MYPNA TE G07 U1 Web

UNIT 1 AT A GLANCE
Pacing /
Contents Genre / Lexile Vocabulary / Word Study
# of Days
Unit Introduction Academic Vocabulary (L.7.6)
INTRO
2* Nonfiction Narrative
Launch Text: Grounded
640L
Whole-Class Learning Introduction
Novel Excerpt Concept Vocabulary
Two Kinds 5
870L Word Study: Latin Prefix in- (L.7.4, b)
WHOLE-CLASS
Amy Tan
LEARNING
A Simple Act News Blog Concept Vocabulary

4
COMPARE
Tyler Jackson 930L Word Study: Multiple-Meaning Words (L.7.4)
from An Invisible Thread Memoir Concept Vocabulary
4
Laura Schroff and Alex Tresnioski 890L Word Study: Latin Suffix: -ity (L.7.4, b)
Performance Task
3
Writing
Small-Group Learning Introduction
Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks 3 News Article Concept Vocabulary (L.7.4, a)
SMALL-GROUP LEARNING
Jennifer Ludden 1020L Word Study: Suffix -ment (L.7.4, c)
from Mom & Me & Mom Memoir Concept Vocabulary (L.7.4)

2
COMPARE
Maya Angelou 610L Word Study: Latin Prefix: super- (L.7.4.b, d)

Learning to Love My Mother Media: Video
2 Media Vocabulary (L.7.6)
Maya Angelou with Michael Maher NP
Mother-Daughter Drawings Media: Image Gallery
3 Media Vocabulary (L.7.6)
Mica and Myla Hendricks NP
Mother to Son • To James Poetry Concept Vocabulary (L.7.4.a)
2
Langston Hughes • Frank Horne NP; NP Word Study: Connotations and Denotations (L.7.5.c)
Performance Task
3
Speaking and Listening
Independent Learning Introduction
Lineage • Family Poetry
Margaret Walker • Grace Paley NP; NP
INDEPENDENT LEARNING
“Gotcha Day” Isn’t a Cause for Celebration Opinion Piece

Sophie Johnson 1090L
The Grandfather and His Little Grandson Short Story

Leo Tolstoy 2 870L Independent Learning provides students with the opportunity
to analyze a selection independently. To facilitate students’
Bridging the Generational Divide Between a Blog Post independence, no skills have been assigned.
Football Father and a Soccer Son • John McCormick 1120L
Water Names Short Story

Lan Samantha Chang 900L
An Hour With Abuelo Short Story

Judith Ortiz Cofer 840L
END OF UNIT
Performance-Based Assessment Writing

2
Unit Reflection
Unit Test 1
* Pacing is suggested for a 40- to 50-minute class period. If you use block scheduling, you may combine days to meet your schedule needs.
NP: Nonprose selection
2A UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS
GENERATIONS
Conventions / Author’s Composition / Research /

Analyze Craft and Structure
Style Speaking and Listening
Summary (RI.7.2)
Character and Point of View (RL.7.1; Conventions: Nouns and Writing to Sources: Retelling a Scene (W.7.3, a, b, d)
RL.7.6) Pronouns (L.7.2) Speaking and Listening: Monologue (SL.7.4)
Author’s Point of View (RI.7.1; RI.7.6) Conventions: Adverbs (L.7.1)

Writing to Compare: Explanatory Essay (RI.7.9; W.7.2, b, c; W.7.9;
L.7.2)
Narrative Point of View (RI.7.6) Conventions: Adjectives (L.7.2, a)
Write a Nonfiction Narrative (W.7.3, a–e; W.7.4; W.7.5; W.7.10)
Development of Central Ideas (RI.7.1; Conventions: Conjunctions (L.7.1; Speaking and Listening: Multimedia Presentation
RI.7.2) L.7.3, a) (SL.7.1, b–d; SL.7.4; SL.7.5; W.7.7)
Conventions: Independent and

Characterization (RI.7.1; RI.7.3)
Dependent Clauses (L.7.1, a) Writing to Compare: Comparison-and-Contrast Essay (RI.7.7; W.7.2,
a–c; W.7.6; W.7.9.b)
Speaking and Listening: Multimedia Slideshow

(SL.7.1, a; SL.7.5)
Figurative Language: Symbolism Author’s Style: Rhythm and
Writing to Sources: Narrative Poem (W.7.3, a, b, d; W.7.5; W.7.9.a)
(RL.7.1; RL.7.2; RL.7.4) Repetition (RL.7.4; L.7.5)
Present a Nonfiction Narrative (SL.7.1, a–b; SL.7.2; SL.7.4; SL.7.6)
Independent Learning provides students with the opportunity to analyze

a selection independently. To facilitate students’ independence, no skills Share Your Independent Learning (SL.7.1)
have been assigned.
Writing to Sources: Nonfiction Narrative (W.7.3; W.7.9; W.7.10)

Speaking and Listening: Multimedia Presentation (SL.7.4; SL.7.5)
Reflect on the Unit
UNIT 1 • AT A GLANCE 2B
INTRODUCTION UNIT
1
Generations
Jump Start
Engage students in discussion based on the
following questions:
“What have you learned from people who
are more than 20 years older than you? Were
these lessons valuable? In 20 years, will you be Young people often learn from
teaching a teenager the same things? Why or
why not?”
older people, but sometimes it
Have students write three things they have works the other way around.
learned from someone 20 years older than
themselves. Then poll the class to determine the
three most popular lessons learned. Discuss how
relevant these lessons will be 20 years
from now.
Generations
Ask students what the word generations suggests
to them. Point out that as they work through this
unit, they will read many examples about how
people of different generations interact and learn
from one another.
Video
Project the introduction video in class or ask
students to open the video in their interactive
textbooks.
Copyright © SAVVAS Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Discuss It If you want to make this a digital
activity, go online and navigate to the Discussion
Board. Alternatively, students can share their
responses in a class discussion.
Block Scheduling
Each day in this Pacing Plan represents a Discuss It What are some examples of things that
40–50 minute class period. Teachers using one generation can learn from another?
block scheduling may combine days to reflect Write your response before sharing your ideas.
their class schedule. In addition, teachers may
revise pacing to differentiate and support core
instruction by integrating components and
resources as students require.
Grizzly Bear Teaches Her Cubs
2
Pacing Plan
Introduce
Whole-Class
LIT22_SE07_U01_UOP.indd 2 18/03/21 12:21 PM
Learning
from An Invisible
Unit Introduction Two Kinds A Simple Act Thread Performance Task
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
2 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS
Digital
perspectives Audio Video Document Annotation EL Online
Highlights Highlights Assessment
UNIT 1
UNIT INTRODUCTION
LaUNcH TeXT
NoNfIcTIoN
What can one generation learn
eSSeNTIaL
What can one generation learn NarraTIve ModeL
from another?
Grounded
QUeSTIoN:
from another? Introduce the Essential Question and point out
that students will respond to related prompts.
WHOLE-CLASS SMALL-GROUP INDEPENDENT • Whole-Class Learning What unexpected
LEARNING LEARNING LEARNING event shows how a person can influence
NOVEL EXCERPT NEWS ARTICLE POETRY COLLECTION 2 someone from another generation?
Two Kinds Tutors Teach Seniors Lineage
from The Joy Luck Club New High-Tech Tricks Margaret Walker
• Small-Group Learning What new knowledge
Amy Tan Jennifer Ludden or skills can you learn from someone of a
Family different generation?
 MEDIA CONNECTION: Grace Paley
Cyber-Seniors
• Performance-Based Assessment In what
NEWS BLOG OPINION PIECE
“Gotcha Day” Isn’t a
situations can one generation learn from
A Simple Act MEMOIR
Tyler Jackson Mom & Me
from Cause for Celebration another?
& Mom Sophie Johnson

Maya Angelou
Using Trade Books
coMpare
coMpare
MEMOIR SHORT STORY Refer to the Teaching with Trade Books

fromAn Invisible MEDIA: VIDEO The Grandfather and section for suggestions on how to incorporate
Thread Learning to Love His Little Grandson the following thematically related titles into
Laura Schroff and Alex My Mother Leo Tolstoy
Tresniowski
Maya Angelou with
this unit:
Michael Maher
 MEDIA CONNECTION:
Maurice’s Toast • Stand Tall by Joan Bauer
BLOG POST
MEDIA: IMAGE GALLERY Bridging the
• Fair Weather by Richard Peck
Mother-Daughter Generational • Ribbons by Laurence Yep
Drawings Divide Between a
Mica and Myla Hendricks Football Father and a
Soccer Son
John McCormick
SHORT STORY
POETRY COLLECTION 1
Mother to Son
Water Names
Lan Samantha Chang
Current Perspectives
Langston Hughes To increase student engagement, search
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
To James online for stories about how people of

Frank Horne
SHORT STORY
different generations learn from one another.
An Hour With Abuelo Always preview content before sharing it with
Judith Ortiz Cofer your class.
• News Story: "Why Should We Listen
to Old People? A Very Good Question"
PERFORMANCE TASK PERFORMANCE TASK PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT PREP (Huffington Post) We can learn valuable
WrITINg focUS: SpeakINg aNd LISTeNINg focUS: Review Evidence for a lessons from our elders.
Write a Nonfiction Narrative Present a Nonfiction Narrative Nonfiction Narrative
• Video: "Bridging the Years . . . Teens
PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT and Seniors Mix It Up!" (PBS) Teens
Narration: Nonfiction Narrative and Multimedia Presentation and seniors come together to talk and
create art.
proMpT: In what situations can one generation learn
from another?
Introduce Introduce
LIT17_SE07_U01_UOP.indd 3 Small-Group 13/04/16 4:52 PM Independent Learning
Learning
Learning
Performance-Based
to Love Performance Task Assessment
Tutors Teach Seniors My Mother
New High-Tech from Mom & Mother-Daughter • Mother to Son Independent
Tricks Me & Mom Drawings • To James Learning
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Unit Introduction 3
INTRODUCTION UNIT
1 INTRODUCTION
Unit Goals
About the Unit Goals Throughout this unit you will deepen your perspective about different
These unit goals were backward designed generations by reading, writing, speaking, listening, and presenting.
from the Performance-Based Assessment at These goals will help you succeed on the Unit Performance-Based
the end of the unit and the Whole-Class and Assessment.
Small-Group Performance Tasks. Students will Rate how well you meet these goals right now. You will revisit your
practice and become proficient in many more ratings later when you reflect on your growth during this unit.
standards over the course of this unit. 1 2 3 4 5
SCALE
Unit Goals NOT AT ALL
WELL
NOT VERY
WELL
SOMEWHAT
WELL
VERY
WELL
EXTREMELY
WELL
Review the goals with students and explain that
as they read and discuss the selections in this unit, READING GOALS 1 2 3 4 5
they will improve their skills in reading, writing,
research, language, and speaking and listening. • Read and analyze how authors express
point of view in nonfiction narrative.
• Have students watch the video on Goal Setting.
• A video on this topic is available online in the • Expand your knowledge and use of
Professional Development Center. academic and concept vocabulary.
Reading Goals Tell students they will read and
evaluate nonfiction narratives. They will also read WRITING AND RESEARCH GOALS 1 2 3 4 5
a variety of genres to better understand the ways
writers express ideas. • Write a nonfiction narrative in which
you develop experiences or events
Writing and Research Goals Tell students that
using effective technique.
they will learn elements of nonfiction narrative
writing. They will write their own nonfiction • Conduct research projects of various
narrative. They will also write for a variety of lengths to explore a topic and clarify
reasons, including organizing and sharing ideas. meaning.
They will conduct research to explore ideas.
Language Goal Tell students that they will LANGUAGE GOAL 1 2 3 4 5
develop a deeper understanding of voice, or
• Develop your voice, or style of writing,

style of writing, with word choice and sentence with word choice and sentence
structure to convey meaning and add variety to structure to convey meaning and add
their writing. variety and interest to your writing and
Speaking and Listening Goals Explain to presentations.
students that they will work together to build SPEAKING AND LISTENING
on one another’s ideas, develop consensus, and GOALS 1 2 3 4 5
communicate with one another. They will also • Collaborate with your team to build on
learn to incorporate audio, visuals, and text in the ideas of others, develop consensus,
 STANDARDS
presentations. Language and communicate.
Acquire and use accurately grade-
appropriate general academic and
HOME Connection domain-specific words and phrases; • Integrate audio, visuals, and text in
gather vocabulary knowledge presentations.
when considering a word or phrase
A Home Connection letter to students’ parents important to comprehension or
or guardians is available in myPerspectives+. The expression.
letter explains what students will be learning in
this unit and how they will be assessed. 4 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS
AUTHOR’S PERSPECTIVE Ernest Morrell, Ph.D.

LIT22_SE07_U01_UOP.indd 4 18/03/21 12:21 PM
Why Goal Setting Matters Establishing goals they most want to learn from the unit. Guide • Set a Time Frame: Have students include a
helps students take responsibility for their own students to set specific, realistic goals, such as realistic schedule for completion, using the
learning and become independent scholars and “learn and correctly use five new concept length of the selections in Unit 1 as a guide. As
thinkers. One way to encourage students to set, words from the unit.” necessary, have students break large goals into
follow, and achieve goals is to have them write their • Write the Goals Down: Have students draft the smaller ones to make the goal more likely to be
goals down. Students can use the following process goals in clear, precise language. Students should completed.
for crafting well-defined and measurable goals: also include a way to measure results so they can When students take more responsibility for their
• Decide What You Want: Have students skim assess their progress. learning, they may learn to rely more on themselves
the Unit 1 Table of Contents and decide what and take more interest in their success.
essential question: What can one generation learn from another?
Academic Vocabulary: Nonfiction Narrative Academic Vocabulary:

Understanding and using academic terms can help you read, write, and
speak with precision and clarity. Here are five academic words that will be
Nonfiction Narrative
useful in this unit as you analyze and write narrative texts. Introduce the blue academic vocabulary words in
the chart on the student page. Point out that the
Complete the chart.
root of each word provides a clue to its meaning.
1. Review each word, its root, and the mentor sentences. Discuss the mentor sentences to ensure students
understand each word’s usage. Students should
2. Use the information and your own knowledge to predict the meaning FOLLOW THROUGH
of each word. also use the mentor sentences as context to help
Study the words in this
them predict the meaning of each word. Check
3. For each word, list at least two related words. chart, and mark them or
their forms wherever they that students are able to fill in the chart correctly.
4. Refer to the dictionary or other resources if needed. appear in the unit. Complete pronunciations, parts of speech, and
definitions are provided for you. Students are only
expected to provide the definitions.
WORD SENTENCES PREDICT MEANING RELATED WORDS
dialogue 1. The television show was known monologue; Possible responses:

for its well-written dialogue dialogue n. (DY uh lawg)
logical
ROOT: between characters. Meaning: conversation
-log- 2. The confusion between Dina
Related words: dialogues
“word” and Janet started a dialogue Additional words related to the root -log-:
that cleared the air. prologue, monologue, logical
consequence n. (KON suh kwehns)
consequence 1. A consequence of oversleeping
is being late for school.
Meaning: the effect or result
Related words: consequences, consequential
ROOT: 2. Earning an A on my math test Additional words related to the root -sequ-:
-sequ- was a positive consequence of sequence, sequel
“follow” studying all week.
perspective n. (pur SPEHK tihv)
Meaning: a particular way of looking at something;
perspective 1. It’s important to keep a point of view
perspective when facing a Related words: perspectives, perspectively
ROOT: challenging situation. Additional words related to the root -spec-:
-spec- 2. The personal essay was written speculate, spectacle, respect, retrospective
“look” from the author’s perspective. notable adj. (NOH tuh buhl)
notable 1. Every notable person in the city Meaning: outstanding; remarkable

was invited to the mayor’s fund- Additional words related to the root -not-:
ROOT: raising gala. notary, annotation, connotation, denotation
-not- 2. It had been a long week, and contradict v. (kon truh DIHKT)
“mark” nothing particularly notable had Meaning: to state the contrary or opposite; to deny
happened. Related words: contradicted, contradictory
Additional words related to the root -dic-:
contradict 1. The facts of the case remain
dictate, verdict, diction
unclear because the witnesses’
ROOT: statements contradict each
-dict- other.
“speak” or 2. The new test results contradict
“assert” what we once thought to be
true about the product.
Unit Introduction 5
LIT17_SE07_U01_UOP.indd 5
Personalize for Learning 4/13/16 4:06 PM
English Language Support

Cognates Many of the academic vocabulary words have Spanish
cognates. Use these cognates with students whose home language is
Spanish. ALL LEVELS
notable—notable dialogue—diálogo
perspective—perspectiva consequence—consecuencia
Unit Introduction 5
INTRODUCTION UNIT
1 INTRODUCTION
Purpose of the Launch Text LAUNCH TEXT | NONFICTION NARRATIVE MODEL
The Launch Text provides students with This selection is an example of nonfiction
a common starting point to address the narrative text, a type of writing in which
unit topic. After reading the Launch Text, an author explores an experience using
all students will be able to participate in descriptive details and events. This is the
type of writing you will develop in the
discussions about generations.
Performance-Based Assessment at the
Lexile: 640 The easier reading level of end of the unit.
this selection makes it perfect to assign for As you read, look at the way the
homework. Students will need little or no writer of the selection tells about
support to understand it. a real experience she had with her
Additionally, “Grounded” provides a writing grandmother. How did she feel about
Grounded
model for the Performance-Based Assessment it at the time? As you read, look at the
way the writer creates a picture of her
students will complete at the end of the unit.
experience. Mark the text to help you
answer this question: How did the author
feel, and how does she show that to the
Launch Text: Nonfiction reader?
Narrative Model
Remind students to determine the main idea
of the nonfiction narrative and how the author
conveys that idea.
1
G rowing up I really didn’t know my grandmother. She was

a private person, and didn’t talk about her past much, but I
know she had one. She once told me that before she got married
Have students pay attention to how the
narrator and her grandmother communicate with she was a backup singer in a band that I had actually heard of. But
each other. How does the narrator relate to her that’s all she would say about it, no matter how often I prodded.
grandmother’s situation? Students should note 2 “El pasado es el pasado,” she told me. The past is the past.
that the narrator feels her parents are “in the 3 To me, she talked in Spanish. I talked back in English. We
middle, dragging us toward the center, where we understood each other.
did not want to be.” Have students think about 4 The thing I remember most about Grandma Sofia was how
the scene where the grandmother stops the car. much she loved driving, especially since she came to live with
us. She had a 1960s red Chevy Impala convertible that was all her

What kind of communication occurs then?
Encourage students to read this text on their own, a remnant of her band days. She loved driving with the top
own and annotate unfamiliar words and sections down, the radio blasting, singing at the top of her lungs when a
of text they think are particularly important. good song came on. Driving was her independence, her freedom.
5 My parents, however, were concerned that she was getting too
AUDIO SUMMARIES old to drive around by herself. One night, I overheard them:
Audio summaries of “Grounded” are available 6 “She’s okay for now, but how long before she can’t manage?”
online in both English and Spanish in the 7 “I’ll speak to her tomorrow.”
Interactive Teacher’s Edition or Unit Resources. 8 I felt sick at the thought of Grandma giving up her car. I knew
Assigning these summaries before students read what driving meant to her. I knew that without her wheels she’d feel
the Launch Text may help them build additional ordinary—just another grandma, hovering and wise.
background knowledge and set a context for 9 Sometimes it felt like Grandma and I were on the sidelines
their reading. and my parents were in the middle, dragging us toward the
center, where we did not want to be. I was often grounded for the
smallest things. I didn’t really mind, under normal circumstances.
CROSS-CURRICULAR PERSPECTIVES
LIT22_SE07_U01_LT.indd 6 18/03/21 12:23 PM
Music Ask students to think about the music for “Grounded.” Encourage them to be prepared
they hear in movies. Discuss how music is used to justify their choices by pointing out the
to set a tone or create a mood. Then ask them to changing moods of the narrative and how their
propose music that could be used as background music choices support each mood.
10 One time—the time I’m writing about—circumstances were not

normal. My parents had grounded me for the weekend of Luisa’s notes Word Network for
party, easily the social event of the season. No way was I going to Generations
miss it. But my parents weren’t even going to be home! They were
Tell students that they can fill in the Word
going to my Aunt Leticia’s. It would just be me and Grandma. Me
Network as they read the texts in the unit, or they
and Grandma and a 1966 red Chevy Impala convertible . . .
can jot down the words elsewhere and add them
11 Saturday night arrived and I was itching to go to the party, so
later. Point out to students that people may have
I did the unthinkable: I asked Grandma to drive me to Luisa’s. I
personal associations with some words. A word
figured she didn’t know about me being grounded. She looked at
that one student thinks is related to the concept
me quizzically and said she would. I got dressed and ran out to
of generations might not be a word another
the car. She was waiting for me. I got in.
student would pick. However, students should
12 The sky was just beginning to darken, blue clouds against a
feel free to add any relevant words to their Word
darker blue sky. Soon it would be nighttime. Grandma looked a
Network. Each person’s Word Network will be
little uncomfortable. At first I thought it was because she knew
unique. If you choose to print the Word Network,
about me being grounded. But then I wondered if maybe she
distribute it to students at this point so they can
didn’t want to drive at night and didn’t want to tell me.
use it throughout the rest of the unit.
13 At that moment I wouldn’t have minded getting out and going
back home. I felt bad about Grandma. I felt bad about disobeying
my parents. But how could I say any of this?
14 We took off. She drove slowly, maybe too slowly. But we didn’t
get very far. Suddenly she pulled over and stopped the car.
15 We must have been sitting in that car for five minutes, which
is a long time if you’re sitting in a car not talking. I couldn’t ask
her if she stopped because she was nervous about driving. And I
couldn’t ask if she stopped because she knew I was grounded.
16 Finally she turned to me. “Regresamos?” Shall we turn back?
17 “Sure,” I replied. I was so relieved I could have cried.
18 “Bueno,” she said, with a nod. She started the car and turned
on the radio. It was a song we both knew by heart. But it was clear
that Grandma and I could still learn a lot from each other. ❧
 WORD NETWORK fOR GENERATIONS

Vocabulary A Word Network

is a collection of words related
to a topic. As you read the
selections in this unit, identify concerned
interesting words related
to the idea of generations
and add them to your Word disobeying GENERATIONS
Network. For example, you
might begin by adding words
independence
from the Launch Text, such as
concerned, disobeying, and
independence. Continue to add
words as you complete this unit.
Tool Kit Word Network Model
Grounded 7
LIT17_SE07_U01_LT.indd 7 AUTHOR’S PERSPECTIVE Elfrieda Hiebert, Ph.D. 4/13/16 3:59 PM
Generative Vocabulary Rare words words work—morphologically and Although some “generations” words
are the words that typically account for conceptually—when encountering new may be unfamiliar to students, the concept
only 10 percent of all the words in a text, words. Building off a big idea like this of connections over time among relatives
compared with more common vocabulary unit’s generations, words can be taught or people of different age groups should
words that students know better. as networks of ideas rather than as single, be familiar to them. Word networks help
Generative vocabulary strategies can help unrelated but grade-appropriate words. students build vocabulary by showing
students build their rare vocabulary. Studying words in conceptual groupings them that a wide variety of words can
Generative refers to the way enables students to learn more words relate to one concept.
students can apply knowledge of how while reading.
Grounded 7
INTRODUCTION UNIT
1 INTRODUCTION
Summary Summary
Write a summary of “Grounded.” A summary is a concise, complete,
Have students read the introductory paragraph.
and accurate overview of a text. It should not include a statement of your
Provide them with tips for writing a summary: opinion or an analysis.
• Write in the present tense.
• Make sure to include the title of the work.
• Be concise: a summary should not be equal in
length to the original text. Possible response: The narrative “Grounded” focuses on the narrator’s
• If you need to quote the words of the author, relationship with her grandmother. The grandmother used to sing in a band
use quotation marks. and likes to drive her red convertible and sing, a throwback to her youth.
• Don’t put your own opinions, ideas, or However, the narrator’s parents are concerned that it is no longer safe for
interpretations into the summary. The purpose Grandma to keep driving at her age. The narrator worries about this because
of writing a summary is to accurately represent she knows how much driving means to her grandmother. She feels a parallel
what the author says, not to provide a critique. between herself and her grandmother, wanting to go their own ways but being
See possible summary on the student page. dragged back by her parents. Finally, she tells the suspenseful story of a time
she was grounded but tried to get around it by having her grandmother drive
Launch Activity her to a party.
Explain to students that as they work on this
unit, they will have many opportunities to
discuss the topic of generations. Point out that
everybody has unique relationships with people
in older generations. Each of these relationships
comes with different kinds—or levels—of
communication. Then have students put
themselves in the shoes of a person from an older
generation. How does the communication with a
younger person look from that perspective?
Launch Activity
Conduct a Discussion Consider this statement: Senior citizens can

learn a lot from younger people. Decide your position, and rate your
response using this scale.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
Discuss your ratings with classmates and then participate in a whole-class

discussion:
• Give examples from stories you have heard or read in which seniors
learn from younger people.
• Exchange ideas and comments about the examples that were
discussed.
• As a class, come to consensus about the statement.
LIT17_SE07_U01_LT.indd 8 16-03-16 4:51 PM
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What can one generation learn from another?
QuickWrite QuickWrite
Consider class discussions, the video, and the launch text as you think
In this QuickWrite, students should present
about the prompt. Record your first thoughts here.
their own answer to the question based on the
PROMPT: In what situations can one generation learn from material in the Unit Opener. This initial response
another? will help inform their work when they complete
the Performance-Based Assessment at the end of
the unit. Students should make sure they provide
a good example and support it with accurate
Possible response: In “Grounded,” the narrator and her grandmother learn details.
from each other even though they are from different generations. Grandma See possible QuickWrite on the student page.
Sofia seems to teach the narrator an important lesson about her parents: They
have her best interests in mind, so they must have grounded her for a reason. Evidence Log for
Likewise, Grandma Sofia learns from the narrator. If the narrator is grounded Generations
for good reason, her parents’ reluctance to allow Grandma Sofia to drive is
Students should record their initial thinking in
likely rooted in concern for her well-being.
their Evidence Logs. Then, they should record
The text shows that people shouldn’t judge each other based on age. If evidence from “Grounded” that supports their
we keep an open mind, we can learn—regardless of age. What’s important is initial thinking.
to not get caught up in the belief that we can’t learn anything from older or If you choose to print the Evidence Log,
younger people. distribute it to students at this point so they can
use it throughout the rest of the unit.
Performance-Based Assessment:
Refining Your Thinking
• Have students watch the video on Refining
Your Thinking.
• A video on this topic is available online in
the Professional Development Center.
 EVIDENCE LOG FOR GENERATIONS

Review your QuickWrite.
Title of Text: Date:
Summarize your initial position
in one sentence to record in CONNECTION TO PROMPT TEXT EVIDENCE/DETAILS ADDITIONAL NOTES/IDEAS
your Evidence Log. Then, record

evidence from “Grounded” that
supports your initial position.
After each selection you will
continue to use your Evidence
Log to record the evidence you How does this text change or add to my thinking? Date:
gather and the connections you
make.
Tool Kit
Evidence Log Model
Unit Introduction 9
LIT22_SE07_U01_LT.indd 9 WriteNow Express and Reflect 18/03/21 12:23 PM
Description The narrator’s description of appearance. Point out that in “Grounded,” the
Grandma Sofia makes their relationship come narrator’s description of her grandmother’s love
alive. Have students write a one-page description of driving and singing, her type of car, and her
of someone close to them, reflecting on what history as a backup singer in a band reveal a lot
that person means to them. Remind students to about her personality.
include details about their friend or relative that
reveal the person’s personality, not just his or her
Grounded 9
OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW: WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING
WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
What can one generation learn What can one generation learn
from another? from another?
Engage students in a conversation about how The famous Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi said, “Learn as if you were to live
people from different generations can learn forever.” You are always learning, from peers as well as from teachers, parents,
from one another. Point out that older people and relatives. You will work with your whole class to explore ways in which
can teach younger people how to do certain generations can learn from each other.
things. Young people can also teach older people
how to think about matters from a different
perspective. For example, a teenager might give
Whole-Class Learning Strategies
her grandfather a fresh insight on the benefits of Throughout your life, in school, in your community, and in your career, you will
recycling and reusing materials. During Whole- continue to learn and work in large-group environments.
Class Learning, students will read three selections Review these strategies and the actions you can take to practice them as you
about how people of different generations learn work with your whole class. Add ideas of your own to each step. Get ready to
from one another. use these strategies during Whole-Class Learning.
Whole-Class Learning
Strategies
STRATEGY ACTION PLAN
Review the Learning Strategies with students and
explain that as they work through Whole-Class Listen actively • Eliminate distractions. For example, put your cell phone away.
Learning they will develop strategies to work in • Keep your eyes on the speaker.
large-group environments. •
• Have students watch the video on Whole-Class
Learning Strategies.
Clarify by asking • If you’re confused, other people probably are, too. Ask a question
• A video on this topic is available online in the questions to help your whole class.
Professional Development Center.
• If you see that you are guessing, ask a question instead.
You may wish to discuss some action items
to add to the chart as a class before students •
complete it on their own. For example, for “Listen

actively,” you might solicit the following actions
from students: Monitor • Notice what information you already know and be ready to build on it.
understanding • A sk for help if you are struggling.
• If you don’t understand someone’s point, ask
for further clarification. •
• Take notes to help you retain information.
Block Scheduling
Each day in this Pacing Plan represents a Interact and • Share your ideas and answer questions, even if you are unsure.
40–50 minute class period. Teachers using share ideas • Build on the ideas of others by adding details or making a connection.
block scheduling may combine days to reflect
their class schedule. In addition, teachers may •
Pacing Plan
Introduce
Whole-Class
LIT22_SE07_U01_A_WCO.indd 10 18/03/21 12:27 PM
Learning
Unit Introduction Two Kinds A Simple Act from An Invisible Thread Performance Task
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
WHOLE-CLASS
WHOLE-CLASS
LEARNING
LEARNING
CONTENTS
ANCHOR TEXT: NOVEL EXCERPT
Contents
Two Kinds Anchor Texts Preview the anchor texts with
from The Joy Luck Club students to generate interest. Encourage students
Amy Tan to discuss other texts they have read or movies
A daughter feels stifled by her mother’s or television shows they have seen that deal with
high expectations. the issues of how people of different generations
influence and learn from one another.
You might wish to conduct a poll to determine
which selection students think looks most
interesting and discuss the reasons for their
preference. Students can return to this poll
after they have read the selections to see if their
ANCHOR TEXT: NEWS BLOG
preference changed.
A Simple Act
Tyler Jackson Performance Task
Write a Nonfiction Narrative Explain to
A chance encounter changes two people’s
lives forever. students that after they have finished reading the
selections, they will write a nonfiction narrative
about the influence someone from a different
generation has had on them or someone they
know. To help them prepare, encourage students
to think about the topic as they progress through
COMPARE TEXTS
the selections and as they participate in the

Whole-Class Learning experience.
ANCHOR TEXT: MEMOIR
from An Invisible Thread

Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski
Two friends celebrate an unlikely bond.

 MEDIA CONNECTION: Maurice’s Toast
PERFORMANCE TASK
WRITING FOCUS
Write a Nonfiction Narrative
The Whole-Class readings illustrate the influence of one generation on another.
After reading, you will write a nonfiction narrative about an event in which a person
from one generation influenced a person from a different generation.
Overview: Whole-Class Learning 11
Introduce Introduce
Small-Group Independent Learning
LIT17_SE07_U01_A_WCO.indd 11 4/13/16 4:08 PM
Learning Learning
to Love Performance Performance-Based
My Mother Task Assessment
Tutors Teach
Seniors New from Mom & Mother-Daughter • Mother to Son Independent
High-Tech Tricks Me & Mom Drawings • To James Learning
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Whole-Class Learning 11
PLANNING WHOLE- CL ASS LEARNING • T wo Kinds
Two Kinds
Audio summaries Summary
Audio summaries of “Two
Kinds” are available online in In Amy Tan’s excerpt, “Two Kinds,” nine-year-old Jing-mei faces pressure to be great
both English and Spanish in the from her immigrant mother. Mrs. Woo watches child “geniuses” perform feats that
Interactive Teacher’s Edition or make them famous. She wants Jing-mei to become famous, too. At first Jing-mei
Unit Resources. Assigning these shares her mother’s hopes, but soon she realizes she may never be the talented child
summaries prior to reading the of her mother’s dreams. She begins to resent her mother’s efforts. However, when
selection may help students Mrs. Woo watches a Chinese child pianist on television, she thinks she has found
build additional background the perfect activity for Jing-mei. As the story continues, Jing-mei and her mother
knowledge and set a context for
both learn to understand each other’s point of view.
their first read.
Insight
The differences between generations are often a source of tension. Reading “Two Kinds”
will help students see that when members of the older generation project all of their
hopes and dreams onto the younger generation, the pressure to live up to those dreams
can be too much. Often, the younger generation must reject the ways of the older
generation before they can claim their own identity.
Essential question:
What can one Connection to Essential Question
generation learn from “Two Kinds” will help students answer the Essential Question—What can one
another? generation learn from another?—through the realization that Jing-mei has at the
end of the story. As a child, Jing-mei does not want to learn anything from her
mother. She rejects all of Mrs. Woo’s plans and expectations for who Jing-mei
should be and asserts her independence from Mrs. Woo in the most hurtful
way she can. As an adult, however, Jing-mei discovers that the song she played
at the talent show, “Pleading Child,” has a companion piece titled “Perfectly
Contented.” The pairing of these titles represents Jing-mei’s rejection of her
mother’s dreams for her and her eventual understanding that her mother’s lessons
in obedience were meant to give Jing-mei a better life than she had.
whole-class learning
Performance Task Connection to Performance Tasks
What unexpected event Whole-Class Learning Performance Task In this Performance Task, students will
shows how a person can write personal narratives about the way someone from a different generation
influence someone from has influenced them or someone they know. Students will have the opportunity
a different generation? to compare their own experiences with the relationship in “Two Kinds,” which
shows how a mother with ambition tries to teach her daughter about obedience.
Unit Performance-Based
Assessment Unit Performance-Based Assessment This selection provides students with
In what situations can one examples of lessons shared between a mother and daughter; lessons that are
generation learn from learned the hard way. For the most part, the bits of wisdom that Mrs. Woo shares
another? with Jing-mei are delivered during their arguments, when she yells that there are
only obedient daughters and willful daughters. The lessons Jing-mei learns come
later, when she can reflect on her relationship with her mother.
12A UNIT 1 • Generations

DIGITAL
PERSPECTIVES Audio Video Document Annotation Online
Highlights Assessment
LESSON RESOURCES
Making Meaning Language Development Effective Expression

Lesson First Read Concept Vocabulary Writing to Sources
Close Read Word Study Speaking and Listening
Analyze the Text Conventions
Instructional RL.7.10 By the end of the year, read L.7.4 Determine or clarify the meaning W.7.3 Write narratives . . .
Standards and comprehend literature . . . of unknown and multiple-meaning
W.7.3.a Engage and orient the
words . . .
RL.7.1 Cite several pieces of textual reader . . .
evidence to support . . . L.7.4.b Use common, grade-
W.7.3.b Use narrative techniques . . .
appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and
RL.7.6 Analyze how an author
roots as clues . . . W.7.3.d Use precise words and
develops and contrasts the points of
phrases . . .
view . . . L.7.2 Demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English . . . SL.7.4 Present claims and
findings . . .
STUDENT RESOURCES
Available online in the
Selection Audio Word Network Evidence Log
Interactive Student
Edition or Unit Resources First-Read Guide: Fiction
Close-Read Guide: Fiction
TEACHER RESOURCES
Selection Resources udio Summaries: English and
A oncept Vocabulary and
C riting to Sources: Retelling a
W
Available online in the Spanish Word Study Scene
Interactive Teacher’s
Edition or Unit Resources Annotation Highlights Conventions: Nouns and Pronouns S peaking and Listening:
Monologue
Accessible Leveled Text
First Read Extension Questions
nalyze Craft and Structure:
A
Character and Point of View
Reteach/Practice (RP)
Analyze Craft and Structure: Word Study: Latin Prefix in- (RP) riting to Sources: Retelling a
W
Character and Point of View (RP) Scene (RP)
Interactive Teacher’s onventions: Nouns and
C
Edition or Unit Resources Pronouns (RP) S peaking and Listening:
Monologue (RP)
Assessment
Selection Test: English
Available online in
Assessments Selection Test: Spanish
Extension Selection Test
My Resources A Unit 1 Answer Key is available online and in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition
Whole-Class Learning 12B

personalize for learning Whole- Cl ass learning • T wo Kinds
Reading Support
Text Complexity Rubric: Two Kinds
Quantitative Measures
Lexile: 870 Text Length: 4,592 words
Qualitative Measures
Knowledge Demands The Chinese immigrant experience may be unfamiliar to most students. The concept of a
1 2 3 4 5 child prodigy is central, as are the pressures or high expectations for talent and success.
References are made to Shirley Temple.
Structure Narrative is mostly told in sequence, but spans many years. Some background information/
1 2 3 4 5 history told by narrator is mixed with events in story. Use of dialogue helps to break up
narrative.
Language Conventionality and Clarity Intentional grammatical errors are used for mother’s speech to show that she is learning
1 2 3 4 5 English. Daughter’s speech is correct English; some figurative language and above level
vocabulary is used.
Levels of Meaning/Purpose At times meaning needs to be inferred from the way characters speak to one another or
1 2 3 4 5 from their actions. Some metaphorical ideas used, especially in ending.
Decide and Plan
English Language Support Strategic Support Challenge

Provide English Learners with support for Provide students with strategic support to Provide students who need to be challenged
knowledge demands and language as they ensure that they can successfully read with ideas for how they can go beyond a
read the selection. the text. simple interpretation of the text.
Knowledge Demands Display the words Knowledge Demands Determine Text Analysis Pair students. Ask them
prodigy, genius, talent, and expectations. students‘ understanding of the term child to discuss the metaphorical meaning of
Talk about the meaning of each word. Ask prodigy. Before students read, discuss what the final sentence. Prompt by asking How
students to find and read the sentences a child prodigy is and what pressures could do the two parts of music reflect the
containing those words. Ask students to come with trying to have a special talent. character’s experience? Ask each pair to
practice using these words in their own At different points in the reading, draw write a response together and then present
sentences. attention to ideas related to the concept of it to the class.
Language Ask students to write some of high expectations; for example, I would soon Written Response Ask students to write
the sentences that the mother says. Discuss become perfect (paragraph 10). their thoughts on what the mother in
phrases that need correction, for example, Meaning As students read, pause to ask the story could have done to motivate
you can be prodigy; because you not trying. about the characters’ words, thoughts, or her daughter without creating so much
Ask students if they can correct the phrases. behaviors and what they indicate about pressure. Ask them to give their ideas
Use the sentences to discuss correct use how the characters feel. For example, first about what parents and teachers can do
of the articles a and the: (You can be a Jing-mei is excited and imagines a ballerina to prevent stress and pressure while still
prodigy) and verbs (you’re not trying). or Cinderella. Later she is impatient and motivating students to do their best.
frustrated (paragraph 9).
TEACH
Read and Respond

Have the class do their first read of the selection. Then have them complete the close read. Finally,
work with them on the Making Meaning, Language Development, and Effective Expression activities.
12C UNIT 1 • Generations

Standards Support Through Teaching and Learning Cycle
identify needs
Analyze results of the Beginning-
of-Year Assessment, focusing on
the items relating to Unit 1. Also DECIDE AND PLAN
take into consideration student
• If students have performed poorly on items matching these standards, then provide selection
performance to this point and
scaffolds before assigning them the on-level lesson provided in the Student Edition.
your observations of where
particular students struggle. • If students have done well on the Beginning-of-Year Assessment, then challenge them to
keep progressing and learning by giving them opportunities to practice the skills in depth.
• Use the Selection Resources listed on the Planning pages for “Two Kinds” to help students
continually improve their ability to master the standards.
Instructional Standards: Two Kinds

Catching Up This Year Looking Forward
Reading You may wish to administer the RL.6 Analyze how an author Ask students to find a sentence
analyze and revise Analyze Craft and Structure: develops and contrasts the or passage from the story that
Character and Point of points of view of different shows how moments of humor
• Analyze student work for View (RP) worksheet to help characters or narrators in a text. are connected to the thoughts,
students understand that the feelings and personality of the
evidence of student learning. thoughts and feelings of a narrator from whose point of
• Identify whether or not narrator influence how the view the story is told.
students have met the reader experiences the story
events.
expectations in the standards.
Writing You may wish to administer the W.3.b Use narrative Encourage students to write
• Identify implications for future Writing to Sources: Retelling a letter that the narrator’s
techniques, such as dialogue,
instruction. a Scene (RP) worksheet to pacing, and description, to mother would have written to
help students understand develop experiences, events, a friend about her daughter.
how to convey character traits and/or characters. In the letter, have the mother
through what a character says, convey events, in order, and
does, thinks, or feels. use dialogue and description
to convey her experience of
her daughter’s personality and
abilities.
Speaking You may wish to administer SL.4 Present claims and Challenge students to imagine
and the Speaking and Listening: findings, emphasizing salient that they are giving an award
teach Listening Monologue (RP) worksheet points in a focused, coherent to Amy Tan for her story.
to help students understand manner with pertinent Orally, have students effectively
Implement the planned lesson, how to orally present a claim descriptions, facts, details, and present a claim that supports
and gather evidence of student effectively through its delivery, examples; use appropriate eye the reasons for their choice.
learning. clarity, and strong points. contact, adequate volume, and
clear pronunciation.
Language You may wish to administer L.4.b Use common, grade- Have students identify two or
the Word Study: Latin Prefix appropriate Greek or Latin three words in the selection
in- (RP) worksheet to help affixes and roots as clues to the that include a prefix. One word
students understand that meaning of a word. may include the prefix in-, but
knowing the meaning of the students should also select a
prefix in- contributes to the word with a different prefix.
overall meaning of the word, as Students should use a print or
in the word indignity. online dictionary to learn the
meaning of each prefix, the
base word, and the meaning of
each full word they studied.
Whole-Class Learning 12D

Teaching MAKING MEANING
About the Author Two Kinds

Jump Start Concept Vocabulary
You will encounter the following words as you read “Two Kinds.”
First Read Prior to students’ first read,
ask them to talk about parents or guardians Before reading, note how familiar you are with each word. Then, rank
the words in order from most familiar (1) to least familiar (6).
and what they wish for their children. What
happens when children disagree with the If her mother had gotten
dreams that their parents or guardians have WORD YOUR RANKING
her way, Amy Tan
for them? Help students make connections (b. 1952) would have two lamented
between the text and their own experiences. professions—doctor and
concert pianist. Although indignity
Tan showed early promise
in music, at 37 she became reproach
Two Kinds a successful fiction writer
instead. Tan has written discordant
Who is the narrator? How does her story connect many books—most
to the concept of generations? How does for adults, and some squabbling
the expectation of being a prodigy affect her for children. Writing is
relationship with her mother? Modeling questions sometimes tough, Tan devastated
such as these will help students connect to “Two admits, but she keeps
this in mind: “A story After completing your first read, come back to the concept vocabulary
Kinds” and to the Performance Task assignment.
should be a gift.” That and review your rankings. Mark changes to your original rankings as
Selection audio and print capability for the thought propels Tan to
selection are available in the Interactive Teacher’s needed.
keep creating memorable
Edition. characters and events.
Concept Vocabulary First Read FICTION

Tool Kit Apply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have
Support students as they rank the words. Ask if First-Read Guide
an opportunity to complete the close-read notes after your first read.
they’ve ever heard, read, or used them. Reassure and Model Annotation
them that the definitions for these words are
listed in the selection.
NOTICE whom the story ANNOTATE by marking
First Read is about, what happens, vocabulary and key passages
where and when it happens, you want to revisit.

and why those involved react
As they read, students should perform the steps
as they do.
of the first read:
NOTICE: Encourage students to notice who the
narrator is and what events develop the conflict CONNECT ideas within RESPOND by completing
of the narrative. the selection to what you the Comprehension Check and
already know and what you by writing a storyboard of the
ANNOTATE: Remind students to mark key have already read. selection.
passages, such as the ones that illuminate the
 STANDARDS
rising tension between the narrator and her Reading Literature
mother. Students may want to revisit these By the end of the year, read and
comprehend literature, including
passages in their close read. stories, dramas, and poems, in the
grades 6–8 text complexity band
CONNECT: Encourage students to go beyond proficiently, with scaffolding as
the text to think about how the text connects needed at the high end of the range.
with their own experiences. What would they do
if they were pressured to follow someone else’s 12 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS
dream?
RESPOND: Students will answer questions and
write a summary to demonstrate understanding.
LIT17_SE07_U01_A1_WC.indd 12 16-04-14 12:07 AM
Point out to students that while they will always

complete the Respond step at the end of the
first read, the other steps will probably happen
somewhat concurrently. You may wish to print
copies of the First-Read Guide: Fiction for
students to use.
Remind students that during their first
read, they should not answer the close-read
questions that appear in the selection.
ANCHOR TEXT | NOVEL EXCERPT
CLOSER LOOK
Analyze Character
Students may have marked paragraphs 1–3
during their first read. Use these paragraphs
to help students understand the mother’s
character. Encourage them to talk about the
annotations that they marked. You may want
to model a close read with the class based on
the highlights shown in the text.
Two Kinds ANNOTATE: Have students mark details

in these paragraphs that suggest how
the mother’s past experiences might have
influenced her feelings about life in America,
from The Joy Luck Club or have students participate while you
highlight them.
Amy Tan QUESTION: Guide students to consider what
these details might tell them. Ask what a
reader can infer from what was annotated,
and accept student responses.
Possible response: The mother has come to
BACKGROUND America after experiencing great personal loss in
In 1949, following years of civil war, the Communist Party seized control China. It seems that these losses may have fueled
of China. A number of Chinese who feared Communists—like the
grand expectations for her and her daughter.
mother in “Two Kinds”—fled to the United States. Many lost everything CONCLUDE: Help students to formulate
except their hopes for a better future. They placed these hopes on the conclusions about the importance of these
shoulders of their children born in the new land. details in the text. Ask students why the
author might have included these details
1
M y mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be

NOTES Possible response: The mother has developed
in America. You could open a restaurant. You could work some irrational beliefs and unproven
for the government and get good retirement. You could buy a expectations about her daughter’s potential. By
house with almost no money down. You could become rich. You adding these details, the author sets the scene
could become instantly famous. for disappointment, and for conflict between
2 “Of course, you can be prodigy,1 too,” my mother told me when mother and daughter.
I was nine. “You can be best anything. What does Auntie Lindo Remind students that the characters in a
know? Her daughter, she is only best tricky.” short story are the people who are involved
3 America was where all my mother’s hopes lay. She had come
in the action. Their beliefs, statements, and
here in 1949 after losing everything in China: her mother and
actions can set up the conflict, or problem in
father, her family home, her first husband, and two daughters,
the story.
twin baby girls. But she never looked back with regret. There were
so many ways for things to get better.
* * *
1. prodigy (PROD uh jee) n. child of unusually high talent.
Two Kinds 13
AUTHOR'S PERSPECTIVE Kelly Gallagher, M.Ed.

