Trimester+One

=**Unit I: Trimester One**=

I. **Summer Reading Review:**

 * ===__The Revealers__ by Doug Wilhelm===
 * ===Independent Digital Reading Project (2nd choice novel)[[file:Digital summer reading.docx]]===

**III. Short Stories Unit (with novel work running simultaneously)**

 * BIG IDEA: What is conflict? How do characters, both real and fictional deal with conflict?**

A. **Essential Learning Outcomes**: At the end of this unit, in a summative assessment you must be able to do the following: 1. __Reading:__ Identify the literary elements in fiction. 2. __Writing:__ Use evidence from a fictional text to support a position.

B. **Key Questions**: These are the questions that we will be working with throughout the unit. 1. What __story elements__ are present in all short stories/novels? 2. What s__trategies__ does an author use to develop the story elements? 3. Where do authors get their inspiration/ideas for writing? 4. How is a short story different from a novel or a novella? 5. How does short story/novel reflect its __historical and cultural contexts__? 6. How are short stories/novels relevant to students' interests, everyday life, and current events.

C. **Content**: Students will know about.... 1. the __basic elements of fiction__: characters, setting, plot, theme, conflict, etc. 2. __literary devices__: foreshadowing, flashback, point of view, symbolism and irony; and explain how they enhance the writing. 3. how a reader __makes an inference__ about an __author's purpose__ using the elements of fiction.

D. **Skills**: Students will be able to...... 1. use details to __make inferences__ and logical assumptions. 2. interpret author's meaning through connections and inferences. 3. use textual evidence to explain the effect of __point of view__. 4. distinguish between concepts of __theme__ and __author's purpose.__ 5. analyze __plot and characterization__. 6. __compare and contrast__ various elements in different works of fiction. 7. evaluate how the __setting__ affects the __plot.__ 8. identify __symbols__ and explain what they represent. 9. identify and explain __mood.__

E. **Additional areas of focus**: 1. Strategic reading skills: making predictions, making inferences, compare/contrast, summarizing 2. Process writing 3. Vocabulary: word origins (prefixes, roots, suffixes)