MSSE 470E Unit Plan Overview

Name: An Daly

Concept: Convention

Grade: 8th

Standards
Must include both Reading and Writing
Must Include at least one SOL and one CCSS from each area

Understanding, Knowledge, and Skills

Ks & Ds must be aligned to standards (indicate in parentheses)
Skills must be labeled according to Blooms levels

Please include the numbers and letters as well as the actual language
from the standard. You will include only the numbers in the rows
below.

Please number each Understanding, Knowledge, and skill goal. You will
include only these numbers in the rows below.

8.5 The student will read and analyze a variety of fictional texts,
narrative nonfiction, and
poetry.
b) Make inferences and draw conclusions based on
explicit and implied information
using evidence from text as support.
c) Explain how authors use characters, conflict, point of
view, voice, and tone to
create meaning.
d) Understand the authors use of conventional elements
and characteristics within a
variety of genres.
e) Compare and contrast the authors use of word choice,
dialogue, form, rhyme,
rhythm, and voice in different texts.
8.7 The student will write in a variety of forms, including
narration, exposition, persuasion, and informational. a) Identify
intended audience.
b) Use prewriting strategies to generate and organize
ideas.
d) Organize details to elaborate the central idea and
provide unity.

Understandings:
1. Students will understand that decisions are affected
by convention (SOL English 8.5d, SOL English
8.5k, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.9).
2. Students will understand that literary conventions
develop to please audiences (CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.8.9).
3. Students will understand that conventions vary from
culture to culture, school to school, or even home to
home. (SOL English 8.9d)
Knowledge Goals:
1. Students will know (review) the definitions of word
choice, rhythm, voice, conflict, point of
view, voice, and tone. (SOL English 8.5c, SOL
English 8.5e)
2. Students will know the rules and functions of
conventional English grammar namely punctuation,
tense, noun-verb agreement, and sentence structure.
(SOL English 8.8a-g)

MSSE 470E Unit Plan Overview

e) Select specific vocabulary and information for
audience and purpose.
g) Revise writing for clarity of content, word choice,
sentence variety, and transitions among paragraphs.
h) Use computer technology to plan, draft, revise, edit,
and publish writing.
8.8 The student will edit writing for correct grammar,
capitalization, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, and
paragraphing.
a) Use a variety of graphic organizers, including sentence
diagrams, to analyze and
improve sentence formation and paragraph structure.
b) Use and punctuate correctly varied sentence structures
to include conjunctions
and transition words.
c) Choose the correct case and number for pronouns in
prepositional phrases with
compound objects.
d) Maintain consistent verb tense across paragraphs.
e) Use comparative and superlative degrees in adverbs and
adjectives.
g) Use correct spelling for frequently used words.
8.9 The student will apply knowledge of appropriate reference
materials to produce a
research product.
d) Make sense of information gathered from diverse
sources by identifying misconceptions, main and
supporting ideas, conflicting information, point of view or
bias.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.9

3. Students will know the structural and textual

characteristics of major genres. (SOL English 8.5d ,
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.2)
Skill Goals:
1. Students will be able to judge the authors use of
conventional elements and characteristics within a
variety of genres. (SOL English 8.5d, CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.8.9) [evaluating]
2. Students will be able to use evidence from text to
support inferences and draw conclusions based on
explicit and implied information. (SOL English
8.5b)[evaluate].
3. Students will be able to analyze how a modern work
of fiction draws on past conventions like themes,
patterns of events, or character types. (CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.8.9) [analyze]
4. Students will be able to apply conventional grammar
to their own writing. (SOL English 8.8). [apply]
5. Students will be able to assess and edit their peers
writing for corrections regarding conventional
grammar (SOL English 8.8) [evaluate]
6. Students will be able to use information collected
from their own experiences to formulate an opinion
regarding how specific conventions impact them in
their daily lives. (SOL English 8.5b)[create].

MSSE 470E Unit Plan Overview

Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes,

patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional
stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including
describing how the material is rendered new.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.2

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its

development over the course of the text, including its
relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an
objective summary of the text.
Brief Background/Overview of Unit/Essential Questions
This unit focuses on the idea of conventions in text and in the real world. The young adult novel, Me g Medinas Yaqui Delgado
Wants to Kick Your Ass, will be used as a guiding framework for the unit, but a second text each day will require students to
apply the main ideas of the novel to poetry, art, music, and non-fiction (psychology). Students will compare ideas from the texts
to the conventions, rules, and calls for conformity that exist in their own lives. Graphic organizers and writing strategies will
help them accomplish this. Each lesson offers numerous opportunities for students to explore their re ading through discussion,
writing, and interdisciplinary application. Writing instruction will review and reinforce the traits of ideas, organization, and
convention/presentation while introducing and expanding upon the traits of voice, sentence fluency, and word choice. These
traits will be emphasized in writing strategies because students will be asked to focus on specific ones while revising their
writing. By the end of this unit, students should have strengthened means to analyze the world around them through unspoken
rules and they should be more aware of how these rules affect them and others.

