Unit:TheLiteraryHeroesProject

(GradeLevels:48,ApproximateTime:6weeks)

TrishaS.Alvarado

2011byGrantWigginsandJayMcTighe
Stage1DesiredResults
EstablishedGoals
Whatcontentstandardsand
programormissionrelated
goal(s)willthisunitaddress?

Whathabitsofmindand
crossdisciplinarygoal(s)for
example,21stcenturyskills,
corecompetencieswillthis
unitaddress?

CACommonCoreELA
Standards
1.Quoteaccuratelyfromatext
whenexplainingwhatthetextsays
explicitlyandwhendrawing
inferencesfromtext
2.Compareandcontrasttwoor
morecharacters,settings,or
eventsinastoryordrama,
drawingonspecificdetailsinthe
text(e.g.,howcharactersinteract).
3.Compareandcontrasttextsin
differentformsorgenres(e.g.,
storiesandpoemshistorical
novelsandfantasystories)in
termsoftheirapproachesto
similarthemesandtopics.
4.Writeopinionpiecesontopics
ortexts,supportingapointofview
withreasonsandinformation.

ISTEStandards
Studentsusedigitalmediaand
environmentsto
communicateandwork
collaboratively,including
atadistance,tosupportindividual
learningand
contributetothelearningofothers.
a.Interact,collaborate,and
publishwithpeers,
experts,orothersemployinga
varietyofdigital
environmentsandmedia
b.Communicateinformationand
ideaseffectively
tomultipleaudiencesusinga
varietyofmedia
andformats

Transfer
Studentswillbeabletoindependentlyusetheirlearningto

T1Seekout,compare,andcritiquedifferentcharactersinavarietyofnovels
T2Effectivelycommunicateinwriting
T3Usetechnologytopublishfindingsandthoughts
T4Engageinselfreflection

Meaning
UNDERSTANDINGS
Studentswillunderstandthat...

U1Goodopinionwritingincludesdetailsand
supportiveevidence
U2Storiesandnovelsincludeavarietyof
characters,includingprotagonistsand
antagonists
U3Theperceptionofawhoisconsidereda
heromayvaryfrompersontoperson
U4Symbolismcanbeusedtorepresent
characters/people

ESSENTIALQUESTIONS
Studentswillkeepconsidering...

Howdostoriesteachusaboutheroism?
Whatisaheroandwhatqualitiesdothey
possess?
WhodoIrecognizeasaherointhestoriesI
read?
Howcannovelsteachusaboutshowinggood
characterthroughouractions?
Everychildhastheirownheroqualities,which
onesdoyoupossess?
HowcanIbeaheroinmylife?

Acquisition
Studentswillknow...

Studentswillbeskilledat...

K1Thedifferencebetweencharactertraits
andcharacterfeelings
K2Differencesbetweencharacters
representedinavarietyofgenres
K3Thedefinitionandexamplesofheroism
K4Vocabularyassociatedwithcharactertraits
K5Themeaningofsymbolismasaliterary
device

S1Comparingandcontrastingtwoormore
characters
S2Readingandanalyzingcharactersinfiction
andnonfictionstories
S3Usingtextevidencetosupportclaims
S4Usingopinionwritingtechniques
S5Usingtechnologytopresenttheirfindings
S6Writingawellorganizedessay

Stage2Evidence
Code
Arealldesired
resultsbeing
appropriately
assessed?

T
M

Evaluative Studentswillshowtheirlearningby:
Criteria

Support
includedtraits
withevidence

Creativity

Rubricfor
presentations

Gooddetails

Clear
explanations

Correct
Spellingand
Grammar

Rubric

Thoughtful
symbols

Deep
analysisof
characters

PERFORMANCETASK(S):
Studentswillshowthattheyreallyunderstandbyevidenceof

Animoto:
Asanendtothethematicunitonheroes,studentswillcreatean
Animoto
videobased
onaliteraryherooftheirchoice,fromafictionornonfictionnovel.The
Animoto
mustincludethe
followingcomponents:
Nameofcharacter
Titleofnovelorstory
Captionsofcharactertraitsandadjectives
Supportingevidenceofhis/herheroqualities
Imagesorscenesthatsupportthecontentpresented
Appropriatevideotheme

GooglePresentation:
StudentswillproduceaGooglePresentationonhowtheycanbeaheroin
theirownlives.Theyneedtoincorporateplansforactionandlistheroqualities
theyalreadyseeinthemselves.