LIT22_SE07_U01_A1_WC.indd 13 18/03/21 12:28 PM
Teacher as the Best Reader in the Class are confused. The Annotate Question Conclude have them complete this sentence starter: “I don’t
Rather than being the wizard behind the curtain, feature and the Teacher’s Edition support the understand…” Then, as a class, work to resolve
use modeling to do the work of reading in front importance of this work. the issues. Use these additional sentence starters:
of students. When students see that even good • Marking the text. If students say they don’t I noticed…; I wonder…; I think…; I’m surprised
readers wrestle with difficult text, they gain understand, have them use a yellow highlighter that…; I realized…; I’m not sure…
confidence. Use these methods: (or sticky notes) for parts they understand and a It is also important for students to know that
• Using think-alouds. Choose a passage from this pink highlighter for those they don’t. applying tools like these doesn’t always work:
unit and model read-alouds/think-alouds to show • Using sentence starters. To identify where sometimes, readers decide to live with ambiguity.
students what effective readers do when they students are having comprehension problems,
Teaching
4 We didn’t immediately pick the right kind of prodigy. At first
NOTES my mother thought I could be a Chinese Shirley Temple.2 We’d
CLOSE READ
watch Shirley’s old movies on TV as though they were training
CLOSE READ
Remind students to focus on the italicized words films. My mother would poke my arm and say, “Ni kan”—You
ANNOTATE: Mark
as they read paragraphs 4 and 5. Explain that the italicized words in
watch. And I would see Shirley tapping her feet, or singing a
authors use italics for different reasons, including paragraphs 4 and 5. sailor song, or pursing her lips into a very round O while saying,
to add emphasis or to indicate a non-English “Oh my goodness.”
QUESTION: What is
word. You may wish to model the Close Read 5 “Ni kan,” said my mother as Shirley’s eyes flooded with tears.
different or unusual about
using the following think-aloud format. Possible these words? “You already know how. Don’t need talent for crying!”
responses to questions on the student page are 6 Soon after my mother got this idea about Shirley Temple, she
CONCLUDE: What effect
included. You may also want to print copies of took me to a beauty training school in the Mission district and put
is created by the author’s
the Close-Read Guide: Fiction for students to use of these words?
me in the hands of a student who could barely hold the scissors
use. without shaking. Instead of getting big fat curls, I emerged with
an uneven mass of crinkly black fuzz. My mother dragged me off
ANNOTATE: As I read paragraphs 4 and 5, I to the bathroom and tried to wet down my hair.
notice and mark the word that appears in italics. lamented (luh MEHNT ihd) v. 7 “You look like Negro Chinese,” she lamented, as if I had done
expressed regret this on purpose.
QUESTION: Ni kan is a Chinese term, which
the narrator’s mother uses several times when 8 The instructor of the beauty training school had to lop off these
she wants her daughter to pay attention to soggy clumps to make my hair even again. “Peter Pan is very
something. popular these days,” the instructor assured my mother. I now had
hair the length of a boy’s, with straight-across bangs that hung at
CONCLUDE: The author’s decision to include a slant two inches above my eyebrows. I liked the haircut and it
the Chinese term creates tension. The narrator’s made me actually look forward to my future fame.
mother is putting a lot of pressure on her 9 In fact, in the beginning, I was just as excited as my mother,
daughter to succeed as an American by having maybe even more so. I pictured this prodigy part of me as many
her act like someone whom she thinks epitomizes different images, trying each one on for size. I was a dainty
what it means to be American: Shirley Temple. ballerina girl standing by the curtains, waiting to hear the right
The fact that the mother’s urging is in Chinese is music that would send me floating on my tiptoes. I was like
significant because it reminds readers that she is the Christ child lifted out of the straw manger, crying with holy
a Chinese immigrant—one who wants to achieve indignity (ihn DIHG nuh tee) n. indignity. I was Cinderella stepping from her pumpkin carriage
success in America through her daughter. feeling that one has been with sparkly cartoon music filling the air.
disrespected
10 In all of my imaginings, I was filled with a sense that I would soon
become perfect. My mother and father would adore me. I would be

reproach (rih PROHCH) n. beyond reproach. I would never feel the need to sulk for anything.
criticism or disapproval 11 But sometimes the prodigy in me became impatient. “If you
don’t hurry up and get me out of here, I’m disappearing for
good,” it warned. “And then you’ll always be nothing.”
* * *
12 Every night after dinner, my mother and I would sit at the

Formica kitchen table. She would present new tests, taking her
examples from stories of amazing children that she read in Ripley’s
Believe It or Not, or Good Housekeeping, Reader’s Digest, and a dozen
2. Shirley Temple American child star of the 1930s. She starred in her first movie at age
three and won an Academy Award at age six.
LIT17_SE07_U01_A1_WC.indd 14
PERSONALIZE FOR LEARNING 4/13/16 4:13 PM
Strategic Support
Prodigies For students to understand paragraphs 4–11, they
will need to know the word prodigy and what it represents. Have
students look the word up in a dictionary and research modern or
historical prodigies. Lead a class discussion about these prodigies,
encouraging students to draw conclusions about the phenomenon.
What experiences do prodigies have in common? What challenges
do they face?
other magazines she kept in a pile in our bathroom. My mother
got these magazines from people whose houses she cleaned. NOTES
CLOSE READ
And since she cleaned many houses each week, we had a great
assortment. She would look through them all, searching for stories Remind students to focus on words and phrases
about remarkable children. that indicate the narrator’s feelings. You may
13 The first night she brought out a story about a three-year-old wish to model the Close Read of paragraphs 18
boy who knew the capitals of all the states and even most of the and 19 using the following think-aloud format.
European countries. A teacher was quoted as saying the little boy Possible responses to questions on the student
could also pronounce the names of the foreign cities correctly. page are included.
14 “What’s the capital of Finland?” My mother asked me, looking
ANNOTATE: As I read paragraphs 18 and 19, I
at the magazine story.
notice and mark words and phrases that indicate
15 All I knew was the capital of California, because Sacramento
was the name of the street we lived on in Chinatown. “Nairobi!”
the narrator’s feelings. I look for descriptions of
I guessed, saying the most foreign word I could think of. She
how the narrator views herself or how her recent
checked to see if that was possibly one way to pronounce
experiences make her feel.
“Helsinki” before showing me the answer. QUESTION: The author may have chosen to
16 The tests got harder—multiplying numbers in my head, finding reveal the contrasting emotions so that readers
the queen of hearts in a deck of cards, trying to stand on my head understand the narrator better. In paragraph
without using my hands, predicting the daily temperatures in Los 18, the narrator still believes she has let her
Angeles, New York, and London. mother down—despite the fact that her mother’s
17 One night I had to look at a page from the Bible for three expectations are impossibly high. In paragraph
minutes and then report everything I could remember. “Now 19, the narrator is seeing a new side of herself—
Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance and . . . that’s all I and her self-confidence is growing.
remember, Ma,” I said.
18 And after seeing my mother’s disappointed face once again, CLOSE READ
CONCLUDE: The choice to include the shifting
something inside of me began to die. I hated the tests, the raised ANNOTATE: Mark words emotions allows the reader to understand that
hopes and failed expectations. Before going to bed that night, I or phrases in paragraphs the narrator has undergone a change and is
looked in the mirror above the bathroom sink and when I saw 18 and 19 that reveal the maturing as an individual. The narrator begins to
narrator’s feelings. believe in herself and is defiant—she’s no longer
only my face staring back—and that it would always be this
ordinary face—I began to cry. Such a sad, ugly girl! I made high- QUESTION: Why might the person who will try so hard to please her
pitched noises like a crazed animal, trying to scratch out the face the author have chosen mother.
to reveal the contrasting
in the mirror.
emotions of the narrator?
19 And then I saw what seemed to be the prodigy side of
me—because I had never seen that face before. I looked at my CONCLUDE: What effect
reflection, blinking so I could see more clearly. The girl staring does this choice have on
the reader?
back at me was angry, powerful. This girl and I were the same. I
had new thoughts, willful thoughts, or rather thoughts filled with
lots of won’ts. I won’t let her change me, I promised myself. I
won’t be what I’m not.
20 So now on nights when my mother presented her tests, I
performed listlessly, my head propped on one arm. I pretended to
be bored. And I was. I got so bored I started counting the bellows
of the foghorns out on the bay while my mother drilled me in
other areas. The sound was comforting and reminded me of the
cow jumping over the moon. And the next day, I played a game
with myself, seeing if my mother would give up on me before
Two Kinds 15
LIT17_SE07_U01_A1_WC.indd 15 WriteNow Express and Reflect 16-03-16 5:04 PM
Interior Monologue In paragraphs 18 and 19, the narrator’s

interaction with her reflection in the mirror creates a vivid picture
of conflicting parts of her personality. Have students write a short
interior monologue that illustrates how different parts of a person’s
personality can be in conflict. The monologue can be about
themselves or invented characters. Encourage them to write details
that reveal the conflict rather than explain it. Then have students
reflect on how such interior conflicts make us who we are.
Teaching
eight bellows. After a while I usually counted only one, maybe

NOTES two bellows at most. At last she was beginning to give up hope.
21 Two or three months had gone by without any mention of
my being a prodigy again. And then one day my mother was
watching The Ed Sullivan Show3 on TV. The TV was old and the
sound kept shorting out. Every time my mother got halfway up
from the sofa to adjust the set, the sound would go back on and
Ed would be talking. As soon as she sat down, Ed would go silent
again. She got up, the TV broke into loud piano music. She sat

down. Silence. Up and down, back and forth, quiet and loud. It
was like a stiff embraceless dance between her and the TV set.
Finally, she stood by the set with her hand on the sound dial.
22 She seemed entranced by the music, a little frenzied piano piece
with this mesmerizing quality, sort of quick passages and then
teasing lilting ones before it returned to the quick playful parts.
23 “Ni kan,” my mother said, calling me over with hurried hand
gestures. “Look here.”
24 I could see why my mother was fascinated by the music. It was
being pounded out by a little Chinese girl, about nine years old,
with a Peter Pan haircut. The girl had the sauciness of a Shirley
Temple. She was proudly modest like a proper Chinese child. And
3. The Ed Sullivan Show popular television variety show that ran from 1948 to 1971.
Digital perspectives
Enriching the Text The 1993 feature film them with the written text. How do the movie
The Joy Luck Club contains scenes based on scenes add to students’ understanding of the
this excerpt from the novel. After students narrative? Preview all videos before showing
complete their close read, show these clips them in class. (Research to Clarify)
from the movie and have students compare
she also did this fancy sweep of a curtsy, so that the fluffy skirt
of her white dress cascaded slowly to the floor like the petals of a NOTES
CLOSE READ
large carnation.
25 In spite of these warning signs, I wasn’t worried. Our family Remind students that the punctuation of
had no piano and we couldn’t afford to buy one, let alone reams sentences in dialogue tells us something about
of sheet music and piano lessons. So I could be generous in my how the words are spoken. You may wish to
comments when my mother bad-mouthed the little girl on TV. model the close read of paragraphs 32 and 33
26 “Play note right, but doesn’t sound good! No singing sound,” using the following think-aloud format. Possible
complained my mother. responses to questions on the student page are
27 “What are you picking on her for?” I said carelessly. “She’s included.
pretty good. Maybe she’s not the best, but she’s trying hard.” I
ANNOTATE: As I read paragraphs 32 and 33,
knew almost immediately that I would be sorry I said that.
“Just like you,” she said. “Not the best. Because you not trying.”
I notice and mark punctuation that tells me
28
She gave a little huff as she let go of the sound dial and sat down
something about how the narrator and her
on the sofa.
mother are communicating.
29 The little Chinese girl sat down also to play an encore of QUESTION: Exclamation points are used by
“Anitra’s Dance” by Grieg.4 I remember the song, because later on authors to suggest strong emotion. The tone of
I had to learn how to play it. the conversation is therefore emotional, heated,
30 Three days after watching The Ed Sullivan Show, my mother and tense.
told me what my schedule would be for piano lessons and piano
practice. She had talked to Mr. Chong, who lived on the first floor CONCLUDE: The punctuation in these
of our apartment building. Mr. Chong was a retired piano teacher paragraphs underscores the divide between the
and my mother had traded housecleaning services for weekly strong-willed mother and her equally strong-
lessons and a piano for me to practice on every day, two hours a willed daughter. Both are firmly set in their beliefs
day, from four until six. and positions, and they are emotional about
31 When my mother told me this, I felt as though I had been sent them to the point of shouting.
to hell. I whined and then kicked my foot a little when I couldn’t
stand it anymore.
32 “Why don’t you like me the way I am? I’m not a genius! I can’t CLOSE READ
play the piano. And even if I could, I wouldn’t go on TV if you ANNOTATE: Mark the
paid me a million dollars!” I cried. punctuation in paragraphs
33 My mother slapped me. “Who ask you be genius?” she shouted. 32 and 33 that reveals
how the mother and
“Only ask you be your best. For you sake. You think I want you be
daughter communicate.
genius? Hnnh! What for! Who ask you!”

34 “So ungrateful,” I heard her mutter in Chinese, “If she had as QUESTION: What does
the punctuation suggest
much talent as she has temper, she would be famous now.”
about the tone of the
35 Mr. Chong, whom I secretly nicknamed Old Chong, was very conversation?
strange, always tapping his fingers to the silent music of an
invisible orchestra. He looked ancient in my eyes. He had lost CONCLUDE: How does
the punctuation in these
most of the hair on top of his head and he wore thick glasses and
paragraphs help you to
had eyes that always looked tired and sleepy. But he must have better understand the
been younger than I thought, since he lived with his mother and conflict between the
was not yet married. mother and the daughter?
36 I met Old Lady Chong once and that was enough. She had this
peculiar smell like a baby that had done something in its pants.
4. Grieg (greeg) Edvard Grieg (1843–1907), Norwegian composer.
Two Kinds 17
LIT17_SE07_U01_A1_WC.indd 17 16-03-16 5:04 PM
Teaching
And her fingers felt like a dead person’s, like an old peach I once
NOTES found in the back of the refrigerator; the skin just slid off the meat
when I picked it up.
37 I soon found out why Old Chong had retired from teaching
piano. He was deaf. “Like Beethoven!”5 he shouted to me. “We’re
both listening only in our head!” And he would start to conduct
his frantic silent sonatas.
38 Our lessons went like this. He would open the book and
point to different things, explaining their purpose: “Key! Treble!
Bass! No sharps or flats! So this is C major! Listen now and play
after me!”
39 And then he would play the C scale a few times, a simple chord,
and then, as if inspired by an old, unreachable itch, he gradually
added more notes and running trills and a pounding bass until the
music was really something quite grand.
40 I would play after him, the simple scale, the simple chord, and
then I just played some nonsense that sounded like a cat running
up and down on top of garbage cans. Old Chong smiled and
applauded and then said, “Very good! But now you must learn to
keep time!”
41 So that’s how I discovered that Old Chong’s eyes were too slow
to keep up with the wrong notes I was playing. He went through
the motions in half-time. To help me keep rhythm, he stood
behind me, pushing down on my right shoulder for every beat.
He balanced pennies on top of my wrists so I would keep them
still as I slowly played scales and arpeggios.6 He had me curve my
hand around an apple and keep that shape when playing chords.
He marched stiffly to show me how to make each finger dance up
and down, staccato7 like an obedient little soldier.
42 He taught me all these things, and that was how I also learned
I could be lazy and get away with mistakes, lots of mistakes. If
I hit the wrong notes because I hadn’t practiced enough, I never
corrected myself. I just kept playing in rhythm. And Old Chong

kept conducting his own private reverie.
43 So maybe I never really gave myself a fair chance. I did pick up
the basics pretty quickly, and I might have become a good pianist
at that young age. But I was so determined not to try, not to be
anybody different that I learned to play only the most ear-splitting
discordant (dihs KAWRD uhnt) preludes, the most discordant hymns.
adj. lacking harmony 44 Over the next year, I practiced like this, dutifully in my own
way. And then one day I heard my mother and her friend Lindo
Jong both talking in a loud bragging tone of voice so others
could hear. It was after church, and I was leaning against the
5. Beethoven (BAY toh vuhn) Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), German composer.
Some of his greatest pieces were written when he was completely deaf.
6. arpeggios (ahr PEHJ ee ohz) n. notes in a chord played separately in quick succession.
7. staccato (stuh KAHT oh) adv. played crisply, with clear breaks between notes.
Cross-Curricular Perspectives
Music In paragraph 43, the narrator describes a signal to start and stop the groups. Conduct
the discordant music she plays. Have the class your classroom orchestra and join in with your
make some discordant music. You can be the own discordant notes. Finally, ask students to
conductor. Divide the class into at least three comment on the experience of listening to this
groups and give each group a different rhythm music and discuss why the narrator might have
and exercise—handclapping, pencil tapping, decided to play only discordant tunes. (Research
and foot stomping. Encourage students to also to Clarify)
whistle, blow horns, and hum. As conductor, give
brick wall wearing a dress with stiff white petticoats. Auntie NOTES
Lindo’s daughter, Waverly, who was about my age, was standing
farther down the wall about five feet away. We had grown up
together and shared all the closeness of two sisters squabbling squabbling (SKWAHB blihng)
over crayons and dolls. In other words, for the most part, we v. fighting noisily over small
matters
hated each other. I thought she was snotty. Waverly Jong had
gained a certain amount of fame as “Chinatown’s Littlest Chinese
Chess Champion.”
45 “She bring home too many trophy,” lamented Auntie Lindo
that Sunday. “All day she play chess. All day I have no time do
nothing but dust off her winnings.” She threw a scolding look at
Waverly, who pretended not to see her.
46 “You lucky you don’t have this problem,” said Auntie Lindo
with a sigh to my mother.
47 And my mother squared her shoulders and bragged: “Our
problem worser than yours. If we ask Jing-mei wash dish, she hear
nothing but music. It’s like you can’t stop this natural talent.”
48 And right then, I was determined to put a stop to her foolish
pride.
* * *
49 A few weeks later, Old Chong and my mother conspired to

have me play in a talent show which would be held in the church
hall. By then, my parents had saved up enough to buy me a
secondhand piano, a black Wurlitzer spinet with a scarred bench.
It was the showpiece of our living room.
50 For the talent show, I was to play a piece called “Pleading
Child” from Schumann’s8 Scenes from Childhood. It was a simple,
moody piece that sounded more difficult than it was. I was
supposed to memorize the whole thing, playing the repeat
parts twice to make the piece sound longer. But I dawdled
over it, playing a few bars and then cheating, looking up to

see what notes followed. I never really listened to what I was
playing. I daydreamed about being somewhere else, about being
someone else.
51 The part I liked to practice best was the fancy curtsy: right foot
out, touch the rose on the carpet with a pointed foot, sweep to the
side, left leg bends, look up and smile.
52 My parents invited all the couples from the Joy Luck Club
to witness my debut. Auntie Lindo and Uncle Tin were there.
Waverly and her two older brothers had also come. The first two
rows were filled with children both younger and older than I
was. The littlest ones got to go first. They recited simple nursery
rhymes, squawked out tunes on miniature violins, twirled Hula
8. Schumann (SHOO mahn) Robert Alexander Schumann (1810–1856), German composer.
Two Kinds 19
Challenge
Research In paragraph 50, the narrator explains that she was
supposed to practice a piece by Schumann. Have students research
the German composer Robert Schumann. Ask them to write a brief
biography of the man, outlining his professional career, including the
creation of Scenes from Childhood. What do the names of the pieces
in Scenes from Childhood tell us about Schumann? Have students
listen to the fourth piece, “Pleading Child,” and, if possible, play a
recording of it for the class.
Teaching
Hoops, pranced in pink ballet tutus, and when they bowed or
NOTES curtsied, the audience would sigh in unison, “Awww,” and then
CLOSE READ
clap enthusiastically.
Remind students to focus on descriptive words. 53 When my turn came, I was very confident. I remember my
You may wish to model the Close Read of childish excitement. It was as if I knew, without a doubt, that the
paragraph 54 using the following think-aloud prodigy side of me really did exist. I had no fear whatsoever, no
format. Possible responses to questions on the nervousness. I remember thinking to myself, This is it! This is it!
student page are included. I looked out over the audience, at my mother’s blank face, my
father’s yawn, Auntie Lindo’s stiff-lipped smile, Waverly’s sulky
ANNOTATE: As I read paragraph 54, I mark
expression. I had on a white dress, layered with sheets of lace, and
descriptive words and take note of what these
a pink bow in my Peter Pan haircut. As I sat down, I envisioned
words describe.
people jumping to their feet and Ed Sullivan rushing up to
QUESTION: The author uses positive descriptions introduce me to everyone on TV.
to highlight the narrator’s excitement about the CLOSE READ 54 And I started to play. It was so beautiful. I was so caught up
recital as it begins. She uses negative descriptions ANNOTATE: In paragraph in how lovely I looked that at first I didn’t worry how I would
54, mark descriptive sound. So it was a surprise to me when I hit the first wrong note
to indicate when and why the narrator’s feelings words, and note what
change. and I realized something didn’t sound quite right. And then I hit
they describe.
another and another followed that. A chill started at the top of
CONCLUDE: The descriptions relate a change QUESTION: Why does the my head and began to trickle down. Yet I couldn’t stop playing,
that occurs over the course of the recital. As author use positive and
as though my hands were bewitched. I kept thinking my fingers
the recital begins, the narrator is captivated by negative descriptions?
would adjust themselves back, like a train switching to the right
the moment and feels positive. But then things CONCLUDE: What effect track. I played this strange jumble through two repeats, the sour
change as her performance falters, and by the do these descriptions have notes staying with me all the way to the end.
end, she is aware of her failure. The author shows over the course of the
55 When I stood up, I discovered my legs were shaking. Maybe
paragraph?
the change by using descriptive words at key I had just been nervous and the audience, like Old Chong,
points. had seen me go through the right motions and had not heard
anything wrong at all. I swept my right foot out, went down on
my knee, looked up and smiled. The room was quiet, except for
Old Chong, who was beaming and shouting “Bravo! Bravo! Well
done!” But then I saw my mother’s face, her stricken face. The
audience clapped weakly, and as I walked back to my chair, with
my whole face quivering as I tried not to cry, I heard a little boy
whisper loudly to his mother, “That was awful,” and the mother

whispered back, “Well, she certainly tried.”
56 And now I realized how many people were in the audience,
the whole world it seemed. I was aware of eyes burning into my
back. I felt the shame of my mother and father as they sat stiffly
throughout the rest of the show.
57 We could have escaped during intermission. Pride and some
strange sense of honor must have anchored my parents to their
chairs. And so we watched it all: the eighteen-year-old boy with a
fake moustache who did a magic show and juggled flaming hoops
while riding a unicycle. The breasted girl with white makeup who
sang from Madama Butterfly and got honorable mention. And the
eleven-year-old boy who won first prize playing a tricky violin
song that sounded like a busy bee.
58 After the show, the Hsus, the Jongs, and the St. Clairs from the
Joy Luck Club came up to my mother and father. NOTES
59 “Lots of talented kids,” Auntie Lindo said vaguely, smiling

broadly.
60 “That was somethin’ else,” said my father, and I wondered if
he was referring to me in a humorous way, or whether he even
remembered what I had done.
61 Waverly looked at me and shrugged her shoulders. “You
aren’t a genius like me,” she said matter-of-factly. And if I hadn’t
felt so bad, I would have pulled her braids and punched her
stomach.
62 But my mother’s expression was what devastated me: a quiet, devastated (DEH vuh
blank look that said she had lost everything. I felt the same way, v. destroyed;
stay tihd)
completely upset
and it seemed as if everybody were now coming up, like gawkers
at the scene of an accident, to see what parts were actually
missing. When we got on the bus to go home, my father was
humming the busy-bee tune and my mother was silent. I kept
thinking she wanted to wait until we got home before shouting at
me. But when my father unlocked the door to our apartment, my
mother walked in and then went to the back, into the bedroom.
No accusations. No blame. And in a way, I felt disappointed. I had
been waiting for her to start shouting, so I could shout back and
cry and blame her for all my misery.
* * *
63 I assumed my talent-show fiasco meant I never had to play the

piano again. But two days later, after school, my mother came out
of the kitchen and saw me watching TV.
64 “Four clock,” she reminded me as if it were any other day. I
was stunned, as though she were asking me to go through the
talent-show torture again. I wedged myself more tightly in front
of the TV.
65 “Turn off TV,” she called from the kitchen five minutes later.
66 I didn’t budge. And then I decided. I didn’t have to do what
my mother said anymore. I wasn’t her slave. This wasn’t China. I
had listened to her before and look what happened. She was the
stupid one.
67 She came out from the kitchen and stood in the arched
entryway of the living room. “Four clock,” she said once again,
louder.
68 “I’m not going to play anymore,” I said nonchalantly. “Why
should I? I’m not a genius.”
69 She walked over and stood in front of the TV. I saw her chest
was heaving up and down in an angry way.
Two Kinds 21
LIT17_SE07_U01_A1_WC.indd 21 Vocabulary Development 2/22/16 11:48 AM
Word Forms Support student understanding After the storm passed, our farm was a picture of
of the word devastated in paragraph 62. Model devastation.
other forms of the word in sentences. Samantha is a skilled debater; she will devastate
A devastating earthquake struck the region at you with her rhetoric.
4:06 a.m.
Word Part of Speech Meaning
devastating adjective terrible, destructive
devastation noun ruin, destruction
devastate verb to bring to ruin, to overwhelm
Teaching
70 “No!” I said, and I now felt stronger, as if my true self had
NOTES finally emerged. So this was what had been inside me all along.
71 “No! I won’t!” I screamed.
72 She yanked me by the arm, pulled me off the floor, snapped off
the TV. She was frighteningly strong, half pulling, half carrying
me toward the piano as I kicked the throw rugs under my feet.
She lifted me up and onto the hard bench. I was sobbing by now,
looking at her bitterly. Her chest was heaving even more and her
mouth was open, smiling crazily as if she were pleased I was
crying.
73 “You want me to be someone that I’m not!” I sobbed. “I’ll never
be the kind of daughter you want me to be!”
74 “Only two kinds of daughters,” she shouted in Chinese. “Those
who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one
kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!”
75 “Then I wish I wasn’t your daughter. I wish you weren’t my
mother,” I shouted. As I said these things I got scared. It felt like
worms and toads and slimy things crawling out of my chest, but it
also felt good, as if this awful side of me had surfaced, at last.
76 “Too late change this,” said my mother shrilly.
77 And I could sense her anger rising to its breaking point. I
wanted to see it spill over. And that’s when I remembered the
babies she had lost in China, the ones we never talked about.
“Then I wish I’d never been born!” I shouted. “I wish I were dead!
Like them.”
78 It was as if I had said the magic words. Alakazam!—and her
face went blank, her mouth closed, her arms went slack, and she
backed out of the room, stunned, as if she were blowing away like
a small brown leaf, thin, brittle, lifeless.
79 It was not the only disappointment my mother felt in me. In the
years that followed, I failed her so many times, each time asserting
my own will, my right to fall short of expectations. I didn’t get
straight A’s. I didn’t become class president. I didn’t get into

Stanford. I dropped out of college.
80 For unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I
wanted to be. I could only be me.
81 And for all those years, we never talked about the disaster
at the recital or my terrible accusations afterward at the piano
bench. All that remained unchecked, like a betrayal that was now
unspeakable. So I never found a way to ask her why she had
hoped for something so large that failure was inevitable.
82 And even worse, I never asked her what frightened me the
most: Why had she given up hope?
83 For after our struggle at the piano, she never mentioned my
playing again. The lessons stopped. The lid to the piano was
closed, shutting out the dust, my misery, and her dreams.

Idioms Idioms can be confusing to English Learners. The expressions
breaking point in paragraph 77 and to fall short in paragraph 79
are idiomatic. Help students use context clues, such as rising, to
understand the meaning of breaking point—the moment of greatest
strain, when something reaches its limit and “breaks.” Then help
them use context clues, such as disappointed and failed her so
many times, to figure out the meaning of to fall short—to not quite
achieve one’s goals or desires. ALL LEVELS
84 So she surprised me. A few years ago, she offered to give me the
piano, for my thirtieth birthday. I had not played in all those years. NOTES
I saw the offer as a sign of forgiveness, a tremendous burden

removed.
85 “Are you sure?” I asked shyly. “I mean, won’t you and Dad
miss it?”
86 “No, this your piano,” she said firmly. “Always your piano. You
only one can play.”
87 “Well, I probably can’t play anymore,” I said. “It’s been years.”
88 “You pick up fast,” said my mother, as if she knew this was
certain. “You have natural talent. You could been genius if you
want to.”
89 “No I couldn’t.”
90 “You just not trying,” said my mother. And she was neither
angry nor sad. She said it as if to announce a fact that could never
be disproved. “Take it,” she said.
91 But I didn’t at first. It was enough that she had offered it to me.
And after that, every time I saw it in my parents’ living room,
standing in front of the bay windows, it made me feel proud, as if
it were a shiny trophy I had won back.
* * *
Two Kinds 23
Teaching
92 Last week I sent a tuner over to my parents’ apartment and
NOTES had the piano reconditioned, for purely sentimental reasons. My
CLOSER LOOK
mother had died a few months before and I had been getting
Analyze Symbols things in order for my father, a little bit at a time. I put the
jewelry in special silk pouches. The sweaters she had knitted in
Students may have marked paragraphs 94
yellow, pink, bright orange— all the colors I hated—I put those
and 95 during their first read. Use these
in moth-proof boxes. I found some old Chinese silk dresses, the
paragraphs to help students understand how
kind with little slits up the sides. I rubbed the old silk against my
to think about symbols. Encourage them to skin, then wrapped them in tissue and decided to take them home
talk about the annotations that they marked. with me.
You may want to model a close read with the 93 After I had the piano tuned, I opened the lid and touched the
class based on the highlights shown in the keys. It sounded even richer than I remembered. Really, it was a
text. very good piano. Inside the bench were the same exercise notes
ANNOTATE: Have students mark details in with handwritten scales, the same secondhand music books with
the paragraphs that show how the narrator their covers held together with yellow tape.
compares “Pleading Child” with “Perfectly 94 I opened up the Schumann book to the dark little piece I had
Contented,” or have students participate played at the recital. It was on the left-hand side of the page,
while you highlight them. “Pleading Child.” It looked more difficult than I remembered. I
played a few bars, surprised at how easily the notes came back
QUESTION: Guide students to consider what
to me.
95 And for the first time, or so it seemed, I noticed the piece on
reader can infer from these annotations, and
the right-hand side. It was called “Perfectly Contented.” I tried to
accept student responses.
play this one as well. It had a lighter melody but the same flowing
Possible response: She says it was quite easy to
rhythm and turned out to be quite easy. “Pleading Child” was
play “Perfectly Contented,” which has a lighter
shorter but slower; “Perfectly Contented” was longer, but faster.
melody than “Pleading Child,” and she notices
that “Perfectly Contented” is longer, faster, and And after I played them both a few times, I realized they were two
easier than “Pleading Child.” halves of the same song. ❧
CONCLUDE: Help students to formulate

conclusions about the importance of these
details in the text. Ask students why the
author might have included these details
Possible response: The author intended these

two pieces to symbolize different stages in the
narrator’s development. They form a single
song—a single person. By adding these details,
the author intends to show that the narrator has
come to a peaceful resolution with her mother.
Review symbols and symbolism with students.
A symbol is something—an object, a
person, an animal, a place, or an image—
that represents something else. It stands
for something larger than itself, usually
an abstract idea. Symbolism—the use of
symbols—plays an important role in many
literary genres.
WriteNow Analyze and Interpret

Analysis Throughout “Two Kinds,” the narrator describes her

relationship with her mother. Have students write a one-page
analysis of that relationship. Remind students to include details
about these characters’ dreams, how they express themselves, and
the conflicts they experience. How does the relationship change
over the course of the narrative?
Comprehension Check Comprehension Check
Complete the following items after you finish your first read.
Possible responses:
1. In what ways does the mother pressure her daughter to change?

1. She pressures her daughter to become a child
prodigy. First she pressures the daughter to
become an actress. Next, she pressures her to
learn facts in order to appear on television. Then,
she pressures her to become an accomplished
pianist.
2. How does the mother arrange for her daughter to take piano lessons? 2. The mother exchanges housecleaning services for
piano lessons from Mr. Chong, a retired piano
teacher who lives in their apartment building.
3. The narrator practices as little as she can for the
talent show. She purposely makes no effort, and
because Mr. Chong is deaf and cannot hear how
3. How does the narrator prepare for the talent show? well she is playing, he does not notice.
4. The narrator’s piano performance at the recital
is terrible, and no one applauds except for
Mr. Chong. The daughter expects her mother to
be angry because she was so poorly prepared.
Instead, the mother shows only a quiet, blank
4. What happens when the narrator performs at the talent show? look that said she had lost everything.
5. The mother gives the daughter the old piano. The
daughter has it tuned and plays the same song
that she played at the talent show.
Answers will vary. Storyboards should include these
5. What happens to the piano at the end of the story?
events: In China, the mother’s twin daughters die.
She comes to America. She pressures her daughter
to become a prodigy (first an actress, then a whiz
kid, then a pianist). She exchanges housecleaning
for piano lessons. The daughter resists her mother’s
pressure. At a talent show, the daughter plays a
piece badly because she did not rehearse enough.

Notebook Draw a storyboard of key events in “Two Kinds” to confirm your
The mother and daughter have a fight about their
understanding of the story.
expectations. The daughter disappoints her mother
in other ways. The mother gives the piano to the
daughter once she becomes an adult.
RESEARCH
Research to Clarify Choose at least one unfamiliar detail from the text. Briefly research Research
that detail. In what way does the information you learned shed light on an aspect of Research to Clarify If students struggle to
the story? come up with a detail to research, suggest that
they focus on one of the following topics: Shirley
Temple, The Ed Sullivan Show, Chinatown in San
Research to Explore Choose something that interested you from the text and formulate Francisco, or composer Robert Schumann.
a research question.
Research to Explore If students have a difficult
time formulating a research question, suggest
that they look back through the story for
Two Kinds 25
inspiration.
LIT17_SE07_U01_A1_WC.indd 25 CROSS-CURRICULAR PERSPECTIVES 16-03-16 5:05 PM
Social Studies Have students research and write What kinds of jobs were available? Where and
a short report about life in China in 1949. They how did people live? How did ordinary citizens
should include information about the political respond to the political turmoil of the era?
system and its effects on Chinese citizens.
Teaching making meaning
Close Read the Text

Jump Start 1. This model, from paragraph 10 of the text, shows two
sample annotations, along with questions and conclusions.
Close Read Have students close read Close read the passage, and find another detail to annotate.
Then, write a question and conclusion.
“Two Kinds.” Remind them that the mother TWO KINDS
said there are only two kinds of daughters:

Those who are obedient and those who follow ANNOTATE: The author uses italics to
their own mind! With this in mind, ask students emphasize a specific word.
to discuss why the author titled the narrative QUESTION: Why is the word perfect
“Two Kinds.” emphasized?
ANNOTATE: The word
CONCLUDE: The narrator believes that the would is repeated
only way her parents will be satisfied with several times.
her is if she is without fault.
Close Read the Text QUESTION: What
idea is stressed by the
Walk students through the Annotation Model repetition of would?
In all of my imaginings, I was
on the student page. Then have them use
filled with a sense that I would CONCLUDE: The
the models as they annotate another detail. repetition shows the
soon become perfect. My mother
Encourage them to complete items 2 and 3 narrator’s hopes for the
and father would adore me. future. It also shows
on their own. Review and discuss the sections
I would be beyond reproach. that she does not
students have marked. If needed, continue to I would never feel the need to feel that her parents
model close reading by using the Annotation sulk for anything. adore her, she often
Highlights in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition. feels criticized, and she
likely sulks a lot.
Analyze the Text
Possible responses:
1. (a) Both mother and daughter are strong-willed. tool Kit 2. For more practice, go back into the text and complete the
The mother is more idealistic, believing that all Close-Read Guide and close-read notes.
things are possible. The daughter is more realistic, Model Annotation
3. Revisit a section of the text you found important. Read this section and
believing that one must accept restrictions in real annotate what you notice. Ask yourself questions such as “Why did
life. DOK 2 (b) The daughter believes she can never the author make this choice?” What can you conclude?
meet her mother’s expectations, and the mother is
angry because the daughter refuses to try. DOK 2

Cite textual evidenCe
2. Some students may respond that no one wins.
The mother never achieves the life she wants for
Analyze the Text to support your answers.
her daughter, and the daughter doesn’t develop notebook Respond to these questions.
the self-esteem she might have had if she had 1. (a) Compare and Contrast How are the mother and her daughter
followed her mother obediently. DOK 3 similar and different? (b) analyze Cause and effect How does the
3. The mother pushed her daughter too hard. The difference in their attitudes cause problems?
mother’s efforts backfired. Her daughter believed  STaNDarDS 2. draw Conclusions In this story, conflict, or a struggle between the
she would never be good enough and stopped Reading Literature characters, results when a mother pushes her daughter to succeed. Is
trying. DOK 3 • Cite several pieces of textual
evidence to support analysis of what there a winner in this conflict? Explain.
4. Students might point out that the story shows the text says explicitly as well as 3. Make a Judgment Should the narrator’s mother have pushed the
that people of different generations can learn inferences drawn from the text.
• Analyze how an author develops daughter as she did? Explain.
from the ways that each other acts under pressure and contrasts the points of view of
and tries to influence each other. DOK 3 different characters or narrators in
4. essential Question What can one generation learn from another?
a text. What have you learned about how people of different generations
interact from reading this story?
26 UNIT 1 • GeNeraTIoNs
Vocabulary Development
LIT17_SE07_U01_A1_WC_app.indd 26 4/13/16 4:16 PM
Formative Assessment Graphic Organizer Have students fill out a word map for the word reproach.
Analyze the Text
• If students fail to cite evidence, then remind Definition in your own words Synonyms
them to support their ideas with specific
information from the text. Reproach
• If students struggle to compare and contrast Use it in a sentence. Antonyms
the personalities of the mother and daughter,
then discuss the process of comparing and
contrasting and illustrate with examples.
26 UNIT 1 • generations
Analyze Craft and Structure Analyze Craft and Structure

Character and Point of View A character is a person or an animal in a Character and Point of View Discuss with
literary work.
students why an author might choose to use
• Character traits are the individual qualities that make each character first-person point of view when writing a story.
unique.You can identify character traits by making inferences, or Have them identify whether the selection “Two
educated guesses, about a character based on how he or she thinks, Kinds” is written in first-person or third-person
acts, and speaks. point of view, citing a few words from the text
• A character’s motives are the emotions or goals that drive him or that led them to their conclusion. Then have
her to act in a certain way. them think about how the story would have
been different if it had been told from a different
• A character’s perspective is how he or she views events based on
point of view (in this case, third-person point of
his or her experiences and emotions.
view). For more support, see Analyze Craft and
Point of view is the perspective from which the story is told. Structure: Character and Point of View.
• When a story is told from the first-person point of view, the Practice
narrator is a character who participates in the action and uses
Possible responses:
first-person pronouns such as I and me to refer to himself or herself.
1. Answers will vary. Students might describe the
• When a story is told from the third-person point of view, the daughter as rebellious, insecure, proud, arrogant,
narrator is not a character in the story. The narrator uses third-person funny, undisciplined.
pronouns such as he and she to refer to the characters.
2. The mother wants to inspire her daughter to be
the best while the daughter wants her mother to
accept less.
CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE 3. The mother’s high expectations make
Practice to support your answers.
disappointment inevitable; the daughter’s perspective
Notebook Respond to these questions. leads to feelings of guilt and resentment.
1. Use the diagram to list the daughter’s character traits. 4. (a) The story is told from the daughter’s first-
person point of view. (b) She uses first-person
pronouns—I, me, my—and describes her own
thoughts and feelings about the events in the story.
5. If the mother were the narrator, the story would
THE
DAUGHTER focus on her thoughts and feelings instead of the
daughter’s.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
2. Reread paragraphs 24–28 of the text. What does this passage show about the If students fail to identify the narrative’s point of
difference between the mother’s motives and the daughter’s motives? view, then have them look for clues that indicate
3. How do the different perspectives of the mother and daughter create challenges the point of view. For example, the person
for each character? narrating the story might be directly involved in
4. (a) From what point of view is the story told? (b) What details in the text the story itself.
enabled you to identify the point of view? If students are unable to identify character traits,
5. How might the story be different if it were told from the mother’s point of view? then remind them to pay close attention to how
each character reacts to events and conflicts.
For Reteach and Practice, see Analyze Craft
and Structure: Character and Point of
Two Kinds 27 View (RP).
LIT17_SE07_U01_A1_WC_app.indd 27
PERSONALIZE FOR LEARNING 19/04/16 8:41 AM

Character Motivation Support English Learners in their understanding of describing the person’s possible motives for what he or she did.
character motivation. Expanding
Present a small group of students with a newspaper story about an individual Give students two articles: one about a person who has done something
who has done something philanthropic. Read the article with students. Once philanthropic and one about a person who is seeking elected office. Ask
they understand the content, ask students to collaborate in writing one or two students to write a paragraph that compares and contrasts what the
sentences describing why this person might have done what they did. Emerging motives of these two people might be. Bridging
Give students a newspaper story about an individual who has An expanded English Language Support Lesson on Motives is
done something philanthropic. Ask students to write a paragraph available in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition.
Teaching LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Concept Vocabulary Concept Vocabulary

Why These Words? Discuss with students lamented reproach squabbling
the differences between using words such as indignity discordant devastated
glad and overjoyed. Even though the words
are synonymous, they have different degrees of TWO KINDS
Why These Words? These concept vocabulary words relate to the idea
intensity. Then have students think about why an of conflict. For example, the narrator fantasizes that she might one day
author might choose to use one word over the be beyond reproach. The word reproach describes the heavy criticism
other to describe a character. that she feels as a result of her mother’s actions.
Possible responses: 1. Select three of the concept vocabulary words, and explain how each
1. The narrator thinks that her mother lamented her word helps the reader better understand the conflict between the
bad haircut. The word discordant describes the type mother and the daughter.
of hymns the narrator learns to play. Devastated
describes how the narrator feels when she sees her
mother’s expression after her performance.
2. willful (paragraph 19), whined (paragraph 31), 2. What other words in the selection connect to the concept of conflict,
foolish (48) or struggle?
Practice
Practice
Possible responses:
1. A person who experiences indignity feels  WORD NETWORK Notebook The concept vocabulary words appear in “Two Kinds.”
humiliation, shame, or embarrassment. These Look in the text for words Answer the questions, using the vocabulary words to show your
feelings often lead to anger. related to the topic of understanding.
2. A celebrity chef is someone who has received a generations, and add them 1. Why might a person who experiences indignity feel upset or angry?
great deal of approval for his or her cooking. This to your Word Network.
2. Why might a famous chef feel that his or her cooking is beyond
can lead her or him to feel beyond reproach. reproach?
3. The neighbors might complain about loud, 3. Why might someone’s neighbors complain about discordant music
discordant music because it could interfere with coming from a stereo?
their ability to sleep.
4. What advice can you give people to help them avoid squabbling with
4. To help people avoid squabbling, I would encourage each other?
them to take turns listening to each other.
5. If a student lamented after taking a test, how did the student do?
5. If a student lamented after taking a test, the test
probably did not go well at all. 6. What kind of weather might have devastated an apple orchard?

