller’s confusion and frustration, as well as the way she is
upturned face. My fingers lingered almost
tuned into her surroundings through her other senses.
unconsciously on the familiar leaves and blossoms
which had just come forth to greet the sweet
(Q2) How does Keller feel about her limits?
southern spring. I did not know what the future held
of marvel or surprise for me. Anger and bitterness
Possible answer.
had preyed upon me continually for weeks and a
She is angry, bitter, and tired of living with her limitations, but
deep languor had succeeded this passionate
she lets readers know that soon her life will be filled with
struggle.
“marvel or surprise.”
Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it
seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, tangible – possible to
(Q3) How did Anne Sullivan help Helen Keller move past her
and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her touch; real.
limits?
way toward the shore with plummet and sounding
line, and you waited with beating heart for
2012-2013
2
GRADE 6 ELA EXEMPLAR LESSON
something to happen? I was like that ship before my
education began, only I was without compass or
sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near
the harbor was. “Light! Give me light!” was the
wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone
on me in that very hour.
Targeted Text Selection
p. 790-791, lines 31-55
When I had played with it a little while, Miss
Sullivan slowly spelled into my hand the word “d-o-ll.” I was at once interested in this finger play and
tried to imitate it. When I finally succeeded in
making the letters correctly I was flushed with
childish pleasure and pride. Running downstairs to
my mother I held up my hand and made the letters
for doll. I did not know that I was spelling a word or
even that words existed; I was simply making my
fingers go in monkey-like imitation. In the days that
followed I learned to spell in this uncomprehending
way a great many words, among them pin, hat, cup
and a few verbs like sit, stand and walk. But my
teacher had been with me several weeks before I
understood that everything has a name. c
One day, while I was playing with my new doll,
Miss Sullivan put my big rag doll into my lap also,
spelled “d-o-l-l” and tried to make me understand
that “d-o-l-l” applied to both. Earlier in the day we
had had a tussle over the words “m-u-g” and “w-a-te-r.” Miss Sullivan had tried to impress it upon me
that “m-u-g” is mug and that “w-a-t-e-r” is water,
but I persisted in confounding the two. In despair
she had dropped the subject for the time, only to
renew it at the first opportunity. I became impatient
at her repeated attempts and, seizing the new doll, I
dashed it upon the floor. I was keenly delighted
when I felt the fragments of the broken doll at my
feet. Neither sorrow nor regret followed my
passionate outburst. I had not loved the doll. In the
still, dark world in which I lived there was no strong
sentiment or tenderness. I felt my teacher sweep
the fragments to one side of the hearth, and I had a
sense of satisfaction that the cause of my
discomfort was removed.
Targeted Text Selection
p. 791, lines 64 - 78
We walked down the path to the wellhouse,
attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle with
which it was covered. Someone was drawing water
and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As
the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled
into the other the word water, first slowly, then
rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon
the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty
consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of
returning thought; and somehow the mystery of
language was revealed to me. I knew then that “wa-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that
was flowing over my hand. That living word
awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it
free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers
that could in time be swept away.
2012-2013
Quarter 4, Week 35-36
05/06/13 – 05/17/13
Possible answer.
Keller is so angry and frustrated from her inability to express
herself that she has hardened her heart. Her frustration results
in appropriate emotional reactions from living in a “still, dark
world.”
(Q4) What does Keller not understand about the words she is
spelling?
Possible answer.
Keller does not understand that the words stand for specific
things or actions. To her, spelling is just “finger play.”
(Q5) Were Keller’s memory of events accurate or invented?
Possible answer.
Keller’s adult ideas, values, feelings, and beliefs influence the
way she views and presents her younger self. Point out the
ways she characterizes herself in lines 13-23, 33-34, and 47-55.
The adult Keller provides insights into the young Keller’s needs,
emotional development, character, thoughts, and feelings.
(Q6) Reread lines 64-78. Which details in this passage might
not have been in included in a biography?
Possible answer.
A biography could not have captured Keller’s joy once she
finally understood “the mystery of language” because only
Keller herself could adequately describe what that felt like to
her.
consciousness –
awareness of one’s
own thoughts
(Q7) How does Keller feel about her limitations now?
Possible answer.
She feels that that she can overcome her limitations.
3
GRADE 6 ELA EXEMPLAR LESSON
Targeted Text Selection
p. 792
February 24, 1938
My dear Miss Keller:
I send you my very best wishes as you prepare to
observe the fiftieth anniversary of your first meeting
with your devoted teacher-liberator, Anne Sullivan
Macy. This anniversary will bring precious memories
to you of an association which was to be such a
blessing to you. Your faith and optimism and high
courage and helpful work in behalf of others have
made you a greatly beloved figure.