Essential Questions:
1. Why do conventions impact the choices of characters and creators?
2. What factors cause conventions to evolve?
3. How do conventions simultaneously empower and limit creators?

MSSE 470E Unit Plan Overview

Final Performance (Writing) Assignment and How Assessed (which Traits)

Goal: You will describe and defend ideal changes to social conventions.
Role: You are an appointed member of a community (friend group, family, or school)
Audience: Your friend group, family, or school administrators, who will have to approve your suggestions before they are put
into effect.
Situation: Your friend group, family, or school administrators are concerned about the conventions that have taken shape in
their community and have appointed you to make suggestions for change.
Product (Written): A 5-entry etiquette encyclopedia followed by a one page letter explaining the need to integrate those
conventions into your community and describing these new positive conventions would replace negative ones.
Criteria for Success (Traits, etc.):
IDEAS:

Purpose of letter is clear throughout

ORGANIZATION:

Uses previously read etiquette encyclopedia as a model text in order to organize the new unspoken rules effectively
Letter connects ideas, guides readers thoughts, and hooks readers in from the start

SENTENCE FLUENCY:

Letter and etiquette entries are easy to read aloud

There is variety in sentence structure and length

VOICE:

Letter displays passion about the subject and the opinions being presented
Etiquette encyclopedia mimics the voice of the model text, remaining professional and knowledgeable, like a voice of authority.

5-Day Plan
Stand./UKDs/EQs

Texts/
Readings

Reading Strategy (Beers) and

How Used w/ text

Writing Strategy (Source) &

How Used

Trait(s)
Addressed and

MSSE 470E Unit Plan Overview

L#1
Topic

EQ1
U1
U2
K1
K3
SG1
SG2
SG6
SOL 8.5b
SOL 8.5e
SOL 8.7b
SOL 8.7d
SOL 8.7h
SOL 8.8a

The Voice
Shel Silverstein
(1996)

Students will engage in Beers

Think Silently (127-8)
activity in which I will read
the poem along with them
and they think aloud
(silently) by adding
comments to the padlet.
Their comments are only
their initial ideas and
thoughts, likely observations
about the poem or
summaries of the poems big
ideas. (Padlet is an online
interactive device that allows
users to write comments on a
digital corkboard that is
immediately visible to
anyone else viewing the
padlet.)

Students will draw

themselves and then draw
speech bubbles that show
what their voice is telling
them.

The Asch
Experiment
S.A. McLeod
(2008)
-andStrange Like
Me
Rebecca Martin
(2015)

While reading, The Asch

Experiment students will
complete Beers What We
Know- What We Want to
Know activity (Beers, 2003,
p. 80-85) by recording the
information given to them by
the text, then creating
questions the reading left

Upon completing their

research, students will
complete Gallaghers, Why
do ________ behave that way?
activity (165-167) by
answering the question Why
do people follow the choices
of the majority? To do so,
students will be making a list
of reasons and then choosing

CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.8.9
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.8.2

How
VOICE:
The poem, voice,
will be used to
transition into a
brief lesson of this
idea of
fingerprints on the
page.
After the initial
read-along,
students will be
asked:
Does the poem
seen unique?
Would you
enjoy reading it
aloud? Did you
like listening to
it?
Could you get a
sense of the
writers
innermost
thoughts and
feelings?
Was it
passionate?
Vibrant?
Electric?
Compelling?
Were you

MSSE 470E Unit Plan Overview

them with and then
completing additional
research to find answers.

one reason to elaborate on in

a paragraph that relates the
reason to one of their real-life
experiences.

pulled it?

It will then be
explained that all
of these traits are
factors of a strong
voice.
After reading
The Asch
Experiment,
students will
discuss how
other literary
elements change
the voice
between The
Voice and The
Asch
Experiment.
Organization:
Using the
white/black
board, the
students and I
will collectively
craft a formula/
framework for
their paragraphs
about why people
follow the choices
of the majority
with the aim of

MSSE 470E Unit Plan Overview

organizing the
paragraph in a
way that
connects ideas,
is easy to
follow, and has a
clear purpose.
L#2
Topic

EQ3
U2
U3
K1
K2
K3
SG3
SG4
SG5
SG6
SOL 8.5c
SOL 8.7b
SOL 8.8a
SOL 8.8b
SOL 8.8c
SOL 8.8d
SOL 8.8e
SOL 8.8g
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.8.2