6. A tornado might have devastated, or destroyed,
an apple orchard. Word Study
Word Network  STANDARDS Latin Prefix: in- The prefix in- means “not.” When this prefix is added
Possible words: retirement, prodigy, Language to a base word, the new word takes on the opposite meaning from the
• Determine or clarify the meaning original word. Practice your knowledge of this prefix by completing the
disappointed, expectations, ungrateful of unknown and multiple-meaning
words and phrases based on grade 7 following activities.
Word Study reading and content, choosing
flexibly from a range of strategies. 1. When people have dignity, they are worthy of honor and respect.
For more support, see Concept Vocabulary and b. Use common, grade-appropriate Write a definition of the word indignity based on your knowledge of
Word Study. Greek or Latin affixes and roots as the prefix in-.
clues to the meaning of a word.
Possible responses: • Demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English
1. Indignity means something that hurts a person’s capitalization, punctuation, and
dignity. spelling when writing. 2. Define these words that contain the prefix in-: incorrect, inactive,
incomplete.
2. Incorrect means not correct, or wrong. Inactive
means not active or not working. Incomplete 28 UNIT 1 • GeNeraTIoNs
means not complete or unfinished.
Concept Vocabulary Author’s Perspective
LIT17_SE07_U01_A1_WC_app.indd 28 Elfrieda Hiebert, Ph.D. 4/13/16 4:15 PM
If students fail to see the connection between

Author’s Word Choice When the theme is left that are part of a network. Model for students
the words, then have them use each word in a unstated, readers can find clues in the text to how to choose words that belong in a network.
sentence and think about what is similar about infer the author’s overarching message. Among For example, if the passage describes cooking,
the sentences. the most useful clues are the author’s choice students can select words from the passage such
of words, and understanding how vocabulary as warm, clean, fragrant, and sweetness. Be sure
Word Study
functions in this way can help students identify the list is focused and that students can explain
If students struggle to define indignity, then have the selection’s theme. the relationship among the words. Then have
them describe embarrassing situations that would students explore the effect of the words and
Teachers can convey the power of vocabulary to
hurt a person’s dignity. For Reteach and Practice, explain how they convey the author’s theme and
convey theme by selecting a narrative from Unit 1
see Word Study: Latin Prefix in- (RP). and guiding students to find words and phrases make the story richer.
Conventions Conventions
Nouns and Pronouns A common noun names a person, place, Nouns and Pronouns Discuss the definitions
thing, or idea. A proper noun names a specific person, place, or thing.
of common nouns, proper nouns, personal
A possessive noun shows ownership.
pronouns, and possessive pronouns with
Common nouns ProPer nouns Possessive nouns students. Have students practice using the
CLARIFICATION
different kinds of nouns in sentences. As you
mother, daughter, Mr. Chong, China, the audience’s Proper nouns are always
capitalized. Examples of
review the examples of possessive nouns,
country, street Main Street reaction
proper nouns include consider explaining the rules for apostrophes.
Lucas’s piano
Abraham Lincoln, London, Singular nouns: Add ’s.
the musicians’ bows and Selena.
the woman’s hat, the cat’s tail, Tess’s favorite
the children’s concert
song
Plural nouns: Add ’s unless the noun ends
A personal pronoun takes the place of a noun or several nouns in s. Then just add an apostrophe.
named elsewhere in the text, referring to a specific person or thing. A
women’s restroom, mice’s feet, four
possessive pronoun shows possession or ownership.
carpenters’ tools, three bears’ den
Personal Pronouns I, me, we, us, you, he, him, she, her, it, they, them For more support, see Conventions: Nouns and
Pronouns.
Possessive Pronouns my, mine, our, ours, your, yours, his, hers, its, their, theirs
Read It
Proper nouns: “Anitra’s Dance” and Grieg;
Read It common nouns: girl, encore, and song; possessive
Reread paragraph 29 of “Two Kinds.” Mark the nouns. Then, classify noun: Anitra’s
each noun as common or proper. Finally, identify the possessive noun in
the paragraph. Make it Interactive
Have students rewrite the paragraph, using a
different color pencil or marker to write each kind
Write It of noun (common, proper, possessive).
Revise the sentences. Replace nouns with appropriate pronouns.
1. When the daughter performed, the daughter’s playing was sloppy. Write It
Possible responses:
1. When the daughter performed, her playing was
2. My father listened patiently, although my father did not want to be sloppy.

there. 2. My father listened patiently, although he did not
want to be there.
3. The youngest children played first. Most of them
3. The youngest children played first. Most of the youngest children were
were prepared.
prepared.
Awhile after the recital, Jing-mei (proper)
tells her (possessive pronoun) mother that she
Notebook Write three sentences about an important scene (personal pronoun) wishes she hadn’t been born.
between the mother and daughter in the selection. Include at least one The mother’s (possessive) face goes blank. Then
of each type of noun and pronoun in your sentences. the mother backs out of the room (common.)
Two Kinds 29
Formative Assessment
LIT17_SE07_U01_A1_WC_app.indd 29 How Language Works 4/13/16 4:15 PM Conventions
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Explain antecedent in number (singular or plural) and • If students can’t identify nouns, then remind
to students that pronouns usually refer to gender (male or female). them to look for the person, place, or thing
someone or something that was already Sally brought her guinea pig to show the class.
doing the action.
mentioned in a sentence (or in a previous • If students can’t replace nouns with
sentence). Using pronouns avoids repetition— The children thought they deserved a treat.
appropriate pronouns, then have them think
the same nouns do not have to be used over Have students write sentences with pronouns.
Then have them draw an arrow from each
about whether the noun refers to a male or
and over again. When a pronoun replaces a
noun, the word being replaced is called an pronoun to its antecedent. Do their pronouns female and whether it is singular or plural.
antecedent. A pronoun must agree with its agree with the antecedents? For Reteach and Practice, see Conventions:
Nouns and Pronouns (RP).
Teaching EFFECTIVE EXPRESSION
Writing to Sources Writing to Sources

Review point of view and perspective with Writing an effective narrative, whether fiction or nonfiction, requires
creativity and imagination. When developing a narrative, consider
students, making sure they understand that
the points of view of all the characters, because each one has unique
“Two Kinds” is written from the first-person
experiences and perspectives. By doing so, you will gain a deeper
point of view. Briefly discuss the character traits TWO KINDS
understanding of how point of view shapes your writing.
and actions of both the mother and daughter.
Encourage students to choose a scene that is Assignment
emotionally charged. Choose a scene from the story, and write a retelling of the scene
Two people can experience the same event but from the mother’s point of view.
come away with very different impressions about
• Review the story, and note important details that can help you
what took place, including basic facts, such as identify the mother’s character traits and motives. Use these details
what was said, and the way something made to ensure that you accurately portray the mother’s character.
the person feel. Tell students to keep this in mind
• Present a clear sequence of events for the scene that you chose.
as they write. For more support, see Writing to
Sources: Retelling a Scene. • Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue and description, to
convey the mother’s thoughts and feelings.
Reflect on Your Writing

1. If students need support, encourage them to Vocabulary and Conventions Connection Think about including
consider the daughter’s actions and words from several of the concept vocabulary words in your retelling. Be sure to
the mother’s perspective. What insights does correctly use nouns and pronouns to establish a clear point of view and
this point of view give them? clarify the relationships between characters.
2. Encourage students to give examples of

lamented reproach squabbling
dialogue, description, and vivid words that they
used. Have them discuss which techniques  STANDARDS indignity discordant devastated
worked best, and why. Writing
• Write narratives to develop
3. Why These Words? Responses will vary. real or imagined experiences or
events using effective technique,
Have students list specific examples of words relevant descriptive details, and Reflect on Your Writing
they have chosen that bring the mother’s point well-structured event sequences. After you have written your retelling, answer the following questions.
a. Engage and orient the reader by
of view to life. establishing a context and point 1. How did writing from the mother’s point of view help you to better
of view and introducing a narrator
and/or characters; organize an understand her perspective?

event sequence that unfolds
naturally and logically.
b. Use narrative techniques, such as
dialogue, pacing, and description,
to develop experiences, events, 2. What narrative techniques did you use in your writing? Which narrative
and/or characters.
d. Use precise words and phrases,
technique do you think was most effective in portraying the mother’s
relevant descriptive details, and character?
sensory language to capture the
action and convey experiences and
events.
Present claims and findings, 3. Why These Words? The words you choose make a difference in your
emphasizing salient points in a
focused, coherent manner with
writing. Which words did you specifically choose to bring the mother’s
pertinent descriptions, facts, details, point of view to life?
and examples; use appropriate eye
contact, adequate volume, and clear
pronunciation.
LIT17_SE07_U01_A1_WC_app.indd 30

Point of View “Two Kinds” is written from the daughter’s
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT perspective. Pair students with a partner to imagine and write a
Writing conversation between the mother and the father the day after
the talent show. Make sure they write this conversation from the
If students are struggling to identify a scene
mother’s point of view. Have partners perform their conversations for
from the story to retell, then have them choose the class. ALL LEVELS
the scene that they remember as the most
interesting. For Reteach and Practice, see Writing
to Sources: Retelling a Scene (RP).
Speaking and listening Speaking and Listening

A monologue is a dramatic speech presented by a single character. The 1. Organize Your Monologue You may wish to
character speaks from the first-person point of view and relates his or her
review the following elements of a successful
thoughts and feelings about an event.
monologue with students.
Assignment
• Confidence The confidence of the speaker
of a monologue inspires believability in the
Choose one of the passages listed, and develop a dramatic
monologue in which the daughter expresses aloud her thoughts and character and the character’s words.
feelings in this moment of the story. • Character A well-rounded character is more
engaging to the audience than one that
• paragraphs 18–20
shows no depth or personality.
• Movement Using gestures and movement
brings life to the words and ideas of the
speaker.
1. Organize Your Monologue Use the following questions to gather ideas 2. Prepare Your Delivery Pair students and have
and prepare notes. them present their monologues to each other.
Then, instruct students to use the Presentation
What happened earlier in the story? Think about how these events influence the daughter’s feelings.
Evaluation Guide to provide feedback to their
How will your monologue begin? Choose a strong statement to grab your audience’s interest.
partners prior to presenting to the class.
3. Evaluate Monologues Encourage students
What happens during the Show how the daughter’s thoughts and feelings change during
to give constructive criticism about their
monologue? the monologue.
classmates’ monologues and to make
How will your monologue end? Conclude your monologue with a thought-provoking statement supportive comments.
that ends the scene. For more support, see Speaking and Listening:
Monologue.
2. Prepare Your Delivery Using your notes, practice your monologue.
• Maintain eye contact with members of your audience as you speak.
• Vary the volume of your voice and your pacing to reflect emotion.
3. Evaluate Monologues Use a presentation evaluation guide like the one

shown to analyze your classmates’ monologues. Evidence Log Support students in completing
their Evidence Log. This paced activity will

Presentation evaluation Guide  evidence log help prepare them for the Performance-Based
Rate each statement on a scale of 1 (not demonstrated) Before moving on to a Assessment at the end of the unit.
to 5 (demonstrated). new selection, go to your
Evidence Log and record
The speaker communicated events from the daughter’s point of view. what you learned from
“Two Kinds.”
The speaker provided details to demonstrate shifts in feeling.
The speaker maintained eye contact with audience members.
The monologue was clear and easy to follow.
Two Kinds 31
LIT17_SE07_U01_A1_WC_app.indd 31 Digital perspectives 16-04-14 12:13 AM Speaking and Listening
Illuminating the Text Find, preview, and show a Venn diagram in which they note similarities
If students struggle writing their monologues,
video clips from The Ed Sullivan Show. This and differences between this show and current then remind them to focus on the thoughts
will help students understand the influence of variety or talent shows. Do the current shows and feelings of the character. For Reteach
popular culture during the period in which “Two have the same kind of impact on society that The and Practice, see Speaking and Listening:
Kinds” takes place. Then have students create Ed Sullivan Show had? Monologue (RP).
Selection Test
Administer the “Two Kinds” Selection Test, which
is available in both print and digital formats
online in Assessments.
planning Whole- CL ASS learning • A Simple Act
A Simple Act
Audio summaries Summary
Audio summaries of “A Simple
Act” are available online in Tyler Jackson’s article “A Simple Act” begins with a boy asking a
both English and Spanish in the stranger for money to buy food. The stranger walks away, but she’s
Interactive Teacher’s Edition or drawn back by what she calls an “invisible thread.” She takes the
Unit Resources. Assigning these boy to lunch, and they become friends. The woman is Laura Schroff,
summaries prior to reading the a successful advertising executive. The boy is eleven-year-old Maurice
selection may help students Mazyck, who lives in a welfare hotel. Through Laura, Maurice gets to
build additional background know a different life. Through Maurice, Laura experiences the love
of a child. The article describes how Maurice loves Laura’s sister’s
their first read.
big dining room table because the whole family can sit around it.
He wants one just like it when he grows up. Now that Maurice is
grown, the article describes what became of his dream of having a
big table of his own and a family to sit around it.
Insight
Frequently, there are unexpected benefits to giving to others. Reading
“A Simple Act” will help students reflect on the give-and-take that
often occurs with an act of kindness. When one person selflessly gives
to another, the rewards that come back can be life altering.
Essential question:
generation learn from “A Simple Act” will help students answer the Essential Question—
another? What can one generation learn from another?—when they consider
the lessons that Laura Schroff and Maurice Mazyck learned from each
other. Laura, as part of an older generation, teaches Maurice about the
possibilities in life by exposing him to opportunities and experiences
he would otherwise not have had. Maurice, as part of a younger
generation, teaches Laura that children crave connection and a feeling
of belonging more than they crave material things.
whole-class learning
What unexpected event
Whole-Class Learning Performance Task In this Performance Task,
shows how a person can
students will write personal narratives about an unexpected event that
influence someone from
reveals how someone from a different generation has influenced them
a different generation?
or someone they know. Students will have the opportunity to compare
their experiences with the relationship in “A Simple Act,” which shows
Assessment how two strangers from different generations came into each other’s
In what situations can one lives by chance and changed the course of both their lives.
generation learn from Unit Performance-Based Assessment This selection shows students
another? that the younger generation can teach the older generation about
what is important to children, and that the older generation can help
to guide the younger generation and expose them to important new
experiences.

DIGITAL
LESSON RESOURCES
Making Meaning Language Development

Lesson First Read Concept Vocabulary
Close Read Word Study
Instructional RI.7.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary L.7.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of
Standards nonfiction . . . standard English grammar and usage . . .
RI.7.1 Analyze what a text says explicitly . . . L.7.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and
multiple-meaning words and phrases . . .
RI.7.6 Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a
text . . .
STUDENT RESOURCES
Available online in the Selection Audio Word Network
Interactive Student
Edition or Unit Resources First-Read Guide: Nonfiction
Close-Read Guide: Nonfiction
TEACHER RESOURCES
Selection Resources
Audio Summaries: English and Spanish Concept Vocabulary and Word Study
Interactive Teacher’s Annotation Highlights Conventions: Adverbs
Edition or Unit Resources
Analyze Craft and Structure: Author’s Point of View
Analyze Craft and Structure: Author’s Point of View (RP) Word Study: Multiple-Meaning Words (RP)
Interactive Teacher’s Conventions: Adverbs (RP)
Assessment
Available online in

personalize for learning Whole- CL ASS Le arning • A Simple Act
Reading Support
Text Complexity Rubric: A Simple Act
Lexile: 930 Text Length: 794 words
Knowledge Demands Students need knowledge of homelessness in cities in order to understand references
1 2 3 4 5 (asking for change, panhandlers, welfare hotel, lack of food) and to understand the
relationship between the people in the article.
Structure The account is told sequentially, starting in 1986 and going to present day.
1 2 3 4 5
Language Conventionality and Clarity Sentences are mostly average length or short, with syntax that is easy to understand.
1 2 3 4 5 Vocabulary is mostly on-level. Some figures of speech used (invisible thread; might as well
have been another planet).
Levels of Meaning/Purpose Meaning and concepts are straightforward, with one level of meaning. The figurative phrase
1 2 3 4 5 invisible thread, central to the meaning, is explained.
Decide and Plan

knowledge demands and language as they ensure that they can successfully read the with ideas for how they can go beyond a
read the selection. text. simple interpretation of the text.
Knowledge Demands In order to ensure Knowledge Demands Discuss what Text Analysis Ask students to discuss the
that students understand the situation of students know about the need for welfare questions that Laura asks herself (paragraph
the people in the selection, make sure they hotels or shelters for people who don’t 4) and the emotions associated with each
understand the meaning of these words have homes or enough food. Make sure one. Have them explore the meaning of
and phrases they will see as they read: students understand that Maurice is living in each question. For example, what would it
scruffy clothes, panhandlers, welfare hotel. a welfare hotel with his family and begging mean to help someone just as a way to help
If necessary, explain Maurice’s situation and for food when he meets Laura. As they yourself?
why he is asking for food. read, ask them to think about how the two Written Response Ask students to write
Language Discuss figurative language different situations impact the friendship. what might have happened to Maurice if
such as invisible thread, another planet. Meaning Ask questions that help Laura had not decided to turn back to go
First ask about the literal meaning to make students focus on the meaning of figurative talk to him. Encourage them to include
sure students understand the words. For language. For example, What does it mean details about what Laura and Maurice might
example, What is thread? What does that the welfare hotel “might as well have do and how they would feel.
invisible mean? Then discuss the figurative been a different planet?” (It was completely
meaning. different from Laura’s home.)
TEACH
Read and Respond

Have the class do their first read of the selection. Then have them complete their close read. Finally,
work with them on the Making Meaning and Language Development activities.

IDENTIFY NEEDS
• Use the Selection Resources listed on the Planning pages for “A Simple Act” to help
students continually improve their ability to master the standards.
Instructional Standards: A Simple Act

Reading You may wish to administer the RI.6 Determine an author’s Have students identify the
ANALYZE AND REVISE Analyze Craft and Structure: point of view or purpose in conflicting viewpoints that
Author’s Point of View (RP) a text and analyze how the might arise if the selection
• Analyze student work for worksheet to help students see author distinguishes his or her were told from another point
that a point of view can help position from that of others. of view.
evidence of student learning. you understand a scene from a
• Identify whether students different perspective.
have met the expectations in Language Use the Word Study: L.4 Determine or clarify the Have students work in pairs to
the standards. Multiple-Meaning Words meaning of unknown and identify three sentences in the
(RP) worksheet to help multiple-meaning words and text that include a multiple-
• Identify implications for future students understand that many phrases based on grade 7 meaning word. Students should
instruction. English words have more than reading and content, choosing use a print or online dictionary
one meaning. flexibly from a range of to find the multiple meanings
strategies. for each word and name the
part of speech. Then have
partners take turns explaining
how context clues in each
sentence help them to know
which meaning to apply to the
multiple-meaning word.
TEACH
Implement the planned lesson,
and gather evidence of student
learning.

Comparing Texts
In this lesson, you will read and compare “A Simple
Jump Start Act” and an excerpt from An Invisible Thread. First

you will complete the first-read and close-read
A SIMPle ACT from An InvISIble ThreAd
activities for “A Simple Act.”
First Read Before students’ first read, ask
them to talk about chance encounters with
people and how those encounters sometimes
lead to important, lasting friendships. How did
students meet their closest friends? In what
About the Author
Tyler Jackson (b. 1981)
A Simple Act
ways have those friends influenced their lives? was raised in England but Concept Vocabulary
has traveled extensively,
You will encounter the following words as you read “A Simple Act.”
writing about many of
A Simple Act the places he has lived. Before reading, rate how familiar you are with each word. Indicate how
How do Laura and Maurice meet? What is the Jackson has survived a well you know it on a scale of 1 (do not know it) to 5 (know it very well).
hurricane in North Carolina
“invisible thread”? What lessons do they learn
and a flood in Texas, WOrd YOUr rAnKInG
from one another? Modeling questions such as and says, “People pull
these will help students connect to “A Simple together in a disaster, but
connects
Act” and to the Performance Task assignment. it’s remarkable to see the
influence
Selection audio and print capability for the small acts of kindness that
selection are available in the Interactive Teacher’s usually go unreported.” encouraged
Edition.
bond
Concept Vocabulary After completing your first read, come back to the concept vocabulary
Support students as they rate the words. Ask if and review your rankings. Mark changes to your original rankings as
they’ve ever heard, read, or used them. Reassure needed.
them that the definitions for these words are
First Read NONFICTION
First Read Apply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an
opportunity to complete the close-read notes after your first read.
As they read, students should perform the steps
of the first read:

NOTICE: Encourage students to notice the key NOTICE the general ideas of ANNOTATE by marking
events in Laura and Maurice’s friendship. the text. What is it about? vocabulary and key passages
Who is involved? you want to revisit.
ANNOTATE: Remind students to mark passages
that describe how the two friends learn from and
help each other.
CONNECT: Ask students to make connections
by thinking about friendships they have with CONNECT ideas within RESPOND by completing
people from older generations. Students can the selection to what you the Comprehension Check and
 STAndArdS already know and what you by writing a timeline of the
also consider relationships in movies or texts they Reading Informational Text
have already read. selection.
know. By the end of the year, read and
comprehend literary nonfiction in
RESPOND: Students will answer questions and the grades 6–8 text complexity band
proficiently, with scaffolding as
write a summary to demonstrate understanding. needed at the high end of the range.
Point out to students that while they will always

complete the Respond step at the end of the 32 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS
copies of the First-Read Guide: Nonfiction for
Personalize for Learning
students to use. LIT17_SE07_U01_A2_WC.indd 32 4/13/16 4:18 PM
Remind students that during their first English Language Support 2. The George Washington Bridge __________
Using Concept Vocabulary Manhattan, New York and New Jersey.
read they should not answer the close-read
questions that appear in the selection. Contextualize Support students with scaffolding 3. A __________ between two people is a strong
to help them learn the concept vocabulary. connection between them.
Complete each sentence with a word from the list. 4. My math teacher ___________ me to go to
connects influence encouraged bond college to study accounting.
1. My older brothers and sisters were a big Then ask volunteers to create a sentence of their
_______________ on my life. own using a concept vocabulary word and write
it on the board. ALL LEVELS
ANCHOR TEXT | NEWS BLOG
CLOSER LOOK
Analyze Relationships
Students may have marked paragraph 1
during their first read. Use this paragraph
to help students understand the two main
characters. Encourage them to talk about the
annotations that they marked. You may want
to model a close read with the class based on
the highlights shown in the text.
ANNOTATE: Have students mark details in
the paragraph that describe the characters, or
have students participate while you highlight
A
them.
Simple
reader can infer from these details, and accept
student responses.
Act
Possible response: Laura and the young
man come from very different socioeconomic
backgrounds. While Laura is a successful
businesswoman, Maurice is a scruffy eleven-year-
old beggar.
Tyler Jackson CONCLUDE: Help students to formulate
author might have included these details.
Possible response: The descriptions show
that their friendship is unusual for at least two
BACKGROUND reasons. Laura and Maurice are from different

In a big city like New York, thousands of strangers from many different generations, and they come from very different
backgrounds cross paths every day. But they rarely stop on the street to backgrounds. By including these details, the
get to know each other. When people from very different places make author emphasizes the unlikelihood of any
the effort to connect, unexpected friendships can form. friendship developing between these two
characters.
Remind students that the relationships
1
I t was the first day of September in 1986, and the morning rain
had given way to bright sunshine. A successful advertising
executive made her way across 56th street toward Broadway, on
NOTES
between people are key to many nonfiction
narratives. Instead of explaining the similarities
and differences, a good author will simply
the west side of Manhattan. A young boy—all of eleven years present them and allow readers to draw their
old and dressed in scruffy clothes—asked for some change for own conclusions.
something to eat. Laura Schroff lowered her head and walked on;
Manhattan was full of panhandlers, and she hardly even noticed
them any more.
A Simple Act 33
Teaching
2 But something drew Laura back to the boy. She still doesn’t
NOTES know what it was, but she calls it an “invisible thread.” There’s
Close Read
connects (kuh NEHKTS) v. an old Chinese proverb that says that an invisible thread connects
joins together two people who are destined to meet and influence each other.
In paragraph 4, have students pay attention
to the author’s writing style. You may wish to Laura believes she felt that thread. She turned back from the
model the close read using the following influence (IHN floo uhns) v. middle of the street and took the boy to lunch.
affect someone in an The boy lived in a single room in a welfare hotel with his
think-aloud format. Possible responses to important way
3
questions on the student page are included. You mother and numerous other relatives. It was only two blocks
may also want to print copies of the Close-Read away from Laura’s home, but it might as well have been a
Guide: Nonfiction for students to use. different planet. As they talked over their lunch, Laura learned
about the boy’s life. She herself had not had an easy childhood,
ANNOTATE: As I read paragraph 4, I notice a
but what she heard shocked her, and before she left, she told him
series of questions in the narrative. to phone her if he was ever hungry. When she didn’t hear from
QUESTION: These questions help me understand him after several days, she returned to the spot they had met—
the kinds of issues that Laura is facing as she and there he was, in the same clothes and too-tight sneakers. They
considers her own motivations for getting arranged to meet again the next Monday.
involved in Maurice’s life. 4 Every Monday, Laura Schroff and Maurice Mazyck had dinner
together. Some Mondays they ate at Laura’s home, and Maurice
CONCLUDE: In paragraph 4, Laura and Maurice discovered a life he had only seen on television. Gradually,
encouraged (ehn KUR ihjd) v.
are still forming their friendship. In paragraph 5, inspired; offered support to Laura became the young boy’s first role model. She encouraged
the friendship is more established. The questions him to have dreams about his future, and got involved in his
help Laura focus on the potential problems that bond (BAHND) n. uniting education. Maurice’s teacher was perhaps the only other person
might arise and they help her decide whether connection; link who believed in him, and she made Laura take a long hard look
to commit to this friendship. The change in the at what she was doing. Was she helping Maurice just as a way
way Maurice is referred to reflects their changed of helping herself? Could she commit to being there for Maurice
CLOSE READ
relationship. ANNOTATE: Mark the even when she didn’t feel like it? What kind of damage might
questions included in it cause Maurice if she were to abandon him after becoming
paragraph 4. so important to him? Laura thought it through, and came to a
QUESTION: Why might decision.
the author have included 5 The two continued sharing dinner every Monday, and a close
these questions? bond formed between them. Laura introduced Maurice to new
CONCLUDE: What effect
places, new ideas, and new possibilities. And Maurice became
do these questions have almost like the child Laura had always wanted. One day, she

on Laura? offered to make lunch for Maurice and leave it with her doorman
for him to pick up on his way to school. He asked her if she could
put the lunch in a brown paper bag, because then the other kids
would know that someone cared about him.
6 Maurice had never left the city until Laura took him to visit
her sister’s family on Long Island. Her memory of their trip is a
favorite one. She had expected Maurice to be amazed by the huge
Additional English Language Support

is available in the Interactive Teacher’s
Edition.
Vocabulary Development
Multiple Meanings Tell students that the 3. The shooters drew their weapons. (Took out a
word drew, which appears in the first sentence sword, pistol, or other weapon.)
of paragraph 2, is the past tense of draw and 4. The teacher drew the winning name from a
has multiple meanings. Discuss the following hat. (Selected randomly.)
sentences with the students.
Have students reread the following sentence in
1. He drew a picture. (Made an image by making paragraph 2, But something drew Laura back to
lines on a surface.) the boy. Guide them to identify which meaning is
2. The performer drew the crowd’s attention. used in the sentence. Discuss how to use context
(Caused something to be directed toward clues to define a word with multiple meanings.
something else.)
front lawn and even larger backyard. But what amazed him the
most was the large dining room table where they all sat down NOTES
and talked and ate together. He declared that he wanted a table

like that when he had a family of his own. Only months earlier,
Maurice had seriously doubted that he would live to be an adult.
7 Laura and Maurice’s relationship lasted, and in 1997 a
magazine published an article, less than one page long, about it.
Laura’s friends suggested that she write a book telling the whole
story. It was 10 years before she began writing—and another three
years before she found a co-writer and started seriously getting
down to business. The result of their work, An Invisible Thread,
reached number one on the New York Times best sellers list.
8 Today, Maurice works in construction. He is the first person
in his family to earn a paycheck. He has a family of his own, and
his children are all very fond of their “Aunt Laurie.” If you were
to visit the family’s apartment, you might notice that there is no
couch in the living room. But there is a huge dining room table.
9 The writer Ernest Hemingway said, “The best way to find out
if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” Over the years, Laura
discovered the truth of that statement. She feels that Maurice has
given her one of the greatest gifts she has ever had. He repaid her
trust by giving her life more meaning than her success at work
ever did. He taught her to be grateful for what she has, and for the
chance to share it. ❧
A Simple Act 35
Personalize for Learning 15-11-24 9:46 AM
Challenge
Conclusions Review paragraph 9 with the class. Ask students about
the impact of the last paragraph of the narrative. Point out that the
last paragraph of a narrative often includes a conclusion or “take-
away.” Reread the last paragraph of the selection, pausing after the
quote by Ernest Hemingway. Ask students to consider other final
paragraphs that have had meaning for them. Have students write
a short essay comparing and contrasting the final paragraphs of
several articles, stories, or books they have read. What do these final
paragraphs have in common? How are they different?
Teaching

Possible responses:
1. Laura and Maurice met when Maurice stopped 1. How did Laura Schroff and Maurice Mazyck meet?
Laura on the street and asked her for some
change. Laura kept walking, but then she turned
around and went back to Maurice. After talking,
Laura took Maurice out to lunch.
2. An old Chinese proverb says that an “invisible
thread” connects people who are destined to
meet and influence each other.
3. After their first meeting, Laura and Maurice began 2. What does the old Chinese proverb say connects two people who are
eating dinner together every Monday. destined to meet and influence each other?
4. Maurice’s favorite part of the visit to Laura’s sister’s
home was the large dining room table where
everyone talked and ate together.
5. As an adult, Maurice works in construction and
has a wife and children. He also has a large dining
room table in his living room.
3. What weekly ritual do Laura and Maurice begin after their first meeting?
4. What was Maurice’s favorite part of the visit to Laura’s sister?

5. Describe Maurice’s adult life, professionally and personally.
Challenge
Proverbs Have students write a short report about the Chinese
proverb about the invisible thread connecting people that was
mentioned in the narrative. Encourage them to research the proverb
(and other Chinese proverbs) to put it in social and historical
context. Ask them to analyze and interpret the proverb from two
perspectives—that of a citizen in ancient China and that of a student
in contemporary America.
6. Laura shared the story of her relationship with

Maurice with an audience by writing a book,
6. How did Laura share the story of her relationship with Maurice with an audience? which became a New York Times best-seller.
7. Timelines will vary but should include the
following events:
September 1986 – Laura and Maurice meet.
1997 – A magazine publishes a short article about
Laura and Maurice’s friendship.
2007 – Laura begins writing the story of their
relationship.
7. Notebook Write a timeline of key events in “A Simple Act.”
2010 – Laura finds a co-writer and begins writing
her book more seriously.
Research
Research to Clarify If students have difficulty
RESEARCH finding a detail to research, suggest the following
options: welfare hotels in New York City,
Research to Clarify Choose at least one unfamiliar detail from the text. Briefly
advertising as an occupation.
research that detail. In what way does the information you learned shed light on an
aspect of the story? Research to Explore If students have trouble
formulating a research question, suggest the
following options: What was life like for Maurice
when he and his family lived in a welfare hotel?
What was life like for Laura as a successful
advertising executive? How does the magazine
article portray Laura and Maurice’s friendship?
Research to Explore Choose something that interested you from the text and
formulate a research question about it.
A Simple Act 37
Close Read the Text

Jump Start 1. The model, from paragraph 6 of the essay, shows two sample
annotations, along with questions and conclusions. Close
read the passage and find another detail to annotate. Then,
Close Read Before students start their close
write a question and your conclusion.
read, have them discuss the different ways, A SIMPLE ACT
large and small, that people can help each

other. Ask students to share their personal ANNOTATE: This passage describes what
experiences with helping others—or being most impressed Maurice.
helped by others. Encourage them to explore QUESTION: Why does the writer include
the benefits to both parties. this information in the text?
ANNOTATE: The
CONCLUDE: The writer shows that word amazed is
Maurice yearns for a close family, which he repeated.
doesn’t currently have.
QUESTION: Why
Close Read the Text does the author

repeat this word?
Walk students through the Annotation Model She had expected Maurice to be
CONCLUDE: The
on the student page. Then have them use amazed by the huge front lawn and
author wants to
the models as they annotate another detail. even larger backyard. But what emphasize that
amazed him the most was the large Maurice has a
Encourage them to complete items 2 and 3
dining room table where they all sat stronger interest
on their own. Review and discuss the sections in how the family
down and talked and ate together. He
students have marked. If needed, continue to spends time
declared that he wanted a table like
model close reading by using the Annotation together than in
that when he had a family of his own.
Highlights in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition. property size.
Analyze the Text 2. For more practice, go back into the text and complete the
Possible responses: close-read notes.
1. (a) Laura expects Maurice to be impressed by the 3. Revisit a section of the text you found important during your
large front and back yards, but he’s most excited first read. Read this section closely and annotate what you
by the large dining room table where everyone notice. Ask questions such as “Why did the author make
talks and eats together. DOK 1 (b) Readers learn this choice?” What can you conclude?
that Maurice is most impressed by connections
between loved ones. DOK 3

2. Maurice gains food and a friendship, as well as Analyze the Text Cite textual evidenCe
exposure to “new places, new ideas, and new to support your answers.
notebook Respond to these questions.
possibilities” (paragraph 5). Laura gains a child to
care for—Maurice became almost like the child 1. (a) analyze How does Maurice surprise Laura when he explains in
she’d always wanted (paragraph 5). DOK 3 paragraph 6 what he liked most about visiting Laura’s sister? (b) infer
What do readers learn about Maurice’s values?
3. Answers will vary. Students might point out that
the friendship is both unusual and inspirational. It  STAndArdS 2. draw Conclusions How do both Laura and Maurice benefit from
is unusual because Laura and Maurice come from Reading Informational Text their relationship?
such different backgrounds, and it is inspirational • Cite several pieces of textual
evidence to support analysis of what
3. evaluate In paragraph 7 the author mentions that a book about
because they help each other. DOK 3 the text says explicitly as well as Laura and Maurice’s friendship became a best-seller. Why do you think
inferences drawn from the text. people became so interested in this friendship?
4. Answers will vary. Students might point out • Determine an author’s point of
that the article shows how people of different view or purpose in a text and analyze 4. essential Question What can one generation learn from
generations, and classes, can come together, build how the author distinguishes his or another? What have you learned about how people of different
her position from that of others.
strong friendships, and take the time to listen to generations learn from each other?
one another. DOK 3

LIT17_SE07_U01_A2C_WC_app.indd 38 4/13/16 4:21 PM
Formative Assessment English Language Support 2. Do you think it was safe for Laura to get closer
Express Attitudes and/or Opinions Put students to Maurice, even inviting him to her house?
Analyze the Text in small groups to discuss “A Simple Act,” the Explain your point of view.
• If students fail to cite evidence, then remind story of the unusual friendship between a business 3. Would you have brought Maurice to visit your
them to support their ideas with specific executive, Laura, and a young “panhandler” she sister on Long Island? Explain your answer.
information. met on the street in Manhattan. 4. Do you think Maurice and Laura had a true
• If students struggle to recall details of the trip Give each group a question to answer. friendship, or was she just taking care of him?
to Laura’s sister’s house, then suggest they 1. Would you have stopped to get to know Explain your answer.
reread paragraph 6. Maurice the way Laura did? Explain why or
why not.

Author’s Point of View The attitudes and approach that an author
Author’s Point of View Explain to students
takes in an informational text show the author’s point of view. In
some informational texts, authors take an objective approach, avoiding
that an author’s point of view in an informational
opinions and other biases. These texts are based almost entirely on text is his or her beliefs and opinions about the
factual information. subject. For instance, an author may admire
the subject, be critical of the subject, or find
In other informational texts, authors are more subjective—mixing facts the subject amusing. Remind students that an
with their own commentary and interpretation. The commentary may author’s point of view is often revealed through
take the form of direct opinions, or it may involve using weighted
his or her word choice, including the use of
words—words that have strong emotional associations beyond their
weighted words and phrases. Have students
basic meanings.
discuss Tyler Jackson’s point of view with respect
• In “A Simple Act,” the phrase “all of eleven years old” in paragraph to the relationship between Laura Schroff and
1 shows that the author is concerned that the boy was too young to Maurice Mazyck. Ask them to support their
be begging for money on the streets. responses with specific examples of word choice
• In paragraph 4, the author writes that Maurice’s teacher “made from the text. For more support, see Analyze
Laura take a long hard look at what she was doing” to show that the Craft and Structure: Author’s Point of
teacher took Maurice’s situation very seriously. View.
In these paragraphs, the author uses weighted words to create sympathy
for Maurice in the reader’s mind.
Practice
CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE Possible responses:
1. a. “too-tight sneakers” b. Maurice’s sneakers are
Notebook Respond to these questions. too small for him. c. The phrase has the effect
1. Reread paragraph 3, and use the chart to analyze the author’s use of weighted of creating sympathy for Maurice because his
words and phrases, and the effect these word choices have on readers. family can’t afford to purchase shoes that fit him
properly.
WORD OR PHRASE PRECISE MEANING EFFECT
2. The weighted words in paragraph 3 show that
a. See possible responses in the b. c. Laura had a much more comfortable life than
Teacher’s Edition. Maurice did.
3. In paragraph 6, the author says that Maurice “had
seriously doubted that he would live to be an
adult.” The author is trying to show that Maurice
had little hope for his future before he met Laura.

4. More objective language would probably result in
the reader’s having less sympathy for Maurice and
less appreciation of what Laura did for him.
2. Explain how the weighted words in paragraph 3 affect the reader’s

understanding of the differences between Maurice’s life and Laura’s life.
3. Find an additional example of weighted words in paragraphs 5–9, and explain
why the author might have chosen such language.
4. How would the reader’s understanding of the article differ if the author had
avoided using weighted words and used more objective language?
A Simple Act 39
LIT17_SE07_U01_A2C_WC_app.indd 39 19/04/16 8:42 AM
If students have trouble identifying other
examples of weighted words or phrases, then
ask them to focus on the last sentence of
paragraph 1.
For Reteach and Practice, see Analyze Craft
and Structure: Author’s Point of
View (RP).