Your determination to carry on the work of your
friend and teacher is a fortunate thing for all those
who sit in darkness. In this noble undertaking I wish
you all success.
Very sincerely yours,
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Cross Genre Connections OR Across Text or NonText Sources:
Quarter 4, Week 35-36
05/06/13 – 05/17/13
(Q8) Why does President Roosevelt send Keller this letter?
Possible answer.
The letter was written on the fiftieth anniversary of Keller’s first
meeting with Anne Sullivan, and the president wants to
congratulate Keller on all that she has done to help others.
(Q9) What clues about Keller’s adult life does the letter
provide? What do you learn about Anne Sullivan?
Possible answer.
(Q10) Reread the letter to Helen Keller from Franklin D.
Roosevelt.
Roosevelt calls Anne Sullivan a “liberator”—a
person who frees a prisoner or captive. Would Keller agree
with this description? Support your response.
Possible answer.
Most students will probably say Keller would agree, because
she considered the day Sullivan arrived to be the most
important day in her life. Also, when Sullivan teachers her the
meaning of water, Keller writer that it “awakened my soul”
(line 77).
GUIDING QUESTION(S):
What can you infer about the relationship between
Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan by looking at this
photograph of them?
Possible answer.
The image provides a clear indication that they care about one
another. Sullivan appears nurturing and caring; Keller seems
relaxed and at peace.
1.
Formative Assessment
Summative Assessment/Culminating Independent
Writing Task
Extension Activities/Further Resources
Is the written version or the film version from The
Miracle Worker the BEST adaptation of Keller’s
“Water Scene”? Use the Story Map for the Movies
to record information about the film.
Possible answer.
Answers will vary, but should include evidence from both the
narrative and the film.
Class discussion(s) on text-dependent comprehension questions, writing responses
(Reader Response journals, graphic organizers, summations, or prewriting activities)
serve as formative assessments.
Helen Keller appears to have remembered a great deal about her life. Write
a well-supported one-page analytical essay in which you present and
support arguments for the accuracy of Keller’s record of events of her
relationship with her teacher, Anne Sullivan. Support your claim with
details and quotations from the autobiography.
Technology:
www.discoveryeducation.com – (see links embedded in pacing guide)
For further information regarding this document contact the Department of Language Arts/Reading, Secondary District Instructional Supervisors,
Dr. Erin Cuartas, Ms. Laurie Kaplan or Dr. Sharon Scruggs-Williams, 305-995-3122; for ELL questions, contact the Division of Bilingual Education and
World Languages District Supervisor, Ms. Caridad Perez, 305-995-1962.
2012-2013
4
GRADE 6 ELA EXEMPLAR LESSON
Student Copy
Targeted Text Selection
p. 788-789, lines 1-23
The most important day I remember in all my life
is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield
Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I
consider the immeasurable contrasts between the
two lives which it connects. It was the third of
March, 1887, three months before I was seven years
old.
On the afternoon of that eventful day, I stood on
the porch, dumb, expectant. I guessed vaguely from
my mother’s signs and from the hurrying to and fro
in the house that something unusual was about to
happen, so I went to the door and waited on the
steps. The afternoon sun penetrated the mass of
honeysuckle that covered the porch, and fell on my
upturned face. My fingers lingered almost
unconsciously on the familiar leaves and blossoms
which had just come forth to greet the sweet
southern spring. I did not know what the future held
of marvel or surprise for me. Anger and bitterness
had preyed upon me continually for weeks and a
deep languor had succeeded this passionate
struggle.
Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it
seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in,
and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her
way toward the shore with plummet and sounding
line, and you waited with beating heart for
something to happen? I was like that ship before my
education began, only I was without compass or
sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near
the harbor was. “Light! Give me light!” was the
wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone
on me in that very hour.
Targeted Text Selection
p. 790-791, lines 31-55
When I had played with it a little while, Miss
Sullivan slowly spelled into my hand the word “d-o-ll.” I was at once interested in this finger play and
tried to imitate it. When I finally succeeded in
making the letters correctly I was flushed with
childish pleasure and pride. Running downstairs to
my mother I held up my hand and made the letters
for doll. I did not know that I was spelling a word or
even that words existed; I was simply making my
fingers go in monkey-like imitation. In the days that
followed I learned to spell in this uncomprehending
way a great many words, among them pin, hat, cup
and a few verbs like sit, stand and walk. But my
teacher had been with me several weeks before I
understood that everything has a name. c
One day, while I was playing with my new doll,
Miss Sullivan put my big rag doll into my lap also,
spelled “d-o-l-l” and tried to make me understand
that “d-o-l-l” applied to both. Earlier in the day we
had had a tussle over the words “m-u-g” and “w-a-te-r.” Miss Sullivan had tried to impress it upon me
that “m-u-g” is mug and that “w-a-t-e-r” is water,
2012-2013
Quarter 4, Week 35-36
Vocabulary
underlined words:
insufficient contextual
clues
BOLD words: Tier Two
words
dumb -
05/06/13 – 05/17/13
Teacher Activities and Techniques
Text-Dependent Questions
GUIDING QUESTION(S):
How does Keller feel about her limits?