OTHEREVIDENCE:
StudentswillshowtheyhaveachievedStage1goalsby

Essay:
Studentswillcreateanopinionessayaboutaliteraryhero(Genre:fiction/nonfiction).
Theywilluseagraphicorganizertooutlinetheirpaper.Theymustalsousetextevidenceto
justifytheirclaimsinadetailedandwellorganizedessay.

CharacterArtifactsBox:
Explainingtheitemsthatareincludedinthecharacterartifactsbox
throughapowerfulparagraphartifactsshowevidenceofinferencing

Quizzes:
Matchingtextevidencetocharactertraits,Protagonistvs.Antagonist,Vocabulary
Terms,Inferencinganddrawingconclusions

Stage3LearningPlan
Code

Whatpreassessmentswillyouusetocheckstudentsprior
knowledge,skilllevels,andpotentialmisconceptions?

Studentswillidentifyapersonalherointheirlives,and
incooperativegroupsexplainwhotheychoseandwhy

PreAssessment ProgressMonitoring

LearningEvents

Studentsuccessattransfer,meaning,andacquisitiondepends
upon

Beginbyhavingstudentsdefinetheirmeaningof
herousingaBubbleMap(adjectives)
YoutubeclipsThroughvariousyoutubeclips(i.e.
DisneysHercules)studentsdecideifcharacters
shouldbeconsideredheroesConductaroundtable
discussion
Useexamplesoffictionandnonfictionstories(i.e
selectednovelsstudiesintheclassroom)toidentify
protagonistsandantagonists.Studentswillusetext
evidencetojustifytheirclassificationsofcharacters
anddecidewhatmakesaheroandwhatmakesa
villain
Examples:
PaulRevere
RosaParks
HarryPotter/Voldemort(
HarryPotterSeries)
Ralph/Jack(
LordoftheFlies
)
VennDiagramCompareandcontrasttwocharacters
fromanovelmakingsuretoincludeactionsand
attributes(Protagonistvs.ProtagonistorProtagonist
vs.Antagonist)
Definecharacterfeelingsversuscharactertraits
Provideliststoexpandvocabulary
PoppletCharacterizationMapUsingadjectivesand
textevidencetosupportclaims
SymbolismLessonChoosingasymboltorepresenta
characterandcreateaclaysculpture
DoubleBubbleMapCompareandcontrastyourself
withacharacterfromanovel
PersonalAcrosticPoemCreateanacrosticpoem
abouthowyoushowgoodcharacterinyourdailylife
SuperheroinYou
ActivityCreateaportraitusingoil
pastels.AttachaBiopoemthatexemplifiesyour
superheroqualities
Variouslessonsonsocialactionregardingpollution,
bullying,waterconservation,theimportanceof
recyclingandhelpingthoseinneed.Resources
includeYoutubevideosandPowerPointpresentations

Howwillyoumonitorstudents
progresstowardacquisition,meaning,
andtransfer,duringlessonevents?

Discussions,VocabularyDevelopment,Guided
Practice,ExitTickets,TimedPairShares,Quick
Writes

Whatarepotentialroughspotsand
studentmisunderstandings?

Potentialroughspotsforstudentsistonothave
enoughevidencetosupporttheirclaims.
Studentsalsotendtostickwithcommon
charactertraitsandhaveadifficulttimelooking
beyondgeneralvocabulary.Acommon
misunderstandingisbetweencharacterfeelings
andcharactertraits.

Howwillstudentsgetthefeedback
theyneed?

Studentswillgetfeedbackduringclass
discussionsandreturnedprojects/assignments.
Studentswillalsoworkincooperativegroups
andreceiveconstructivefeedbackfrompeers.