Why These Words? Discuss with students the connects encouraged
different ways the words can be used. Someone influence bond
can influence a friend in a positive, helpful way.
A SIMPLE ACT
But a bully can influence his classmates, too.
Why These Words? The concept vocabulary words help to show
Remind students to pay attention to context
relationships between people. For example, the old Chinese proverb says
clues. that an invisible thread connects, or joins together, two people who are
Possible responses: destined to meet. In turn, these two people will influence each other, or
1. The concept vocabulary is clear and descriptive, so affect each other in an important way. Notice that both words relate to
it lets readers feel what Maurice and Laura felt. the relationship between Laura and Maurice.
2. involved, felt, learned, sharing, “Aunt Laurie”
1. How does the concept vocabulary sharpen the reader’s understanding
of the relationship between Laura and Maurice?
Practice
Possible responses:
1. My best friend and I share a special bond that
connects us through good times and bad. I know
that I can trust her to be a positive influence in my 2. Identify two other words in the selection that are related to this
life. I’ve always encouraged her to do her best and  WORD NETWORK
concept, and explain how they are related.
she’s always encouraged me as well. Look in the text for words
related to the topic of
2. friendship, family, secure, supportive, stable, generations, and add them
romantic to your Word Network.
Word Network
Possible words: camaraderie, fellowship, linked, Practice
familial Notebook The concept words appear in “A Simple Act.”
1. Use each concept word in a sentence that shows your understanding
Word Study of each word’s meaning.
For more support, see Concept Vocabulary and 2. Work with a partner, and take turns trying to list as many words as you
Word Study. can about interpersonal relationships.
Possible responses:

Bond in paragraph 5 means “an experience of Word Study
feeling shared between two people that forms a Multiple-Meaning Words A multiple-meaning word is a word with
connection between them.”
more than one definition. Sometimes the definitions of multiple-meaning
Two more definitions of bond are (1) an agreement
words are similar, but in other cases they may be completely unrelated.
with legal force and (2) physical restraints, especially
For example, the word bond, which appears in “A Simple Act,” has
ropes or chains.
several different meanings. Write the meaning of bond as it is used in the
 STANDARDS fifth paragraph. Then, use a dictionary to find two more definitions of the
Language
• Demonstrate command of the
word bond.
grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
• Determine or clarify the meaning
of unknown and multiple-meaning
words and phrases based on grade
7 reading and content, choosing
flexibly from a range of strategies.
Formative Assessment 40 UNIT 1 • GeNerATIoNS

Concept Vocabulary
• If students fail to see that the concept
vocabulary words relate to Laura and Maurice’s LIT17_SE07_U01_A2C_WC_app.indd 40 4/13/16 4:21 PM
relationship, then have them use one or more
of the words in sentences that tell about Laura
and Maurice.
Word Study
• If students struggle to find words with multiple
meanings, then suggest bright and change in
paragraph 1.
For Reteach and Practice, see Word Study:
Multiple-Meaning Words (RP).
Adverbs An adverb is a word that modifies or describes a verb,
Adverbs Discuss the definition of adverbs with
adjective, or another adverb. These words provide information by
answering the question How? When? Where? How often? or To what
students, emphasizing the questions that adverbs
extent? Many adverbs end in the suffix -ly. This chart shows examples: answer. Review the examples in the chart with
students, reading the sentences with and without
How? Maurice asked politely for change. the adverbs to show students how each word
functions in the sentence. For more support, see
When? Laura said no, but soon changed her mind. Conventions: Adverbs.
Read It
Where? They went inside for a meal.
Make it Interactive
How often? They usually met for dinner on Monday night. Write the sentences on the board. Have students
underline the adverbs, then have other students
To what extent? Today, Maurice and Laura are extremely good friends. draw arrows from the adverbs to the words they
modify or describe.
Possible responses:
Read It 1. (a) Regularly and enthusiastically modify shared.
1. Identify the adverb or adverbs in each sentence. Then, identify the
(b) Often modifies exchanged, and frequently
word each adverb modifies or describes.
modifies agreed.
a. Maurice and Laura shared meals regularly and enthusiastically.
(c) Later modifies befriended.
b. They often exchanged opinions and frequently agreed.
(d) V
ery modifies popular, and deeply modifies
c. Later, Laura befriended Maurice’s children, too.
affected.
d. Laura’s book was very popular and deeply affected many readers. 2. Paragraph 4: Gradually modifies became (how?).
2. Reread paragraphs 4–7 of the text. Mark the adverbs, identify the Paragraph 5: Always modifies wanted (when?).
verbs they modify, and tell how these words clarify information. Paragraph 6: Never modifies left (how often?),
seriously modifies doubted (to what extent?).
Write It
Paragraph 7: Seriously modifies getting down
Notebook The sample sentence here was revised by adding an to (how?).
adverb that addresses the question in parentheses. Add adverbs to the
sentences provided, based on the questions in parentheses. Write It

Possible responses:
ExAMpLE
1. Laura and Maurice soon became good friends.
Laura was glad she went back to meet Maurice. (To what extent
was she glad?) 2. Maurice openly confided in his new friend.
Laura was extremely glad she went back to meet Maurice. 3. They frequently pushed each other to try new
things.
1. Maurice and Laura became good friends. (When did they become
friends?)
2. Maurice confided in his new friend. (How did he confide?)
3. They pushed each other to try new things. (How often did they push
each other?)
A Simple Act 41 Conventions
• If students struggle to locate adverbs, then tell
them many adverbs end in ly.
LIT17_SE07_U01_A2C_WC_app.indd 41 PERSONALIZE FOR LEARNING 4/13/16 4:20 PM
• If students can’t identify what an adverb
modifies, then ask them to list all the verbs
English Language Support and adjectives in the sentence. The adverb
Adverbs Support English Learners in developing with these verbs and adverbs that describe each must modify one of them.
their understanding of adverbs. verb. Expanding
For Reteach and Practice, see Conventions:
Ask pairs of students to choose adverbs that Ask students to write a paragraph about how Adverbs (RP).
describe the following verbs: jump, eat, play, and Laura changed Maurice’s life. Have them include
draw. Have students act out the adverbs they adverbs to describe the verbs that they use. Selection Test
have chosen. Emerging Bridging Administer the “A Simple Act” Selection Test,
List the following verbs on the board: jump, eat, which is available in both print and digital formats
play, and draw. Ask students to write sentences online in Assessments.
planning Whole- Cl ass learning • An Invisible Thread

AUDIO SUMMARIES Summary
Audio summaries of “An Invisible
Thread” are available online in An Invisible Thread is Laura Schroff’s account of her friendship with
both English and Spanish in the Maurice Mazyck. Her co-writer Alex Tresniowski helped her tell the
Interactive Teacher’s Edition or story, and the book was published in 2008. In this excerpt, Maurice
Unit Resources. Assigning these gives a speech at Laura’s fiftieth birthday celebration. He recalls their
summaries prior to reading the meeting on a New York street 15 years earlier. He was a hungry boy,
selection may help students and he asked her for money to buy food. Laura walked on—but
build additional background something made her come back. Maurice thanks her for helping him
become the man he is today. Laura writes that she corrects people
their first read.
when they say how lucky Maurice is to have met her, and she lists the
reasons that she’s the lucky one.
Insight
Reading this excerpt from An Invisible Thread will help students reflect
on the chain reaction that can occur when people of two different
generations influence one another. The impact—in this case a positive
one—upon one generation is often passed down to the next and the
one after that.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
generation learn from The excerpt from An Invisible Thread will help students answer the
another? Essential Question—What can one generation learn from another?—
when they consider the lessons that Laura Schroff and Maurice Mazyck
learned from each other. Laura, as part of the older generation, teaches
Maurice about the possibilities in life by exposing him to opportunities
and people he would otherwise not have had or met. Maurice, as part
of the younger generation, teaches Laura that children crave connection
and a feeling of belonging more than they crave material things.
Whole-Class Learning
What unexpected event Whole-Class Learning Performance Task In this Performance Task,
shows how a person students will write personal narratives about how an unexpected event
can influence someone shows how someone from a different generation has influenced them
from a different or someone they know. Students will have the opportunity to compare
generation? their own experiences with the relationship in An Invisible Thread, which
shows how two strangers from different generations came into each
Assessment
other’s lives by chance and changed the course of both their lives.
In what situations can one Unit Performance-Based Assessment This selection shows students that
generation learn from the younger generation can teach the older generation about what is
another? important to children, and that the older generation can help guide the
younger generation and expose them to important new experiences.

DIGITAL
LESSON RESOURCES

Lesson First Read Concept Vocabulary Writing to Compare
Instructional RI.7.10 By the end of the year, read L.7.2.a Use a comma to separate RI.7.9 Analyze how two or more
Standards and comprehend literary nonfiction . . . coordinate adjectives. authors . . .
RI.7.6 Determine an author’s point of L.7.4.b Use common, grade- W.7.9 Draw evidence from literary or
view or purpose . . . appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and informational texts to support . . .
roots . . .
W.7.2 Write informative/explanatory
L.7.5 Demonstrate understanding texts . . .
of figurative language, word
W.7.2.b Develop the topic . . .
relationships . . .
W.7.2.c Use appropriate transitions . . .
L.7.5.b Use the relationship
between particular words to better L.7.2.b Spell correctly.
understand . . .
STUDENT RESOURCES
Interactive Student
Edition or Unit Resources First-Read Guide: Nonfiction
TEACHER RESOURCES
Selection Resources
udio Summaries: English and
A oncept Vocabulary and
C riting to Compare: Explanatory
W
Spanish Word Study Essay
Interactive Teacher’s
Edition or Unit Resources Annotation Highlights Conventions: Adjectives

A
Narrative Point of View
A Word Study: Latin Suffix –ity (RP)
Narrative Point of View (RP)
Interactive Teacher’s Conventions: Adjectives (RP)
Assessment
Available online in

personalize for learning Whole- Cl ass learning • An Invisible Thread
Reading Support
Text Complexity Rubric: An Invisible Thread
Knowledge Demands Students need some knowledge of homelessness in cities in order to understand references
1 2 3 4 5 to begging, shelters, and lack of food, and to understand the relationship between Maurice
and Laura.
Structure The account is told from the present looking back to the past. Reader needs to recognize
1 1 3 4 5 that some quotations are spoken by adults about their memories of the past, and others are
words they said in the past.
Language Conventionality and Clarity Sentences are mostly average length or short, with syntax that is easy to understand.
1 2 3 4 5 Vocabulary is mostly on-level.
Levels of Meaning/Purpose Meaning and concepts are straightforward, without multiple levels of meaning. The one
1 2 3 4 5 figurative phrase used (invisible thread) is explained.
DECIDE and PLAN

knowledge demands and structure as they ensure that they can successfully read with ideas for how they can go beyond a
Knowledge Demands In order to ensure Knowledge Demands Discuss with Text Analysis Ask students to discuss
that students understand the situation of students the challenges that people face what it means to have a “guardian angel.”
the two people in the selection, make sure when they face financial hardships. Ask Have them think about the times in their
they understand the meaning of these them to think about the basic needs that lives or in the life of someone they know
words and phrases they will see as they people in these situations might need when a stranger has stepped in and offered
read: begged, shelter, spare change, fend assistance with. As they read, ask them to assistance with a difficult problem or
for himself. If necessary, explain Maurice’s think about how someone might feel when situation.
situation and why he asked for food, they get help from a stranger. Written Response Ask students to
thereby starting the friendship with Laura. Structure As students read, check that investigate ways in which they can assist
Structure To help students follow the they are understanding the sequence of people in their community who are in
structure of the narrative, point out the narrative. If students have trouble need. Have students prepare a brief
that most of the quotations are from determining whether quotations are spoken presentation for the class that outlines these
the present but refer to past events. The in the past (paragraphs 2 and 15) or the opportunities.
exceptions are paragraphs 2 and 15, which present, have them look for clues in the
include quotations of things Maurice said in surrounding sentences. Then have them
the past. reread the quotations.
Teach
Read and Respond

Have the class do their first read of the selection. Then have them complete their close read. Finally,
work with them on the Making Meaning, Language Development, and Effective Expression activities.

IDENTIFY NEEDS
• Use the Selection Resources listed on the Planning Pages for An Invisible Thread to help
students continually improve their ability to master the standards.
Instructional Standards: An Invisible Thread

Reading You may wish to administer the RI.6 Determine an author’s Have students identify the
ANALYZE AND REVISE Analyze Craft and Structure: point of view or purpose in conflicting viewpoints that
Narrative Point of View (RP) a text and analyze how the might arise if the selection
• Analyze student work for worksheet to help students author distinguishes his or her were told from another point
understand a scene from a position from that of others. of view.
evidence of student learning. different perspective.
• Identify whether students
have met the expectations in Language You may wish to administer the L.2.a Use a comma to separate Have students say or write a
the standards. Conventions: Adjectives (RP) coordinate adjectives. sentence about An Invisible
worksheet to help students Thread that includes two
• Identify implications for future understand that commas coordinating adjectives
instruction. separate coordinate adjectives, separated by a comma. Ask
or two adjectives that modify students to read their sentence,
the same noun. using the punctuation as a cue
for when to pause as they read.
TEACH
Implement the planned lesson,
and gather evidence of student
learning.

Comparing Texts
You will now read an excerpt from An Invisible
Jump Start A SIMPLE ACT

Thread. First, complete the first-read and close-
read activities. Then, compare the point of view
from AN INVISIBLE THREAD
of “A Simple Act” with the point of view of An
First Read Prior to students’ first read, ask Invisible Thread.
them to think about their circles of friends. Did
any of them meet a friend in an unusual way?
This discussion will help them make connections
between the text and their own experiences.
About the Authors
Concept Vocabulary
An Invisible Thread You will encounter the following words as you read an excerpt from An
Invisible Thread.
Why does Maurice consider Laura to be so
special? Why did she do what she did? Modeling Before reading, note how familiar you are with each word. Then, rank
questions such as these will help students connect Laura Schroff had a career the words in order from most familiar (1) to least familiar (3).
in advertising sales for
to the excerpt from An Invisible Thread and to more than 30 years and WORD YOUR RANKING
the Performance Task assignment. Selection audio helped launch USA Today resilience
and print capability for the selection are available and several other highly
in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition. successful publications. perseverance
She is now a motivational
Concept Vocabulary speaker and encourages
people to make a difference
generosity
Support students as they rank their words. Ask if in the lives of others.
they’ve ever heard, read, or used them. Reassure After completing the first read, come back to the concept vocabulary and
them that the definitions for these words are review your rankings. Mark changes to your original rankings as needed.
First Read First Read NONFICTION

As they read, students should perform the steps Apply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an
Alex Tresniowski is a
opportunity to complete the close-read notes after your first read.
of the first read: writer based in New York
City. He has been a senior
NOTICE: Have students notice the point of view
writer for People magazine,

of the narrative by thinking about who is telling writing human-interest,
the story. NOTICE the general ideas of ANNOTATE by marking
crime, and sports articles,
the text. What is it about? vocabulary and key passages
and he is the co-author of
ANNOTATE: Students should mark passages Who is involved? you want to revisit.
several books, including
they find memorable as well as those they find An Invisible Thread and
difficult. The Vendetta.
CONNECT: Encourage students to think about
their own friendships with people from older
CONNECT ideas within RESPOND by competing
generations. How will they view such friendships the selection to what you the Comprehension Check and
 STANDARDS
when they are older? Reading Informational Text already know and what you by writing a brief summary of
By the end of the year, read and have already read. the selection.
RESPOND: Students will answer questions and comprehend literary nonfiction in
write a summary to demonstrate understanding. the grades 6–8 text complexity band
Point out to students that while they will always needed at the high end of the range.
first read, the others steps will probably happen 42 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS
copies of the First-Read Guide: Nonfiction for
students to use.
Remind students that during their first Digital perspectives
LIT17_SE07_U01_A3C_WC.indd 42 4/13/16 4:23 PM
read, they should not answer the close-read Enriching the Text To give students a better Point out the reactions of the hosts while they
questions that appear in the selection. understanding of how Laura and Maurice’s are learning more about Laura and Maurice’s
relationship developed, show their interview on story. Might you, the viewers, have had a similar
the Today show to the class. Be sure to preview reaction? How does emotion encourage people
the video before sharing it with the class. to promote a cause?
What special names does Maurice use to refer Discuss how Laura and Maurice’s relationship has
to Laura? Ask the students how they feel about motivated them to spread awareness about child
the pictures shown and what the pictures reflect hunger and work to help hungry children.
about Laura and Maurice’s relationship.
42 UNIT 1 • Generations
ANCHOR TEXT | MEMOIR
CLOSE READ
Remind students that while the direct quotations
from An in paragraphs 3 and 4 show the words that
Invisible
Maurice said, the punctuation gives an idea of
how he said it. You may wish to model the close
read using the following think-aloud format.
Thread
Possible responses to questions on the student
page are included. You may also want to print
copies of the Close-Read Guide: Nonfiction for
students to use.
Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski
ANNOTATE: As I read paragraphs 3 and 4, I first
notice and mark the dashes. When used in pairs
like this, dashes set off a separate thought that
is inserted in the middle of a sentence. But I also
BACKGROUND mark the apostrophe that appears with the word
Laura Schroff and Maurice Mazyck had been friends for 15 years when
“Cause.”
he gave the final toast at the celebration of her 50th birthday. Maurice’s
words, and Laura’s reaction to them, reveal what each had gained from QUESTION: Rather than simply giving a flat,
their long friendship. lifeless transcription of Maurice’s toast, the author
uses this punctuation to give readers a sense of
1
T hen came the final toast. The speaker was in a sharp black
tuxedo with spectacular black-and-white shoes, and his wife
was in a stunning navy blue gown, her hair swept up. Nearly
NOTES
what it was like to be in the audience and hear
Maurice give his toast on that day. We get a feel
for Maurice’s personality—he seems like a real
everyone in the room had met him or at least knew his story, and person. As a result, the toast comes to life and
so everyone was excited to see him and hear him speak. He kissed has meaning.
his wife, walked up and took the microphone, and began his toast.
2 “Laurie, where can I start,” Maurice began. “We met . . . the CLOSE READ CONCLUDE: If the passage just summarized
way we met was so special to me. I was a young boy on the street ANNOTATE: In paragraphs what Maurice said, it would not have the same
with barely nothing, and I was very hungry that day and I asked 3 and 4, mark the effect. Maurice’s words and the way he speaks
punctuation. them convey that it’s an emotional moment—
this lady, ‘Miss, can you spare some change?’ And she walked
away. And then she stopped. She was in the middle of the street— QUESTION: Why do you he’s honoring someone who means a lot to him
she almost got hit—and she looked and came back and took me think the author uses and he’s talking about his mother’s passing. The
this type of punctuation author’s use of punctuation reflects this emotion.
to McDonald’s. We ate and then walked around Central Park; she
in transcribing Maurice’s
took me to Haagen-Dazs and then we played some games.
words?
3 “You know, at that moment she saved my life. ‘Cause I was
going down the wrong road, the wrong hill, and, you know, my CONCLUDE: Would
this passage have the
mother—bless her soul, my mother died—and the Lord sent me
same effect if it had just
an angel. And my angel was Laurie. summarized what Maurice
4 “Without you,” Maurice said, raising his glass, “I could not be said? Explain.
the man I am today.”
5 I was so incredibly moved when I heard Maurice say I saved
his life. Heck, I nearly lost it throughout his whole darn toast.
Whenever I hear someone tell me how lucky Maurice is to have
from An Invisible Thread 43
LIT22_SE07_U01_A3C_WC.indd 43 PERSONALIZE FOR LEARNING 18/03/21 12:33 PM
English Language Support A clue that comes before the idiom is that Maurice says Laura saved his
Idioms In paragraph 3, Maurice tells the audience that he was going life. Clues that come after the idiom are that Maurice’s mother was a
down the wrong road. He further specifies that his road was the drug addict and he considers Laura an angel.
wrong hill. Explain to students that going down the wrong road is an Discuss why Maurice would then say that it was down the wrong hill.
idiom, or an expression that means something more or different from You may wish to point out that going down the wrong hill is not a
the meaning of the words that make it up; the words are not meant common idiom but may be a combination of the idioms going down the
literally. Point out that one strategy a reader might use to understand wrong road and going downhill. Ask students to picture what the exact
idioms is to look for context clues about the meaning of down the meaning of going down the wrong hill would look like. Then have them
wrong road. think about what that would mean when applied to someone’s life.
TEACHING
met me, I have to stop them and correct them. The truth is that the
NOTES lucky one is me.
CLOSER LOOK 6 Maurice taught me so many things; I can’t possibly list them
all. He taught me how to live. He taught me one of the most
Draw Conclusions important lessons a person can hope to learn—he taught me to be
Students may have marked paragraph 6 resilience (rih ZIHL yuhns) n. grateful for what I have. He taught me about resilience, courage,
during their first read. Encourage them to talk ability to recover quickly perseverance, and about the special strength that comes from
about the annotations that they marked. overcoming adversity. He taught me the true value of money, the
perseverance (pur suh VIHR real meaning of lunch in a brown paper bag, the importance of
ANNOTATE: Have students mark details that uhns) n. continued,
show what Maurice gave to Laura. a silly ritual like baking cookies. He taught me, more than I ever
patient effort
taught him, what it means to be a friend.
QUESTION: Guide students to consider what 7 Everything I ever gave to Maurice, he gave back to me tenfold.
these details might tell them. Ask what a Every meal, every shirt, every bike or toothbrush, was matched
reader can infer from these details, and accept by Maurice with a more genuine appreciation than I have ever
student responses. known. Every hand I ever lent him was returned with a hug;
Possible response: Laura learned from Maurice every kindness was paid back with an impossibly optimistic
that a paper-bag lunch showed his classmates smile. If love is the greatest gift of all—and I believe it is—then
that someone loved him. the greatest privilege of all is to be able to love someone. Maurice
CONCLUDE: Help students to formulate appeared out of nowhere and allowed me to love him, and for
conclusions about the importance of these generosity (jehn uhr AHS that, I simply can never thank him enough. His generosity of
uh tee) n. willingness to spirit continues to astound me, and to this day my relationship
details in the text. Ask students why the give or share
with him is the relationship I am most proud of in my life. ❧
Possible response: Laura learned from and
grew in her relationship with Maurice. The help
she gave him benefited her as well. By including
these details, the author helps the reader draw
the conclusion that he taught her the value of
MEDIA CONNECTION
things that she used to take for granted, and
that she grew to love him.
Discuss It In what way does this video of Maurice’s toast
Remind students that authors make careful deepen your understanding of and appreciation for the text?
choices in deciding which details to include
Write your response before sharing your ideas.
in a story. The details included should help

readers draw conclusions about a story’s
underlying message, and about subtleties of
characterization.
Maurice’s Toast
MEDIA CONNECTION
Project the Media Connection video in class
or ask students to open the video in their
interactive textbooks.
Discuss It
Possible responses: Viewers may feel that seeing
and hearing Maurice shows how he emphasizes
certain words, giving the words more depth.
Viewers may feel that his words “come alive,”
helping them connect the words to their own
experience.
VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
LIT22_SE07_U01_A3C_WC.indd 44 18/03/21 12:34 PM
Suffix -fold Call students’ attention to the ten, and from the context clues, ten doesn’t seem
word tenfold in the first sentence of paragraph like a very high number. Encourage them to guess
7. Remind students that when they encounter the meaning of tenfold. Then, explain that the
an unfamiliar word in their reading, they can try suffix -fold means “multiplied by,” and it can be
different strategies to help them figure out the used with other words, such as twofold, fivefold,
word’s meaning. One strategy is to look for word and so on.
parts. Students know the meaning of the word
Possible responses:
1. At what stage of his life does Maurice give a toast explaining how he and 1. Maurice gives the toast as an adult, when he is
Laura met? already married.
2. Maurice says that Laura saved his life and that
without her, he would “not be the man” he is
today.
3. Laura insists that she was the lucky one because
she received as much from Maurice as he received
2. What statement does Maurice make that makes Laura “nearly lose it”? from her.
4. She learned about “resilience, courage,
perseverance,” and “overcoming adversity.”
She learned “the true value of money” and the
importance of seemingly unimportant rituals, “like
baking cookies.” Most importantly, she learned
3. How does Laura respond when people say that Maurice was lucky to meet her? about friendship.
5. The greatest gift of all is love, and the greatest
privilege is “to be able to love someone.”
6. Summaries will vary. Sample response: At a
formal event, Maurice gives a toast in which he
says that Laura’s friendship saved his life and
4. What does Laura say she learned from knowing Maurice? prevented him from making poor life choices.
Laura responds by saying that she gained even
more from Maurice. She learned the true value of
friendship.
5. According to Laura, what are the greatest gift and greatest privilege of all?
Research
Research to Clarify If students struggle to choose
a detail to research, suggest they look for unusual
friendships or success stories.
Research to Explore If students have trouble

choosing a subject for their research question,
6. Notebook Write a summary of the excerpt from An Invisible Thread to confirm suggest they start with the detail they researched
your understanding of the selection. in Research to Clarify. They might want to research
the definition of friendship or what spurs people
to succeed.
RESEARCH
Research to Clarify Choose at least one unfamiliar detail from the text. Briefly
research that detail. In what way does the information you learned shed light on an
aspect of the story?
Research to Explore Choose something that interests you from the text and formulate
a research question.
LIT17_SE07_U01_A3C_WC.indd 45 Personalize for Learning 16-03-16 5:29 PM
Challenge
Illuminating the Text To help students Remind students of the part of Maurice’s toast in
understand Maurice’s life, have them research which he states that Laura saved his life because
child poverty in the United States. Review he was going down the wrong road. Discuss
statistics on the extent of child poverty, as well whether he meant that metaphorically, literally, or
as on the life expectancy, incarceration rate, and both. Ask students to consider how the changes
cycle of poverty later in life for poor children. Find in Maurice’s life are likely to impact his children.
graphical representations of the issue to help
students conceptualize the statistics.
Close Read the Text

Jump Start 1. The model, from paragraph 1 of the essay, shows two sample
annotations, along with questions and conclusions. Close read the
Close Read Have students close read the passage, and find another detail to annotate. Then, write a question
excerpt from An Invisible Thread. Ask them to from AN INVISIBLE THREAD and your conclusion.
recall the meaning of the phrase an invisible
thread from their reading of “A Simple Act.” ANNOTATE: This phrase has unusual
Discuss the influence their meeting had on Laura word order.
and Maurice. QUESTION: Why did the author choose to
put the verb before the noun? ANNOTATE: The
CONCLUDE: Using this word order makes the author uses vivid
Close Read the Text sentence seem more formal, which suits the
setting of the scene.
language here.
QUESTION: Why
Walk students through the Annotation Model does the author
on the student page. Then have them use Then came the final toast. The provide so much
the models as they annotate another detail. speaker was in a sharp black detail about the
Encourage them to complete items 2 and 3 tuxedo with spectacular black- speaker and his wife?
on their own. Review and discuss the sections and-white shoes, and his wife CONCLUDE: These
students have marked. If needed, continue to was in a stunning navy blue details emphasize
that Maurice has
model close reading by using the Annotation gown, her hair swept up.
become successful.
Highlights in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition.
Analyze the Text

2. For more practice, go back into the text and complete the close-read
Possible responses: notes.
1. The words “sharp” and “spectacular” contribute
3. Revisit a section of the text you found important and annotate what
most to the positive tone. DOK 2
you notice. Ask questions such as “Why did the author make this
2. She may have turned around because she realized choice?” What can you conclude?
she could help him and wanted to try. DOK 3
3. Laura’s statement suggests that although she gave
some material things to Maurice, he returned Analyze the Text to support your answers.
those gifts with equally or more valuable emotional
rewards. DOK 3 notebook Respond to these questions.

4. Maurice may have been invited to give the final 1. analyze In the first paragraph of the excerpt from her memoir, Laura
toast at Laura’s fiftieth birthday celebration Schroff gives the reader a positive impression of Maurice. Which of her
because of how close they have become. DOK 3 word choices contribute most to this positive tone?
5. Answers will vary. Students might point out that 2. draw Conclusions In his toast, Maurice says that when he asked
people of different generations can teach by Laura for spare change, at first she walked past him. Then, she
acting as role models, demonstrating important stopped in the middle of the street, almost got hit by a car, and then
values through their actions. DOK 3 walked back to him. Why do you think Laura turned around?
3. interpret In paragraph 7, Laura says, “Everything I ever gave to
Maurice, he gave back to me tenfold.” What does this statement
 STANDARDS suggest about her friendship with Maurice?
Reading Informational Text
Determine an author’s point of view 4. Make inferences Why do you think Maurice gave the final toast?
or purpose in a text and analyze how 5. essential Question: What can one generation learn from
the author distinguishes his or her
position from that of others. another? How did reading this excerpt affect your understanding of
how people from different generations can learn from one another?
LIT17_SE07_U01_A3C_WC_app.indd 46
Strategic Support
Analyze the Text Description Lead students in reviewing the description of Maurice’s
• If students fail to cite evidence, then remind clothes and shoes from “A Simple Act,” found in paragraph 1 and
them to support their ideas with specific paragraph 3. As a class, reread the description of Maurice’s clothes
information. and shoes in paragraph 1 of the excerpt from An Invisible Thread to
contrast the two descriptions. Discuss how these descriptions give
• If students have trouble selecting words that the reader important details about the drastic changes in Maurice’s
give a positive impression of Maurice, then lifestyle as a result of his relationship with Laura. Ask students how
suggest they look at the adjectives in the first such a stark contrast in Maurice’s outer appearance helps them form
paragraph. these opinions.

Narrative Point of View An Invisible Thread is a memoir written from Narrative Point of View Ask students how
the first-person point of view. You can tell a work of nonfiction is
reading a first-person narrative makes them feel.
written from the first-person point of view by looking for the following
Do they feel more connected to the text and the
clues.
experiences of the narrator? Discuss how the use
• The author uses the pronoun I to refer to himself or herself. of first-person narrative helps readers understand
• The author is involved in the events being described. the events from Laura’s perspective. For more
• Authors often use direct quotations, or a person’s exact words, to
support, see Analyze Craft and Structure:
reflect the views of other people involved in the narrative. Narrative Point of View.
Memoirs are usually written from the first-person point of view. Authors MAKE IT INTERACTIVE
of memoirs use the first-person point of view because they are describing Project the digital version of the excerpt from
events and experiences in their own lives—both what happened as well An Invisible Thread and read paragraph 5. To
as personal reactions and emotions. help students understand what they have to do
to complete the chart correctly, model how to
CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
locate pronouns that reflect the first-person point
Practice to support your answers. of view.
Notebook Respond to these questions.
Practice
1. Record two examples of first-person point of view in paragraphs 5–7 of the text.
Rewrite each example to change the point of view to third person by using the Possible responses:
pronoun she. An example is shown. 1. See possible response in chart on student page.
Example: “I was so incredibly moved when I heard Maurice say I saved his life.” 2. (a) Paragraph 5 is the first indication that Laura
She was so incredibly moved when she heard Maurice say she saved is the narrator. (b) Clues include the use of the
his life. pronoun I and the other details in paragraph 5
Original Passage rewritten Passage
which reveal her feelings about Maurice’s
speech.
“Heck, I nearly lost it throughout his whole Heck, she nearly lost it throughout his whole darn 3. (a) The writers include direct quotations from
darn toast.” toast.
Maurice to show how he feels. (b) Answers will
vary. Students may feel that the strategy helps
“He taught me how to live.” He taught her how to live. readers to “hear” Maurice’s voice, as in the
quotation: “’Cause I was going down the wrong
road, the wrong hill, and, you know, my mother—
bless her soul, my mother died—and the Lord sent

2. (a) When the text begins, the point of view is unclear. At what point in the text is me an angel.”
it evident that it is written in the first-person point of view? (b) What clues in the
4. Reading Laura’s first-person narration in the
text helped you to recognize point of view?
excerpt from An Invisible Thread helps readers
3. (a) What strategy do the writers of An Invisible Thread use to present Maurice’s understand the “impact on each other’s lives”
point of view? (b) Do you think this strategy is effective? Why or why not? described in the article. The first-person point of
4. How do the ideas expressed by the first-person narrator in An Invisible Thread view makes Laura’s thoughts and feelings clear.
deepen your understanding of relationship between Laura and Maurice?
LIT17_SE07_U01_A3C_WC_app.indd 47 WriteNow Express and Reflect 16-04-14 12:17 AM
Write a Speech Ask students to reflect on someone who has been influential in their lives, such as a
coach, a family member, a best friend, or a teacher. As a class, review the elements of Maurice’s speech
in paragraphs 2–4 of this excerpt from An Invisible Thread: the way that they met, his impression of Analyze Craft and Structure
Laura, the details about some of the important things they did together, and the impact they had on If students have trouble identifying the
his life. Instruct students to write a toast honoring a person who influenced them. The toast should first-person point of view, then help them
describe the person’s actions, as well as the impact those actions have had on the student’s life.
write a sentence in the third-person point of
Encourage students to use Maurice’s toast as inspiration.
view and change it to first person. For Reteach
and Practice, see Analyze Craft and Structure:
Narrative Point of View (RP).

Why These Words? Point out that all three of resilience perseverance generosity
the words describe positive qualities a person
might have. Laura says that Maurice has those Why These Words? These concept vocabulary words show positive
from AN INVISIBLE THREAD
qualities and that she has learned them from him. qualities or personality traits. Maurice and Laura demonstrate these
qualities in their relationship with each other. For example, the way
Possible responses:
Maurice overcomes adversity teaches Laura about resilience and
1. Laura learned those qualities from Maurice, but perseverance. Notice that both of these words show positive aspects of
it’s possible that Maurice wouldn’t have developed Maurice’s personality.
them without the support he got from Laura.
2. Choices include moved, grateful, courage, 1. How does the concept vocabulary sharpen your understanding of how
 WORD NETWORK
strength, appreciation, kindness, spirit, proud. both Laura and Maurice benefited from their relationship?
Add words related to
generations from the text to
Practice your Word Network.
Possible responses: 2. What other words in the selection connect to the concept of positive
1. My mother showed her resilience by bouncing personality traits?
back from any problem, no matter how difficult.
His perseverance helped him pass the math test,
even though he finds the subject confusing. My Practice
brother’s generosity is evident in the way he loves
to help younger members of his track team. Notebook The concept vocabulary words appear in the excerpt
from An Invisible Thread.
2. resilience synonyms: grit, tolerance, flexibility;
antonyms: brittle, unyielding 1. Use each word in a sentence that demonstrates your understanding of
perseverance synonyms: persistence, tenacity; the word’s meaning.
antonyms: apathy, weakness, laziness 2. Work with a partner, and take turns coming up with as many
generosity synonyms: unselfishness, goodness, synonyms, or words with similar meanings, and antonyms, or
benevolence; antonyms: meanness, selfishness words with opposite meanings, as you can for each concept
vocabulary word.
Word Network
Possible words: ritual, lessons, privilege, Word Study
 STANDARDS
relationship Language Latin Suffix: -ity The Latin suffix -ity means the “state, quality, or
condition of.” In the selection, the author refers to Maurice’s “generosity
Word Study

capitalization, punctuation, and of spirit.”
For more support, see Concept Vocabulary and spelling when writing.
a. Use a comma to separate 1. Explain how the suffix -ity contributes to the meaning of the concept
Word Study. coordinate adjectives.
• Determine or clarify the meaning vocabulary word generosity.
Possible responses: of unknown and multiple-meaning
words and phrases based on grade 7
1. The adjective generous means “unselfish” and reading and content, choosing
“free in giving.” Adding the suffix -ity forms the flexibly from a range of strategies. 2. Look at paragraph 6, and find another word that uses the suffix -ity.
noun generosity, which means “the quality of b. Use common, grade-appropriate
Identify the base word that was combined with the suffix. Write a
Greek or Latin affixes and roots as
being unselfish and free in giving.” clues to the meaning of a word. definition for that word.
2. The word adversity combines the base word • Demonstrate understanding
of figurative language, word
adverse with the suffix -ity. Adverse is an adjective relationships, and nuances in word
meaning “preventing success.” Adding the suffix meanings.
-ity forms a noun that means “the state of having b. Use the relationship between
particular words to better
success prevented.” understand each of the words.
Concept Vocabulary Digital perspectives
LIT17_SE07_U01_A3C_WC_app.indd 48 27/05/16 1:42 PM
If students have trouble seeing that the words all Illuminating the Text As a class, read the Five the ways that Maurice’s relationship with Laura
reflect positive attributes, then challenge them Take-Aways on Breaking the Cycle of Poverty on helped him to break the cycle of poverty.
to use each word in a sentence that is critical the San Francisco Foundation website. Lead a Discuss the likelihood of other impoverished
of someone. class discussion of each of the items on the list. children finding a champion like Laura. Ask
Ask students to relate what they’ve read with the
Word Study students to brainstorm other ways that people
description of Maurice’s life as a child. Discuss might help break the cycle of poverty.
If students are unable to define the words, then
check to be sure they know the meaning of the
root words. For Reteach and Practice, see Word
Study: Latin Suffix -ity (RP).
Adjectives An adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or Adjectives Discuss the definition of adjectives
pronoun. Adjectives may answer the question What kind? How many?
with students. Review the examples from the text;
Which one? or Whose? Possessive nouns and pronouns are used as
then, as a class, compile a list of adjectives that
adjectives to answer the question Whose?
answer the questions What kind? How many?
What kind? The young boy had a genuine smile. Which one? Have you read that book? Which one? and Whose?
Two or More Adjectives Provide the following
How many? They talked for fifty minutes. Whose? I greatly admired Maurice’s speech. models to explain the difference between
coordinate and cumulative adjectives.
Two or More Adjectives Coordinate adjectives are two or more Coordinate Can be Take a comma
adjectives that modify the same noun and are separated by a comma. reversed
You can tell whether adjectives are coordinate if the word and could
be used in place of the comma and you could reverse the adjectives.
It came in a It came in a It came in a
square heavy heavy square square, heavy
Cumulative adjectives also modify the same noun, but they are not
box. box. box.
separated by a comma. Cumulative adjectives cannot be reversed.
She played a She played a She played a
COORDINATE ADJECTIVES CUMULATIVE ADJECTIVES slow sad song. sad slow song. slow, sad song.
They became lifelong, devoted She wore a light blue sweater.
friends.
Cumulative Cannot be Do not take a
(She wore a blue light sweater does reversed comma
You could say: They became not mean the same thing.)
devoted and lifelong friends. She wore a She wore a She wore a
thick wool wool thick thick wool
sweater. sweater. sweater.
Read It
She played She played She played
Identify the adjectives in each sentence, and name the nouns they
a familiar a country a familiar
modify. Then tell whether the adjectives are coordinate or cumulative and
country song. familiar song. country song.
explain why.
1. Maurice gave an emotional, heartfelt speech. For more support, see Conventions:
2. His warm good nature inspired many listeners. Adjectives.
3. The book teaches many valuable life lessons.
Read It
Write It
1. Emotional and heartfelt are coordinate adjectives

The original sentence in the example below was revised by adding two that modify speech. Can be reversed, can take a
adjectives. Review the example, and then add two adjectives to each comma.
practice sentence. Separate the adjectives with commas if needed. 2. Warm and good are cumulative adjectives that
modify nature. Cannot be reversed.
ExAMPlE
3. Many, valuable, and life are cumulative adjectives
Original: laura wrote a memoir.
that modify lessons. Cannot be reversed.
Revision: laura wrote an unforgettable personal memoir.
Write It
1. Maurice shared a story with the audience.
Possible responses:
2. laura wore a dress. 1. Maurice shared a funny true story with
the audience.
Notebook Write a paragraph describing laura and Maurice’s 2. Laura wore a long red dress.
relationship. Include at least one pair of coordinate and one pair of
Maurice and Laura were important, lifelong
cumulative adjectives.
from An Invisible Thread 49 friends. Laura contributed financial support to
Maurice, while he contributed valuable emotional
support to her.
Personalize for Learning 4/13/16 4:27 PM FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
English Language Support Conventions
Adjective Placement In English, adjectives are almost always If students have difficulty differentiating between
placed in front of the nouns they modify. In Spanish, adjectives can coordinate and cumulative adjectives, then
be placed either in front of or after the noun. In some cases, the
suggest they insert the word and between the
placement of the adjective in Spanish does not affect the meaning;
two adjectives. If the sentence makes sense and
however, in other cases, the meaning will change. Students may
need a reminder that in English, they should place the adjective in doesn’t change its meaning, they need to use a
front of the noun. ALL LEVELS comma when they write the sentence. For
Reteach and Practice, see Conventions:
Adjectives (RP).
Teaching EFFECTIVE EXPRESSION
Writing to Compare
Writing to Compare
You have read two selections about the friendship between Laura Stroff
As students prepare to compare the two and Maurice Mazyck: the news blog “A Simple Act” and the excerpt
selections, they will consider the benefits of from the memoir An Invisible Thread. Now, deepen your analysis and
friendship for Laura and Maurice and how those A SIMPLE ACT express your observations in writing.
benefits are presented in each selection.
Assignment
Analyze the Texts The news blog and the memoir tell about how Laura and Maurice’s friendship
Gather Evidence Encourage students to review helped them both. To prepare for your assignment, consider the following:
each selection to consider how each presents • How the friendship started and grew
Laura and Maurice’s friendship. • Why the friendship lasted so long
a. f ood, support, caring, help with education, from AN INVISIBLE THREAD
Write an explanatory essay in which you analyze ways in which the authors
of the two pieces present information about the same topic: the friendship
awareness of new possibilities.
between Laura and Maurice.
b. He became like a son, taught her gratitude,
helped give life meaning.
Analyze the Texts
c. f ood, got help in choosing a better life path, Gather Evidence Reread both “A Simple Act” and the excerpt from
friendship. An Invisible Thread to examine the key information that the two authors
d. Learned resilience, courage, perseverance; made a provide when describing their friendship. Use the chart to record your
notes.
close friend, and was allowed to love.
As you gather evidence, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Possible response: “A Simple Act” presents • What descriptive details do the two texts provide?
the friendship and its benefits from the time it • What quotations, if any, are used?
began to the present. It uses the third-person
point of view. The excerpt from An Invisible • Does the text focus on a series of events or more on the quality of
Thread presents the friendship through Laura’s the friendship?
first-person point of view. It begins with Maurice Types of Details Used Overall Effect of the Text
making a toast as an adult, in which he tells the
story of how they met. A Simple Act a. See possible b.
2. Possible response: Both texts include information responses in
about how the two people met. Teacher’s Edition.
3. The excerpt from An Invisible Thread includes

more information about the value of the
from An Invisible Thread c. d.
friendship to each person. It is a more emotional
description.
 STANDARDS
Reading Informational Text
Analyze how two or more authors
writing about the same topic shape Notebook Respond to these questions.
their presentations of key information
by emphasizing different evidence or 1. How do the two texts differ in their presentation of the benefits of
advancing different interpretations friendship?
of facts.
Writing 2. What key information is the same across the two texts?
Draw evidence from literary or
informational texts to support 3. In which text is the emphasis on friendship more apparent? Explain
analysis, reflection, and research. your response.
LIT17_SE07_U01_A3C_WC_app.indd 50 16-04-14 12:22 AM
Planning and Prewriting

Planning and Prewriting
Determine Your Central Idea In one sentence, write the central idea, Determine Your Central Idea Remind students
or thesis, you will develop in your essay:
that the central idea, or thesis, is not just a main
Central Idea/Thesis:___________________________________ topic. It is the central argument for the essay. The
__________________________________________________
evidence that students use in the essay should
support this central idea.
Create an Outline To help you structure your essay, create an outline to
organize your ideas. Create an Outline As students create outlines,
they should identify several direct quotations from
Outline the text to support their claims. Remind students
I. Types of Details Used
that the material does not have to appear in the
A. “A Simple Act”
same order that it did in each selection.
B. excerpt from An Invisible Thread
II. Overall Effect of the Text Drafting

A. “A Simple Act” Use Transition Words You may wish to have
students first draft their essays and then add
B. excerpt from An Invisible Thread
transitions to connect ideas. Remind students that
the transition words will help readers follow the
drafting important claims in their essays.
Write a First Draft Use your completed outline to write your first draft.  evidence log
Develop your essay with details from the texts and present a smooth and
Before moving on to a
Review and Revise
logical explanation of your ideas. Use clear language and transitions to new selection, go to your Be sure students also check basics such as
connect your ideas. Evidence Log and record spelling, punctuation, and grammar as they
Use Transition Words Using transition words can help you present your
what you learned from revise. Students may want to share their essays
these selections. with partners. Are the partners convinced? Do
ideas in a logical sequence and you make your essay flow more smoothly.
There are several types of transitional words and phrases. they find each other’s theses persuasive? For more
• Words and phrases that show similarities: also, in addition, likewise support, see Writing to Compare: Explanatory
• Words and phrases that show differences: but, however, yet Essay.
• Words and phrases that show sequence: first, next, then, finally
• Words and phrases that show examples: for example, for instance
 STANDARDS
Evidence Log Support students in completing
Writing

Review and Revise Write informative/explanatory texts
to examine a topic and convey ideas, help prepare them for the Performance-Based
Once you are done writing, critically review your essay. Make sure you concepts, and information through
the selection, organization, and Assessment at the end of the unit.
have given specific examples to support your ideas. Then, check to be analysis of relevant content.
sure you have used transitions to link those ideas. Finally, proofread b. Develop the topic with relevant
your work to ensure it is free from errors in grammar, spelling, and facts, definitions, concrete details,
quotations, or other information
punctuation. and examples.
c. Use appropriate transitions to
create cohesion and clarify the
relationships among ideas and
concepts.
Language
Demonstrate command of the
capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
b. Spell correctly.
Challenge
Research Have students research another person who managed to
Writing to Compare
break the cycle of poverty, either with help from someone outside If students have difficulty coming up with a
their community, as Maurice did, with help from someone within thesis, then have them imagine they are telling a
their community, or entirely on their own. Possible subjects include friend about the point of view in the two texts.
George Soros, Michael Oher, and Oprah Winfrey. Students should
report back with a brief biography and an explanation of what they
Selection Test
believe made it possible for their subject to succeed. Administer the An Invisible Thread Selection Test,
which is available in both print and digital formats
online in Assessments.
TEACHING PERFORMANCE TASK: WRITING FOCUS
WRITING TO SOURCES
Write a Nonfiction Narrative
Jump Start
• TWO KINDS
You have just read texts in which people of different generations have an
• A SIMPLE ACT influence on each other’s lives. In “Two Kinds,” an ambitious mother ends
What is the moral of the story? up teaching her child unexpected but valuable lessons. “A Simple Act”
• from AN INVISIBLE THREAD
and the excerpt from An Invisible Thread present the story of two friends
Students are undoubtedly familiar with parables whose chance meeting enriched both of their lives. Now you will use your
and fairy tales that contain a moral, or lesson to knowledge of these texts to write a nonfiction narrative about the ways
be learned. Poll students about favorite stories Tool Kit in which people of different generations can influence each other.
that teach a lesson or communicate a time-tested Student Model of a
truism. Remind students a well-written narrative Nonfiction Narrative
Assignment
communicates that in a way that allows the Write a nonfiction narrative about the influence someone from
reader to make connections to what is being said. a different generation has had on you or someone you know. In
ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY your narrative, draw on the texts you have read in this section. Your
As you craft your narrative should answer this question:
Write a Nonfiction Narrative argument, consider using What unexpected event shows how a person can
Make sure students understand what they are some of the academic influence someone from a different generation?
vocabulary you learned in
being asked to do in the assignment. Explain that
the beginning of the unit.
they will be using their own personal experiences
dialogue Elements of a Nonfiction Narrative
with generational influence to make connections
consequence A nonfiction narrative is a story of something that actually happened.
to the selections in Whole-Class Learning. perspective In a personal narrative, the writer uses the first-person point of view
Students should complete the assignment notable (employing pronouns I and me) to tell the true story of something that he
using word processing software to take contradict
or she has experienced. Other nonfiction narratives, such as biography,
advantage of editing tools and features. are written from the third-person point of view.
An engaging nonfiction narrative contains these elements:
Elements of a Nonfiction Narrative
• well-developed major and minor characters as well as a narrator, who
Remind students that an effective nonfiction
is you, the writer
narrative, such as “Grounded,” contains all of the
• a problem or conflict
listed required elements, is organized in a logical
manner, and uses vivid, descriptive details and • a clear sequence of events that unfolds naturally and logically
powerful sensory language to create an engaging • narrative techniques such as dialogue, description, and pacing
and interesting text. • a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to convey

sequence and signal shifts from one setting or time frame to another
MAKE IT INTERACTIVE
• precise words, well-chosen quotations, vivid descriptive details, and
Project “Grounded” from the Interactive Teacher’s
powerful sensory language
Edition and have students identify the elements of
• a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the experiences in
a nonfiction narrative, such as characters, problem
the narrative
or conflict, and a conclusion or resolution.
 STANDARDS Model Nonfiction Narrative For a model of a
Academic Vocabulary Writing well-crafted nonfiction narrative, see the Launch
UNIT
1
LAUNCH TEXT
INTRODUCTION
LAUNCH TEXT | NONFICTION NARRATIVE MODEL

Provide students with one or two sample
This selection is an example of nonfiction
Text, “Grounded.”
narrative text, a type of writing in which
an author explores an experience using
descriptive details and events. This is the
type of writing you will develop in the
real or imagined experiences or

Performance-Based Assessment at the
end of the unit.
As you read, look at the way the
sentences in which you use an academic

writer of the selection tells about
a real experience she had with her
events using effective technique, Challenge yourself to find all of the elements of an
grandmother. How did she feel about
Grounded
it at the time? As you read, look at the
way the writer creates a picture of her
experience. Mark the text to help you
answer this question: How did the author
feel, and how does she show that to the
vocabulary word. Then, ask volunteers to offer relevant descriptive details, and
reader?
well- structured event sequences.

effective nonfiction narrative in the text. You will 1
G rowing up I really didn’t know my grandmother. She was

a private person, and didn’t talk about her past much, but I
know she had one. She once told me that before she got married
additional sample sentences using academic

she was a backup singer in a band that I had actually heard of. But
have an opportunity to review these elements as

that’s all she would say about it, no matter how often I prodded.
2 “El pasado es el pasado,” she told me. The past is the past.
• Write routinely over extended time

3 To me, she talked in Spanish. I talked back in English. We
understood each other.
4 The thing I remember most about Grandma Sofia was how
much she loved driving, especially since she came to live with
us. She had a 1960s red Chevy Impala convertible that was all her

vocabulary words, and, as a class, discuss how frames and shorter time frames for you prepare to write your own nonfiction narrative.
own, a remnant of her band days. She loved driving with the top
down, the radio blasting, singing at the top of her lungs when a
good song came on. Driving was her independence, her freedom.
5 My parents, however, were concerned that she was getting too
old to drive around by herself. One night, I overheard them:
a range of discipline-specific tasks,

6 “She’s okay for now, but how long before she can’t manage?”
7 “I’ll speak to her tomorrow.”
the words might be applied to the writing topic.

