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Language Arts - Secondary Curriculum English Language Arts Grade 9-10
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Speaking and Listening Standard 1

Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
  • 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.
  • Choose Your Own Adventure: Hypertext Writing Exp.
    This lesson, from ReadWriteThink, combines reading and writing in a collaborative, small-group learning experience. It utilizes technology, specifically Web page design, group and individual work, and student self-assessment. After reading several examples, students will plan their own adventure story. They will be divided into smaller groups for each split in the story until finally the students are writing their own endings. Using Web-authoring software, groups will create their own Web sites with the parts of the story hyperlinked to each other.
  • Evidence & Arguments: Multiple Ways of Experiencing a Text
    This Teaching Channel video shows students identifying the main idea and making arguments about a text. (12 minutes)
  • Evidence and Arguments: Lesson Planning
    This Teaching Channel video shows Mr. Hanify planning a lesson about identifying main ideas and developing arguments. (6 minutes)
  • 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 9-10 Sample Performance Assessment
    This sample English Language Arts performance assessment for Grade Band 9-10 covers three texts: 1) Lincoln, Abraham. "Gettysburg Address" 2) Monk, Linda R. Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution and 3) Hand, Learned. "I Am an American Day Address".
  • Holocaust and Resistance
    In this lesson from EDSITEment, students reflect on the Holocaust from the point of view of those who actively resisted Nazi persecution. Students will learn how the Holocaust happened and understand the devastation suffered by its victims; examine the evidence of resistance to the Holocaust that has been preserved in official documents and by oral tradition; reflect on the responsibilities of individuals when confronted with social policies that violate human rights; consider the significance of the Holocaust in society today.
  • 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.
  • Put That on the List: Collaboratively Writing a Catalog Poem
    In these contemporary times, our lives are often driven by lists - to-do lists, shopping lists, wish lists. Working in small groups, students brainstorm a list of human emotions such as anger, guilt, and happiness. Then, as a class, they select six to eight emotions from the list. Students then add more specific ideas, words, and phrases that describe and provide examples of each emotion. Next, students read and discuss Raymond Carver's poem "Fear" as a model for writing their own powerful poetry. Finally, working with one of the emotions listed by the class, each group composes their own list poem. These poems, stripped down in the most minimalist fashion, allow students to concentrate on important aspects of poetry, including word choice, phrasing and rhythm as well as the all-important "heart" of the poem.
  • 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.
  • Tales of the Supernatural
    Monsters have haunted the literary imagination from earliest times (e.g., the Cyclops, Grendel, etc.), but a particular interest in horror and the Gothic form dates back to the 18th and early 19th century. The goals of this plan are to explore the origins and development of a literary genre; to investigate how shared imaginative concerns link the members of a literary period; to examine the evolution of a literary tradition; to compare works of literature from different eras.
  • 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.