SYRACUSE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

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Revised: 5/10/2014
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SYRACUSE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Middle School Summer Slide Unit
Standards: 6-8RL.1, Rl.2, RL.6, SL., W.1
Unit Description:
In this unit, students will:

read critically to analyze social issues, and how they influence characters and perspective

leverage group discussion to revise and strengthen ideas about text

create plans for summer reading growth
Unit notes for teachers:

Students will choose one of (at least) two text options and will then form smaller book clubs (about 4 students).

Each session will begin with a short minilesson, in which the teacher will model a reading or discussion skill.

Teachers will reference familiar texts from past units when modeling minilesson strategies.

On independent reading days, students will read in their selected texts after the minilesson, practicing the focus reading skill(s).

On book club days, students will meet in their book clubs after the minilesson, practicing the focus discussion skills.
Implementation Dates: May 27 – June 20
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Reading Habits Unit Plan
Spiraled Reading Standards:
RL.1, RL.2, RL.6
Spiraled Reading Standards
SL.1
Embedded Writing Standards:
W.1
6 grade
Texts to Use for Student Book Clubs
7 grade
8 grade
Miracle’s Boys
Baseball in April
Mississippi Trial: 1955
Red Scarf Girl
Stuck in Neutral
Am I Blue?
th
th
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Familiar Texts to Use in Minilessons (teacher models with text students have previously read)
th
Select a short text from a previous 6 grade
fiction unit
th
Select a short text from a previous 7 grade
fiction unit
th
Select a short text from a previous 8 grade
fiction unit
Additional short stories:
Fly Away Home or Your Move by Eve Bunting
“Priscilla and the Wimps” by Richard Peck
“Inside Out” or other stories from The Circuit
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Big Ideas
Essential Questions
Social issues are issues that affect groups of people, not just one
character (fitting in, poverty, bullying, racism, etc.)
How can we be alert to social issues in our texts & use them as springboards for
Social issues come from unfair treatment and power inequalities
rich discussions and deepened understanding?
(NOT personal obstacles due to personal or specific circumstances)
By reading, we can watch characters dealing with social issues and we
can learn to deal with those issues (and other issues) from books
The stories we read come to us through the perspectives of major and
minor characters, through an author’s craft, and through our own lenses
that we bring to any story we read.
Readers consider how different authors and stories bring different
perspectives on the same issues
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Vocabulary
Social issue
Group identity
Perspective
Standard/
Outcome
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives for
Whole Class Instruction)
~15 minutes
Day 1: Readers prepare to read
through the lens of social issues by
thinking about what groups we
belong to and how those groups
shape who we are and how we think.
(Explain identities – race, religion,
gender, sexuality, family, disability,
age, etc.; model starting your own
sheet and have students complete
Group Identity sheets. Example list of
group identities: girl, teenager, black,
straight, etc.)
Readers will analyze the
social issues and themes
within a text.
RL.1, RL.2
Day 2: At the start of a book, readers
work hard to get to know characters.
One way to understand our
characters better is by studying a
character’s desires. Here’s how: When
we find a character longing for or
wanting something, we ask, “Why
does ___ desire this? What does this
reveal about his/her traits? His/her
values?” We try to build up this
theory as we read, collecting details
on post-its or in our notebooks to
support our thinking.
(Using familiar text or one of student
book club texts, model analyzing
character wants and traits)
3
Anchor Charts
Questions for Critical Readers (see Day 6)
*See bottom of unit plan for additional anchor chart ideas
Independent Practice/
Book Clubs
(What Students Do After the
Whole Class Instruction)
~20 minutes
Checks for
Understanding
Students select texts/form club
groups and begin reading*.
Collect Group
*Throughout the unit, students
Identity sheets
needing more support may want to
read in partnerships during the
independent reading time*
Students read texts
independently, writing about
characters’ desires and traits as
they read.
Character post-its
Lesson Closings
~5 minutes
1-2 students share
group identities and
how those impact
the way they see the
world
Review qualities of
strong post-its – a
thought vs.
something the
author explicitly says
Standard/
Outcome
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives for
Whole Class Instruction)
~15 minutes
Readers will collaborate
with one another in a book
club by building on others’
ideas and expressing their
own ideas clearly.
SL.1
Day 3: Book clubs facilitate strong
conversation by first selecting a
strong post-it to bring to the club.
Today we’ll discuss characters, so
we’ll choose our best character Postit to bring to the club and then use
“Play Your Post-it” to begin the
conversation.
(Model what makes a post-it
discussion-worthy, model having
strong conversation about a familiar
text. See Play Your Post-it anchor
chart)
Readers will analyze the
social issues and themes
within a text.
RL.2, RL.1
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Independent Practice/
Book Clubs
(What Students Do After the
Whole Class Instruction)
~20 minutes
Checks for
