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Language Arts - Secondary Curriculum English Language Arts Grade 11-12
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Reading: Literature Standard 1

Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
  • American Literary Humor - Mark Twain, George Harris and Nathaniel Hawthorne
    In this three-part curriculum unit, students examine structure and characterization in several short stories and consider the significance of humor through a study of several American writers. One or all lessons can be taught individually or linked together as a unit on 19th century American humor.
  • Chaucer's Wife of Bath
    This lesson from EDSITEment introduces students to one of the most admired characterizations in Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" the Wife of Bath. Learning Objectives include (1) To analyze Chaucer's portrayal of the Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales; (2) To consider how the story told by the Wife of Bath reflects on both her character and on Chaucer's view of marriage and women; (3) To examine literary sources that contributed to this characterization; (4) To explore the historical context that informs this depiction of the rights of women in marriage.
  • Cognitive Rigor Matrix
    The new summative and interim assessments in English Language Arts (Grades 3-11) will be based on the Cognitive Rigor Matrix and Depth of Knowledge levels. How will instruction change to meet these new challenges?
  • Exploring Arthurian Legend
    In this lesson from EDSITEment, students will examine the historical origins of the Arthurian legend. Students will gain insight into the use of literature as historical evidence. Through the references and links in this lesson, students can track the growth of a legend like that of King Arthur, from its emergence in the Medieval Ages to its arrival on the silver screen.
  • Grade Band 11-12 Performance Assessment
    This sample English Language Arts performance assessment for Grade Band 11-12 covers three texts: 1) Theodore Roosevelt, The Man with the Muckraker 2) Upton Sinclair, The Jungle and 3) Jacob Riis. How the Other Half Lives.
  • Hamlet and the Elizabethan Revenge Ethic in Text and Film
    This lesson investigates the complex nature of revenge as it is portrayed in Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Students learn how Shakespeare's play interprets Elizabethan attitudes toward revenge, as reflected in the structure of the Elizabethan revenge tragedy, one of the most popular forms of drama of that era.
  • Introducing Jane Eyre: An Unlikely Victorian Heroine
    When Charlotte Bronte set out to write the novel Jane Eyre, she was determined to create a main character who challenged the notion of the ideal Victorian woman, or, as Bronte was once quoted, "a heroine as plain and as small as myself" (Gaskell, Chapter XV). Bronte's determination to portray a plain yet passionate young woman who defied the stereotype of the docile and domestic Victorian feminine ideal most likely developed from her own dissatisfaction with domestic duties and a Victorian culture that discouraged women from having literary aspirations. Through the following activities, students can learn the expectations and limitations placed on Victorian women. Contemplating Bronte's position and desire for literary achievement in that context, students will consider why she felt compelled to write Jane Eyre and then to publish it under the male pseudonym Currer Bell.
  • Live From Antiquity!
    Ancient languages are the deepest root of the humanities, drawing life from that distant time when the study of history, philosophy, literature, and of language itself began. The goals of this lesson plan are to gain an appreciation for Greek drama through study of a play by Sophocles; to explore the cultural and historical context of Greek drama and its role in Greek society; to reconstruct the experience of seeing a Greek drama performed and share that experience in an imaginative report.
  • Pattern Folders: A Literary Analysis Tool
    This Teaching Channel video demonstrates how to organize textual evidence to draw conclusions about a text. (2.5 min.)
  • Personal or Social Tragedy? A Close Reading of Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome
    At the end of this lesson students will be able to: 1) Situate Ethan Frome within the context of American regionalist literature 2) Gather, annotate, and analyze key quotations from Ethan Frome 3) Respond to contemporary reviews of Ethan Frome 4) Use textual evidence to support their own claims about the plight of the novel's protagonist.
  • Sample Student Performance Assessment for Grade Band 11-12
    This sample English Language Arts performance assessment for Grade Band 11-12 covers three texts: 1) Henry David Thoreau. Walden 2) Thornton Wilder. Our Town and 3) Emily Dickinson. VII. ALMOST!
  • Shakespeare's Macbeth:Fear and the Motives of Evil
    This resource contains an EDSITEment lesson in which students will study Shakespeare's Macbeth. Students will use an Internet search engine to collect instances in the play of specific key words. Students will then organize and analyze the passages in which these key words appear for what they reveal about Macbeth's state of mind and the motives behind his increasing evil.
  • Text Analysis: Questions and Symbols
    This Teaching Channel video demonstrates how to analyze literature through questions, discussion, and symbols. (5 minutes)
  • You Kiss by the Book: Romeo & Juliet
    The goals of this lesson plan are: (1) To learn about Shakespeare's use of poetic conventions as a principle of dramatic structure in Romeo and Juliet; (2) To examine the first meeting between Romeo and Juliet as an enactment of figurative language in a context of competing poetic styles; (3) To explore the use of poetic forms to impart perspective in later episodes of the play; (4) To gain experience in close reading and the interpretation of verse structure and imagery.


UEN logo http://www.uen.org - in partnership with Utah State Board of Education (USBE) and Utah System of Higher Education (USHE).  Send questions or comments to USBE Specialist - Naomi  Watkins and see the Language Arts - Secondary website. For general questions about Utah's Core Standards contact the Director - Jennifer  Throndsen.

These materials have been produced by and for the teachers of the State of Utah. Copies of these materials may be freely reproduced for teacher and classroom use. When distributing these materials, credit should be given to Utah State Board of Education. These materials may not be published, in whole or part, or in any other format, without the written permission of the Utah State Board of Education, 250 East 500 South, PO Box 144200, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4200.