8 I felt sick at the thought of Grandma giving up her car. I knew
what driving meant to her. I knew that without her wheels she’d feel
ordinary—just another grandma, hovering and wise.
purposes, and audiences.

9 Sometimes it felt like Grandma and I were on the sidelines
and my parents were in the middle, dragging us toward the
center, where we did not want to be. I was often grounded for the
smallest things. I didn’t really mind, under normal circumstances.
LIT22_SE07_U01_LT.indd 6 18/03/21 12:23 PM
AUTHOR’S PERSPECTIVE Kelly Gallagher, M.Ed.

LIT22_SE07_U01_A_WC_PT.indd 52 18/03/21 12:36 PM
Pump Up the Volume of Writing Spend some writers need face time with the most experienced • Share models of excellent writing Show students
time talking to kids about why they should writer in the class—the teacher. models from professional writers and from other
write—not just how. Students should write more • Model Teachers can model how they write by students. As they study mentor texts, students begin
than the teacher can grade. To help students get frequently writing in front of students. Show students to see the moves a writer has made, and they can
the most from their writing, teachers can use that effective writing extends far past correctness. work to emulate those moves.
techniques such as these: Teachers can do this in short bursts, and model authentic • Use a Rubric Experiment with changing the rubric.
writing, whether brainstorming a topic, working to add Encourage students to help you build it. This creates
• Confer Teachers can achieve more in a two-minute
details, or revising to find the right word. Note: other buy-in when the students see that each rubric is
conference than they can by spending five to seven
times the teacher can bring a model to class that has personalized to some degree to their needs.
minutes writing comments on a paper. Developing
already been written for the students to study.
essential question : What can one generation learn from another?
Prewriting / Planning Prewriting/Planning

Focus Your Topic Remind students that the
Focus Your Topic Reread the assignment. Consider the person and event you would
like to highlight in your narrative. State your main idea in a sentence: first step in writing their narrative is to identify
the characters and the influence someone from
helped to influence one generation had on someone from another
(person from generation 1) (person from generation 2) generation. Encourage students who struggle to
brainstorm for several topics and then choose the
by . idea they find most interesting.
(action that influenced person from generation 2)
Develop Characters Explain that well-
Develop Characters Realistic, engaging characters make a narrative come alive. Think developed characters are both realistic and
about each character you will include in your narrative. List traits and descriptive details relatable to the reader. Remind students that
that make him or her unique and interesting. Consider the ways in which dialogue a character’s traits, both positive and negative,
between the characters will help propel the action in your narrative. Don’t forget to provide depth to the text and help build a reader’s
include yourself as the narrator! interest in the story. You may choose to model
CHARACTERS TRAITS DETAILS/DIALOGUE your own thinking as you complete a graphic
organizer like the one shown. This will help your
students get a better sense of the activity.
Gather Details Have students review their
Evidence Log to find possible support for their
narrative. Remind them that if they don’t have
sufficient key details in their Evidence Log, they
may want to go back and review the selections
to identify additional or stronger details for their
narrative. Students should also consider using
other sources to support their message and
should make a plan for identifying and citing
details from these sources.
Gather Details Details for a nonfiction narrative come mainly from your  evidence log
own memories and experiences. A photo album or a conversation with a Review your Evidence Log
relative may stimulate your memory and help you find a topic. and identify types of details
There are many different types of details you can use to craft your you may want to cite in
nonfiction narrative: your nonfiction narrative.
• anecdotes: brief stories that illustrate a point or key idea  STANDARDS

Writing
• dialogue/quotations: statements from personal interviews or Write narratives to develop
conversations with the people who are featured in your narrative real or imagined experiences or
• examples: facts, ideas, and events that support an idea or insight relevant descriptive details, and
Study the Launch Text to identify ways in which the writer uses various well-structured event sequences.
types of details to develop characters and ideas. b. Use narrative techniques, such as
dialogue, pacing, and description,
to develop experiences, events,
and/or characters.
Performance Task: Write a Nonfiction Narrative 53
LIT17_SE07_U01_A_WC_PT.indd 53 Personalize for Learning 4/13/16 4:29 PM

Characters Support English Learners as they the character is thinking, and what the character
develop characters for their nonfiction narrative. is feeling. EXPANDING
Have students create a T-chart for one of their Have students write a short paragraph in which
characters, with columns for the character’s actions, they describe a character’s actions, thoughts, and
thoughts, and feelings. EMERGING feelings. BRIDGING
Have students write three complete sentences in
which they describe a character’s actions, what
Teaching Performance Task: WriTing focus
Drafting Drafting
Organize a Sequence of Events In a nonfiction narrative, the writer
Organize a Sequence of Events Explain to
often sequences events in chronological order, so that one event
students that creating a sequence of events is proceeds to the next in the order in which they actually happened.
essential to developing a well-written narrative.
Use a timeline to organize your narrative so that it flows in chronological
When one event follows another in an organized
order. Then, add details to elaborate on the action. The timeline here
fashion, it makes it easier for the reader to follow
shows key events in the Launch Text. Use it as a model to construct a
the story. Remind students that a timeline is an timeline of your own narrative.
outline that can be used to organize their writing.
Use Transitions Emphasize that transitions are
LAUNCH TEXT
essential to developing a strong narrative because
they add clarity and cohesion. You may want MODEL: “Grounded” Timeline Nonfiction Narrative Timeline
to ask students to find examples of transitional INTrODucTION IntroductIon
words in the Launch Text. narrator, Grandma, and their relationship are described.
Write a First Draft As students write their first
1.
draft, they should focus on getting their ideas 1. Parents talk about Grandma’s driving.
on paper, incorporating all of the elements of
nonfiction narrative writing. Students should
2.
remember to include sufficient details to ensure
2. narrator is grounded.
that a reader with no knowledge of their characters
or the story can understand what is being said.
3.
Encourage students to grab the reader’s
attention in the introduction by including an 3. narrator asks Grandma for a ride to a party.
anecdote or pertinent quotation from one of the 4.
selections.
4. narrator and Grandma feel bad on the ride.
5.
5. Grandma asks to turn back; narrator agrees.
conclusIon
cONcLuSION

Grandma and narrator have learned from each other and
share an understanding.
 stAndArds Use Transitions To make the sequence of events in your narrative clear
Writing to readers, use transition words, such as first, then, next, later, and finally,
• Engage and orient the reader by
establishing a context and point of
to establish a clear chronological order. Use the numbered events in your
view and introducing a narrator and/ timeline to help you determine which transition words to use and where
or characters; organize an event in your writing to use them.
sequence that unfolds naturally
and logically. Write a First Draft Refer to your timeline as you write your first draft.
• Use a variety of transition words, As you draft your narrative, refer to the elements of nonfiction narrative
phrases, and clauses to convey
sequence and signal shifts from one writing as well as your Prewriting/Planning notes.
time frame or setting to another.
Author’s Perspective Jim Cummins, Ph.D.

Writing to Enhance Student Identity Writing is by using identity texts. These texts allow students students write their drafts in English, illustrate
an expression of oneself, and writing projects that to invest their identities into their writing. The them, and work with various sources, such as
self into the new social spheres. However, students results hold a mirror up to students and reflect their parents and older students fluent in their home
learning English are often defined by what they are identities in a positive light. Teachers can use this language, to translate the drafts into their home
missing rather than by what they possess. While process: language.
teaching writing through the Performance Tasks in 1. Encourage students to have a hand in picking the 2. Publish these texts. Help students share identity
myPerspectives, you may want to supplement the topic to ensure they are writing about something texts with multiple audiences including peers,
writing instruction and practice for English learners that reflects themselves or their identities. Have
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT Develop Technique:

Develop Technique: Finding Your Voice Finding Your Voice
Voice A writer’s distinctive style is referred to as voice, and it can be Voice
influenced by word choice, sentence structure (the way the author Explain to students that they will learn more
constructs a sentence), and tone—the writer’s attitude toward his or her
about creating an effective voice through the
subject. Developing a unique voice can take time. These tips and activities
reading and writing activities that follow.
will help get you started.
Read It
Read It
Emphasize that word choice, sentence
This chart shows examples from the Launch Text that contribute to the
structure, and tone are essential to developing
author’s voice.
a well-written nonfiction narrative because
singing at the top of her lungs; just beginning
these elements of writing help communicate the
Word Choice to darken with blue clouds against a darker writer’s attitude toward the subject.
blue sky
MAKE IT INTERACTIVE
Varied Sentence We took off. She drove slowly, maybe too Use the Interactive Teacher’s Edition to project
Structure and Dialogue slowly. “Bueno,” she said, with a nod. “Grounded” and ask students to identify
additional examples of powerful word choice:
Reflective, Genuine But how could I say any of this?
• without her wheels she’d feel ordinary
Tone I was so relieved I could have cried.
(paragraph 8)
• I was itching to go to the party (paragraph 11)
Write It
 STANDARDS • She drove slowly, maybe too slowly.
As you draft your nonfiction narrative, think of ways in which you can Writing (paragraph 14)
develop your voice. To do so, ask yourself questions such as: What should Write narratives to develop
the tone of my narrative be? What emotions do I want the audience events using effective technique, Write It
to experience? and How can I make my personality as narrator more relevant descriptive details, and
authentic? well-structured event sequences. Support student analysis of voice with questions
d. Use precise words and phrases, like these: Does the tone of their writing invite
Also pay close attention to your sentence structures, and strive to mimic relevant descriptive details, and the reader to engage with the story and the
real speech patterns. When writing from the first-person point of view, sensory language to capture the
action and convey experiences characters? Do their word choices provide a level
you might be inclined to begin many of your sentences with the pronoun
I, which will create a repetitive, dull pattern. This chart provides strategies
and events. of detail that helps the reader envision the action
to help you avoid repetitive sentence beginnings and create variety. in the narrative?
Consider asking students to share a sentence
ORIGINAL STRATEGY TO ADD VARIETY REVISION from their narrative with the class, and guide
I was surprised to see my Start your sentence with a word that Startled, I noticed the familiar
them through the process of adding variety to
sister on the stage. describes your emotion or mood. figure of my sister on the stage. their writing.
I rushed to congratulate her Move another part of the sentence to After the play ended, I rushed to
after the play ended. the beginning. congratulate her.
I said her portrayal of the “Great job!” I exclaimed. “You

Start with a real quotation instead of
character was so realistic I really made me believe you were
writing that someone said something.
forgot she was my sister. Alice.”
teachers, parents, grandparents, sister classes, Writing and publishing identity texts helps ELL
and the media. It is critical that students share students take active control and ownership of
their writing with broad audiences to build the learning process and invest their identities
this positive experience. Students are likely to in their drafts.
receive positive feedback and affirmation of
self by providing true audiences with which to
share their work.
Teaching Performance Task: WriTing focus
Revising Revising
Evaluating Your Draft
Evaluating Your Draft Use the following checklist to evaluate the effectiveness of your first
Ask students to review the prompt as part of their draft. Then, use your evaluation and the instruction on this page to guide
revision work. Before students begin revising their your revision.
writing, they should first evaluate their draft to
FOCUS AND ORGANIZATION EVIDENCE AND ELABORATION CONVENTIONS
make sure it contains all of the required elements,
is organized in a logical manner, and adheres
Provides an introduction that Effectively uses narrative Attends to the norms
to the norms and conventions of nonfiction
establishes a clear context and techniques, such as and conventions of the
narrative writing. point of view. dialogue, pacing, and discipline.
description.
Revising for Focus and Organization Presents a clear chronological
Provide a Clear Conclusion Students should sequence of events that are linked Uses descriptive details,
ensure that they provide a clear conclusion that by clarifying transitions. sensory language, and
resolves any conflicts or questions that arise in the precise words and phrases.
Provides a conclusion that follows
narrative. Remind students that making personal from and reflects on the events and Establishes voice through
connections to the resolution in their writing experiences in the narrative. word choice, sentence
helps personalize the narrative and improves the structure, and tone.
richness of their writing.
Revising for Evidence and Elaboration

Use Precise Language Remind students as they Revising for Focus and Organization
revise their narratives that using precise language  WORD NETWORK Provide a Clear Conclusion The conclusion of a nonfiction narrative
is an important part of narrative writing. Explain Include interesting words clarifies the overall message and provides readers with a sense of
that the purpose of a narrative is to communicate from your Word Network in resolution, or completion. It resolves any conflicts or questions
a clear message and that the more specific they your personal narrative. presented in the narrative. To increase the clarity of your conclusion,
check to be sure that it follows logically from the body of your essay.
are in their word choice, the easier a reader will
Then, consider whether your conclusion provides a fresh insight on your
understand what they are trying to say.  STANDARDS topic.
Writing
Adjust Pacing Remind students that telling a • Write narratives to develop
story well involves knowing what to include. real or imagined experiences or Revising for Evidence and Elaboration
Encourage students to take a critical look at their relevant descriptive details, and Use Precise Language In order to craft a lively narrative that engages
narratives to find any sections that could be cut

well-structured event sequences. readers, avoid words and language that leave the reader with questions
or that could be improved through thorough establishing a context and point
such as What kind? How? In what way? How often? and To what extent?
editing. of view and introducing a narrator As you review your draft, identify vague words that do not provide specific
and/or characters; organize an answers to questions such as those in the previous sentence. As you
revise, replace these vague words with specific, precise words that convey
naturally and logically.
d. Use precise words and phrases, your ideas more vividly and accurately. Here are some examples:
relevant descriptive details, and
sensory language to capture the
vague noun: stuff use souvenirs, gifts, photos
action and convey experiences vague verb: said use exclaimed, whispered, declared
and events.
e. Provide a conclusion that follows vague adjective: pretty use attractive, exquisite, adorable
from and reflects on the narrated
experiences or events. vague adverb: greatly use enormously, incredibly, remarkably
• Produce clear and coherent
writing in which the development, Adjust Pacing Read through your draft. If part of your story seems to
organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and lag or feel boring, try one of the following: Cut unneeded plot events;
audience. put dialogue in place of description; or shorten the sentences so that
events seem to happen more rapidly.
How Language Works LIT17_SE07_U01_A_WC_PT.indd 56 4/13/16 4:28 PM
Adjectives Reinforce the concept that if two or As students revise their nonfiction narratives, they If students haven’t used coordinate and
more adjectives modify the same noun and are should check to see if they’ve used coordinate and cumulative adjectives in their writing, encourage
separated by a comma, they’re coordinate. Students cumulative adjectives correctly. First, they should them to do so, explaining that it will add richness
can tell if adjectives are coordinate if the word and identify if they’ve used these types of adjectives, and variety to their descriptions. If students struggle
can be used in place of the comma and the order of looking for sentences in which more than one to generate coordinate and cumulative adjectives,
the adjectives can be reversed without changing the adjective modifies the same noun. Next, they have them brainstorm for new descriptive words to
meaning of the sentence. Cumulative adjectives also should determine if the adjectives are coordinate or add to existing adjectives or combine descriptions of
modify the same noun, but they aren’t separated cumulative and, based on their findings, whether a the same noun that appear in different sentences.
by a comma, and they can’t be reversed without comma is needed.
changing the meaning of the sentence.
PEER REVIEW
Peer Review
Exchange narratives with a classmate. Use the checklist to evaluate your classmate’s Remind students before they begin their peer
narrative, and provide supportive feedback. review that they are reviewing for clarity and
1. Is the point of view clear, and are the characters well developed? completeness. Suggest that students note any
yes no If no, suggest how the writer might improve them. questions they have as they review their partner’s
narrative. Students should then revise their
2. Is there a clear sequence of events that unfolds chronologically and is clarified narratives to ensure that their message is clearly
by transitions?
communicated and does not leave the reader
yes no If no, explain what confused you. wondering about something that happened in
3. Does the narrative end with a conclusion that connects to and reflects on the events the story.
and experiences presented?
yes no If no, tell what you think might be missing.
Editing and Proofreading
As students proofread, they should check for
4. What is the strongest part of your classmate’s narrative? Why? grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
Remind them that although many software
programs catch grammar and spelling mistakes,
they are not foolproof. Students should still
manually review their work.
Editing and Proofreading Publishing and Presenting
Edit for Conventions Reread your draft for accuracy and consistency.
As students read several of their classmates’
Correct errors in grammar and word usage. Be sure you have included
a variety of sentence structures and word choices that reflect your
papers to look for similarities, encourage them
unique voice. to respond to each narrative respectfully. After
groups work together, lead a discussion to
Proofread for Accuracy Read your draft carefully, looking for errors ask students to share what they learned from
in spelling and punctuation. As you proofread, make sure that any each other.
dialogue—the actual words spoken by a character—is enclosed in
quotation marks. A split dialogue is a quotation that is interrupted by Reflecting
the inclusion of additional information, such as the identification of the
speaker. Refer to the Launch Text for examples of each type of dialogue. Students should reflect not only on their narrative
and process of writing it, but also on the
comments received from their peers.

Publishing and Presenting
Create a final version of your narrative. Share it with a small group so
that your classmates can read it and make comments. In turn, review
and comment on your classmates’ work. As a group, discuss what your
narratives have in common and the ways in which they are different.
Reflecting  STANDARDS
Reflect on what you learned as you wrote your narrative. In what ways Writing
With some guidance and support
did writing about past experiences and events help to heighten your from peers and adults, develop and
understanding of them? What was the most challenging aspect of strengthen writing as needed by
composing your narrative? Did you learn something from reviewing the planning, revising, editing, rewriting,
or trying a new approach, focusing
work of others and discussing your narrative that might inform your on how well purpose and audience
narrative writing process in the future? have been addressed.
LIT17_SE07_U01_A_WC_PT.indd 57 Personalize for Learning 4/13/16 4:28 PM

Subject-Verb Agreement English Learners often struggle with
subject-verb agreement when writing. Remind students that the
subject and the verb in a sentence need to agree. For example,
singular subjects need a singular verb (The boy runs.), and plural
subjects need a plural verb (The girls run.). Suggest that students
review their narrative for subject-verb agreement as part of their
editing process. ALL LEVELS
OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW: SMALL-GROUP LEARNING
SMALL-GROUP LEARNING ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
What can one generation learn What can one generation learn
from another? from another?
Explain that it’s not just the younger generation What people value can change from one generation to the next, but there are
that can learn from its elders. Often, especially always some common threads despite these differences. You can gain new
in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, insight and knowledge when you understand the values and challenges facing
younger generations have much to teach their other generations. You will work in a group to continue your exploration of the
older relatives, friends, and community members. relationship between generations.
During Small-Group Learning, students will
read selections that reveal the ways in which Small-Group Learning Strategies
generations interact and learn from one another.
Throughout your life, you’ll continue to develop strategies that make you a
better learner. In school, in your community, in college, and in your career, you
Small-Group Learning will continue to learn and work in teams.
Strategies
Look at these strategies and the actions you can take to practice them. Add
Review the Learning Strategies with students and ideas of your own for each step. Get ready to use these strategies during
explain that as they work through Small-Group Small-Group Learning.
Learning they will develop strategies to work in
small-group environments. STRATEGY ACTION PLAN
• Have students watch the video on Small-Group Prepare • Complete your assignments so that you are prepared for group work.
Learning Strategies. • Organize your thinking so you can contribute to your group’s discussions.
• A video on this topic is available online in the
•
You may wish to discuss some action items to add
to the chart as a class before students complete it Participate fully • Make eye contact to signal that you are listening and taking in what is being said.
on their own. For example, for “Support others,”
• Use text evidence when making a point.
you may solicit the following actions from
students: •

• Ask constructive questions about others’
opinions.
Support others • Build off ideas from others in your group.
• Be patient when others are struggling.
• Invite others who have not yet spoken to do so.
•
Block Scheduling
Each day in this Pacing Plan represents a
40–50 minute class period. Teachers using Clarify • Paraphrase the ideas of others to ensure that your understanding is correct.
block scheduling may combine days to reflect • Ask follow-up questions.
their class schedule. In addition, teachers may
revise pacing to differentiate and support core •
Pacing Plan
Introduce
Whole-Class LIT22_SE07_U01_B_SGO.indd 58 18/03/21 12:41 PM
Learning
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING
CONTENTS
NEWS ARTICLE
Contents
Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks
Selections Circulate among the groups as they
Jennifer Ludden
preview the selections. You might encourage
It’s never too late to learn something new. groups to discuss any knowledge they already
 MEDIA CONNECTION: Cyber-Seniors have about any of the selections or the situations
and settings shown in the photographs. Students
may wish to take a poll within their group to
MEMOIR
determine which selections look most interesting.
from Mom & Me & Mom Remind students that communicating and
Maya Angelou collaborating in groups is an important skill that
they will use throughout their lives—in school, in
A young girl is reunited with the mother who once
abandoned her. their careers, and in their community.
COMPARE
Performance Task
MEDIA: VIDEO Present a Nonfiction Narrative Give groups
Learning to Love My Mother time to read about and briefly discuss the
Maya Angelou with Michael Maher multimedia presentation they will create after
reading. Encourage students to do some
Maya Angelou talks about her complicated relationship
with her mother.
preliminary thinking about the types of media
they might want to use. This may help focus their
subsequent reading and group discussion.
MEDIA: IMAGE GALLERY
Mother-Daughter Drawings
Mica and Myla Hendricks
An artist collaborates with her four-year-old child.
POETRY COLLECTION 1
Mother to Son
Langston Hughes
To James
Frank Horne
Two parents pass on some hard-earned wisdom.
PERFORMANCE TASK
SPEAKING AND LISTENING FOCUS
Present a Nonfiction Narrative
The Small-Group readings explore the insights that people of different generations
share with each other. After reading, your group will plan and deliver a multimedia
presentation about a lesson one generation can learn from another.
Overview: Small-Group Learning 59
Introduce Introduce
LIT17_SE07_U01_B_SGO.indd 59
Small-Group 13/04/16 5:03 PM
Independent Learning
Learning
Learning Performance Performance-Based
to Love Task Assessment
Tutors Teach Seniors My Mother
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
small-group learning
Small-Group Learning 59
overview
OVERVIEW: SMALL-GROUP LEARNING
small-group Learning
Working as a Team
Working as a Team 1. Discuss the Topic In your group, discuss the following question:
1. Discuss the Topic Remind groups to let all What kinds of ideas and experiences can young people
members share their responses. You may wish and adults share?
to set a time limit for this discussion. As you take turns sharing your thoughts, be sure to provide examples
for your response. After all group members have shared, discuss the
2. List Your Rules You may want to have groups
similarities and differences among your responses.
share their lists of rules and consolidate them
into a master list to be displayed and followed
by all groups. 2. List Your Rules As a group, decide on the rules that you will follow
as you work together. Two samples are provided. Add two more of
3. Apply the Rules As you circulate among the your own. You may add or revise rules based on your experience
groups, ensure that students are staying on together.
task. Consider a short time limit for this step. • Everyone should participate in group discussions.
4. Name Your Group This task can be creative • People should not interrupt.
and fun. If students have trouble coming
up with a name, suggest that they think of •
something related to generations. Encourage
groups to share their names with the class.
5. Create a Communication Plan Encourage
•
groups to agree upon times during the day to
share ideas. They should also devise a method
for recording and saving their communications.
3. Apply the Rules Before you engage in group discussions or activities,

review the rules and adapt them as needed based on your group’s
Accountable Talk experience.
Remind students that groups should
communicate politely. You can post these 4. Name Your Group Choose a name that reflects the unit topic.
Accountable Talk suggestions and encourage
Our group’s name:

students to add their own. Students should:
Remember to . . . 5. Create a Communication Plan Decide how you want to

Ask questions when you are confused. communicate with one another. For example, you might use online
collaboration tools, email, or instant messaging.
Which sounds like . . .
Can you say that again?
Can you give me an example? Our group’s decision:
Remember to . . .
Make connections.
This reminds me of _____.
How does that relate to the point made by ____?
Remember to . . .
Explain your thinking . . . 60 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS
I think this is right because _____.
Facilitating Small-Group learning

LIT17_SE07_U01_B_SGO.indd 60 16-03-17 7:56 AM
Forming Groups
You may wish to form groups for Small-Group information. A good mix of abilities can make the
Learning so that each consists of students with experience of Small-Group Learning dynamic and
different abilities. Some students may be adept at productive.
organizing information whereas others may have
strengths related to generating or synthesizing
Making a Schedule Making a Schedule

First, find out the due dates for the small-group activities. Then, preview
Encourage groups to preview the reading
the texts and activities with your group and make a schedule for
completing the tasks.
selections and to consider how long it will take
them to complete the activities accompanying
SELECTION ACTIVITIES DUE DATE each selection. Point out that they can adjust the
due dates for particular selections as needed as
they work on their small-group projects. However,
they must complete all assigned tasks before the
group Performance Task is due. Encourage groups
from Mom & Me & Mom to review their schedules upon completing the
activities for each selection to make sure they are
Learning to Love My Mother on track to meet the final due date.
Mother-Daughter Drawings Working on Group Projects

Point out to groups that the roles they assign
can also be changed later. Students might
Mother to Son have to make changes based on who is best
To James at doing what.
Also, you should review the roles each
group assigns to its members. Based on your
understanding of students’ individual strengths,
Working on Group Projects
you might find it necessary to suggest some
Different projects require different roles. As your group works together, changes.
you’ll find it more effective if each person has a specific role. Before
beginning a project, decide among yourselves on each group member’s
role. Here are some possible roles; add your own ideas.
Project Manager: monitors the schedule and keeps everyone on task

Researcher: organizes research activities
Recorder: takes notes during group meetings
Overview: Small-Group Learning 61
LIT22_SE07_U01_B_SGO.indd 61 AUTHOR'S PERSPECTIVE Kelly Gallagher, M.Ed. 18/03/21 12:42 PM
Meaningful Talk Instead of asking teacher-directed issues that will affect their lives. Asking students and one comment generated from their reading
questions that lead students to see specific elements, “What is worth talking about here?” helps them assignment. During the class discussion, have the
give the power back to the students. Help them find find themes and interpretations and get to the first student share one comment or question. The
their own big ideas and support them by building in heart of the unit theme. next student can answer the question, respond to
talk opportunities. Use these two strategies to help • One Question; One Comment Strategy: To the comment, or build on the discussion with his
students achieve deeper comprehension. get students to revisit a chapter or passage they or her own question or comment. Continue the
• See the Relevance in Reading: Teachers have find particularly challenging and generate an process until everyone in class has participated.
students read great works of literature to give in-depth discussion of the text, teachers can ask Using these strategies will lessen student dependence
students an opportunity to think deeply about students to come to class with one question on the teacher and so help to build independence.
PLANNING Small- Group Learning • Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks

Audio summaries of “Tutors
Teach Seniors New High-Tech When Pamela Norr, of Bend, Oregon, found herself struggling to help her parents
Tricks” are available in both with a tech problem, she asked herself whom she turned to with her own tech
English and Spanish in the difficulties. “My teenage kids,” she says. In her news article “Tutors Teach Seniors
Interactive Teacher’s Edition or New High-Tech Tricks,” Jennifer Ludden reports that many high school students
Unit Resources. Assigning these in Oregon have signed up to help seniors with digital cameras, smartphones, and
summaries prior to reading the social networking, and explains how the program promotes mutual respect between
selection may help students generations. Jean Coppola, of Pace University, New York, has set up a similar
build additional background
program. Coppola describes some of the extraordinary things tutors do to improve
their understanding of deafness, visual impairment, arthritis, and other conditions
their first read.
that senior citizens have.
Insight
Knowledge isn’t always handed down from generation to generation—sometimes it is
handed up. Reading “Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks” will help students see
that it is not always incumbent on the older generation to teach the younger generation.
Reversing the flow of knowledge changes the dynamic between the generations and
may result in a narrowing of the generation gap.
Essential question:
generation learn from “Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks” will help students answer the Essential
another? Question—What can one generation learn from another?—by providing the real-
world example of teens and young adults teaching senior citizens to participate in
the digital world. After closely reading the selection, students should also be able to
understand that by engaging with one another in this way, the younger generation
can learn a new appreciation for, and empathy with, the older generation.
Small-Group LEARNING
What new knowledge Small-Group Learning Performance Task In this Performance Task, students will
or skills can you learn present a nonfiction narrative about what knowledge or skills they can learn from
from someone of a someone of a different generation. “Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks”
different generation? offers students two presentation topic perspectives: the tech lessons that the elderly
learned from their young tutors, and the newfound empathy that the young tutors
Assessment
learned from teaching the elderly.
In what situations can one Unit Performance-Based Assessment This selection provides students with practical
generation learn from examples of lessons shared between two generations, such as how to send an email
another? or how to create a Facebook account. It also provides more abstract insights, such
as how it feels to have age-related physical limitations. Students may refer to these
examples in their narratives.

DIGITAL
LESSON RESOURCES

Lesson First Read Conventions Speaking and Listening
Close Read Concept Vocabulary
Analyze the Text Word Study
Instructional Standards RI.7.10 By the end of the year, read and L.7.4 Determine or clarify the SL.7.1 Engage effectively in a range of
comprehend literary nonfiction . . . meaning of unknown and collaborative discussions . . .
multiple-meaning words and phrases . . .
L.7.4 Determine or clarify the meaning SL.7.4 Present claims and findings,
of unknown and multiple-meaning words L.7.4.c Consult general and specialized emphasizing salient points . . .
reference materials . . .
and phrases . . .
SL.7.5 Include multimedia components
L.7.1 Demonstrate command of the
L.7.4.a Use context as a clue . . . conventions of standard English . . . and visual displays in presentations . . .
RI.7.1 Cite several pieces of textual L.7.3.a Choose language that expresses W.7.7 Conduct short research
evidence to support . . . ideas precisely . . . projects . . .
RI.7.2 Determine two or more central
ideas . . .
STUDENT RESOURCES
Interactive Student Edition or
Unit Resources First-Read Guide: Nonfiction
TEACHER RESOURCES
Selection Resources
udio Summaries: English and
A Conventions: Conjunctions S peaking and Listening:
Spanish Multimedia Presentation
Interactive Teacher’s Edition oncept Vocabulary and Word
C
or Unit Resources Annotation Highlights Study
Text Questions

A
Central Ideas
A Conventions: Conjunctions (RP) S peaking and Listening:
Central Ideas (RP) Multimedia Presentation (RP)
Interactive Teacher’s Edition Word Study: Suffix -ment (RP)
or Unit Resources
Assessment
Available online in
Small-Group Learning 62B

personalize for learning small-group learning • Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks
Reading Support
Text Complexity Rubric: Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks
Knowledge Demands Text relies on practical knowledge and is based on situation students may be able to relate to (older
1 2 3 4 5 people having trouble with technology).
Structure Text is organized logically and broken up with subheadings and quotations that make it easy to
1 2 3 4 5 follow ideas.
Language Conventionality and Clarity Text contains explicit, literal language, familiar vocabulary; some sentences are lengthy but with familiar
1 2 3 4 5 syntax; selection contains some idioms and figurative language.
Levels of Meaning/Purpose Selection has explicitly stated concepts with only one level of meaning; some of the supporting details
1 2 3 4 5 are not explicitly explained (section on sensitivity training).
Decide and Plan

Provide English Learners with support for Provide students with strategic support Provide students who need to be challenged
language and meaning as they read the to ensure that they can successfully read with ideas for how they can go beyond a
selection. the text. simple interpretation of the text.
Language Ask students to highlight Knowledge Demands Use the Text Analysis Discuss the section on
figurative phrases in the selection. background information to begin discussion sensitivity training. Ask students to describe
Discuss each one, drawing from students’ about the use of technology by seniors. or write about why sensitivity training is
experience: usher older adults into the Discuss the experience students have important and effective. Encourage them
digital age (paragraph 1); discuss ushers had with grandparents or other older to use details from the selection about the
in the theater who usher, or guide, people people who are not as comfortable with different methods of sensitivity training.
to their seats; the light bulb went off technology. Written Response Ask students to use
paragraph 2)—discuss that the light bulb is Meaning As students read, have them a computer to go to a typical website
a symbol for an idea. summarize key points by listing ideas from they use. Then have them write a short
Meaning Make sure students understand each section. If students have trouble doing analysis of what aspects of the site might
the sensitivity training described in the this, suggest specific tasks, for example pose difficulties for an elderly person. For
selection. Have students read and list listing three methods of sensitivity training example, how easy is it to navigate and find
the methods mentioned (wearing special cited in paragraphs 12–17. Discuss each information? Are there many distractions?
glasses, taping two fingers together, method. Then have students reread those Would the text size have to be increased?
wearing cotton balls in ears). Discuss paragraphs to think about the methods in
each one before having them reread the context.
paragraph.
TEACH
Read and Respond

Have groups read the selection and complete the Making Meaning, Language Development, and
Effective Expression activities.

identify needs
• Use the Selection Resources listed on the Planning pages for “Tutors Teach Seniors New
High-Tech Tricks” to help students continually improve their ability to master the standards.
Instructional Standards: Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks

Reading You may wish to administer the RI.2 Determine two or more Working in small groups,
analyze and revise Analyze Craft and Structure: central ideas in a text and challenge students to identify
Central Ideas (RP) worksheet analyze their development two or more ideas in the
• Analyze student work for to help students understand over the course of the text; selection related to the concept
how to identify the central idea provide an objective summary of “changing perspectives.”
evidence of student learning. of a text. of the text. Students and group members
• Identify whether students should identify details in the
have met the expectations in text that support each idea.
the standards.
Speaking You may wish to administer SL.5 Include multimedia Have students choose a
• Identify implications for future and the Speaking and Listening: components and visual displays selection from the unit and
instruction. Listening Multimedia Presentation in presentations to clarify claims explain how they would
(RP) worksheet to help and findings and emphasize enhance an oral summary
students understand that salient points. of the selection by including
visuals and/or multimedia visuals and/or multimedia
components enhance and components in the
clarify oral explanations or presentation. Also challenge
reports. students to name the visuals or
multimedia components they
would include, and why.
Language You may wish to administer the L.1 Demonstrate command of Encourage students to
teach Conventions: Conjunctions conventions of standard English find sentences that include
(RP) worksheet to help grammar and usage when conjunctions in this selection.
Implement the planned lesson, students understand how writing or speaking. Using those sentences as
and gather evidence of student authors use conjunctions to models, have students say a
learning. combine related ideas into one sentence of their own that
sentence. expresses something (or
some things) they liked about
the selection and includes a
conjunction.
Small-Group Learning 62D

FACILITATING MAKING MEANING
About the Author

Tutors Teach Seniors
Jump Start New High-Tech Tricks
First Read Ask students to imagine Concept Vocabulary
themselves transformed into senior citizens. You will encounter the following words as you read “Tutors Teach Seniors
Have them imagine how their needs and New High-Tech Tricks.”
abilities during that life stage might affect their Jennifer Ludden (b. 1967)
capacity for learning new skills. is a correspondent for struggling impairments frustrated
National Public Radio
Groups should discuss strategies for teaching (NPR). Ludden has won and Context Clues To find the meaning of unfamiliar words, look for clues
seniors and identify activities that might present shared in several awards in the context, which is made up of the surrounding words and phrases.
difficulties for people in that age group. for her work as a foreign
reporter covering the Middle
Example: To edit the photo on her laptop, Sigrid had to download a
East, Europe, and West
new program.
and Central Africa. She
Tutors Teach Seniors New graduated from Syracuse Context clue: To get a new program on your computer, you need to
High-Tech Tricks University in 1988. download it.
Possible meaning: To download means “to transfer data to your

What are some challenges seniors face in
computer.”
their daily lives? Why might seniors find new
technology difficult to use and even reject it? Example: My computer is infected with a nasty worm.
Modeling questions such as these will help Context clues: The word nasty means “unpleasant,” and it describes
students connect to “Tutors Teach Seniors the worm that has infected a computer.
New High-Tech Tricks” and to the Small-Group Possible meaning: A worm means “a computer bug” or “problem.”
Performance Task assignment. Selection audio
and print capability for the selection are available Apply your knowledge of context clues and other vocabulary strategies to
in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition. determine the meanings of unfamiliar words you encounter during your
first read.
Concept Vocabulary
Encourage groups to discuss the three concept
vocabulary words and share their familiarity or First Read NONFICTION
knowledge of each one. Then, ask groups to Apply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an
study the modeling of context clues. Encourage opportunity to complete a close read after your first read.

students to discuss words surrounding the
unknown word that help them clarify meaning,
especially when the unknown words have
NOTICE the general ideas of ANNOTATE by marking
multiple meanings, including one that is a  STANDARDS the text. What is it about? vocabulary and key passages
technical meaning. Reading Informational Text Who is it about? you want to revisit.
By the end of the year, read and
comprehend literary nonfiction in
First Read the grades 6–8 text complexity band
needed at the high end of the range.
Have students perform the steps of the first read
Language
independently: Determine or clarify the meaning CONNECT ideas within RESPOND by completing
of unknown and multiple-meaning the selection to what you the Comprehension Check and
NOTICE: Encourage students to notice what words and phrases based on grade 7
already know and what you by writing a brief summary of
prompts people in the selection to come together, reading and content, choosing
have already read. the selection.
flexibly from a range of strategies.
as well as what happens for individuals as a result a. Use context as a clue to the
of those meetings. meaning of a word or phrase.
ANNOTATE: Remind students to focus on passages 62 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS

of key importance or of particular interest.
CONNECT: Encourage students to make
connections between ideas in the selection and
ideas they may have encountered in their own
Author's Perspective
LIT17_SE07_U01_B1_SG.indd 62 Jim Cummins, Ph.D. 4/13/16 4:38 PM
reading or in their own lives. Literacy Engagement Academic language is help make texts more meaningful to students in
RESPOND: Students will answer questions and write found primarily in printed text rather than in the following ways:
a summary to demonstrate their understanding. everyday conversation. Thus, when students
• Scaffold Meaning: Visuals such as
have abundant access to printed texts and
Point out to students that while they will always illustrations and graphic organizers in the
engage actively with these texts, they have far
complete the Respond step at the end of the greater opportunities to broaden their vocabulary text enhance students’ understanding.
first read, the other steps will probably happen knowledge and develop strong reading Students who are learning English can also
somewhat concurrently. You may wish to print comprehension skills. Students’ engagement will use electronic translators and bilingual
copies of the First-Read Guide: Nonfiction for be enhanced when they discuss in small groups dictionaries to gain access to the meaning of
students to use. the texts they have read in myPerspectives as well words or phrases.
as other selections of their choice. Teachers can
NEWS ARTICLE
CLOSER LOOK
Analyze Author’s Tone

Circulate among groups as students conduct
their close read. Suggest that groups close
read paragraphs 2–5. Encourage them to
talk about the annotations that they mark. If
needed, provide the following support.
Tutors Teach Seniors ANNOTATE: Have students mark details in

these paragraphs that demonstrate the way
the author seems to feel about her subject
New High-Tech Tricks or work with small groups to have students
participate while you highlight them together.
Jennifer Ludden QUESTION: Guide students to consider what
BACKGROUND Possible response: The author is warm and
Modern technology allows us to easily connect with one another. friendly toward her readers and determined to
People can instantaneously share photographs and have face-to-face make a potentially difficult subject as easy as
conversations with friends and family both down the street and on the possible. She adopts a chatty, personal tone as
other side of the world. However, technology changes so quickly that she tells Pamela Norr’s story.
senior citizens are often left behind.
1
A week after Christmas, many Americans are no doubt trying

to figure out how to use the high-tech gadgets they got as
gifts. This can be especially challenging for seniors. But a number
NOTES details in the text. Ask students why the
of programs across the country are finding just the right experts to Possible response: The author personalizes
help usher older adults into the digital age.
the problem that she is addressing, so that in
these paragraphs we are reading “Pamela Norr’s
2 For Pamela Norr, of Bend, Ore., the light bulb went off as she,
story.” Phrases like “the light bulb went off,”
yet again, was trying to help her own elder parents with a tech and “yet again” involve the reader with Norr.
problem. To whom did she turn? By including such details, the author is helping
3 “My teenage kids,” she says. readers relate to Norr’s problem. It is probable
4 Norr happens to head the Central Oregon Council on Aging, that most of her readers know seniors with these
and thus was born TECH—Teenager Elder Computer Help. problems, or are themselves seniors.
5 “I thought if my parents need it, probably other seniors need it, Remind students that the author’s tone is
too,” she says. the writer’s attitude toward the subject and
6 High school students studying computer tech or involved the readers. In informative text, a good author
with the National Honor Society sign up to teach local senior addresses readers in a tone that helps them to
citizens about Facebook, Skype, smartphones, even something as understand the subject.
seemingly simple as a camera. Norr discovered that many seniors
had been given digital cameras by their children.
7 “They were going around town taking all these great pictures
that they wanted to send to their family members,” she says. But
Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks 63
LIT22_SE07_U01_B1_SG.indd 63 18/03/21 12:44 PM
• Connect to Students’ Lives: It is important writing in English, and carrying out Internet
to activate students’ pre-existing knowledge research in their first language).
so that they can relate new information to • Extend Language: Teachers can extend
what they already know. English Learners students’ academic language skills by
can use their first language as a resource to consistently and explicitly drawing attention
help them extend their English academic skills to new words, unusual syntax, and other
(e.g., by brainstorming in groups, writing in textual features that are not found in
their first language as a stepping stone to everyday conversation.
FACILITATING
they “couldn’t figure out how to connect to the USB port1 or take
Concept Vocabulary NOTES out the SIM card.2”
Mark context clues or indicate 8 Many elders have moved to central Oregon to retire. Sigrid
Struggling If groups are having difficulty trying another strategy you used that
Scully, 84, signed up for a TECH class because she was struggling
to define struggling in paragraph 8, point out helped you determine meaning.
to stay connected with far-flung family.
how surrounding words or phrases refer to Sigrid struggling (STRUHG lihng) v.
9 “My kids were not returning calls,” she says. “They don’t write
Scully’s attempts to stay connected with family. MEANING:
letters. They are so knowledgeable about texting and email, and so
These include “not returning calls” and “don’t
I needed to get to know how to do that.”
write letters.” These details should lead students
10 Scully worried she’d never catch on. She’d read a computer
to infer that struggling means “trying hard and
manual once, but didn’t understand words like “icon” or
having difficulty doing something.”
“cookies.” She says her teen tutor was personable and used plain
Possible response: Struggling must mean “making
attempts to do something.” language.
11 “So many teenagers think that seniors are just old people
Impairments If groups are having difficulty that don’t know anything,” she says. “And actually, the
trying to define impairment in paragraph 15, camaraderie and knowledge that we can transmit to one
point out that the paragraph includes a quotation another is so wonderful and so helpful. I had that feeling with
about students who “get to feel what it’s like to this class.”
be 70, 80, 90 years old” and who wear specially
prepared glasses. These details should lead
students to infer that impairments are specific Sensitivity Training
physical problems or limitations. 12 “It has made me think about what life was like without Facebook
Possible responses: Impairments must mean and the Internet,” says 15-year-old Tucker Rampton, who’s helped
“specific physical weaknesses.” train about a dozen Oregon seniors. He’s been surprised to have
to explain email, something he thought everyone had mastered.
Then again, a lot of seniors ask him about Twitter, which Rampton
admits he knows nothing about. He says teaching tech to seniors
has changed his perspective.
13 “I think it’s a very good idea to work on your patience,” he
says, “and be more understanding when it comes to what’s going
on in their minds.”
14 At Pace University in New York, college students who tutor
seniors in local retirement homes are prepped with sensitivity
training.