Yaqui Delgado
Wants to Kick
Your Ass
Meg Medina
(2014)
-andAbsolutely True
Diary of a PartTime Indian
Sherman Alexie
(2007)

Students will complete the

left-side of an anticipation
guide (Beers, 77-79) for
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick
You Ass. This involved them
reading statements and
marking whether or not they
agree with them. These are
the statements for Yaqui
Delgado:
1. Sometimes people should
keep secrets for others, even
if those secrets hurt them.
2. Adults should always
answer the questions of
young adults in full.
3. Students who are being
bullied should tell an adult.
4. Most official rules exist for
good reasons.

After being show a list of

unwritten rules from
Sherman Alexies
Absolutely True Diary of a
Part-Time Indian, students
will compile a list of
unwritten rules in Piddys
life (Gallagher, 2011, p. 7577) This activity will
continue throughout the
unit.

Conventions and
Presentation:
Students will share
their explanations
of the Self-portrait
with Cropped Hair
drawings with
their tablemates
and they will
workshop each
others paragraphs
for grammatical
conventions,
keeping in mind
that convention is
meant to clarify
understanding for
a reader
(something
introduced in an
earlier unit). At the
end of the class,
those paragraphs
will be corrected
and when they
come to class next,
students will
receive feedback

MSSE 470E Unit Plan Overview

Self-Portrait
with Cropped
Hair Frida
Kahlo (1943)

L#3
Topic

EQ1
EQ2
U1
K1
K3
SG1
SG2
SOL 8.5c
SOL 8.5d
SOL 8.7b
SOL 8.7d

Yaqui Delgado
Wants to Kick
Your Ass
Meg Medina
(2014)

Students will follow the

guidelines for Gallaghers
First-Fourth draft reading
activity (143-146).

Students will use a Semantic

Differential Scale (Beers, 2003,
141) to rate various traits
among characters that has been
introduced thus far. For
example:
Mami
Friendly

Authoritative

Piddy

Students will use their

reading activity (Gallagher,
143-146) to answer the
question, What does SelfPortrait with Cropped Hair
say? What is Frida Kahlos
purpose behind her
painting? What is her
claim?
-thenStudents will draw their
own self-portraits that
show how they defy the
expectations of others. To
accompany this drawing,
they will write a 5 sentence
explanation of their artistic
choices based off a model
by the instructor.
Continued List of Rules
Activity
-andA Whos to Blame? Activity
in which students will answer
one of these three questions:
Whos to blame for
Piddy and Mamas need
to move?
Whos to blame for
Piddys loneliness?
Whos to blame for
Yaquis hatred of Piddy?

on their
grammatical
conventions from
me, their
instructor.

Ideas:
Students will
review the idea
trait by taking time
after they write
their initial
statement to revise
with the following
questions in mind:
Will it grab
the readers
attention?
Is the main
idea clear?

MSSE 470E Unit Plan Overview

SOL 8.8a
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.8.9

Obedient

CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.8.2

Disobedient

Lila
Responsible

Irresponsible

This will encourage students to

consider the traits and
motivations of the texts
characters which will assist
them in their writing activity,
which will ask them to find
characters at fault.

and create flow charts that

will display the aftermath
of their choosen guilty
partys actions in order to
defend their selection. They
will use these flowcharts as
guidance when they write a
one minute statement to
the class explaining who
the guilty party is.

(Gallagher, 152-3)

Do you
display that
you know
and
understand
your topic?
Will this
statement
make your
reader think
and
remember?
Are the
details strong
enough to
make a
picture in the
readers
mind?

Before students
read their
finalized
statements aloud,
they will pair up.
As they read their
statement, their
new partner, who
has not hear the
statement before,
will rate it using
the student guide
for ideas. These

MSSE 470E Unit Plan Overview

ratings will later
be compared to
that of the
teacher to help
the writer better
understand their
areas of strength
and weakness
and to help the
assessor better
understand the
rating process so
they may
continue to give
feedback to their
own writing.
L#4
Topic

EQ1
EQ3
U2
U3
K1
K3
SG1
SG2
SG3
SOL 8.5d
SOL 8.7g
SOL 8.7h
SOL 8.9d
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.8.2

Yaqui Delgado
Wants to Kick
Your Ass
Meg Medina
(2014)
-andThe New
Etiquette: Real
Manners for
Real People in
Real SituationsAn A-to-Z Guide
Marjabelle
Young Steward
(1987)

Prior to reading The New

Etiquette, students will engage
in Beers Tea Party strategy (9498), in which students will be
given lines and phrases from
The New Etiquette on notecards
and will then share the
information from their
notecards with rapidly changing
pairs of peers while speculating
on all of the information theyve
acquired. This will get them
thinking about the purpose and
contents of the text before they
even begin to read it.

