11th Grade 1st Nine Weeks Unit– Dreams
Deferred
8 Weeks
Marking Period #1
ENGAGENY
Module 2
Units 1& 2
Essential Questions:
 How are people characterized, and how are their actions determined, by their hopes and dreams?
 What is the psychological effect of “deferring” our dreams?
 What is housing segregation and how has it affected “the American dream”?
 How does our cultural heritage affect our dreams for the future?
 Do we achieve our dreams by overcoming the past, or by incorporating it?
Common Core
State Standards:
RL.11.1
RL.11.2
RL.11.3
RL.11.4
RL.11.5
RL.11.6
RL.11.7
RL.11.9
RL.11.10
Content-Specific (Tier III) Terms:
RI.11.1
RI.11.2
RI.11.3
RI.11.4
RI.11.10
RL.11.10
W.11.2
W.11.4
W.11.5
W.11.6
W.11.7 (short)
W.11.9
SL.11.1.a
SL.11.1.d
SL.11.4
SL.11.6
L.11.1
L.11.2
L.11.3
L.11.4
L.11.5
L.11.6
W.11.10
Reading: Act (i.e., of a play), Action (Falling, Rising), Allusion, Antagonist, Character (Dynamic, Flat, Round, Static),
Characterization, Climax, Conflict, Denouement, Dialogue, Hamartia (or Tragic Flaw), Irony (Dramatic, Situational),
Monologue, Plot, Protagonist, Scene, Setting, Symbolism, Theme
Writing: Causation (Cause-and-Effect Pattern), Citation, Documentation (MLA Style), Internet Search, Paraphrase,
Parenthetical Reference, Plagiarism, Research
Language: Alliteration, Context Clue, Diction, Em Dash, Hyperbole, Interrogative Mode, Irony (Verbal), Metaphor,
Nuance (i.e., nuances in word meanings), Portmanteau Word, Rhetorical Question, Quotation (Direct, Indirect, Partial),
Sarcasm, Simile, Understatement
Literary/Academic (Tier II) Vocabulary:
Text I
“Harlem” by Langston Hughes
Harlem Renaissance Poetry
2 Days
READING TASKS:
Students individually read this
text in class. Students use
context to determine the
meaning of the word deferred;
analyze the poem’s many
metaphors; and extend the
poem’s themes into creative
writing (poetry or personal
essay) assignments. This text
connects thematically to A
Raisin in the Sun because its title
is a line from this poem. Notes
on allusion segue into the play.
RL.11.4
RI.11.4
Amiably, Amid, Arrogant, Assimilationist, Cliché, Coquettish, Deceptive, Defer, Defiance, Despair, Dogged, Eccentric,
Emerge, Enunciate, Evade, Exasperate, Exuberant, Facetious, Flippancy, Forlorn, Furtive, Futile, Incredulity, Indignant,
Insinuating, Labor (v.), Ludicrous, Mutilate, Ominous, Oppressive, Outmoded, Presumably, Pretense, Prometheus,
Quizzical, Resignation, Retrogression, Revelation, Reverie, Sarcastic, Strident, Submerge, Suppress, Stupor, Tentative,
Tyrant, Undaunted, Vain, Vindicate, Wrought
Text Group II
“Housing Segregation in
1950s Chicago” (no author)
2. “Chicago Most Segregated
City in America, Despite
Significant Improvements
Last Decade” (Huffington
Post, 31 Jan. 2012)
1. Informative Article
2. Contemporary Journalism
3 Days
1.
READING TASKS:
Students read the first article in
class and the second for
homework. They write
objective summaries of each.
They use the information for
in-class discussion about
housing segregation, which ties
into the plot of A Raisin in the
Sun. Students connect their
discussion on housing
segregation to the “Dream
Deferred” from “Harlem” for
the sake of the writing task.
RL.11.10
RI.11.10
Texts and Respective Tasks
Text III
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine 1.
Hansberry
2.
3.
Text Group IV
“The Negro Speaks of
Rivers”
“Refugee in America”
“Dream Variations”
Text V
“Everyday Use” by Alice
Walker
—all by Langston Hughes
American Drama/AfricanAmerican Literature
5 Weeks Reading
1 Week Writing
READING TASKS:
Students read the text in and
out of class over many weeks.
On occasion, students act out
scenes dramatically in front of
the class (see Speaking and
Listening Tasks). On occasion,
scenes from the 1961 film
adaptation are played in class.
The bulk of this unit’s Tier II
vocabulary and Tier III terms
are approached through this
text. Themes discussed through
this text concern segregation
(specifically housing
segregation in Chicago),
“Black America,” cultural
heritage, cultural assimilation,
Harlem Renaissance Poetry
2 Days, interspersed with A
Raisin in the Sun
READING TASKS:
Students read these poems for
homework at different points
during the reading of A Raisin
in the Sun. The poems connect
to the main text’s themes, and
with themes in a later unit on
the Declaration of
Independence. Students are
required to include references
to these poems in their written
explications of the play to
practice the use of multiple
“sources” in analysis. They
will be assigned in the order
they are listed. RL.11.2
RI.11.2
Short Story/African-American
Literature
1 Day Reading (in Class)
1 Week Writing
READING TASKS:
After the main reading and
writing tasks are completed for
A Raisin in the Sun and the
poems, students start this short
story in class and finish it for
homework. While students are
reading it outside of class, the
teacher leads them through the
use of basic Internet research
tools and research-reading
techniques, such as evaluating
sources. The goal of the
research is to learn more about
quilting traditions, especially
African American quilting
traditions—information that
WRITING TASKS:
After reading and discussing the
poem, students choose to write
either a series of poems (at least
5) or personal essay (3
paragraphs minimum) that
develops the theme of dreams
deferred while incorporating
metaphors and allusions.