15 “They get to feel what it’s like to be 70, 80, 90 years old,” says
Mark context clues or indicate
another strategy you used that
associate professor Jean Coppola, who directs the program. “They
helped you determine meaning. wear specially prepared glasses that give them different visual
Concept Vocabulary impairments (ihm PAIR impairments.”
muhnts) n. Coppola also has students do things like tape two fingers
Frustrated If groups are struggling to define 16
MEANING:
frustrated in paragraph 16, point out how the together—to simulate the effects of arthritis or a stroke—then try
paragraph includes discussion of students taping Mark context clues or indicate to navigate a mouse. By the time they’re at the computer with an
another strategy you used that
fingers together to understand what it feels like elder, she says, they’re not frustrated at all.
helped you determine meaning.
to have arthritis or other physical limitations. As 17 “They’ll say something a hundred times because they’ve worn
frustrated (FRUHS trayt ehd)
a result, students are not frustrated when they adj. cotton balls or earplugs in their ear,” she says. “They understand
go to work with the elderly. These details should MEANING: that they have to speak up, articulate their words.”
lead students to infer that frustrated means
1. USB port n. computer hardware for connecting other devices to computers.
“irritated.” 2. SIM card n. smart card used in cell phones to store identification information.
Possible responses: Frustrated must mean
“bothered or irritated.”
Illuminating the Text Have students find a to form a practical understanding of this example
video on the Internet that demonstrates clearly of modern technology. Have students explain
and reliably how to make a USB connection to their concepts to their groups and discuss them
operate a camera through a computer. Have with fellow group members. (Research to
them take notes throughout the demonstration. Clarify)
Students should use those notes to create three
key concepts that they believe will enable seniors
18 Coppola says the whole thing is a bonding experience for both
generations. Applause often breaks out the first time a senior NOTES EXTENSION QUESTIONS
receives an email. Some have been able to see new grandchildren The Comprehension Check tests students’
for the first time through emailed photos.
comprehension of the reading. If your students
19 Pamela Norr, in Oregon, says young trainers also gain new
would benefit from more rigorous critical-thinking
confidence. They see that the seniors are “not criticizing me for the
questions, assign the First Read Extension
way I dress,” she says, “or clucking their tongue. They’re actually
Questions, found on Realize.
respecting me for the knowledge base that I have.”
20 Perhaps most unexpected, some teen trainers and seniors have
even become friends. They keep in touch long after class ends— Comprehension Check
through Facebook, of course. ❧
Possible responses:
MEDIA CONNECTION
1. Norr turned to her teenage children for help with
her own computer problems.
Discuss It What benefits do young people get when
they teach seniors about technology and the Internet? 2. Seniors want to be able to use email and social
media and operate smartphones and other
Write your response before sharing your ideas.
electronic devices.
3. They could take photos but could not send them
electronically.
4. Teenagers used various devices to simulate sensory
and physical impairments.
Cyber-Seniors
Possible responses for summary:
Who: Pamela Norr, Head of the Council on Aging;
Sigrid Scully, senior; Tucker Rampton, teen; Jean
Coppola, Professor; and many other teens and
seniors
Comprehension Check What: TECH (Teenager Elder Computer Help) and
Notebook Complete the following items after you finish your first read. other programs have teens helping seniors solve
Review and clarify details with your group. computer problem
Where: Central Oregon; New York
When: Ongoing
1. What situation led Pamela Norr to start TECH—Teenager Elder Computer Help?
Why: Seniors are often confused by modern
2. What kinds of things do seniors want to do with computers and other tech devices? technology and require help.
Teens are often technologically adept and
3. In the Pace University program, how did teenagers experience what it is like to be require no special training to help seniors.
an older person? How: Teens meet with seniors and find hands-on,
on-site solutions to their problems with
4. Write a summary of the selection that answers Who, What, Where, When, Why, technology.
and How?
Research
RESEARCH Research to Clarify
If groups struggle to come up with a research topic,
Research to Clarify Briefly research at least one unfamiliar detail from the selection.
you may want to suggest that they focus on one of
In what way does the information shed light on an aspect of the article?
the following topics: How does Skype work? What
does USB stand for, and what does it enable? What
function does a SIM card perform in a smartphone?
Research to Explore
Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks 65 If groups struggle to come up with a research topic,
you may want to suggest that they focus on one of
the following topics: a new texting app or a social
media platform, such as Facebook or Twitter.
LIT22_SE07_U01_B1_SG.indd 65
Strategic Support
Order of Events To help students organize events next, and so on. The interviewer should take
sequentially, have pairs of students work together. notes. Then, using these notes, students can build
One student can interview the other, asking about a timeline that contains the basic information
a few important facts in this nonfiction narrative. about the narrative, organizing the events
For example, they might ask what happened first, sequentially.
Facilitating MAKING MEANING
Close Read the text

Jump Start With your group, revisit sections of the text you marked
during your first read. annotate details that you notice.
CLOSE READ Ask students to think about how What questions do you have? What can you conclude?
technology has changed in their lifetime. What TUTORS TEACH SENIORS NEW
HIGH-TECH TRICKS
were cell phones like when they were younger? Cite textual evidenCe
How do they think the Internet has changed? analyze the text to support your answers.
As students discuss these questions in their notebook Complete the activities.

groups, ask them to project into the future. 1. Review and Clarify With your group, reread paragraphs 12–13 of
What new technologies do they think might be GROUP DISCUSSION the selection. Discuss how helping seniors with tech problems has
available in 20 years? 50 years? If you do not fully changed the perspective of Tucker Rampton. In what way has reading
understand a classmate’s this selection changed your own perspective?
comment, don’t hesitate to
ask for clarification. Use a 2. Present and discuss Share with your group the passages from the
Close Read the Text friendly and respectful tone
when you ask.
selection that you found especially important. Take turns presenting
your passages. Discuss what you noticed in the selection, what
If needed, model close reading by using the questions you asked, and what conclusions you reached.
Annotation Highlights in the Interactive Teacher’s
Edition. Remind groups to use Accountable Talk 3. essential Question: What can one generation learn from
in their discussions and to support one another as another? What has this article taught you about how different
 WoRd netWoRK
generations can learn from one another? Discuss with your group.
they complete the close read.
Look in the text for words
related to the topic of
Analyze the Text generations, and add them
language development
1. Responses will vary by group. Students should to your Word Network.
note that Tucker was forced to think about life
before the Internet, which helped him to be more
Concept vocabulary
patient and understanding. struggling impairments frustrated
2. Passages will vary by group. Remind students
to explain why they chose the passage they  STANDARDS Why these Words? The concept vocabulary words from the text are
presented to group members. Reading Informational Text related. With your group, determine what the words have in common.
• Cite several pieces of textual
3. Responses will vary by group. evidence to support analysis of Write your ideas and add another word that fits the category.
what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from Practice

Concept Vocabulary the text.
• Determine two or more central notebook Confirm your understanding of the concept vocabulary
Why These Words? The words are associated ideas in a text and analyze their words by using each word in a sentence that demonstrates your
development over the course of
with feelings and issues one might need to the text; provide an objective
understanding of the word.
overcome when learning something new. summary of the text.
Another word that fits the category is problems. Language
Determine or clarify the meaning
Word Study
Practice of unknown and multiple-meaning notebook Suffix: -ment The suffix -ment means “the result of an
words and phrases based on
grade 7 reading and content,
action.” When added to a verb (the action), the suffix creates a noun.
Possible responses: Use a dictionary to find the meaning of the following words that contain
choosing flexibly from a range of
• The children were struggling to finish a timed strategies. the suffix -ment: advertisement, amusement, settlement. Explain how the
c. Consult general and
quiz online. specialized reference materials, suffix -ment contributes to the meaning of each word.
• She overcame hearing impairments with a both print and digital, to find
the pronunciation of a word or
hearing aid. determine or clarify its precise
meaning or its part of speech.
• The man grew frustrated when he could not
send photos electronically.
Word Network
Possible words: seniors, elders, teenagers
Word Study
LIT17_SE07_U01_B1_SG_app.indd 66 16-04-14 12:29 AM
Analyze the Text Concept Vocabulary
Possible responses: If students struggle to close read the text, If students struggle to identify the concept,
advertisement: an announcement that calls then provide the Tutors Teach Seniors New then have them look online for the meanings
attention to something; amusement: something High-Tech Tricks: Text Questions available of these words.
that amuses; settlement: a place where people online in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition or Unit
Resources. Answers and DOK levels are also Word Study
have settled. In each case, -ment creates the
available. If students fail to identify other words that end
noun form. For more support, see Concept
in -ment, then have them review verbs such
Vocabulary and Word Study.
as encourage that turn into nouns with the
ending. For Reteach and Practice, see Word
Study: Suffix -ment (RP).

Development of Central Ideas The central idea, or main idea, is Development of Central Ideas Explain to
the most important point in a text. Sometimes the writer directly states
students that although authors often put their
the central idea of a text. More often, the central idea is unstated, or
central ideas at the beginning of articles, they
implied. When a central idea is implied, readers must make inferences,
or educated guesses, from the details included in the text in order to
sometimes don’t reveal the central ideas until the
determine the central idea. conclusion. For more support, see Analyze Craft
and Structure: Central Ideas.
When you read nonfiction, adjust your reading rate to help you recognize
the central idea.
Practice
• Skim, or look over the text quickly, to get a sense of important ideas
Possible responses:
before you begin reading.
1. The article indicates that teens are frequent
• Read closely to learn what the central ideas are. users of social media and the Internet. Some are
• Scan, or run your eyes over the text, to find answers to questions, to studying computer science and many understand
clarify, or to find supporting details. technology that is confusing to seniors.
2. a. See possible responses in the chart on the
CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE student page.
b. The seniors lack technical expertise, and the
Notebook Respond to these questions.
teens don’t feel like they get the respect they
1. What details does the article provide to support the central idea that teens are deserve. Their needs match up well because the
well-suited to help seniors with technology? tech tutoring gives each group what it needs.
2. (a) Complete the chart below to help you analyze the development of central 3. The quotations make the participants immediate,
real, and convincing. Hearing actual people speak
ideas in the article. Identify the needs of each group, what group members
helps illustrate the central ideas and gives the
provided for each other, and how they benefited from each other. ideas more weight.
WHAT THEY NEED WHAT THEY PROVIDE HOW GROUP BENEFITS 4. This detail connects with the central idea that
seniors and teens can develop bonds when teens
Seniors Seniors have Seniors give respect Seniors master new
to their teen technology skills. teach seniors new skills. The Facebook friendships
difficulty with
teachers. are examples of those bonds.
high-tech gadgets.
Teens Teens need Teens share Teens gain confidence.

appreciation and technology expertise.
approval.
(b) Review your chart entries. How well do the needs of each group match
what the other group is able to provide? Explain.
3. How does the author’s use of quotations from program participants contribute
to the development of central ideas?
4. At the end of the article, the author describes how seniors and teens continue
to maintain their friendships through Facebook. In what way does this detail
connect with the central idea of the text?
Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks 67
LIT17_SE07_U01_B1_SG_app.indd 67
English Language Support how summarizing the text helps them focus on Formative Assessment
Central Ideas Present students with a short the most important information. Expanding
informational text that includes text features and Have students read a brief informational text If students struggle to identify the central idea,
photographs. Have students list three sources of and ask them to write a paragraph stating the
information or three features that can help them then have them reread the article with one
central idea and three details that support it. Ask
find the central idea. Then ask them to discuss students to have a small group discussion about question in mind, What is the author’s main
how this information affects their reading of the how they located the central idea. Bridging point, or argument? For Reteach and Practice, see
text. Emerging Analyze Craft and Structure: Central Ideas
An expanded English Language Support
Have students read a brief informational text and Lesson on Development of Central Ideas is (RP).
ask them to write a few sentences summarizing it
available in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition.
and stating the central idea. Have students discuss
Facilitating Language deveLopment
Conjunctions Use the chart to remind students Conjunctions connect parts of a sentence. Coordinating and
subordinating conjunctions both clarify relationships between ideas.
how conjunctions operate. As you assist them
Coordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses
in reviewing conjunctions, ask for their help
of equal importance. Subordinating conjunctions connect a less
with constructing sentences that illustrate how TUTORS TEACH SENIORS NEW
important clause to a more important clause.
HIGH-TECH TRICKS
coordinating and subordinating conjunctions
work. Use these sentences to model the TYPE OF CONJUNCTION CONJUNCTIONS EXAMPLES
difference between each type of conjunction. coordinating and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet Original:
Emily likes fruit, so she bought an apple at the Tommy was tired. He watched the
movie anyway.
market. (coordinating)
Revised:
Caleb went to the park before Ella got home Tommy was tired but watched the
movie anyway.
from school. (subordinating)
For more support, see Conventions: subordinating after, although, as, as if, as long as, Original:
because, before, even though, how,
Conjunctions. if, in order that, since, so that, than,
Gabby made her bed. It was evening.
Revised:
Read It that, though, till, unless, until, when,
Gabby made her bed even though it
whenever, where, whereas, wherever,
1. because—subordinating was evening.
whether,
2. or—coordinating while, why
Write It
Possible responses: Read It
1. When Edward’s tech class ended, he enrolled Identify the conjunction in each sentence. Label each conjunction as
in additional computer classes. coordinating or subordinating.
2. Marsha mumbled, but Steve understood every 1. Sigrid joined the program because she had no idea how to send email.
word she said. 2. Today, Omar will teach seniors how to email or how to use a digital
camera.
Write It
Notebook Sometimes, too many short sentences in a row can seem
choppy and unclear. Using conjunctions can create a smoother writing

style. To fix short and choppy sentences, rewrite them by following these
steps. First, identify whether the ideas in the sentences are of equal
importance or unequal importance. Then, combine the sentences using
 STANDARDS either coordinating or subordinating conjunctions. Look at the example,
Language and then revise the sentences provided.
grammar and usage when writing EXAMPLE
or speaking.
• Use knowledge of language Original: Pamela couldn’t download an app. She asked her teenaged
and its conventions when writing, son for help.
speaking, reading, or listening.
Revised: Pamela couldn’t download an app until she asked her
a. Choose language that
expresses ideas precisely and
teenaged son for help.
concisely, recognizing and
eliminating wordiness and 1. Edward’s tech class ended. He enrolled in additional computer classes.
redundancy.
2. Marsha mumbled. Steve understood every word she said.

LIT17_SE07_U01_B1_SG_app.indd 68 16-04-15 3:57 PM
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT English Language Support

Conventions Cognates Many academic vocabulary words subordinada (because = porque, since = pues que,
If students fail to identify coordinating and have Spanish cognates. Use the following as, since = como)
subordinating conjunctions, then help cognates to help students whose first language is coordinating conjunction – conjunción de
them review the definitions of each type of Spanish. coordinación (and = y, and = e, neither/nor = ni)
conjunction and practice using the conjunctions conjunction – conjunción ALL LEVELS
in sentences. Later, work to identify the functions subordinating conjunction – conjunción
of each word. For Reteach and Practice, see
Conventions: Conjunctions (RP).
eFFeCTIVe eXPreSSION
Speaking and Listening Speaking and Listening

 eVIDeNCe LOG Students may struggle to select which modes
Assignment of media to include in their presentation. Have
Work with your group to create a multimedia presentation in group members discuss their greatest strengths,
new selection, go to your
which you incorporate text, charts, images, videos, music, or other log and record what you as a group and as individuals. Encourage them to
media that help you to convey your ideas effectively. Choose from the learned from “Tutors Teach decide which option allows them to demonstrate
following topics: Seniors New High-Tech their greatest strengths best. If, for example,
an instructional brochure in which you explain to seniors how Tricks.”
the group represents a broad range of musical
to use a technology application interests and contains at least one proficient
a program proposal in which you present an idea for a program musician, members might use text and music in
that would connect teens and seniors in new ways a program proposal. If members know how to
use video editing software and have access to
a camera or phone with video capabilities, they
Project Plan Make a list of tasks that your group will need to carry out. might decide to make a short film.
Assign individual group members to carry out each task. Determine how
Project Plan Remind groups to make sure
you will obtain or create multimedia items for your presentation. Use this
everyone is assigned a specific task as they
chart to organize your plans.
create their Project Plan. Check the Project Plan
TASK WHO QUESTIONS TO ANSWER to ensure that each group member bears a
responsibility for the group’s progress and has the
 STANDARDS
resources and support to fulfill that responsibility.
• Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions with diverse
Organize and Practice The bullet points in
partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and this section will help students/groups organize
issues, building on others’ ideas and their presentations and think through the
expressing their own clearly.
b. Follow rules for collegial essential ingredients of an effective presentation.
discussions, track progress toward Encourage groups to practice in front of mirrors
specific goals and deadlines, and
define individual roles as needed. or to film their rehearsals so they can see how
c. Pose questions that elicit their presentation flows.
elaboration and respond to others’
questions and comments with Present and Evaluate After each group
relevant observations and ideas
that bring the discussion back on presents, discuss how each presentation
Organize and Practice Organize your project plan by making a script
topic as needed. addressed the topic.
that includes speakers’ lines and indicates media cues. Then, practice d. Acknowledge new information
your presentation before you present it to your class. Use the following expressed by others and, when For more support, see Speaking and Listening:
warranted, modify their own views.
techniques: • Present claims and findings, Multimedia Presentation.
emphasizing salient points in a
• Record each speaker and then play the recording to ensure all are Evidence Log Support students in completing
speaking clearly and with adequate volume. pertinent descriptions, facts, details, their Evidence Log. This paced activity will
and examples; use appropriate eye
• Work on transitions between speakers and various media to ensure help prepare them for the Performance-Based
the presentation flows smoothly. pronunciation. Assessment at the end of the unit.
• Include multimedia components
• Time your presentation to ensure that it is paced appropriately. Slow
and visual displays in presentations
down when necessary so that your audience can understand what to clarify claims and findings and
you are saying. emphasize salient points.
Writing
Present and Evaluate Present your work to the class, and invite questions Conduct short research projects
when you are finished. Listen to the presentations of other groups, and ask to answer a question, drawing on
several sources and generating
questions if anything is unclear. Note presentation techniques and creative additional related, focused questions
ideas in other groups’ presentations that you found interesting. for further research and investigation.
Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks 69 Formative Assessment

If students struggle with creating a multimedia
LIT17_SE07_U01_B1_SG_app.indd 69 WriteNow Express and Reflect 4/13/16 4:38 PM
presentation, then have them find and study
examples of multimedia presentations online.
Description Prompt students to brainstorm Remind students that people learn in all kinds of For Reteach and Practice, see Speaking and
for ideas to help them get started with their ways, and that’s why they should aim to create
Listening: Multimedia Presentation (RP).
multimedia presentation. Ask students questions a project that everybody will have good reasons
such as: What will be the theme? What will be to enjoy.
the aim of the presentation? What resources will Selection Test
you use? Have students develop a one-page plan Administer the “Tutors Teach Seniors New
explaining their goals and objectives and the High-Tech Tricks” Selection Test, which is available
actions they will take to achieve them. in both print and digital formats online in
Assessments.
PLANNING SMALL- GROUP LEARNING • Mom & Me & Mom
from Mom & Me & Mom

Audio summaries
Audio summaries of the excerpt
Summary
from Mom & Me & Mom are In this excerpt from her memoir Mom & Me & Mom, a nervous thirteen-year-old Maya
available online in English Angelou travels to San Francisco with her grandmother. She has come to live with the
and Spanish in the Interactive mother she has never known. Maya has lived her whole life with her grandmother
Teacher’s Edition or Unit in rural Arkansas. Her mother loves jazz and looks like a movie star. Maya finds it
Resources. Assigning these impossible to call her “Mother,” and calls her “Lady” instead.
summaries prior to reading the
selection may help students When Maya’s brother, Bailey, arrives, he seems to forget that their mother abandoned
build additional background them. He greets her at the railroad station as if he were her long-lost son. Maya feels
knowledge and set a context for betrayed and alone, and wants to go back to Arkansas. In the car to her mother’s
their first read. house, however, a childish gesture of affection from Bailey seems to promise that life
in California might work out after all.
Insight
Reading this excerpt from Mom & Me & Mom will help students begin to reflect on the
complicated nature of relationships among different generations, and how the interplay
between multiple generations can ease tensions. It may be difficult to bridge the gap
between two close generations, but the space between more distant generations may
actually help.
Essential question:
generation learn from This excerpt from Mom & Me & Mom will help students answer the Essential
another? Question—What can one generation learn from another?—through its depiction
of the complex relationships between thirteen-year-old Maya Angelou, the
grandmother she calls “Momma,” and her mother. When Maya’s mother presses
Maya to give her a smile and then cries tears of happiness, young Maya learns
the power of being charitable—a lesson that carries on into her adult life. The
more subtle lesson that young Maya learns, though, is found in her grandmother’s
actions. Grandmother demonstrates acceptance of Vivian and her differences, thus
serving as a model for forgiveness, and a discouragement for Maya to act on her
resentment toward her mother.
Small-Group Learning
What new knowledge Small-Group Learning Performance Task In this Performance Task, students will
or skills can you learn present a personal narrative about their own experience or observation of a lesson
from someone of a between generations that is depicted in one of this Module’s selections. This
different generation? excerpt from Mom & Me & Mom gives students the choice of presenting the lesson
about being charitable that is handed down from Vivian to Maya, or the lessons of
Assessment
tolerance and acceptance that Maya’s grandmother teaches, leading by example.
In what situations can one Unit Performance-Based Assessment This selection provides students with an explicit
generation learn from example of a lesson shared between two generations, when Maya’s mother teaches
another? Maya the power of being charitable. It also provides more subtle insights, such as
what it looks like to accept human beings for who they are. Students may refer to
these examples in their personal narratives.

DIGITAL
LESSON RESOURCES
Making Meaning Language Development

Lesson First Read Concept Vocabulary
Instructional Standards RI.7.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend L.7.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and
literary nonfiction . . . multiple-meaning words and phrases . . .
L.7.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and L.7.4.b Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes
multiple-meaning words and phrases . . . and roots . . .
SL.7.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative L.7.4.d Verify preliminary determination of the meaning . . .
discussions . . .
L.7.1.a Explain the function of phrases and clauses . . .
RI.7.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support . . .
RI.7.3 Analyze the interactions between individuals, events,
and ideas . . .
STUDENT RESOURCES

Selection Audio Word Network
Unit Resources First-Read Guide: Nonfiction Evidence Log
TEACHER RESOURCES
Selection Resources
Audio Summaries: English and Spanish Concept Vocabulary and Word Study
Interactive Teacher’s Edition Annotation Highlights Conventions: Independent and Dependent Clauses
or Unit Resources
Spanish Translation
Text Questions

Analyze Craft and Structure: Characterization
Analyze Craft and Structure: Characterization (RP) Word Study: Latin Prefix super- (RP)
Interactive Teacher’s Edition Conventions: Independent and Dependent Clauses (RP)
or Unit Resources
Assessment
Available online in

personalize for learning small- group learning • from Mom & Me & Mom
Reading Support
Text Complexity
Text Complexity
Rubric: Tutors
Rubric:
Teach
fromSeniors
Mom &New
Me &
High-Tech
Mom Tricks
Lexile: 610
1010 Text
TextLength:
Length:1,825
668 words
words
Knowledge Demands Selection
Text reliesexplores
on practical
ideasknowledge
that may be and
common
is basedtoonsome
situation
readers
students
and unfamiliar
may be able
to others:
to relate
separation
to
1 2 3 4 5 (grandparents
from parents, divorce,
having trouble
difficulty
with
of reuniting
technology)
with unfamiliar family members.
Structure Selection
Text is organized
follows logically
narrativeand
structure
brokenthat
up is
with
chronological.
subheadingsDialogue
and quotations
is included
which
andmake
makes
it easy
it easier
to to
1 2 3 4 5 follow structure.
ideas.
Language Conventionality and Clarity Literal

Text contains
language
explicit,
is easy
literal
to understand,
language, familiar
mainly simple
vocabulary;
sentences
Somewith
sentences
conversational
are lengthy,
language.
but with
1 2 3 4 5 familiar syntax; Selection contains some idioms and figurative language.
Levels of Meaning/Purpose There are has

Selection multiple
explicitly
levels
stated
of meaning;
conceptsreader
with only
mustone infer
level
characters’
of meaning;
feelings
Somefrom
of the
actions.
supporting
Themedetails
is clear
1 2 3 4 5 are not
but conveyed
explicitly
withexplained
some subtlety.
(section on sensitivity training).
Decide and Plan

Provide English Learners with support for Provide students with strategic support Provide students who need to be challenged
knowledge demands and meaning as they to ensure that they can successfully read with ideas for how they can go beyond a
Knowledge Demands Before students Knowledge Demands Use the Text Analysis Ask students to describe
read the selection, review the background background information to review the some of the mixed feelings that Maya has
information. Ask questions to encourage characters and information necessary to on meeting her mother and what she feels
students to restate the background understand the excerpt. Ask students to when her brother arrives. Ask if they think
information. For example, Who is the story discuss the possible reactions a thirteen- her feelings will change after he squeezes
about? How old were they when their year-old might have to meeting his or her her hand.
parents divorced? How old were they when mother for the first time. Read and Discuss Suggest that students
they moved? Whom did they live with in Meaning/Purpose As students read, read more sections of the book, the entire
Arkansas? and in San Francisco? encourage them to consider the characters’ book, or other works by Maya Angelou.
Levels of Meaning Point out certain feelings that may be behind their actions. Have students write discussion questions for
phrases and guide students to describe If students have trouble, ask questions to their partners in order to start a discussion
their understanding of the plot and of the help them identify emotions. For example, in small groups about aspects of the book
feelings of the two characters. For example, refer to paragraph 49 and ask Why does or other selection.
against my will, I smiled (paragraph 17). Ask she refer to the mother and brother as new
What does against my will mean? Does she lovers? What is she feeling at that moment?
feel like smiling? After defining emotions, have students
reread that paragraph.
Teach
Read and Respond

Have the groups read the selection and complete the Making Meaning and Language Development
activities.

identify needs
• Use the Selection Resources listed on the Planning Pages for from Mom & Me & Mom to
help students continually improve their ability to master the standards.
Instructional Standards: from Mom & Me & Mom

Reading You may wish to administer the RI.3 Analyze the interactions Suggest that students choose
analyze and revise Analyze Craft and Structure: between individuals, events, another nonfiction selection
Interactions (RP) worksheet and ideas in a text. they have read in this or a
• Analyze student work for to help students connect previous unit and compare and
what happens between or contrast how two people (or
evidence of student learning. among the people and events groups of people) discussed in
• Identify whether or not discussed in a text and how the text respond to the same
students have met the those interactions affect the event. Challenge students to
whole text. explain how the interaction
expectations in the standards.
affects the meaning of the
• Identify implications for future complete text.
instruction. Language You may wish to administer L.4.b Use common, grade- Have students work in groups
the Word Study: Latin Prefix appropriate Greek or Latin and use a print or online
super- (RP) worksheet to affixes and roots as clues to the dictionary to list other words
help students understand that meaning of a word. that include the Latin prefix
knowing the meaning of the super-. Group members can
L.1 Demonstrate command of
Latin prefix super- contributes take turns saying the meaning
the conventions of standard
to the overall meaning of of one of the listed words and
English grammar and usage
a word, as in the word explaining how the meaning of
when writing or speaking.
supervision. the Latin prefix contributes to
the meaning of the full word.
You may wish to administer the
teach Conventions: Clauses (RP) Have students choose a
worksheet to help students paragraph of the selection and
Implement the planned lesson, understand the differences identify both the dependent
and gather evidence of student between a dependent and an and independent clauses used
learning. independent clause. by the author.

Comparing Text to Media

In this lesson, you will read an excerpt from
Jump Start Maya Angelou’s memoir Mom & Me & Mom.

Then, you will watch a video in which Angelou
from MOM & ME & MOM LEARNING TO LOVE MY
discusses her relationship with her mother. The
First Read What makes a family? How many MOTHER
work your group does on this selection will prepare
different kinds of families do you know? you to compare it with the video.
Engaging students in a discussion about
different kinds of families sets the context
for reading the excerpt from Mom & Me &
Mom. As students share their thoughts, have
About the Author
from Mom & Me & Mom
them focus on factors that might contribute to Concept Vocabulary
different family structures. As you perform your first read of the excerpt from Mom & Me & Mom,
you will encounter these words.
supervision charitable philanthropist
from Mom & Me & Mom Born Marguerite Johnson,

Base Words Use your knowledge of the “inside,” or base, word along
Maya Angelou (1928–
How would a thirteen year-old feel about meeting 2014) struggled with racism,
with context to determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word. Here is an
her mother for the first time? What would her poverty, and ill treatment example of how to apply the strategy.
mother say to her? Modeling questions such as early in her life. Across
Unfamiliar Word artisan
these will help students connect to the excerpt her long career she was
a dancer, actress, singer, Familiar “Inside” Word art, which means “something made through
from Mom & Me & Mom and to the Small-Group
teacher, and writer. Angelou skill and creativity.”
Performance Task assignment. Selection audio
became one of the best- Context The beautiful ceramic jug was created by an artisan in the
and print capability for the selection are available known African American town next to ours.
in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition. authors in the world, and
Conclusion The jug was a beautiful ceramic piece made by someone.
she was an activist for
Artisan must mean “someone who creates a type of art.”
Concept Vocabulary women and for the African
American community. Apply your knowledge of base words and other vocabulary strategies to
Discuss how identifying base words can help
determine the meanings of unfamiliar words you encounter during your
clarify the meaning of the concept vocabulary
first read.
words. Encourage groups to think of how they
could apply this strategy to other unfamiliar First Read NONFICTION
words in the text. Apply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an

opportunity to complete a close read after your first read.
First Read
Have students perform the steps of the first read
Notice the general ideas of ANNotAte by marking
independently: the text. What is it about? vocabulary and key passages
 STANDARDS
NOTICE: Students should keep track of the words Reading Informational Text Who is involved? you want to revisit.
spoken and actions taken by each of the four comprehend literary nonfiction in
main individuals. the grades 6–8 text complexity band
ANNOTATE: If students have trouble following a needed at the high end of the range.
section of the story, they should mark it to revisit. Language
coNNect ideas within RespoNd by completing
CONNECT: Connecting events in the text to times of unknown and multiple-meaning the selection to other the Comprehension Check and
words and phrases based on grade 7 knowledge and other by writing a brief summary of
when they felt frightened or apprehensive will reading and content, choosing selections you have read. the selection.
help students understand Maya’s actions. flexibly from a range of strategies.
RESPOND: Students will complete the 70 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS

Comprehension Check and write a brief summary
of the selection.
Point out to students that while they will always VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
LIT17_SE07_U01_B2C_SG.indd 70 16-04-19 8:56 AM
first read, the other steps will probably happen Concept Vocabulary Reinforcement To increase familiarity with
the concept vocabulary, ask students to use each of the words in a
sentence. Encourage students to include context clues in their own
copies of the First-Read Guide: Nonfiction for sentences to demonstrate their knowledge of the word. If students
students to use. are still struggling with the words, encourage them to identify the
base word in each term, look up the base word in the dictionary, and
then use the definition to come up with the meaning of the concept
vocabulary word.
MEMOIR
Concept Vocabulary
SUPERVISION If groups are struggling to define
the word supervision in paragraph 1, point out
that the base word, vision, has to do with looking
or seeing. Encourage students to use their
knowledge of this “inside word” to determine
the meaning of supervision. Context clues will
also help students understand the word. Students
should then be able to infer that supervision
means “overseeing something or watching over
someone.” Since Maya is a child, she needs an
from Mom & Me adult to look after her.

Possible response: Supervision means “looking
& Mom
after someone or something.”
Maya Angelou
BACKGROUND
When Maya Angelou was 3 years old and her brother Bailey was 5, her
parents divorced and sent the children off to live with their grandmother
in Stamps, Arkansas. When Maya was 13, she and Bailey were sent
back to San Francisco to live with their mother, Vivian Baxter.
Chapter 3 NOTES
M y grandmother made arrangements with two Pullman

car1 porters and a dining car waiter for tickets for herself,
Mark base words or indicate
my brother, and me. She said she and I would go to California another strategy you used that
first and Bailey would follow a month later. She said she didn’t helped you determine meaning.
want to leave me without adult supervision, because I was a supervision
thirteen-year-old girl. Bailey would be safe with Uncle Willie. (soo pehr VIH zhun) n.
Bailey thought he was looking after Uncle Willie, but the truth MEANING:
was, Uncle Willie was looking after him.

2 By the time the train reached California, I had become too
frightened to accept the idea that I was going to meet my mother
at last.
3 My grandmother took my hands. “Sister, there is nothing to be
scared for. She is your mother, that’s all. We are not surprising her.
1. Pullman car n. type of railroad sleeping car built by the Pullman Company.
from Mom & Me & Mom 71
LIT22_SE07_U01_B2C_SG.indd 71 FACILITATING SMALL-GROUP CLOSE READING 18/03/21 12:46 PM
CLOSE READ: Memoir As groups perform the • Encourage students to look for details that
close read, circulate and offer support as needed. tell them about the writer’s beliefs and
• Remind students that a memoir is a perspective.
narrative that expresses the author’s • Challenge students to find information
feelings about events in his or her life. that helps them understand why the writer
chose to focus on a specific incident or idea.
Facilitating
When she received my letter explaining how Junior was growing
NOTES up, she invited us to come to California.”
Closer look 4 Grandmother rocked me in her arms and hummed. I calmed
down. When we descended the train steps, I looked for someone
Analyze Characters who could be my mother. When I heard my grandmother’s voice
Circulate among groups as students conduct call out, I followed the voice and I knew she had made a mistake,
their close read. Suggest that groups close but the pretty little woman with red lips and high heels came
read paragraph 9. Encourage them to talk running to my grandmother.
about the annotations that they mark. If 5 “Mother Annie! Mother Annie!”
needed, provide the following support. 6 Grandmother opened her arms and embraced the woman. When
Momma’s arms fell, the woman asked, “Where is my baby?”
Annotate: Have students mark details in 7 She looked around and saw me. I wanted to sink into the
the paragraph that contrast the different ways ground. I wasn’t pretty or even cute. That woman who looked like
that the two generations of women in Maya’s a movie star deserved a better-looking daughter than me. I knew
life express affection, or work with small it and was sure she would know it as soon as she saw me.
groups to have students participate while you 8 “Maya, Marguerite, my baby.” Suddenly I was wrapped in her
highlight them together. arms and in her perfume. She pushed away and looked at me.
Question: Guide students to consider what “Oh baby, you’re beautiful and so tall. You look like your daddy
these details might tell them. Ask what a and me. I’m so glad to see you.”
reader can infer from what was annotated, 9 She kissed me. I had not received one kiss in all the years in
and accept student responses. Arkansas. Often my grandmother would call me and show me
Possible response: Her grandmother has never off to her visitors. “This is my grandbaby.” She would stroke me
kissed her and does not show much affection and smile. That was the closest I had come to being kissed. Now
but is proud of her, while her mother is very Vivian Baxter was kissing my cheeks and my lips and my hands.
open about showing affection. Since I didn’t know what to do, I did nothing.
10 Her home, which was a boardinghouse,2 was filled with heavy
Conclude: Help students to formulate and very uncomfortable furniture. She showed me a room and
conclusions about the importance of these said it was mine. I told her I wanted to sleep with Momma. Vivian
details in the text. Ask students why the said, “I suppose you slept with your grandmother in Stamps, but
author might have included these details. she will be going home soon and you need to get used to sleeping
Possible response: Vivian seems to be a free in your own room.”
spirit. Grandmother is much more reserved. It 11 My grandmother stayed in California, watching me and
may be that Vivian is demonstrating affection everything that happened around me. And when she decided that

to stop Maya from remembering that she
everything was all right, she was happy. I was not. She began to
abandoned her. It may be that the grandmother
talk about going home, and wondering aloud how her crippled
has been careful not to show affection because
she does not want to alienate Maya’s affection son was getting along. I was afraid to let her leave me, but she
from her mother. The author includes these said, “You are with your mother now and your brother will be
details to show Maya’s confusion and to coming soon. Trust me, but more than that trust the Lord. He will
demonstrate that different people have different look after you.”
ways of showing their love and different reasons 12 Grandmother smiled when my mother played jazz and blues
for showing, or not showing, affection. very loudly on her record player. Sometimes she would dance just
Remind students that a good author can because she felt like it, alone, by herself, in the middle of the floor.
reveal subtleties and conflict in character While Grandmother accepted behavior so different, I just couldn’t
through sympathetic descriptions of their get used to it.
behavior toward family members.
2. boardinghouse n. house where people rent one or more rooms for either short or long
periods of time.
LIT17_SE07_U01_B2C_SG.indd 72 Personalize for Learning 15-11-24 9:51 AM

Figurative Language English language learners may struggle with
the figurative language often present in everyday speech. Ask
students to look at paragraph 8. The narrator uses “wrapped in”
for both her mother’s arms and her mother’s perfume. The first use
is conventional and suggests that she was smothered rather than
simply held. The second use smartly reinforces that suggestion and
implies that the perfume was very strong.
13 My mother watched me without saying much for about two
NOTES
weeks. Then we had what was to become familiar as “a sit-down Concept Vocabulary
talk-to.”
14 She said, “Maya, you disapprove of me because I am not like Charitable If groups are having trouble
your grandmother. That’s true. I am not. But I am your mother defining the word charitable, explain that one
and I am working some part of my anatomy3 off to pay for this of the meanings of the base word, charity, is
roof over your head. When you go to school, the teacher will smile “affection or good will toward others.” Remind
at you and you will smile back. Students you don’t even know students that the suffix –able means “capable
will smile and you will smile. But on the other hand, I am your of.” Then ask students to define the word.
mother. If you can force one smile on your face for strangers, do it Possible response: Charitable must mean “capable
Mark base words or indicate of showing affection or good will to others.”
for me. I promise you I will appreciate it.” another strategy you used that
15 She put her hand on my cheek and smiled. “Come on, baby, helped you determine meaning. Philanthropist If groups are having trouble
smile for Mother. Come on. Be charitable.” charitable (CHAIR ih tuh defining the word philanthropist, it may be
She made a funny face and against my will, I smiled. She kissed buhl) adj.
16
because it has two roots: phil, which means
me on my lips and started to cry. “That’s the first time I have seen MEANING:
“having a strong affinity or love for,” and
you smile. It is a beautiful smile. Mother’s beautiful daughter can anthrop, which means “human.” Explain the two
smile.” roots, then ask students to define the word.
17 I was not used to being called beautiful.
18 That day, I learned that I could be a giver simply by bringing a Possible response: A philanthropist is “someone
who has a strong affinity or love for humanity.” The
smile to another person. The ensuing4 years have taught me that a
word is most often used for someone who donates
kind word or a vote of support can be a charitable gift. I can move large sums of money to charities.
over and make another place for another to sit. I can turn my
music up if it pleases, or down if it is annoying.
19 I may never be known as a philanthropist, but I certainly want philanthropist
to be known as charitable. (fih LAN thruh pihst) n.
MEANING:
* * *
20 I was beginning to appreciate her. I liked to hear her laugh

because I noticed that she never laughed at anyone. After a few
weeks it became clear that I was not using any title when I spoke
to her. In fact, I rarely started conversations. Most often, I simply
responded when I was spoken to.
2! She asked me into her room. She sat on her bed and didn’t
invite me to join her.
22 “Maya, I am your mother. Despite the fact that I left you for
years, I am your mother. You know that, don’t you?”
23 I said, “Yes, ma’am.” I had been answering her briefly with a
few words since my arrival in California.
24 “You don’t have to say ‘ma’am’ to me. You’re not in
Arkansas.”
25 “No, ma’am. I mean no.”
26 “You don’t want to call me ‘Mother,’ do you?”
27 I remained silent.
3. anatomy (uh NAT uh mee) n. the structure of the body.

4. ensuing adj. following.
LIT17_SE07_U01_B2C_SG.indd 73 VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT 15/04/16 9:31 AM
Word Forms Explain that the words charitable (paragraph 15) and philanthropist (paragraph 19)
often appear in other, related forms.
charitably adverb add “y” to express relationship of manner, degree, etc.

philanthropic adjective add suffix -ic to mean “related to”
Model sentences using these other forms of the concept vocabulary words.
After she learned of my dire situation, she treated me more charitably.
The wealthy Smith family wanted to start a philanthropic foundation.
Facilitating
28 “You have to call me something. We can’t go through life
NOTES without you addressing me. What would you like to call me?”
Closer look 29 I had been thinking of that since I first saw her. I said, “Lady.”
30 “What?”
Infer Author’s Attitude 31 “Lady.”
Circulate among groups as students conduct 32 “Why?”
their close read. Suggest that groups close 33 “Because you are beautiful, and you don’t look like a mother.”
read paragraphs 42 and 43. Encourage them 34 “Is Lady a person you like?”
to talk about the annotations that they mark. 35 I didn’t answer.
If needed, provide the following support. 36 “Is Lady a person you might learn to like?”
37 She waited as I thought about it.
Annotate: Have students mark details 38 I said, “Yes.”
in the paragraphs that show the author’s 39 “Well, that’s it. I am Lady, and still your mother.”
attitude to the past as she remembers 40 “Yes, ma’am. I mean yes.”
and reports this conversation with her 41 “At the right time I will introduce my new name.”
grandmother, or work with small groups to 42 She left me, turned up the player, and sang loudly with the music.
have students participate while you highlight The next day I realized she must have spoken to my grandmother.
them together. 43 Grandmother came into my bedroom. “Sister, she is your
mother and she does care for you.”
Question: Guide students to consider what
44 I said, “I’ll wait until Bailey gets here. He will know what to do,
and whether we should call her Lady.”
The author reports that as a child she inferred
from her grandmother’s wish to discuss this
topic that her mother must have spoken to
her. The author reports the conversation as
direct speech, without commenting on the
way she felt about it at the time or how she
feels about it now.
Possible response: Grandmother does not
approve because she feels that Vivian loves Maya
and deserves respect as her mother.