Understanding
Share out reflections
on the first book
club meeting. What
went well? What
could be better?
Book Club Day!
Students meet in book clubs and
discuss what they’ve read so far
Day 4: When readers notice
characters dealing with a problem, we
think deeply about the problem,
asking: Is this problem bigger than
the character itself? Is this a problem
that whole groups of people face?
Does it have to do unfair treatment?
If we can answer yes to these
questions, we know we have found
a social issue. Readers analyze
characters’ responses to these issues.
(Using familiar text, model analyzing
problem and uncovering social
issue(s))
Students read independently and
annotate
Day 5: When reading through a
social issues lens, readers are always
on the lookout for stereotypes. Here’s
one way to do this: We think about
Students read independently and
annotate
Lesson Closings
~5 minutes
Exit Slip:
What are possible
social issues in your
text?
Give Exit Slips
Select one issue.
How is the main
character dealing
with this struggle?
Exit Slip:
Does the author’s
portrayal of
characters in your
Give Exit Slips
Standard/
Outcome
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives for
Whole Class Instruction)
~15 minutes
Page 5
Independent Practice/
Book Clubs
(What Students Do After the
Whole Class Instruction)
~20 minutes
the social groups the book depicts,
and ask, “What stereotypes are
associated with these groups?” Then
we consider how these groups are
depicted in our book, asking, “Does
the author’s portrayal of these groups
fit with or break the stereotype? What
does this reveal about what the
author is trying to say about ____ in
this story?” We jot/annotate our
thinking.
Checks for
Understanding
Lesson Closings
~5 minutes
book fit or break
with the stereotype?
(Model strategy)
Readers will collaborate
with one another in a book
club by building on others’
ideas and expressing their
own ideas clearly.
SL.1
Day 6: Book clubs use critical
reading prompts to enrich our
discussions. Questions readers might
ask when they read critically…
 Who or what has power in the
story? How is that power shown?
 What seems fair in the story?
What seems unfair? Why?
 What are the rules around being
a girl or boy for this character?
 What pressures does the
character face? How does he/she
respond?
 Whose voices or perspectives are
heard in this story? Why might
this be so?
 Whose voices or perspectives are
not heard in this story? Why
might this be so?
 What do the main characters
Book Club Day!
Students meet in book clubs
Exit Slip:
Select one of the
critical reading
questions and
answer it.
Give Exit Slips
Standard/
Outcome
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives for
Whole Class Instruction)
~15 minutes
Page 6
Independent Practice/
Book Clubs
(What Students Do After the
Whole Class Instruction)
~20 minutes
Checks for
Understanding
Lesson Closings
~5 minutes
believe to be true about life?
Why?
 What does the author want me to
feel when reading this text? Why
do I think so?
(Using these questions, facilitate short
whole-class conversation on familiar
text)
Readers will be able
to analyze the role of
perspective in a fiction text
by investigating how a
particular point-of-view (or
different points-of-view)
impact or deepen our
understanding of character,
plot events, and theme.
RL.6
Day 7: Readers know that authors are
intentional in their choice of narrator,
and that the point of view through
which a story is told shapes and molds
the way we experience a text. In fact,
the author’s choice of POV is often a
window into the characters. We ask,
“From whose POV is this scene/story
Students read independently
told? Why would the author have
chosen THIS particular POV instead of
another? What is the author trying to
show us/reveal about ___(character) in
this scene/story?” We write long in our
notebooks, supporting our thinking
with evidence from the text.
(Model analyzing POV)
Day 8: Book club members can discuss
ideas of perspective. Ask and discuss:
How might the author’s message be
different if it was told from ____’s
Book Club Day!
perspective? Why? How would this
Students meet in book clubs
alternate perspective add to our
understanding of the character, story or
issue?
(Model discussing this lens in familiar
Exit Slip:
From whose POV is
your story told? Why
did the author make
this choice?
Give Exit Slips
Reflect on clubs and
the social aspects of
reading. What are
the benefits of book
clubs? Why do you
think so many adults
choose to be part of
them?
Standard/
Outcome
Readers plan for successful
summer reading habits.
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives for
Whole Class Instruction)
~15 minutes
Page 7
Independent Practice/
Book Clubs
(What Students Do After the
Whole Class Instruction)
~20 minutes
Checks for
Understanding
Lesson Closings
~5 minutes
text)
Day 9: Readers use our interest in
social issues to plan ahead for summer
reading. Think: Which issues speak to
me? What kind of struggles am I drawn
to? Use book lists (see: Social Issues
In these final class periods, students can:
Book List) to locate titles and form a
- Use book lists to locate titles of interest
summer book club.
- Visit school library or local library to check them out
- Create summer book club groups and decide on ways to connect (inDay 10: Readers hold each other
person meeting, text, social media)
accountable. We share our plans and
- Set goals for number of books read
support one another. We can:
- Read independently
- start a text message group and
send out weekly reminders
- plan book club meetings
- form a Facebook group and
post thoughts
- ??
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For more information and resources: http://tworeflectiveteachers.blogspot.com/2013/03/social-issues-book-club-unit.html