Word Choice:
Students will look
at sample
sentences from
Keeping in mind The New
Yaqui Delgado and
The New Ettiquette
Ettiquette as a model and
using their continued List to examine their
of Rules activity as a draft, word choice.
students will write and type Certain words will
three entries for a decorum be singled out and
synonyms for those
encyclopedia using
words will be
conventions from Piddys
offered to the class.
life.
The class will have
(Gallagher, 2011, p. 27-29) a discussion about
why the authors
chose the words
they chose over the
Continued List of Rules
Activity
-and-

MSSE 470E Unit Plan Overview

L#5
Topic

EQ 1
EQ2
EQ3
U1
U2
U3
K1
K3
SG2
SG6
SOL 8.5c
SOL 8.7b
SOL 8.7d
SOL 8.7e
SOL 8.8a

Yaqui Delgado
Wants to Kick
Your Ass
Meg Medina
(2014)

CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.8.9
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.8.2

Cheerleader

displayed
synonyms.
Students will then
revise their entries
with a focus on
word choice.
Sentence Fluency:
Continued List of Rules
To assess the
Students will complete the
Activity
sentence fluency of
right, post-reading side of
-andtheir Gallagher
their previously started
Students will repeat
Why to _____
anticipation guides (Beers,
Gallaghers Why do _____
Behave this Way?
77-79) for Yaqui Delgado
Behave this Way? activity
activity, students
Wants to Kick You Ass. This
(165-167), but this time, they will pause every
involves students reading
will choose a convention that three minutes of
statements and marking
was changed by Piddy in
writing and have
whether or not they agree
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick
what they have
with them. These are the
Your Ass to fill in the blank. So, written read to
statements for Yaqui
a sample question for them to them by their
craft may be Why does Mrs. D partner. Hearing
Delgado:
begin to ask students
their words read
permission
before
displaying
aloud will help
5. Sometimes people should
their
work
publically?
writers answer the
keep secrets for others, even
following questions
if those secrets hurt them.
(which will be
6. Adults should always
displayed on the
answer the questions of
board) for
young adults in full.
themselves and
help them revise:
7. Students who are being
Is it easy to
bullied should tell an adult.
read in a way
8. Most official rules exist for
that displays
good reasons.
the voice?
Is the reader
Students will make a
able to find the
Students will write a poem

MSSE 470E Unit Plan Overview

St. Vincent
(2012)

Somebody Wanted But So

chart (Beers, 144-152) chart for
St. Vincents song Cheerleader,
in order to reflect on the
narrative behind her song.

that mirrors St.Vincents

cheerleader, answering the
following questions: What
do you not want to be

anymore? Who or what is

pressuring you to be that?
In other words, after
considering the way that
Piddy walked away from
the cruel conventions that

were set forth for her,

students will use
Cheerleader as a model to
describe a convention,
tradition, or habit that they
consistently engage with

and fanaticize about

abandoning it.

rhythm that
you hoped to
create?
Is there
sentence
structure
variety or does
it sound
repetitive?
Do elements
like fragments
and repetition
add emphasis
or show
clumsiness?
Do the
sentences make
the meaning
clear?

Discussion of how MEDIA influences text selection, students interaction with text, and the writing process in this unit:
While the hands of technology are throwing teachers countless opportunities to expand student knowledge and understanding
while also preparing them for a world that requires technological literacy, it was important for me to consider that not all classrooms
have daily or consistent access to electronic devices or the internet. As an education student, Im unsure of the level of te chnological
advancement my future classroom(s) may have. With that in mind, I aimed to make this unit flexible. Most of the readings and

MSSE 470E Unit Plan Overview

activities could be found or adapted to incorporate the internet, but at the same time, those that are set for use along with technology
can be reverted into activities that depend only on paper and pencil. For example, the lesson one activity that uses padlet, an online
resource that requires each student have an internet-compatible device, could be adapted so that rather than type responses onto
padlet, students write their thoughts on the board as they come to mind. Likewise, the research require d in lesson one after students
read The Asch Experiment could be done via books from the library or the web. Additionally, this unit strives to make use of a
diverse assortment of media, including novel, song, poem, non-fiction article, painting, and childrens book. The way that students will
interact with paintings, for example, will differ if I have the opportunity to project the image in front of the class versus handing out
paper copies of the painting. As for the writing process, editing and reviewing each others work, for example, would be tidier if it
were able to be done electronically. However, if that is not an option, paper and pencil will do just fine.