How did Anne Sullivan help Helen Keller move past
her limits?
Return to the text, and ask students a small set of guiding
questions about the targeted sections.
(Q1) Reread lines 6-15. In what way does the first-person
point of view help show Keller’s thoughts and feelings?
Possible answer.
(Q2) How does Keller feel about her limits?
Possible answer.
tangible –
(Q3) How did Anne Sullivan help Helen Keller move past her
limits?
Possible answer.
(Q4) What does Keller not understand about the words she is
spelling?
Possible answer.
(Q5) Were Keller’s memory of events accurate or invented?
Possible answer.
5
GRADE 6 ELA EXEMPLAR LESSON
but I persisted in confounding the two. In despair
she had dropped the subject for the time, only to
renew it at the first opportunity. I became impatient
at her repeated attempts and, seizing the new doll, I
dashed it upon the floor. I was keenly delighted
when I felt the fragments of the broken doll at my
feet. Neither sorrow nor regret followed my
passionate outburst. I had not loved the doll. In the
still, dark world in which I lived there was no strong
sentiment or tenderness. I felt my teacher sweep
the fragments to one side of the hearth, and I had a
sense of satisfaction that the cause of my
discomfort was removed.
Targeted Text Selection
p. 791, lines 64 - 78
We walked down the path to the wellhouse,
attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle with
which it was covered. Someone was drawing water
and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As
the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled
into the other the word water, first slowly, then
rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon
the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty
consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of
returning thought; and somehow the mystery of
language was revealed to me. I knew then that “wa-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that
was flowing over my hand. That living word
awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it
free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers
that could in time be swept away.
Targeted Text Selection
p. 792
February 24, 1938
Quarter 4, Week 35-36
05/06/13 – 05/17/13
(Q6) Reread lines 64-78. Which details in this passage might
not have been in included in a biography?
Possible answer.
consciousness –
awareness of one’s
own thoughts
(Q7) How does Keller feel about her limitations now?
Possible answer.
(Q8) Why does President Roosevelt send Keller this letter?
My dear Miss Keller:
Possible answer.
line 94: ensign - sign
I send you my very best wishes as you prepare to
observe the fiftieth anniversary of your first meeting
with your devoted teacher-liberator, Anne Sullivan
Macy. This anniversary will bring precious memories
to you of an association which was to be such a
blessing to you. Your faith and optimism and high
courage and helpful work in behalf of others have
made you a greatly beloved figure.
Your determination to carry on the work of your
friend and teacher is a fortunate thing for all those
who sit in darkness. In this noble undertaking I wish
you all success.
(Q9) What clues about Keller’s adult life does the letter
provide? What do you learn about Anne Sullivan?
Possible answer.
(Q10) Reread the letter to Helen Keller from Franklin D.
Roosevelt. Roosevelt calls Anne Sullivan a “liberator”—a
person who frees a prisoner or captive. Would Keller agree
with this description? Support your response.
Very sincerely yours,
Possible answer.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
2012-2013
6
GRADE 6 ELA EXEMPLAR LESSON
Cross Genre Connections OR Across Text or NonText Sources:
Quarter 4, Week 35-36
05/06/13 – 05/17/13
GUIDING QUESTION(S):
What can you infer about the relationship between
Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan by looking at this
photograph of them?
Possible answer.
Is the written version or the film version from The
Miracle Worker the BEST adaptation of Keller’s
“Water Scene”?
2.
Use the Story Map for the Movies to record
information about each film.
Possible answer.
Formative Assessment
Summative Assessment/Culminating Independent
Writing Task
2012-2013
Class discussion(s) on text-dependent comprehension questions, writing responses
(Reader Response journals, graphic organizers, summations, or prewriting activities)
serve as formative assessments.
Helen Keller appears to have remembered a great deal about her life. Write
a well-supported one-page analytical essay in which you present and
support arguments for the accuracy of Keller’s record of events of her
relationship with her teacher, Anne Sullivan. Support your claim with
details and quotations from the autobiography.
7