W.11.2
WRITING TASKS:
After reading the articles and
discussing housing segregation,
students write an expository
piece (< 1 page) that speculates
how housing segregation could
cause (cause-and-effect
pattern) African Americans to
“defer” their dreams. The task
emphasizes the use of specific
detail and text-based evidence.
W.11.10
LANGUAGE
INSTRUCTION:
L.11.2: Students make note of
the use of em dashes to slow the
pace and establish rhythm.
L.11.3: Students make note of
the use of the interrogative
mode.
L.11.4: Students use context
from the poem and other given
sentences to determine the
meaning of deferred and other
LANGUAGE
INSTRUCTION:
L.11.1: basic information on
pronouns, verbs, and subjectverb agreement is reviewed
through homework
assignments.
L.11.2: mechanics conventions
for direct, indirect, and partial
quotations are directly taught in
class and through homework.
religion, and the American
Civil Rights Movement.
Thinking Maps are used for
analyses of character, plot,
setting, symbols, and themes—
translated into various writing
assignments. RL.11. 3
RI.11.3
WRITING TASKS:
After reading the play, students
choose one of the play’s major
characters to analyze and then
write a literary analysis essay
(expository) focused on the
“dream” of that character. The
length requirement is loosely
two double-spaced pages.
Students use Google Drive to
share and turn in the essay, and
they are required to edit a
peer’s using this Internet
software. Direct instruction,
prior to writing, is focused on
citing text-based evidence.
W.11.6
LANGUAGE
INSTRUCTION:
L.11.1: basic information on
pronouns, verbs, and subjectverb agreement is reviewed
through homework
assignments.
L.11.2: mechanics conventions
for direct, indirect, and partial
quotations are reviewed
through homework.
Parenthetical references are
increases the impact of the
short story’s message.
RL.11.7
RI.11.7
WRITING TASKS:
After reading the poems,
students will choose from a
range of explication questions
(one paragraph) that focus their
attention on one rhetorical or
literary aspect of the poems. In
addition, students are
encouraged to reference these
poems in their literary analysis
essay of a character from A
Raisin in the Sun. W.11.4
LANGUAGE
INSTRUCTION:
N/A
WRITING TASKS:
As students read the short
story, they learn/review the
basics of Internet research to
learn more about African
American quilting traditions.
The articles they find should be
used as sources for a short (15
slide) research presentation
using Google Slides. Students
must synthesize information
from at least two sources, with
additional images,
documenting their sources with
an MLA Works Cited page at
the end of the slide show. The
presentation is to be turned in
through Google Drive.
W.11.7
LANGUAGE
INSTRUCTION:
N/A
words in its word-group (defer,
deferent, deferment).
L.11.5: Students consider other
words in place of those chosen
by the other and discuss the
particular choices made for this
poem, especially noting the
word deferred being chosen for
its alliteration with dream.
L.11.4: The teacher uses a
range of tools, including
Thinking Maps, to improve
students’ vocabulary
knowledge.
SPEAKING AND
LISTENING TASKS:
SL.11.5: Students are given a
bonus assignment to memorize
the poem and recite it from
memory at a schedule time after
class.
SPEAKING AND
LISTENING TASKS:
SL.11.1a: Students participate
in whole-group discussions
about housing segregation and
extending their ideas, as a
group, into planning for the
writing assignment.
introduced in accord with the
MLA Style for documentation.
L.11.4: The teacher uses a
range of tools, including
Thinking Maps and
Quizlet.com, to improve
students’ vocabulary
knowledge. Vocabulary is
pulled from the text, and
students are sometimes
required to use new vocabulary
in their written responses. The
teacher draws special attention
to word groups, such as the
connection between
Assimilationist, assimilation,
assimilate, and similar.
L.11.5: Diction analysis is
integrated with the
comprehension questions and
discussions about the text. The
teacher focuses especially on
the use of allusion throughout
the play.
SPEAKING AND
LISTENING TASKS:
SL.11.1.a, d: Students come to
group discussions, adapted
from “literature circles,”
having re-read certain portions
of the text and prepared
questions. They evaluate the
success of the discussion and
each other’s performance.
SL.11.5: Students in groups
dramatically act out portions of
the play. They receive the
assignment ahead of time and
SPEAKING AND
LISTENING TASKS:
SL.11.1.a: Students are
encouraged to reference these
poems in their discussions
about themes in A Raisin in the
Sun.
SPEAKING AND
LISTENING TASKS:
N/A
must rehearse with groupmates.
Additional Support
http://www.studygs.net/texred2.htm
Additional Resources
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/lit_term.html
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/lang_write.htm
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/icebreakers-for-high-school-students.html
https://getkahoot.com/
http://www.teach-nology.com/
http://www.teachersnotebook.com/
http://www.readworks.org/
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/
http://www.readwritethink.org/
http://images.pcmac.org/Uploads/HamblenCounty/HamblenCounty/Divisions/DocumentsCategories/Documents/Task%2
0Cards%20List%20Updated.pdf
www.teachers-toolbox.com
htpp://engageny.org