Possible response: The author wants her
memory to speak for itself, without comment.
She reports the details of the conversation in
direct speech to preserve it as it happened and
to pass it on precisely to the reader. She does
not comment, for instance, on the fact that
her grandmother addresses her as “sister.” By
including these details, the author allows the
characters’ voices to be heard by the reader,
without being prejudged.
Remind students that, particularly in a 74 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS
memoir, an author’s attitude to the truth
can appear as an absence of the kind of
commentary and description that we usually
associate with attitude. In this memoir, the Digital perspectives
narrator is a younger version of the author.

Enriching the Text To help students understand You might want to note that segregation on
The ways the author grew and changed
one way people traveled in past generations, interstate transportation was not ended until
sometimes contribute to the theme of the show a film about the revival of the Pullman 1956 and that the state of Arkansas did not
memoir. Sleeping Car Company. This can be found in the formally repeal the law that required segregated
Media section of the Pullman Rail Journeys site. railway cars until 1973.
Encourage students to consider whether the
video gives an accurate portrayal of Maya’s 1941
trip from Arkansas to California, described in
paragraphs 1–4.
Chapter 4 NOTES
45
M other, Grandmother, and I waited at the railway station.

Bailey descended from the train and saw me first. The smile
that took over his face made me forget all the discomfort I had felt
since coming to California.
46 His eyes found Grandmother and his smile changed to a grin,
and he waved to her. Then he saw Mother and his response
broke my heart. Suddenly he was a lost little boy who had been
found at last. He saw his mother, his home, and then all his lonely
birthdays were gone. His nights when scary things made noise
under the bed were forgotten. He went to her as if hypnotized.
She opened her arms and she clasped him into her embrace. I felt
as if I had stopped breathing. My brother was gone, and he would
never come back.
47 He had forgotten everything, but I remembered how we felt
on the few occasions when she sent us toys. I poked the eyes out
of each doll, and Bailey took huge rocks and smashed to bits the
trucks or trains that came wrapped up in fancy paper.
48 Grandmother put her arm around me and we walked ahead
of the others back to the car. She opened the door and sat in the
backseat. She looked at me and patted the seat beside her. We left
the front seat for the new lovers.
49 The plan was that Grandmother would return to Arkansas two
days after Bailey arrived. Before Lady and Bailey Jr. reached the car I
said to Grandmother, “I want to go back home with you, Momma.”
50 She asked, “Why?”
51 I said, “I don’t want to think of you on that train all alone. You
will need me.”
52 “When did you make that decision?” I didn’t want to answer.
53 She said, “When you saw the reunion of your brother and his
mother?” That she should have such understanding, being an old
woman and country, too: I thought it was amazing. It was just
as well that I had no answer, because Bailey and his mother had
already reached the car.
54 Vivian said to Grandmother, “Mother Annie, I didn’t look for
you two. I knew you would go to the car.” Bailey didn’t turn to
look at me. His eyes were glued to his mother’s face. “One thing
about you that cannot be denied, you are a true sensible woman.”
55 Grandmother said, “Thank you, Vivian. Junior?”
56 She had to call twice to get his attention, “Junior, how was the
train? Did somebody make food for your trip? How did you leave
Willie?”
57 Suddenly he remembered there was someone else in the world.
He grinned for Grandmother. “Yes, ma’am, but none of them can
cook like you.”
Facilitating
58 He turned to me and asked, “What’s happening, My? Has
Comprehension Check NOTES California got your tongue? You haven’t said a word since I got in
the car.”
59 I made my voice as cold as possible. I said, “You haven’t given
Possible responses:
me a chance.”
1. Maya was frightened by the idea of meeting her 60 In a second he said, “What’s the matter, My?”
mother, whom she had not seen in years. 61 I had hurt him and I was glad. I said, “I may go back to Stamps
2. Maya did not think of herself as “pretty or even with Momma.” I wanted to break his heart.
cute,” so she did not expect her mother to look 62 “No, ma’am, you will not.” My grandmother’s voice was
like a movie star, so “beautiful and tall.” unusually hard.
3. Maya learns that being kind and charitable brings 63 My mother asked, “Why would you leave now? You said all
joy to both the giver and the receiver. you were waiting on was your brother. Well, here he is.” She
4. Summaries will vary; however, students should started the car and pulled out into traffic.
include the following points in their summary: 64 Bailey turned back to her. He added, “Yep, I’m in California.”
• Maya was going to live with her mother, who 65 Grandmother held my hand and patted it. I bit the inside of my
she had not seen in years. mouth to keep from crying.
• Maya struggled with how to feel about and 66 No one spoke until we reached our house. Bailey dropped his
treat her mother. hand over the back of the front seat. When he wiggled his fingers,
I grabbed them. He squeezed my fingers and let them go and
drew his hand back to the front seat. The exchange did not escape
Grandmother’s notice, but she said nothing. ❧
* * *
Comprehension Check
Complete the following items after you finish your first read. Review and clarify
details with your group.
1. What was Angelou frightened of at the beginning of the story?

2. Why did Angelou think her grandmother had been mistaken in identifying the
woman on the train platform as her mother?
3. What lesson does Angelou learn from her mother when she finally smiles for her?
4. Notebook Write a summary of the excerpt from Mom & Me & Mom to confirm
your understanding of the memoir.
WriteNow Express and Reflect

Description After being apart for so long, initially get along but later became friends with.
Maya and her mother have gotten off to a rocky Students should describe some differences in
start, to say the least. Have students write a brief their personalities and reflect on what keeps
essay about someone with whom they did not them close even though they don’t always agree.
maKIng meanIng
Close Read the text

With your group, revisit sections of the text you marked
during your first read. annotate details that you notice.
Jump Start
What questions do you have? What can you conclude? Close Read Ask groups to consider the
from MOM & ME & MOM following prompt: What are some of the benefits
and drawbacks when three or more generations
analyze the text to support your answers. live together in the same home? As students
notebook Complete the activities. discuss in their groups, ask them to consider
some of the conditions that would be helpful for
1. Review and Clarify With your group, reread paragraphs 45–48 of
GROUP DISCUSSION different generations to live happily together.
the excerpt. How does Angelou describe her brother Bailey’s reunion
Be sure to identify specific
with their mother? What was Angelou’s response to seeing their events or passages so your
reunion? Why might she have responded this way? classmates can follow your
thinking. Use precise words Close Read the Text
2. Present and discuss Now, work with your group to share passages
and specific details to If needed, model close reading by using the
from the memoir that you found especially important. Take turns express your thoughts.
presenting your passages. Discuss what you noticed in the text, what Annotation Highlights in the Interactive Teacher’s
questions you asked, and what conclusions you reached. Edition. Remind groups to use Accountable Talk
in their discussions and to support one another as
3. essential Question: What can one generation learn from they complete the close read.
another? What has this excerpt taught you about the ways in which
people of different generations can learn from each other?
Analyze the Text
Possible responses:
 WoRd netWoRK 1. She describes him going to their mother “as
language development if hypnotized” (paragraph 46). Angelou feels
Identify words from the
memoir that relate to betrayed by Bailey’s behavior toward their mother
Concept vocabulary generations. Add these because they both experienced her neglect.
words to your Word Seeing her brother and mother act so lovingly
charitable philanthropist supervision toward each other makes Angelou feel even more
Network.
alone.
Why these Words? The three concept words from the text are related.
2. Responses will vary. Remind students to explain
With your group, determine what the words have in common. Write your why they chose each passage they presented.
ideas and add another word that fits the category.  STANDARDS
3. Responses will vary by group.
Practice Engage effectively in a range of
notebook Confirm your understanding of the concept vocabulary

collaborative discussions (one-on-
one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
Concept Vocabulary
words from the text by using them in sentences. Be sure to use context diverse partners on grade 7 topics,
texts, and issues, building on others’ Why These Words?
clues that signal the meaning of the words. ideas and expressing their own
clearly.
Possible response: Each word involves someone
Language giving to fill the need of someone else. Another
Word Study Determine or clarify the meaning word that fits the category is volunteer.
of unknown and multiple-meaning
latin Prefix: super- The Latin prefix super- means “above,” “over,” or words and phrases based on grade Practice
“beyond.” Angelou’s grandmother did not want Maya to leave without 7 reading and content, choosing
flexibly from a range of strategies. Possible responses:
adult supervision; she wanted an adult to be watching over Maya. Using
your knowledge of the prefix super-, determine the meanings of the
b. Use common, grade-appropriate Emma took a cooking class, but calling her a chef
Greek or Latin affixes and roots as
following words: superhuman, superstructure, supersonic. Then, use a clues to the meaning of a word. would be charitable.
d. Verify the preliminary
dictionary to find the precise meaning of each word. Being a philanthropist is the opposite of being
determination of the meaning of a
word or phrase. stingy.
The children needed supervision in the swimming
pool so that they would not drown.
Word Network
Possible words: grandmother, mother, daddy,
LIT17_SE07_U01_B2C_SG_app.indd 77 Formative Assessment and think about what is similar about the4/13/16 4:41 PM grandbaby
sentences.
Analyze the Text Word Study
If students struggle to close read the text, then Word Study Possible responses:
provide the from Mom & Me & Mom: Text If students fail to identify other words, then Superhuman means “beyond human ability.”
Questions available online in the Interactive suggest that they refer to a dictionary to browse Superstructure means “the part of a building
Teacher’s Edition or Unit Resources. Answers and words that have the prefix super-. For Reteach above its base.” Supersonic refers to speed
DOK levels are also available. and Practice, See Word Study: Latin Prefix beyond the speed of sound. For more support,
super- (RP). see Concept Vocabulary and Word Study.
Concept Vocabulary
If students struggle to identify the concept,
then have them use each word in a sentence

Analyze Craft and Structure narrative nonfiction: Characterization Authors of nonfiction use
descriptions and details to help a reader understand the people about
Narrative Nonfiction: Characterization Discuss
whom they are writing. These descriptions help reveal character traits,
with students the elements of a nonfiction the qualities that make people unique. For example, a person may have
narrative, or storytelling based on true events. from MOM & ME & MOM
the character traits of intelligence and friendliness.
Though artfully written, the story must be true
in order to be classified as nonfiction. Since they Characterization is the process that writers use to develop their
are often autobiographical, nonfiction narratives CLOSE READING
descriptions of people. For instance, in describing a person, a writer
When analyzing
are usually written as first-person narratives; that might focus on one type of character trait early in a piece of writing and
characterization, pay
is, the author is telling his or her own story as attention to the words the
switch to another character trait later in the piece to further develop the
a personal essay, a diary, or, in Maya Angelou’s portrayal. There are two types of characterization:
author uses to describe how
case, a memoir. Have students consider how the characters speak.
• direct characterization: The writer directly describes a person’s
this influences the portrayal of characters.
 STANDARDS character traits.
Note that authors reveal information about Reading Informational Text • indirect characterization: The writer reveals a person’s character
characters through the words and actions that • Cite several pieces of textual
evidence to support analysis of traits through the person’s own words and actions and from the
they choose to include, and that readers’ ideas what the text says explicitly as words and actions of other people. Readers must make inferences,
about characters may change as they continue to well as inferences drawn from or educated guesses, to determine character traits from indirect
read. For more support, see Analyze Craft and the text.
• Analyze the interactions characterization.
Structure: Characterization. between individuals, events,
and ideas in a text.
Possible responses: Cite textual evidenCe
a. I wanted to sink into the ground. I wasn’t
pretty or even cute. That woman who looked Use the chart to analyze indirect characterization in Mom & Me & Mom. First,
like a movie star deserved a better-looking write down some of the person’s words and actions that are revealed in the text.
daughter than me. I knew it and was sure she Then, make an inference about a character trait of the person, based on these
would know it as soon as she saw me. words and actions. The first row has been done for you.
b. insecure
c. “Maya, Marguerite, my baby.” Suddenly I was WORDS AND ACTIONS INFERENCE ABOUT
PERSON
wrapped in her arms and in her perfume. She IN TEXT CHARACTER TRAIT
pushed away and looked at me.
Grandmother My grandmother took my nurturing
“Oh baby, you’re beautiful and so tall. You hands. “Sister, there is nothing
look like your daddy and me. I’m so glad to see

to be scared for. She is your
you.” mother, that’s all. We are not
surprising her.” (paragraph 3)
d. affectionate
Maya a. See possible responses in b.
Teacher’s Edition.
Analyze Craft and Structure Mother c. d.
If students are unable to identify key character

traits for Maya, her mother, and her grandmother,
then have them reread paragraphs 1–9, and
point out the details that reveal character. For
Reteach and Practice, see Analyze Craft and
Structure: Characterization (RP). 78 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS

LIT17_SE07_U01_B2C_SG_app.indd 78 16-04-19 9:04 AM
Description People of different generations often express themselves differently, and we usually
think of the younger generation as being less inhibited. This was not the case with Maya and her
mother, however. Have students write a short paper that describes how they express themselves
differently than people of older generations do. Suggest that students focus on patterns of speech,
body language, or even style. Then have them discuss why those differences might exist.
Language DeveLopment
Independent and Dependent Clauses A clause is a group of
Independent and Dependent Clauses Discuss
words that has both a subject and a verb. An independent clause
has a subject and a verb, and it can stand by itself as a sentence. A
the definitions of independent and dependent
dependent, or subordinate, clause has a subject and a verb, but it clauses with students. As you review the examples
cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. with students, remind them of the following terms:
subject: The subject of a sentence or clause
Type of Clause examples is the person, place, or thing that is doing
something or being something.
Independent • My grandmother took my hands
Clause verb: Verbs express physical and mental
• Grandmother rocked me in her arms and hummed
action or a state of being. Every sentence
• She asked me into her room must have a verb.
• Mother, Grandmother, and I waited at the railway
station
For more support, see Conventions:
Independent and Dependent Clauses.
Dependent Clause • Because I was a thirteen-year-old girl Read It
• Since I didn’t know what to do Make it Interactive
• While Grandmother accepted behavior so different Bring two paper bags to class. On the front of each
• When he wiggled his fingers bag, use a marker to write a dependent clause.
Next, pass out two slips of blank paper to each
student. Have students write a phrase that will
Read It complete each of the dependent clauses on
1. Identify each group of words as an independent clause or a the paper bags, forming sentences. Then, have
dependent clause. students deposit their slips in the appropriate bags.
a. I had not received one kiss in all the years in Arkansas Finally, have students take turns drawing slips
from the bags and reading them aloud—with the
dependent clause written on the bag—to form
b. That woman who looked like a movie star  evIDenCe Log complete sentences.
1. a. independent; b. dependent; c. independent;
c. I was beginning to appreciate her new selection, go to your
d. dependent
Evidence Log and record
what you learned from the 2. independent – I liked to hear her laugh:
d. Before Lady and Bailey Jr. reached the car excerpt from Mom & Me dependent – because I noticed that she never
& Mom. laughed at anyone
2. Reread paragraph 20 of Mom & Me & Mom. Mark and then label Write It
one example of an independent clause and one example of a Paragraphs will vary, but make sure students
dependent clause. identify independent and dependent clauses
correctly.
Write It  sTaNDaRDs Evidence Log Support students in completing
Language
Notebook Write a brief paragraph that describes how Maya’s Demonstrate command of the
their evidence log. This paced activity will
interactions with her mother changed before Bailey’s arrival. Include two conventions of standard English help prepare them for the Performance-Based
grammar and usage when writing or
independent clauses and two dependent clauses in your writing. Then speaking.
Assessment at the end of the unit.
label these types of clauses in your finished paragraph. a. Explain the function of phrases
and clauses in general and their
function in specific sentences.
from Mom & Me & Mom 79 Conventions
• If students cannot identify independent clauses,
then remind them that an independent clause
can stand alone as a sentence.
LIT17_SE07_U01_B2C_SG_app.indd Page 79 29/10/16 1:07 AM f-0223 Personalize for Learning /140/PE02830/MYPERSPECTIVES_ENGLISH_LANGUAGE_ARTS_SE_and_TE/NA/SE/2017/G1/XXXXXXX ... • If students cannot identify an independent or a
dependent clause, then remind them that each

English Language Support needs a subject and a verb.
Independent and Dependent Clauses Ask Ask students to write a brief opinion on how
pairs of students to write complete sentences that they think Maya and her brother will fare once For Reteach and Practice, see Conventions:
describe the grandmother in the story. Remind they settle in to live with their mother again. Independent and Dependent Clauses (RP).
students that sentences require a subject and a Encourage students to use nouns and pronouns as Selection Test
verb. Emerging their subjects and action words, as well as forms
Administer the “from Mom & Me & Mom (with
Ask students to write three complete sentences of to be for their verbs. Bridging
Learning to Love My Mother)” Selection Test,
that describe how Maya feels about her brother, An expanded English Language Support Lesson which is available in both print and digital formats
Bailey, in the story. Ask students to use a on Independent and Dependent Clauses is available
combination of nouns and pronouns for their online in Assessments.
in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition.
subjects. Expanding
PLANNING SMALL- GROUP LEARNING • Learning to Love My Mother
Learning to Love My Mother

Audio summaries of “Learning
to Love My Mother” are In Michael Maher’s BBC TV interview with Maya Angelou, the writer
available online in both English talks about her relationship with her mother. After her parents’
and Spanish in the Interactive divorce, Angelou found herself abandoned by her mother at the
Teacher’s Edition or Unit age of three. She didn’t see her mother again until she went to
Resources. Assigning these live with her in San Francisco ten years later. Their relationship had
summaries prior to reviewing many problems, but Angelou was able to forgive her mother for
the selection may help students the simple reason that her mother loved her. Angelou says that her
relationship with her mother taught her that love heals. Angelou
reads an excerpt from her book, Mom & Me & Mom, and Maher
their first review.
asks her what lessons she hopes readers will learn. Angelou’s
answer demonstrates great kindness and a profound insight into the
essential bond between mothers and daughters.
Insight
Watching “Learning to Love My Mother” will help students reflect on
the complex relationships between people of different generations
and the transforming power of love to simplify and heal those
relationships.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
generation learn from “Learning to Love My Mother” provides an autobiographical connection
another? to the Essential Question, What can one generation learn from
another? Maya Angelou learns from her relationship with her mother
that love heals. The wounds that her mother inflicted on Angelou
are healed by the simple fact of her mother’s love. The patience that
Angelou preaches, though, seems to have been taught to her by her
grandmother, whom Angelou describes as patient and kind.
Small-Group LEARNING
What new knowledge Small-Group Learning Performance Task In this Performance Task,
or skills can you learn students will present a multimedia presentation about the lessons found
from someone of a in the Small-Group Learning selections in this unit. Students may look to
different generation? “Learning to Love My Mother” as a selection that teaches that love has
the power to heal, even when the wounds are inflicted by the person
Assessment
one loves.
In what situations can one Unit Performance-Based Assessment This selection provides students
generation learn from with the lesson that love heals, which Maya Angelou learns from her
another? mother. In addition, Angelou seems to be sharing a lesson she may have
learned from her grandmother—to be patient with children.

DIGITAL
LESSON RESOURCES
Making Meaning Effective Expression

Lesson First Review Language Development Writing to Compare
Close Review Media Vocabulary
Analyze the Media
Instructional Standards RI.7.10 By the end of the year, read L.7.6 Acquire and use accurately RI.7.7 Compare and contrast a text...
and comprehend literary nonfiction . . . grade-appropriate general W.7.9.b Apply grade 7 Reading
academic and domain-specific standards . . .
L.7.6 Acquire and use accurately
words . . .
grade-appropriate general academic W.7.2 Write informative/explanatory
and domain-specific words . . . texts . . .
W.7.2.a Introduce a topic . . .
SL.7.2 Analyze the main ideas and
supporting details presented in diverse W.7.2.b Develop the topic . . .
media . . . W.7.2.c Use appropriate transitions . . .
W.7.6 Use technology . . .
STUDENT RESOURCES
Selection Video Evidence Log
Unit Resources First-Review Guide: Media-Video
Close-Review Guide: Media-Video
TEACHER RESOURCES
A Media Vocabulary riting to Compare: Comparison-and-
W
Available online in the Spanish Contrast Essay
Interactive Teacher’s Edition
or Unit Resources Spanish Translation
Media Questions
First Review Extension Questions
Media Complexity Rubric: Learning to Love My Mother

Format/Length: video of 3 min, 8 sec
Knowledge Demands To understand video, students will need background information, as none is given in the
1 2 3 4 5 video. Reference is made to Maya Angelou’s book (Mom & Me & Mom) that students will
read in this unit.
Structure Most of the video shows Angelou and the interviewer speaking. Only some contextual visual
1 2 3 4 5 support is given: photos (Angelou, her mother, cover of book) and clips of events (President
Obama giving award).
Language Conventionality and Clarity Language is generally conversational and easy to understand. Speech may be hard to
1 2 3 4 5 understand in some places due to accents and lack of vocal clarity of speakers.
Levels of Meaning/Purpose Meaning and purpose is explicitly stated, but understanding meaning depends on
1 2 3 4 5 understanding content that may be unfamiliar to many students.

Comparing Text to Media

The video interview you will watch features
Jump Start from MOM & ME & MOM

Maya Angelou, the author of Mom & Me &
Mom, describing some of the experiences she
LEARNING TO LOVE
wrote about in her memoir. While watching this
FIRST REVIEW Is love for one’s mother or MY MOTHER
video, think about ways in which both written
grandmother automatic?
text and spoken words can tell a story.
Engage students in a discussion about the
bonds, and sometimes the divide, between
generations. About the Interviewer
Michael Maher has produced
Learning to Love My Mother
and filmed numerous videos,
including many for BBC News
Media Vocabulary
Learning to Love Magazine. In most of his The following words or concepts will be useful to you as you analyze,
work—even when he is the discuss, and write about video interviews.
My Mother interviewer—he is not very
visible, and the focus of the
Does the title of this selection seem strange? video doesn’t stray from the set: where the interview • The set of an interview is usually free of noise
What might be the outcome when adults reflect subject. takes place and other distractions.
on their life experiences through the eyes of a • The set may be in a location that suits the
child? Modeling questions such as these will subject matter of the interview.
help students connect to “Learning to Love My questions: what the • The questions may ask for factual responses or
Mother” and to the Small-Group Performance Task interviewer chooses to encourage the subject to reflect on a particular
assignment. Selection audio for the selection is ask an interviewee to elicit topic or experience.
available in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition. specific information • “Leading” questions suggest the particular
answer an interviewer wants to hear.
Media Vocabulary tone: the attitude of an • The overall tone of an interview may vary
Encourage groups to discuss the media interviewer or interviewee depending on the topic and interviewer’s
toward the subject matter purpose.
vocabulary. Have they seen the words in texts
or audience • Word choice, vocal qualities, and facial
before? Do they use any of the words in their
expressions set the tone of the interview.
speech or writing?
Ask groups to look closely at the three terms to
First Review MEDIA: VIDEO
see what they have in common. Students will

notice that two of the words are applicable to Apply these strategies as you watch the video interview. Be sure to note
time codes so you can more easily revisit specific sections of the video.
fiction as well.
FIRST REVIEW  STANDARDS

H
Reading Informational Text TC
WA

Have students perform the steps of the first comprehend literary nonfiction in
WATCH who speaks, what they NOTE elements that you find
review independently: the grades 6–8 text complexity band say, and how they say it. interesting and want to revisit.
WATCH: Encourage students to watch how the needed at the high end of the range.
interviewer and the subject interact with one Language
Acquire and use accurately
another. grade-appropriate general academic CONNECT details in the RESPOND by completing
and domain-specific words interview to other texts you’ve the Comprehension Check
NOTE: Remind students to write down those and phrases; gather vocabulary read or images you’ve seen. at the end.
exchanges in the interview that they find knowledge when considering
a word or phrase important to
interesting and wish to revisit during their close comprehension or expression.
review.
CONNECT: Students should connect Angelou’s 80 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS
relationship with her mother to those of people
they know and of characters they’ve read about
and seen on TV and in movies.
LIT22_SE07_U01_B3C_M_SG.indd 80 04/04/21 11:06 PM
RESPOND: Students will answer questions to
demonstrate understanding.
Point out to students that, while they will always
first review, the other steps will probably happen
copies of the First-Review Guide: Media-Video
for students to use.
MEDIA: VIDEO
Learning to Love My Mother CLOSER REVIEW

Maya Angelou with Michael Maher
Supporting Claims
their close review. Suggest that groups close
review 0:40 to 1:31 in the video. Encourage
them to talk about what they note. If needed,
provide the following support.
NOTE: Have students note details in the
video that support Angelou’s claim that “Love
heals—not sentimentality, but love,” or have
students participate while you note them
together.
viewer can infer from what was noted, and
Possible response: When Maya Angelou first
lived with her mother at the age of thirteen, it
was love that helped her overcome her initial
feelings of abandonment. She learned to love
her mother after the kindness that her mother
BACKGROUND
Comprehension
exhibited. Angelou feelsCheck
that her mother’s love
healed her and helped her get over all the
When Maya Angelou was three years old, she and her brother were sent to live terrible feelings she experienced during her
with their grandmother. Their mother, Vivian Baxter, was not ready to be tied Possible responses:
childhood.
down with a family. Ten years later, the two children returned to live with their 1. TXT1_Wrap_NL
mother. More than 70 years later, Angelou wrote about this transition in her CONCLUDE: Help students to formulate
memoir Mom & Me & Mom. In this interview, she tells Michael Maher some of
• TXT1_Wrap_BL_ID_8_5pt
the lessons she learned from her experiences.
details in the video. Ask students why the
interviewer might have included these details.

NOTES Possible response: The interview shows that
Angelou knew and accepted her mother for
who she was, not what she’d like her to have
been (which would have shown sentimentality).
There was no sentimentality in her attitude at the
time to a mother who had abandoned her as a
baby, nor has she developed any sentimentality
toward her over the years. Her answer to Maher’s
question about how she got past her feelings of
abandonment is spontaneous and clearly true:
“She loved me” (0:55)—love healed her of her
anger. Her mother had no sentimentality either:
she accepted her daughter’s refusal to call her
“mother.” Maher included these details to help
the viewer understand how Angelou grew to love
her mother.
Learning to Love My Mother 81
Explain to students that a good interviewer
will look for clarification and evidence to
support claims made by the interviewee.
LIT22_SE07_U01_B3C_M_SG.indd 81 PERSONALIZE FOR LEARNING 18/03/21 12:47 PM

View Actively Support students as they watch “Learning to Love My
Mother.” Form groups and have them watch the video in 30-second
increments. Students should take notes on key ideas and details
given in each segment. After listening for 30 seconds, have group
members compare their notes. Repeat the process until students
have watched the entire video. ALL LEVELS
Facilitating

Compete the following items after you finish your first review. Review
Possible responses: and clarify details with your group.
1. Maya Angelou’s grandmother spoke slowly, was
patient, and was kind. Vivian Baxter “spoke fast,”
1. What are some of the ways in which Vivian Baxter was unlike Maya
“wore lipstick,” “wiggled,” and “always had
Angelou’s grandmother?
records on.”
2. Vivian Baxter accepted that her daughter referred
to her as “Lady.”
3. According to Angelou, Vivian Baxter would
have thought that, were there to be an African
American president, “it should have been her.” 2. How did Vivian Baxter react to her daughter’s calling her Lady?
4. Angelou feels two lessons people should learn
are that, first, they should “exercise patience with
themselves so they can forgive themselves for all
of the dumb things that they do,” and secondly,
they should exercise patience with their children
and “learn to be a little kinder.” 3. According to Angelou, what would Vivian Baxter have thought about
there being an African American president?
5. One reason Maya Angelou forgives her mother is
that she sensed her mother’s love for her.
6. She learned to look past her mother’s
shortcomings and found that she was actually
a very kind person. She reiterated that “love”
helped her form a strong relationship with 4. What are two life lessons Angelou thinks people should learn?
her mother. Her advice to others is to exercise
patience with themselves first, then learn to
exercise it with others.
5. What is one reason Angelou forgives her mother for abandoning her?

6. Explain how Maya Angelou overcame her problems with her mother, and
describe how she based her advice to others on her own experience.
LIT17_SE07_U01_B3C_M_SG.indd 82 16-03-17 8:32 AM
MAKING MEANING
Close Review
Watch the interview again. Write down any new
observations that seem important. What questions do Jump Start
you have? What can you conclude?
Close Review Ask groups to consider the
LEARNING TO LOVE MY MOTHER
following prompt: What did Maya Angelou learn
when she visited her mother? As students discuss
analyze the media the prompt in their groups, have them support
Notebook Complete the activities. their ideas using evidence from the memoir.
1. Present and Discuss Choose a section of the interview that you find
most interesting and powerful. Share your choice with your group
and discuss why you chose it. Explain what you noticed in the section, Close Review
what questions it raised for you, and what conclusions you reached
If needed, model close reviewing by using the
about it.
Closer Review notes in the Interactive Teacher’s
2. Review and Synthesize With your group, review the video. Edition.
What impact do the old photographs of Angelou and her family Remind groups to use Accountable Talk in
create? How do they affect your understanding of Angelou and her their discussions and to support one another as
experiences? Discuss with your group. they complete the close read.
3. Essential Question: What can one generation learn from
another? What did Maya Angelou learn from her mother and Media Vocabulary
grandmother? What does Angelou hope future generations will take Remind students to use the media vocabulary
away from her story? Discuss your response with the group. words while discussing and writing about the
video interview. For example:
• Angelou’s own home formed the set of the
language development interview.
media vocabulary • The interviewer’s questions were probing, but

respectful.
Use these words in your responses to the questions.
• The tone of the interview was courteous,
set questions tone but frank.
For more support, see Media Vocabulary.
1. If you were conducting this interview, what location would you have
chosen?
Analyze the Media
 STANdARdS Possible responses:
2. Would you have asked Maya Angelou anything that the interviewer Speaking and Listening 1. Answers will vary. Remind students to explain
Analyze the main ideas and
did not? supporting details presented in
why they chose the section they presented to the
diverse media and formats and group.
explain how the ideas clarify a
topic, text, or issue under study.
2. The family photographs show the warmth
3. How did the interviewer relate to Maya Angelou on a personal level? Language between Angelou and her mother and help
How does the tone of both speakers affect your viewing of the Acquire and use accurately grade- viewers understand their relationship.
appropriate general academic
interview? and domain-specific words 3. Maya Angelou learned the importance of patience
and phrases; gather vocabulary and kindness from her mother and grandmother.
knowledge when considering She hopes that others will notice the importance
a word or phrase important to
comprehension or expression. of patience with themselves and with children.
LIT17_SE07_U01_B3C_M_SG_app.indd 83 Formative Assessment 16-04-13 6:17 PM
Analyze the Media Media Vocabulary

If students struggle to the video, then provide If students struggle to identify the tone and the
the Maya Angelou: Learning to Love My set of the interview, then have them review the
Mother: Media Questions available online in the definitions of both words and look for examples
Interactive Teacher’s Edition or Unit Resources. of them in other video interviews.
Answers and DOK levels are also available.
Facilitating EFFECTIVE EXPRESSION
Writing to Compare Writing to Compare

Both Mom & Me & Mom and the interview with Maya Angelou,
As students prepare to compare the text and “Learning to Love My Mother,” discuss Angelou’s relationship with her
the video, they will consider the relationship mother. Review the selections and consider how the medium in which
between the mother and daughter, and how that information is provided—text and audiovisual—affects what you learn
from MOM & ME & MOM
relationship is shown in each selection. about the subject.
Prewriting and Planning Assignment

Compare the Text and Video Discuss with Write a comparison-and-contrast essay in which you analyze the
students factors to consider as they locate similarities and differences in the way each medium portrays Maya
similarities and differences between the video Angelou and her relationship with her mother.
interview and the text. For example, while
LEARNING TO LOVE MY MOTHER
watching the video, students should consider
the set, tone, and the interviewer’s questions.
Prewriting and Planning
In the text, students should consider the topic You will complete the Prewriting and Planning sections as a group, and
or subject, main idea, word choice, dialogue, work individually to write your essay. After you finish your first draft, you
will work with your group to revise your essay before handing it in.
and plot.
Compare the Text and Video With your group, compare the ways in
a. She is pretty. She looks like a movie star, not like which the text and the video provide information. Use the chart to record
her grandmother. She likes to kiss Maya. your findings.
b. “I didn’t understand her.” She spoke fast and
giggled all the time. WHAT I
WHAT I HOW THE TEXT
LEARNED FROM COMPARES
c. Her physical and characteristic descriptions of her ANGELOU’S LEARNED FROM
“LEARNING WITH THE
EXPERIENCES MOM & ME &
mother remain the same. MOM
TO LOVE MY VIDEO
MOTHER” INTERVIEW
d. She says it is because she is beautiful; she doesn’t
look like a mother. Maya’s first a. See possible b. c.
impressions of responses
e. She states it was because she didn’t her mother in Teacher’s
understand her. Edition.
f. The text explains specifically; the video provides d. e. f.
Why Maya calls
an abstract response.

her mother Lady
g. She learned to appreciate her after a few weeks.
Once Bailey arrives, her initial feelings return.
h. Love healed their relationship. How Maya’s g. h. i.
i. At the end of the selection, she is still unsure  STANDARDS feelings about
Reading Informational Text her mother
about living with her mother. The video takes the Compare and contrast a text to change
relationship timeline further. an audio, video, or multimedia
version of the text, analyzing each
medium’s portrayal of the subject.
Writing
Draw evidence from literary or Notebook Respond to these questions.
Possible responses: informational texts to support 1. Does the video reveal aspects of the mother-daughter relationship that
analysis, reflection, and research.
1. The video gives more information about how the text does not?
b. Apply grade 7 Reading
Maya Angelou’s mother behaved and how Maya standards to literary nonfiction. 2. Does the text provide information not found in the video?
felt about her.
2. The text provides a scene that shows Maya 84 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS
Angelou’s reasons for calling her mother “Lady.”

LIT17_SE07_U01_B3C_M_SG_app.indd 84 16-04-13 6:17 PM
Strategic Support
Comparison Group members may have difficulty skim the excerpt from Mom & Me & Mom. Ask
seeing how both sources work together to convey them to suggest where the video could be placed
more information about when Angelou reunited in the memoir to clarify, reinforce, and illustrate
with her mother. To help them learn more about the text. Have students discuss their choices.
the emotions that Angelou felt, have students
ESSENTIAl quESTION: What can one generation learn from another?
Assign Tasks Make a list of tasks that members of your group will need to
complete for your project. Assign each task to a different group member. Assign Tasks Keep in mind individual group
members’ strengths and talents as you assign
Organize Your Essay Before you begin drafting, decide how you will
tasks.
organize information for your comparison-and-contrast essay. Choose
the method that will best suit your purpose. Organize Your Essay Support groups as they
• Block Method: Present all details about one of your subjects. Then, decide on an organizational method for their
 EviDEncE log
essay, making sure they understand the block
present all details about your next subject. This method emphasizes
Before moving on to
the subjects being discussed, since each gets its own treatment. method and the point-by-point method before
a new selection, go to
• Point-by-Point Method: Discuss one aspect of both subjects, then your Evidence Log and
they make their choice.
another aspect of both subjects, and so on. This method emphasizes record what you learned
the points of comparison rather than the subjects being compared. from Mom & Me & Mom
and “Learning to Love
Drafting
Regardless of the method you choose, be sure that each of your main My Mother.” Using Transitions Encourage students to pay
points is stated clearly and supported by evidence from the selections. special attention to transition words as they draft
their essays. Remind them that transition words
Drafting help readers understand a writer’s analysis.
Using Transitions Once you have gathered details and decided on an

organizing structure, draft the essay. As you draft, use words and phrases Review, Revise, and Edit
to show the relationships between ideas in your essay. Transition words After students have edited their essays based
and phrases can emphasize points of comparison and of contrast. on feedback from the group, encourage them
 STANDARDS to reread the essay so that they can fix any
TRANSITION WORDS AND PHRASES Reading Informational Text
Compare and contrast a text to
remaining spelling or grammar errors.
Comparisons similarly, also, in addition, furthermore an audio, video, or multimedia
version of the text, analyzing each
For more support, see Writing to Compare:
Contrasts although, however, but, on the other hand medium’s portrayal of the subject. Comparison-and-Contrast Essay.
Writing
• Write informative/explanatory Evidence Log Support students in completing
texts to examine a topic and their Evidence Log. This paced activity will
Review, Revise, and Edit convey ideas, concepts, and
help prepare them for the Performance-Based
information through the selection,
Work with your group to critically review and then revise and edit your organization, and analysis of Assessment at the end of the unit.
essay. If the answer to any of these questions is no, edit your work before relevant content.
a. Introduce a topic clearly,
submitting a final draft. previewing what is to follow;
organize ideas, concepts, and
• Are the main points of the essay clearly stated? Is each point information, using strategies
supported with evidence in the text? such as definition, classification,

comparison/contrast, and cause/
• Is the essay clearly organized using either the block method or the effect; include formatting,
point-by-point method? graphics, and multimedia when
useful to aiding comprehension.
• Are the relationships between ideas clarified by transition words and b. Develop the topic with
phrases? relevant facts, definitions,
concrete details, quotations, or
• Is your essay free from errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation? other information and examples.
c. Use appropriate transitions to
create cohesion and clarify the
relationships among ideas and
concepts.
• Use technology, including the
Internet, to produce and publish
writing and link to and cite
sources as well as to interact and
collaborate with others, including
linking to and citing sources.
LIT17_SE07_U01_B3C_M_SG_app.indd 85 WriteNow Analyze and Inform 16-04-13 6:16 PM
Theme That love is a path to the relief of feels love toward her almost immediately. In the
forgiveness emerges as a major theme that runs video interview, “Learning to Love My Mother,”
through the excerpt from Mom & Me & Mom Maya Angelou discusses how love finally broke
by Maya Angelou. A young Maya is hesitant to down the negative feelings that she held for her
forgive her mother when she arrives in California mother. Formative Assessment
to live with her. She even has a problem with Have students find other themes in the excerpt Writing to Compare
calling her mother “Mom” and would prefer to from Mom & Me & Mom that may be more
call her “Lady.” Yet, upon her brother’s arrival in subtle and write about them. Have them share If students struggle to find quotes for their
California, he forgives their mother at once and their ideas with their group. writing, then have them think about the
important details in the narrative or video.
PLANNING SMALL- GROUP LEARNING • Mother-Daughter Drawings
Audio summaries of “Mother-
Daughter Drawings” are The “Mother-Daughter Drawings” shown in the Image Gallery
available online in both English were created by artist Mica Angela Hendricks and her four-year-old
and Spanish in the Interactive daughter, Myla. The photograph that introduces this collection of
Teacher’s Edition or Unit images shows Myla’s paint-spattered hand resting in her mother’s
Resources. Assigning these larger hand. Mica is proudly presenting Myla as an artist and is
summaries prior to viewing the protective of Myla as her daughter. Working from old photographs,
selection may help students Mica made a series of color drawings of women’s faces. Myla added
the bodies, first drawing them and then coloring them with acrylic
paints. They suggest woodland creatures, insects, and shellfish.
their first viewing.
Together, the images and the accompanying text form a narrative
of creative collaboration between the generations—mother and
daughter inspire each other and learn from each other.
Insight
Viewing “Mother-Daughter Drawings” will provide students with
the visual proof that people from different generations can maintain
their own vision while working together. Collaboration between two
different generations does not have to mean that the older generation
calls all of the shots. In fact, allowing the younger generation to
contribute in its own way may result in the creation of something
unexpected and delightful.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
generation learn from “Mother-Daughter Drawings” provides an artistic connection to the
another? Essential Question, What can one generation learn from another?
When trying to teach her daughter, Myla, about sharing, Mica Angela
Hendricks was forced to practice what she preached. She learned from
her daughter that letting go of control and trusting her daughter could
lead to a wealth of creativity.
Small-Group Learning
What new knowledge Small-Group Learning Performance Task In this Performance Task,
or skills can you learn students will present a multimedia presentation about the lessons
from someone of a found in the Small-Group selections. “Mother-Daughter Drawings”
different generation? exposes students to the lesson that parents must set an example for
their children, and that true collaboration means giving a partner the
Assessment
freedom to contribute as he or she wants.
In what situations can one Unit Performance-Based Assessment An example of a lesson one
generation learn from generation can learn from another that students may identify in this
another? selection is the lesson that Hendricks learns from working with her
daughter. She learns that she must practice what she preaches, and
that the best work that she and her daughter produce comes when she
stops trying to control her daughter.

DIGITAL
PERSPECTIVES Audio Video Print on Interactive Online
Demand Activity Assessment
LESSON RESOURCES

Lesson First Review Media Vocabulary Speaking and Listening
Close Review
Analyze the Media
Instructional RI.7.10 By the end of the year, read L.7.6 Acquire and use SL.7.1.a Come to discussions prepared . . .
Standards and comprehend literary nonfiction . . . accurately grade-appropriate SL.7.5 Include multimedia components and
general academic and visual displays . . .
L.7.6 Acquire and use accurately
domain-specific words and
grade-appropriate general academic and L.7.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-
phrases . . .
domain-specific words and phrases . . . appropriate general academic and domain-
specific words and phrases . . .
SL.7.2 Analyze the main ideas and
supporting details presented in diverse
media . . .
STUDENT RESOURCES
Selection Video Evidence Log
Interactive Student
Edition or Unit Resources F irst-Review Guide: Media Art/
Photography
lose-Review Guide: Media Art/
C
Photography
TEACHER RESOURCES
Selection Resources
Audio Summaries: English and Spanish Media Vocabulary S peaking and Listening: Multimedia
Slideshow
Interactive Teacher’s Spanish Translation
Media Questions
Media Complexity Rubric: Mother-Daughter Drawings

Format / Length 5 images with captions
Knowledge Demands In order to fully appreciate how the art was made, students need to understand the background
1 2 3 4 5 information.
Structure Information is presented in background information and in captions corresponding to particular art
1 2 3 4 5 pieces. Explanation of the process is sequential from caption to caption.
Language Conventionality and Clarity Language used in background information and captions is clear and explicit. Sentences mostly contain
1 2 3 4 5 simple constructions, with some long sentences.
Levels of Meaning/Purpose Purpose is clear and explicit in the background information and captions. Correspondence of photos
1 2 3 4 5 and captions makes purpose easy to understand.

Facilitating Making Meaning
About the Artist

Jump Start Media Vocabulary
First Review Can a four-year-old make true These words will be useful to you as you analyze, discuss, and write
art? Who can be an artist? about drawings.
Engaging students in a discussion about art and composition: arrangement • The elements of a drawing’s composition
Mica Angela Hendricks was
artists will help set the context for students as born into a military family and
of elements in a drawing include color, line, shape, space, form, and
they view the collaborative drawings of Mica texture.
traveled to many countries.
and Myla Hendricks. As students discuss these As a child, she would carry • The way an artist arranges the elements may
questions, have them focus on the subjective a sketchbook everywhere create emphasis on one part of the drawing
she went. People who didn’t over others.
nature of art. know her well would simply
call her “that girl that draws.”
light and shadow: • Light and shadow can turn a
Hendricks is now an illustrator techniques that add depth two-dimensional shape, such as a circle,
to a drawing and make it into a three-dimensional form, such as a
Mother-Daughter Drawings and has collaborated with her
four-year-old daughter, Myla, more realistic sphere.
What does it take for two people from different on the sketchbook “Share • Light and shadow help create perspective and
With Me.”
generations to collaborate on pieces of art? mood
Modeling questions such as this will help students perspective: technique • Correct proportion helps a drawing look
connect to “Mother-Daughter Drawings” and to used to create the illusion realistic, taking into account how close or far
the Small-Group Performance Task assignment. of a three-dimensional objects in it are meant to be.
Selection audio and print capability for the world on a two-dimensional • Smaller objects in a drawing appear to be
surface, such as a piece of farther way, and larger ones closer.
selection are available in the Interactive Teacher’s
paper
Edition.
Media Vocabulary First Review MEDIA: ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Encourage groups to discuss the media Apply these strategies as you study each drawing.
vocabulary. Have they seen the terms in texts
before? Do they use any of the words in their
speech or writing?
Ask groups to look at the three terms and Look at each drawing and NoTE elements in each drawing
discuss what they have in common. Students determine whom or what it that you find interesting and

should notice that the terms describe physical portrays. want to revisit.
aspects of painting and drawing—and how those
aspects affect the viewing experience. Encourage
 STANDARDS
students to identify examples of the three terms Reading Informational Text
in classroom drawings or paintings. By the end of the year, read and CoNNECT details in the RESPoND by completing
comprehend literary nonfiction in drawings to other texts you’ve the Comprehension Check at
the grades 6–8 text complexity band read or images you’ve seen. the end.
First Review needed at the high end of the range.
Language
Have students perform the steps of the first Acquire and use accurately
grade-appropriate general academic
review independently: and domain-specific words
and phrases; gather vocabulary
LOOK: Encourage students to look at each image knowledge when considering
and read the accompanying caption. a word or phrase important to
comprehension or expression.
NOTE: Students should note the drawings that
capture their attention. 86 UNIT 1 • geNeraTIoNs
CONNECT: Encourage students to connect the
drawings with drawings they made as young
children.
LIT17_SE07_U01_B4_M_SG.indd 86
RESPOND: Students will answer questions
and write a description to demonstrate their Strategic Support
understanding. Students with Visual Impairments Help students who are visually
impaired by showing enlarged images of the Hendricks’ artwork
Point out to students that while they will on a class screen. If possible, zoom in on the photos showing how
always complete the Respond step at the end the mother and daughter work together, and then focus on the
of the first review, the other steps will probably details of their artwork. Encourage students to discuss the elements
happen somewhat concurrently. You may wish to of composition, the colors, and the unusual proportions in this
print copies of the First-Review Guide: Media collaborative art.
Art/Photography for students to use.
MEDIA: IMAGE GALLERY
Mother-Daughter
Drawings
CLOSER REVIEW
Mica and Myla Hendricks Analyze Composition
review the photo on this page. Encourage
BACKGROUND them to talk about what they note. If needed,
Artist Mica Angela Hendricks had always tried to teach her four-year-old provide the following support.
daughter Myla the importance of sharing. But it’s easier to talk about
NOTE: Have students note details in the
sharing than to do it. Mica found that out when Myla noticed her
photo that emphasize the placement of the
mother drawing in a sketchbook and asked if she could draw in it too.
Mica was afraid Myla would ruin her drawings, but decided she had to
items in the photograph—or work with small
set a good example by practicing what she preached, especially after groups to have students participate while you
Myla quoted her words back to her: “If you can’t share, we might have note them together.
to take it away.”
viewer can infer from what was notated, and
Possible response: The child’s hand has several
different colors of paint on it, suggesting that
the child has some responsibility for the creation
of the art. The mother’s hand is open, displaying
but also protecting the child’s hand.
details in the photo. Ask students why the
photographer might have included these
details against the art in the background.
Possible response: The paint on the child’s
hand clearly relates to the art in the background,
and the two hands are in full contact. The

photographer included these details in the
composition to show that their collaboration is
fundamental to their art.
Remind students that composition is the
arrangement of objects in a piece of art. It allows
the artist to stress one part of an artwork.
Mother-Daughter Drawings 87
LIT22_SE07_U01_B4_M_SG.indd 87 PERSONALIZE FOR LEARNING 18/03/21 12:52 PM

Pronouns Remind English Learners that authors often use pronouns to make a text more cohesive.
Pronouns are words that refer back to nouns. They allow an author to avoid unnecessary repetition
and make a text easier to read. Ask: In the third sentence, the author writes “Mica found that out…”
What does the word that refer to? (It is easier to talk about sharing than do it.) Which word in the
third sentence refers to the sketchbook? (it) Who asked to draw in the sketchbook, too? (Myla) What
pronoun is used to refer to Myla? (she) In the fourth sentence, who is afraid of her drawings being
ruined? (Mica) Suggest that students read the sentences again, this time replacing the pronouns with
the nouns that they stand for. ALL LEVELS
Facilitating
Closer Review
Analyze Composition
review Image 1 on this page. Encourage them
to talk about what they note. If needed,
provide the following support.
NOTE: Have students note the relative sizes
of different elements within the composition,
or work with small groups to have students
participate while you note them together.
Question: Guide students to consider what
viewer can infer from the proportions in this
composition and accept student responses.
Possible response: The woman’s head appears
to be much too large for her body. This is,
however, not a woman but an imaginary
creature, so who but the artists can decide?
In terms of the picture itself, the composition
of the head, body, and tail harmonize to
form an “S” shape in the center. This creates
movement—it turns clockwise in opposition to
the anti-clockwise movement of the landscape
around her.
Conclude: Help students to formulate
details in the picture. Ask students why the
Image 1: Mica had just drawn a woman’s face from an old photograph.
artists might have included these details. She let Myla draw the woman’s body and then used acrylic paint to add

Possible response: Other features appear to color, highlights, and texture to the entire piece.
be out of proportion with each other—but only
the artists know how big the tree trunk and the NOTES
mushrooms “should” be. The artist includes
these details to express something other than
relative size of elements in a landscape.
Remind students that composition is the
arrangement of elements in a drawing. Artists
work with perspective to make some objects or
individuals appear closer than others. This may
emphasize certain objects over others.
88 UNIT 1 • geNeraTIoNs
LIT17_SE07_U01_B4_M_SG.indd 88 15-11-24 9:55 AM
IMAGE 2: Mica was impressed that her
collaboration with her daughter turned out so
well and wanted to try it again.
NOTES
IMAGE 3: Mica began filling her sketchbook

with drawings of heads and letting Myla draw the NOTES
bodies.
LIT17_SE07_U01_B4_M_SG.indd 89 FACILITATING SMALL-GROUP CLOSE LEARNING 16-03-17 8:48 AM
Close Review: Image Gallery As groups • Remind students to think about the
perform the close review, circulate among them drawings’ composition, light and shadow,
and offer support as needed. and perspective. How do these concepts give
• Emphasize that these are unusual pieces of students the tools they need to analyze and
art because they are the result of two people’s appreciate the drawings?
collaboration—and one of the artists is a
young girl. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of such a collaboration?
Facilitating
Image 4: At first, Mica tried telling Myla
what kind of bodies to draw. She soon
realized the drawings turned out better
when Myla did what she wanted. “In most
instances, kids’ imaginations way outweigh
a grown-up’s,” Mica says.
NOTES
Image 5: Working with her daughter taught

Mica that giving up control is not just fun, but
necessary. “Those things you hold so dear
cannot change and grow and expand unless
you loosen your grip on them a little,” she says.
NOTES

90 UNIT 1 • geNeraTIoNs
LIT17_SE07_U01_B4_M_SG.indd 90
Challenge
Perspective Have students make their own drawings of a person on
a beach (or elsewhere) using Image 5 as inspiration. First, have them
draw the person with realistic perspective. Then have them redraw
the person, altering the perspective. Have students share their
drawings with members of their group and discuss how altering the
perspective changes the viewers’ experience.
The image gallery uses both words and images to tell a story. Use the chart below to note specific details
about each image, then describe how each image relates to the text that accompanies it. Share your See possible responses in the chart on the
responses with your group. student page.
IMAGE WHAT THE IMAGE SHOWS HOW THE IMAGE RELATES TO THE TEXT
The image is a composite The text explains the steps in the process of
1
of four images showing creating the image.

Photo
1
how Mica and Myla draw

image
a woman’s face with a

body that appears to look
like that of a fox.
The image shows a The text says that Mica was impressed by her
Photo 2
woman’s face attached daughter’s collaboration, and so they continued,

2
to the body of a fish. The presumably with this or a similar image.

image
fish appears to be flying in

rainy weather.
The image shows Myla The text explains what the image shows—that
Photo 3
drawing bodies on faces Myla is working on faces in Mica’s sketchbook.

3
that Mica had drawn in

image
her sketchbook.
The image shows Mica The text explains that at first Mica tried to direct
4
watching Myla, who is what Myla drew, but soon learned to let Myla
Photo
4
drawing. follow her own imagination.

image
The image shows a The text explains that Mica gained an important
5
woman’s face with what insight while working with Myla: “giving up
Photo
looks like the body of a sea control” is not only fun, but necessary. The
image
creature, near the water’s image shows the result.

edge at a beach.
NOTES
Photo 6
LIT17_SE07_U01_B4_M_SG.indd 91 18/03/16 5:00 PM
Close Review
Jump Start With your group, revisit the images and your first-review
notes. Record any new observations that seem important.
What questions do you have? What can you conclude?
Close Review Ask groups to consider the
following prompt: What did Mica learn when
she began to create art with her daughter?
As students talk in their groups, ask them analyze the media
to consider Mica’s attitudes about sharing Notebook Complete the activities.
and control before and after she began
collaborating with her four-year-old daughter. 1. Present and Discuss Choose the image you find most interesting or
powerful. Share your choice with the group and discuss why you chose
it. Explain what you noticed in the image, what questions it raised for
you, and what conclusions you reached about it.
Close Review 2. Review and Synthesize With your group, review all the images.
What does Mica Hendricks’s experience drawing with her daughter
If needed, model close reviewing by using the
reveal about how art is created?
Closer Review notes in the Interactive Teacher’s
Edition. 3. Notebook Essential Question: What can one generation
Remind groups to use Accountable Talk in their learn from another? What do you think the mother and daughter
discussions and to support one another as they might have learned from each other by drawing together? What has
complete the close review. learning about the Hendricks’ process taught you about the ways in
which one generation can learn from another?
Analyze the Media  WoRd netWoRK language development

1. Responses will vary by group. Each student Look in the image gallery for
should draw a definite conclusion about the words related to the topic of media vocabulary
image he or she chose. generations, and add them
2. Possible response: The images reveal that to your Word Network.
composition light and shadow perspective
intriguing art is created when artists are open to
collaboration and are willing to let go of control. Use the concept vocabulary words in your responses to the following
3. Notebook: Responses will vary by group. Each questions.
student should make an argument and support it
1. Why might Image 1 be made up of four separate photographs?
with evidence from the images.

Media Vocabulary
 stanDarDs
Possible responses: Speaking and Listening
1. The four separate photographs show the step- Analyze the main ideas and 2. What mood is suggested by Image 4? How is that mood created?
supporting details presented in
by-step process that was used to create each diverse media and formats and
composition. explain how the ideas clarify a topic,
text, or issue under study.
2. Image 4 conveys a mood of warmth and
Language
tenderness. It is created through Mica’s closeness Acquire and use accurately grade- 3. In Image 5, what is the primary focus and what constitutes the
to Myla and through the sunlight in the appropriate general academic and background?
background. domain-specific words and phrases;
gather vocabulary knowledge
3. In image 5, the primary focus is on the woman’s when considering a word or phrase
face and the animal body. The background is the important to comprehension or
expression.
ocean.
For more support, see Media Vocabulary. 92 UNIT 1 • geNeraTIoNs
Word Network
Possible words: daughter, kids, grown-up
LIT17_SE07_U01_B4_M_SG_app.indd 92 4/13/16 4:44 PM
Analyze the Text Media Media Vocabulary

If students struggle to close review the If students struggle to use the vocabulary words,
drawings, then provide the Mother-Daughter then have them review the definitions and try to
Drawings: Media Questions available online answer the questions again.
in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition or Unit
Resources. Answers and DOK levels are also
available.
EffEctivE ExprEssion
Speaking and Listening Speaking and Listening

GROUP DISCUSSION
If groups have trouble choosing a narrative,
Assignment Think about the relationship
between your images with
encourage them to consider which idea would
Sharing her sketchbook with her four-year-old daughter taught Mica
your group. Should they best lend itself to visual storytelling.
Angela Hendricks that giving up control can help people grow. Write
have a similar look, or
a brief narrative of an event that taught you a lesson about life, and Choose Your Images Have each group
should they contrast with
share it with your group. Then, work together to create a multimedia
each other? Why?
brainstorm two ideas for photographs and/or
slideshow. Choose one description on which to focus and combine it illustrations for each narrative. Then, have group
with at least four images, such as photos, illustrations, or other types members think about which images are the most
of visual multimedia. effective or the most interesting. After all the
group members have given their opinions, have
Choose Your Images As your group researches images for your  evidence Log them pick the strongest ideas for images to use in
slideshow, consider what you have learned about the ways in which
composition, perspective, and light and shadow affect an image.
Before moving on to their slideshow.
a new selection, go to
Discuss these questions with your group: your Evidence Log and Plan the Project Remind groups to consult the
• What mood or feeling do you want your images to convey? record what you learned schedule for Small-Group Activities as they plan
from “Mother-Daughter their project. Check to make sure each group has
• Which images should be photographs, which should be illustrations, Drawings.”
and which should be a combination of both?
made assignments and that the work is divided
evenly among group members.
• What materials, props, and locations do you need to create your images?
Draft and Rehearse Encourage students to
Plan the Project Once you have considered these questions, make a rehearse in front of others before doing the final
storyboard. Decide which part of the narrative each image will represent. presentation of their slideshow.
Arrange the images in a logical sequence.
Present and Discuss As students discuss the
STORYBOARD TEMPLATE different slideshows, remind them to follow the
rules for collegial discussions. For more support,
 STAnDARDS see Speaking and Listening: Multimedia
• Engage effectively in a range
Slideshow.
of collaborative discussions with
diverse partners on grade 7 topics, make it interactive
texts, and issues, building on Using the Interactive Teacher’s Edition, project
others’ ideas and expressing their
own clearly. Image 1 from “Mother-Daughter Drawings.” Ask
a. Come to discussions prepared, students to consider what a reader might expect
having read or researched
material under study; explicitly

the story to be about if the set of photographs
Draft and Rehearse Work with your group to finalize the narrative
draw on that preparation by had one of these captions instead.
referring to evidence on the
and slideshow. Assign roles for presenting, and rehearse to ensure that topic, text, or issue to probe • A woman who is an artist teaches her young
speakers are prepared and that the media is integrated smoothly. and reflect on ideas under
discussion.
daughter how to draw.
Present and Discuss Read the narrative for the class and then present • Include multimedia components • A mother becomes concerned when her
and visual displays in presentations
the slideshow. Discuss which aspects of the narrative are best told in to clarify claims and findings and daughter draws in the mother’s sketchbook.
words and which are best told in pictures. emphasize salient points.
Language
• Creating a painting from start to finish involves
Reflect With Your Group In the caption that accompanies the last a series of steps.
Acquire and use accurately
image of the gallery, Mica Hendricks says, “Those things you hold so grade-appropriate general
dear cannot change and grow and expand unless you loosen your grip academic and domain-specific Then have students briefly discuss how text can
on them a little.” How did the process of working with your group to words and phrases; gather complement an image, and vice versa.
vocabulary knowledge when
develop the slideshow influence your ideas about this quote? Did you find considering a word or phrase Evidence Log Support students in completing
that it was difficult to “loosen your grip” and work collaboratively? What important to comprehension or
expression.
did you learn from the experience?
Mother-Daughter Drawings 93 Assessment at the end of the unit.
LIT17_SE07_U01_B4_M_SG_app.indd 93 Vocabulary Development 4/13/16 4:44 PM
Media Vocabulary Reinforcement Reinforce Then give students these sentence prompts and
students’ comprehension of media vocabulary coach them to create the clarification parts.
with “show-you-know” sentences. The first part 1. It was a photo of dark, jutting shadows that
of the sentence uses the vocabulary word in showed ____. Formative Assessment
an appropriate context. The second part—the
“show-you-know” part—clarifies the first. Model
2. She worked hard to draw the elephant’s Speaking and Listening
proportions right, but _____. If students struggle with locating images, then
the strategy with this example.
We loved the painting’s composition, with 3. The old man’s sketch had remarkable have them refine their search terms to more
horses in the foreground and meadows perspective; with just a few charcoal lines, he accurately describe the images they want—or
stretching to the horizon. _____. have them create some of their own images.
PLANNING SMALL- GROUP LEARNING • Mother to Son • To James
Mother to Son • To James

Audio summaries of “Mother
to Son” and “To James” are In Langston Hughes’s poem “Mother to Son,” the poet adopts the
available online in both English voice of an African American mother giving advice to her son. She
and Spanish in the Interactive tells him her life has not been a crystal staircase. Her staircase has
Teacher’s Edition or Unit tacks, splinters, torn-up boards, and no carpet. However, that hasn’t
Resources. Assigning these stopped her from climbing the staircase, even in the dark. She tells
summaries prior to reading the him she’s still climbing, and he must do the same, even though
selection may help students it’s hard.
knowledge and set a context for In the poem “To James” by Frank Horne, a father addresses his son.
their first read. He takes pride in the boy’s prowess on the running track and advises
him that life itself is a short sprint. He tells his son to start out strong
and run hard. He urges him to focus on the finish line and hold
nothing back. He wants his son to experience the supreme joy of
victory.
Insight
It is the job of the earlier generations to share the life lessons they have
learned, so later generations can achieve happiness and fulfillment.
Reading “Mother to Son” and “To James” will help students see how
one generation paves the way for the next generation. One generation
may sacrifice comforts or struggle through difficult times or fight
against injustice just so the following generation will have an easier
time. An earlier generation may pass down everything it knows so that
the next generation can succeed.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
generation learn from The poems “Mother to Son” and “To James” provide a clear connection to
another? the Essential Question, What can one generation learn from another? The
speaker in “Mother to Son” warns her son against letting the difficulties
of life stop him from continuing on. When she says that her son shouldn’t
give up just because he finds life “kinder hard,” she is suggesting that he
has encountered his own difficulties and she wants him to learn from her
Small-Group Learning experience that he must not stop trying. The speaker of “To James” gives
Performance Task direct advice to James in the second stanza, telling the boy that to succeed
What new knowledge in life, he must treat it like a race and give it everything he’s got.
or skills can you learn
from someone of a Connection to Performance Tasks
different generation? Small-Group Learning Performance Task “Mother to Son” gives
students the choice of presenting the lesson that the mother teaches
Unit Performance-Based her son—that life is hard but you must not give up. “To James” gives
Assessment
students the choice of presenting the lesson that the speaker teaches
In what situations can one
James—that to succeed in life, you must try your hardest and maintain
generation learn from
your focus on your goals.
another?
Unit Performance-Based Assessment This selection provides students
with strong examples of the types of lessons that one generation may
share with another. Both poems have parental speakers who directly
advise children on how to survive and succeed in life.

DIGITAL
LESSON RESOURCES

Lesson First Read Author’s Style Writing to Sources
Close Read Concept Vocabulary
Analyze Craft and Structure Word Study
Instructional Standards RL.7.10 By the end of the year, read L.7.5 Demonstrate understanding W.7.3 Write narratives . . .
and comprehend literature . . . of figurative language . . .
W.7.3.a Engage and orient the
L.7.4 Determine or clarify the L.7.5.c Distinguish among the reader by establishing a context . . .
meaning of unknown and multiple- connotations of words with similar
W.7.3.b Use narrative techniques . . .
meaning words and phrases . . . denotations . . .
W.7.3.d Use precise words and
L.7.4.a Use context as a clue . . . RL.7.4 Determine the meaning of
phrases, relevant descriptive
words and phrases as they are used
RL.7.1 Cite several pieces of details . . .
in a text . . .
textual evidence to support
W.7.5 With some guidance and
analysis . . .
support from peers and adults,
RL.7.2 Determine a theme or develop and strengthen writing . . .
central idea of a text . . .
W.7.9 Draw evidence from literary or
RL.7.4 Determine the meaning of informational texts . . .
words and phrases as they are used
W.7.9.a Apply grade 7 Reading
in a text . . .
standards to literature . . .
STUDENT RESOURCES
Available online in the Selection Audio Word Network Evidence Log
Interactive Student Edition
or Unit Resources First-Read Guide: Poetry
Close-Read Guide: Poetry
TEACHER RESOURCES
A uthor’s Style: Rhythm and
A riting to Sources: Narrative
W
Available online in the Spanish Repetition Poem
Interactive Teacher’s Edition
or Unit Resources Annotation Highlights oncept Vocabulary and Word
C
Study
Text Questions

A
Symbolism
Reteach/Practice (RP) nalyze Craft and Structure:

A uthor’s Style: Rhythm and
A riting to Sources: Narrative
W
Available online in the Figurative Language: Repetition (RP) Poem (RP)
Interactive Teacher’s Edition Symbolism (RP)
or Unit Resources ord Study: Connotations and
W
Denotations (RP)
Assessment Selection Test: English

Available online in

personalize for learning small- group learning • Mother to Son • To James
Reading Support
Text Complexity Rubric: Mother to Son • To James
Lexile: NP; NP Text Length: 20 lines; 51 lines
Knowledge Demands To understand the poems, it is helpful to have an understanding of African American culture
1 2 3 4 5 during the Harlem Renaissance.
An understanding of running will help facilitate understanding of “To James.”
Structure Both poems are written with free verse structure, in conversational style.
1 2 3 4 5
Language Conventionality and Clarity Vernacular language is used (pattern of speech and diction of conversation); “Mother
1 2 3 4 5 to Son” contains speech patterns common among African Americans during the early
twentieth century.
Levels of Meaning/Purpose Meaning requires understanding of metaphorical language (the crystal stair and wooden
1 2 3 4 5 stair as metaphors for life). The metaphor has multiple possible meanings (glamor, beauty,
social class).
DECIDE AND PLAN

language and meaning as they read the ensure that they can successfully read the with ideas for how they can go beyond a
selections. text. simple interpretation of the text.
Language Students learning English may Knowledge Demands Ask students to Text Analysis Ask students to discuss the
have difficulty with patterns of speech they visualize a running race. Have them think possible meanings of a crystal stair and
don’t normally see in modern English, for about the actions a runner takes each step what someone’s socioeconomic class may
example: there ain’t been no light, and of the race. be if they have a life represented by a crystal
I’se still climbin’. Ask them to highlight Levels of Meaning Ask students to stair as opposed to a broken wooden stair.
unfamiliar phrases. Point out that ain’t is describe what a crystal stair would look like Written Response Have students research
used to mean not, isn’t, hasn’t, or haven’t, and then describe one with boards, tacks, Langston Hughes or Frank Horne to find out
that I’se means I’ve or I’m. splinters, and no carpet. What would the more about their lives or their reasons for
Meaning Have students highlight words stairs be made of? What would they look writing the poems. Students may also read
that are part of the symbol of the race. Ask like? Discuss the images as metaphors other poems by these authors and write an
them to think about how each part of the for life by asking students to describe the analysis of a favorite poem.
race relates to life’s journey. difference between life as a crystal stair
(easy, rich, etc.) and as an old, wooden stair
(difficult, poor, etc.).
TEACH
Read and Respond

Have the groups read the selections and complete the Making Meaning, Language Development, and
Effective Expression activities.

identify needs
• Use the Selection Resources listed on the Planning pages for “Mother to Son” and “To
James” to help students continually improve their ability to master the standards.
Instructional Standards: Mother to Son • To James

Reading You may wish to administer the RL.4 Determine the meaning Have partners find lines in
analyze and revise Author’s Style: Rhythm and of words and phrases as they “To James” that have words
Repetition (RP) worksheet to are used in a text, including that repeat or begin with the
• Analyze student work for help students understand that figurative and connotative same sound (alliteration). Have
repeating the same sounds meanings; analyze the impact partners take turns reading
evidence of student learning. at the beginning of words (or those lines and discussing how
of a specific word choice on
• Identify whether students repeating the same words) in a meaning and tone. the repeated sounds or word(s)
have met the expectations in poem adds meaning and power emphasize an idea in the poem.
to the poem. Encourage student pairs to
the standards.
share their findings with the
• Identify implications for future class.
instruction. Writing You may wish to administer the W.3.d Use precise words and Ask students to write a poem in
Writing to Sources: Narrative phrases, relevant descriptive response to a previous selection
Poem (RP) worksheet to details, and sensory language they read in this or an earlier
help students connect words to capture the action and unit. Encourage and challenge
or phrases that describe the convey experiences and events. them to include sensory words
senses (sight, sound, feel, taste, and phrases to make their
smell) with vivid descriptions of poems vivid and clear.
events or experiences.
Language You may wish to administer the L.5 Demonstrate Ask students to find another
Analyze Craft and Structure: understanding of figurative poem that uses complex
teach Symbols (RP) worksheet to language, word relationships, symbols to suggest layers
help students understand that and nuances in word meanings. of meaning and write one
Implement the planned lesson, complex symbols can suggest paragraph about the author’s
and gather evidence of student layers of meaning. use of symbolism and how it
learning. influences the meaning of the
poem.

POETRY COLLECTION 1
Mother to Son
Jump Start
To James
First Read Engage students with this
prompt: Imagine you are going to write a letter
that will be read by your children sometime in Concept Vocabulary
the future. What advice would you give? What As you perform your first read of these two poems, you will encounter the
is the most important thing to share with them following words.
before they enter school? Before they become
flung catapulted lurched
teenagers? Engage students in a discussion
about giving advice to their children to set the
Context Clues If these words are unfamiliar to you, try using context
context for reading “Mother to Son” and “To
clues—other words and phrases that appear in a text—to help you
James.” determine their meanings. There are various types of context clues that you
might encounter as you read.
Concept Vocabulary Restatement of Idea: As they fought to get past the finish line, one
runner hurled himself forward, throwing his body over the line.
Encourage groups to discuss the three concept
vocabulary words. Have they seen the words in Synonym: At the beginning of the race, he launched, or propelled,
texts before? Do they use any of the words in their himself over the start line.
speech or writing? Do they recognize any word Contrast of Idea: The winners of the race glided across the finish line,
parts, such as a base word, a prefix, or a suffix? while the remaining competitors stumbled behind them.
Have groups look closely at the two types of
context clues—familiar situations and familiar Apply your knowledge of context clues and other vocabulary strategies to
base words—and discuss how these types of determine the meanings of unfamiliar words you encounter during your first
clues can help determine meaning. Encourage read of the two poems.
groups to think of one other type of context
clue they might encounter in a text. Possibilities First Read POETRY
include synonyms, antonyms, and restatements
Refer to these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an
of an idea. opportunity to complete a close read after your first read.

First Read
 STandardS NOTICE who or what is ANNOTATE by marking
Have students perform the steps of the first read Reading Literature “speaking” the poem and vocabulary and key passages
independently. By the end of the year, read and whether the poem tells a you want to revisit.
comprehend literature, including
stories, dramas, and poems, in
story or describes a single
NOTICE: Students should focus on the basic the grades 6–8 text complexity incident.
elements of each poem to ensure that they can band proficiently, with scaffolding
identify the speaker and what the text describes. as needed at the high end of
the range. CONNECT ideas within REspONd by completing
ANNOTATE: Have students mark passages Language the selection to what you the Comprehension Check.
they would like to revisit in order to enhance of unknown and multiple-meaning
already know and you have
comprehension or to increase their aesthetic words and phrases based on grade
already read.
7 reading and content, choosing
appreciation. flexibly from a range of strategies.
CONNECT: Students should compare the feelings a. Use context as a clue to the
meaning of a word or phrase.
expressed in the poems with those of parents and
sons they have heard or read about.
RESPOND: Students will demonstrate their
understanding of the poems by answering
questions.
Point out to students that while they will always LIT17_SE07_U01_B5_SG.indd 94 4/13/16 4:47 PM

copies of the First-Read Guide: Poetry for
students to use.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION : What can one generation learn from another?
Mother to Son
About the Poets Backgrounds
To James
Langston Hughes (1902–1967) was an Mother to Son
African American writer known for jazz- What kind of life do parents want their children
Even after the abolition of slavery, life was
inspired poems that portrayed African very hard for most African Americans. to have? What can a parent do to help make that
American life in America. His work was Poetry, music, and the other arts were life possible?
controversial. Some critics worried that it Modeling questions such as these will help
creative outlets that allowed them to express
played into racial stereotypes. Others praised
Hughes for reaching everyday people by using
the hardships of their lives and to find students connect to “Mother to Son” and “To
inspiration. James” and to the Small-Group Performance Task
language and themes “familiar to anyone
who had the ability simply to read.” assignment. Selection audio and print capability
for the selection are available in the Interactive
Teacher’s Edition.
Frank Horne (1899–1974) was an African To James

American writer and activist. As a director at From 1914 through 1937, Harlem, a
the U.S. Housing Authority, he fought to end neighborhood in New York City, was
segregated housing. As a poet, he fought
the setting for an awakening of African
discrimination with poems that conveyed
American culture that came to be known as
dignity and pride.
the Harlem Renaissance. During this period,
African American writers such as Langston
Hughes and Frank Horne searched for the
truest way to express their experiences. Each
developed a unique style that ultimately
helped shape not just African American
culture but also world culture.
Poetry Collection 1 95
LIT17_SE07_U01_B5_SG.indd 95 FACILITATING SMALL-GROUP CLOSE READING 16-03-17 8:55 AM
CLOSE READ: Poems As students work • Explain that poems tend to be shorter and
together, monitor their discussions and offer therefore must make their point more directly.
support as needed. • Literary devices such as simile and metaphor
• Lead a brief discussion on the differences are more common in poetry than in prose.
between poetry and prose. Encourage groups to find and interpret examples
• Help students see that the sounds made by of figurative language.
the combination of words is more important in
poetry than in prose.
FACILITATING POETRY
CLOSER LOOK
Analyze Symbolism
their close read. Suggest that groups read the
entire poem without interruption. Encourage
Mother
to Son
them to talk about the annotations that
they mark. If needed, provide the following
support.
ANNOTATE: Have students mark details
in lines 3–6 of the poem that describe the Langston Hughes
staircase, or work with small groups to have
students participate while you highlight them
together.

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Possible response: These details very effectively NOTES Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
create an impression of a dingy and dangerous
staircase. It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
CONCLUDE: Help students to formulate 5 And boards torn up,
conclusions about the importance of these And places with no carpet on the floor—
details in the text. Ask students why the poet Bare.
might have included these details. But all the time
Possible response: The dingy staircase is the I’se been a-climbin’ on,
reality of life for this mother, and the poet 10 And reachin’ landin’s,
transforms it into a symbol of noble human And turnin’ corners,
endeavor and purpose. And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.
Remind students that, in order to work
So boy, don’t you turn back.
successfully, a symbol should operate on
15 Don’t you set down on the steps
two levels: it should have a functional, literal
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
meaning, and it should be able to bear the
Don’t you fall now—
weight of a much greater significance.
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
20 And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
PERSONALIZE FOR LEARNING


Figurative Language English Learners may help you understand how she feels? (tacks,
struggle with the figurative language in poetry. splinters, torn) What is the speaker saying about
Point out that students can use context clues to her subject in these lines? (Her life has been
determine the meaning of confusing phrases or difficult.) How do you know? (She is explaining
ideas. Read lines 2 through 5 of the poem: Life something rough and hard to navigate.) Guide
for me ain’t been no crystal stair./It’s had tacks in students to use context clues to determine the
it,/And splinters./And boards torn up. Ask: What meaning of other figurative language in “Mother
is the speaker in this poem talking about in these to Son” and “To James.” ALL LEVELS
lines? (life) What words does the speaker use to
POETRY
Concept Vocabulary
FLUNG If groups are struggling to define the
word flung in line 4, suggest that they use
context clues to determine the meaning. These
clues indicate that the writer is describing the
start of a race, and students can imagine what
a competitor does at the start of a race. Have
students use these context clues to define the
word.
To James Possible response: Flung means “threw.”

CATAPULTED If groups are struggling to define
the word catapulted in line 9, point out that
Frank Horne the base word is catapult. Tell students to think
about what a catapult does, and then to define
the word.
Possible response: Catapulted means “hurled or
launched with great force.”
LURCHED If groups are struggling to define the
Do you remember word lurched in line 13, suggest that they use
How you won NOTES context clues to determine its meaning. One of
That last race . . . ? Mark context clues or indicate
the clues should prompt them to think about
How you flung your body another strategy you used that how a person would move if the sinews of his
5 At the start . . . helped you determine meaning. or her legs had tightened. Have students use
How your spikes flung (FLUHNG) v. these context clues to define the word. Remind
Ripped the cinders1 MEANING:
students to look at the footnote if they aren’t
In the stretch . . . sure what sinews means.
How you catapulted catapulted Possible response: Lurched means “moved jerkily.”
10 Through the tape . . . (KA tuh puhl tihd) v.
MEANING:
Do you remember . . . ?
Don’t you think
I lurched with you

Out of those starting holes . . . ? lurched (LURCHT) v.
15 Don’t you think MEANING:
My sinews2 tightened
At those first
Few strides . . .
And when you flew into the stretch
1. cinders n. ashes.
2. sinews n. strong tissue that connects muscle to bone.
Mother to Son • To James 97
LIT22_SE07_U01_B5_SG.indd 97 VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT 18/03/21 12:54 PM
Verb Tenses Ask students what all three vocabulary words in lines 4,
9, and 13 have in common. (All are verbs, all are related to motion,
and all are in the past tense.) Point out that two of the past-tense
verbs are formed in the usual way, but one is irregular.
Copy this chart onto the board and challenge students to complete it.
Infinitive Past Present Future
to fling flung fling will fling
to catapult catapulted catapult will catapult
to lurch lurched lurch will lurch
FACILITATING
20 Was not all my thrill
NOTES Of a thousand races
Closer look
In your blood . . . ?
At your final drive
Analyze Tone Through the finish line
Circulate among groups as students conduct 25 Did not my shout
their close read. Suggest that groups close Tell of the
read the whole poem, without interruption. Triumphant ecstasy
Encourage them to talk about the annotations Of victory . . . ?
Live
that they mark. If needed, provide the
30 As I have taught you
following support.
To run, Boy—
Annotate: Have students mark details in It’s a short dash
the poem that signify a change in the way Dig your starting holes
the speaker seems to sound, starting at line Deep and firm
29 and concentrating on the verbs, or work 35 Lurch out of them
with small groups to have students participate Into the straightaway
while you highlight them together. With all the power
That is in you
Question: Guide students to consider what Look straight ahead
these details might tell them. Ask what a 40 To the finish line
reader can infer from the tone of the verbs, Think only of the goal
and accept student responses. Run straight
Possible response: The verbs are all Run high
imperatives. The speaker is giving James Run hard
instructions. 45 Save nothing
And finish
Conclude: Help students to formulate With an ecstatic burst
conclusions about the importance of these That carries you
details in the text. Ask students why the poet Hurtling
might have included these details. 50 Through the tape
Possible response: The speaker is encouraging To victory. . . .
James to win. The poet included these details
of tone to contrast with the questions that

dominate the first 28 lines, and to make it
possible for the speaker to suggest that there is
a much greater race to win.
Remind students that tone expresses the
poet’s attitude to the subject and to the
reader—and the speaker’s attitude to the
person he or she is addressing. Tone is often
most easily established by the mood of the
verbs. Here, lines 1–28 are interrogative;
29–51 are imperative.

LIT17_SE07_U01_B5_SG.indd 98 16-03-17 8:54 AM
Response In lines 14–17 of “Mother to Son” about getting advice? Do they agree or disagree
and in lines 19–51 of “To James,” a parent is with the advice? What would they want to say to
giving a child advice about life and the best the parent in response?
way to live it. Have students write a brief poem After students have completed their poems,
in response to one of these parents. Students you may choose to have volunteers read their
should imagine that they are the child being work aloud to the class.
addressed in the original poem. How do they feel
Complete the following items after you finish your first read. Review and clarify
details with your group. Mother to Son
Possible responses:
1. boards torn up, bare, dark
MOTHER TO SON
2. She tells her son not to give up when things get
1. Identify three words or phrases from the poem that describe the staircase.
difficult.
TO JAMES
Possible responses:
2. What does the speaker tell her son NOT to do? 1. The speaker refers to “you” winning a race.
2. The speaker identifies victory as the goal.
3. Running and racing repeat throughout the poem.
Research
Research to Explore If students have trouble
TO JAMES
selecting a research topic, suggest that they
1. What event does the speaker refer to at the poem’s start? consider researching other poems by Langston
Hughes, such as “Still Here,” “I, Too,” or “Dream
Deferred.”
2. What goal does the speaker of the poem identify?
3. Which actions repeat throughout the poem?

RESEARCH
Research to Explore These poems may spark your curiosity to learn more. Briefly
research a topic related to one of the poems. Then, share what you have learned with
your group.
LIT17_SE07_U01_B5_SG.indd 99 Digital perspectives 4/13/16 4:44 PM
Enriching the Text Both Langston Hughes and images after students have finished reading both
Frank Horne are closely associated with the poems. Then have groups share with the class
Harlem Renaissance. To help students understand how the images provide insight into the poems.
the culture these poets were writing in, and the Encourage them to consider how—or whether—
relationship between generations in that culture, their views of interactions between generations
go online to find images of people from different changed based on the images.
generations living in Harlem and other urban
neighborhoods in the 1920s and 30s. Display the
Facilitating maKIng meanIng
Close Read the text

Jump Start With your group, revisit sections of the text that you marked
during your first read. Annotate details that you notice.
What questions do you have? What can you conclude?
Close Read Engage students in a discussion
about what makes poetry a unique way POETRY COLLECTION 1
of exploring the interactions between CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE

generations. What is different about the way analyze the text to support your answers.
poetry affects the reader? Notebook Complete the activities.

1. Review and Clarify With your group, reread “Mother to Son.”
What qualities does the mother demonstrate through her words and
Close Read the Text actions? Why does the mother need these qualities?
If needed, model close reading by using the 2. Present and Discuss Now, work with your group to share lines from
Annotation Highlights in the Interactive Teacher’s the poems that you found especially important. Take turns presenting
Edition. Remind groups to use Accountable Talk your lines. Discuss what you noticed in the lines, what questions you
in their discussions and to support one another as asked, and what conclusions you reached.
they complete the close read.
3. Essential Question: What can one generation learn from another?
What have these poems revealed about what one generation teaches
Analyze the Text another? Discuss your ideas with the group.
1. Possible response: The mother demonstrates
persistence and strength. She needs these  WoRd netWoRK language development
qualities to get through the difficulties she has Look in the text for words
faces. related to the topic of Concept vocabulary
generations, and add them
2. Responses will vary by group but be sure that
to your Word Network. flung catapulted lurched
students explain why they choose the lines they
shared with the group.  STaNdaRdS
Why These Words? The concept vocabulary words from the poems are
3. Responses will vary. Reading Literature
• Cite several pieces of textual related. With your group, determine what the words have in common.
evidence to support analysis of Write your ideas and add another word that fits the category.
Concept Vocabulary what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from
Why These Words? Possible response: These the text. Practice
• Determine a theme or central
words express fast, forceful, or sudden movement idea of a text and analyze its Notebook To gain a better understanding of the concept

and create an overall sense of momentum that development over the course of
vocabulary words, write a sentence for each word that demonstrates
carries through the entire poem. Another word that the text; provide an objective
summary of the text. your understanding of the word’s meaning.
fits the category is lunged. • Determine the meaning of
words and phrases as they are
Practice used in a text, including figurative Word Study
and connotative meanings;
Sample responses: She flung the javelin past the analyze the impact of rhymes and Connotations and Denotations A connotation is an association or
trees; The pole vaulter catapulted to new heights; other repetitions of sounds on a feeling that a word suggests in addition to its literal dictionary definition,
The exhausted runner lurched to the finish line. specific verse or stanza of a poem
or section of a story or drama.
or denotation. Two words can have similar denotations but different
Language connotations. For example, the words mother and matriarch have the same
Word Network Demonstrate understanding basic denotation. However, mother has positive connotations of warmth
Possible words: son, boy, blood, taught of figurative language, word and security, whereas matriarch suggests a feeling of distance and formality.
relationships, and nuances in word
meanings.
Word Study c. Distinguish among the
connotations of words with
Find two synonyms in a thesaurus for the concept vocabulary word flung.
Write an explanation of how the connotations of the three words differ.
Connotations and Denotations similar denotations.
Possible responses:
flung: the denotative meaning is “threw
forcefully.” The connotation is that the action
is made with passion, or without fear of the
consequences. Two words that share the
denotation of flung are toss and heave. The Formative Assessment
LIT17_SE07_U01_B5_SG_app.indd 100 4/13/16 4:47 PM
connotation of toss is that the action is casual. Analyze the Text then discuss the words in more detail,
The connotation of heave is that the action is emphasizing the actions these words represent.
If students struggle to close read the text, then
made with great effort. provide the Poetry Collection 1: Text Questions Word Study
For more support, see Concept Vocabulary and available online in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition If students fail to identify connotations for
Word Study. or Unit Resources. Answers and DOK levels are the concept vocabulary, then ask them to
also available. say the word aloud and write down the first
thing that comes to mind. For Reteach and
Concept Vocabulary Practice, see Word Study: Connotations
If students struggle to identify the concept, and Denotations (RP).

Figurative Language: Symbolism A symbol is anything—an object,
Figurative Language: Symbolism Engage
person, animal, place, or situation—that represents something else. A
symbol has its own meaning, but it also stands for something larger than
students in a discussion about symbolism in their
itself, usually an abstract idea. For example, a dove is a type of bird that lives. Discuss how symbols can convey very deep
symbolizes peace. sentiments quickly, without using a lot of words.
What makes symbolism so important to poetry?
In poetry, an author’s use of symbolism can often reveal the theme, or How is it different from the use of symbolism in
insight about life, of a poem. To determine the theme of a poem that prose? For more support, see Analyze Craft and
incorporates symbolism, make inferences, or educated guesses, as to Structure: Symbols.
what the symbol might represent based on the details in the poem. Then,
consider the meaning of the symbol and how it suggests the theme. make it interactive
Choose a digital image that is easily recognizable
as a symbol of something of importance to your
CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE students and project it for the class. Ask students
to take a minute to write down what the symbol
Gather your notes in this chart and share with your group. means to them. Then, ask students to discuss
in their groups similarities or differences in their
Mother to Son to JaMeS
interpretation of the symbol.
How is symbolism used in the a. See possible responses b.
poem? What is the symbol? Possible responses:
in the Teacher’s Edition.
a. A staircase symbolizes life.
b. A race symbolizes life.
c. Life is a hard, constant, winding uphill climb;
life is sometimes rough, confusing and painful.
What impression of life does Details such as “had tacks in it/And splinters”
this symbol create? What details
c. d.
suggest the difficulty of life.
from the poem suggest this
impression? d. Life is an exciting competition; life can be a
straight path with a goal at the end. Details such
as “flew into the stretch” and “through the finish
line” help create the impression.
What does this symbol suggest e. f.

about how people should live e. The symbol suggests that people should keep
their lives? going, even when times are hard. They shouldn’t
expect life to ever be easy, but they should never
give up.
f. The symbol suggests that people should have a
goal and just go for it with all of their strength
What is the theme of the poem? g. h.
What details from your analysis and concentration.
of the author’s use of symbolism g. The theme is that it is necessary to persevere even
support this inference?
when life is difficult. The details that suggest
that it’s necessary to persevere include “I’se still
climbin.”
h. The theme is that one should try hard to succeed
in life. The details that suggest that theme include
“Run straight/Run high/Run hard,” and “Through
the tape/To victory. . . .”
LIT17_SE07_U01_B5_SG_app.indd 101 Personalize for Learning 4/13/16 4:47 PM
Challenge Formative Assessment

Symbolism Every generation has symbols that have come to represent its
experiences, culture, and important moments in its youth. For example, the Analyze Craft and Structure
peace symbol is often associated with the youth of the late 1960s, whereas If students are unable to identify what the
emoticons are more closely associated with today’s youth. symbols represent, then have them think about
Have students interview family and friends from different generations about the the people, places, or things that the symbols
symbols of their youth. Students should then create a brief digital slide show of are identified with. For Reteach and Practice,
images of those symbols. As you project each student’s slides, have the class try see Analyze Craft and Structure:
to guess which generation the symbols belong to. Symbols (RP).

Facilitating LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Author’s Style Author’s Style

Rhythm and Repetition Rhythm is the pattern of strong and weak
Rhythm and Repetition Students may
beats in spoken or written language.
automatically associate poetry with rhyme
(the repetition of sounds at the ends of words). In free verse poems such as “To James” by Frank Horne and “Mother to
POETRY COLLECTION 1
Explain to students that not all poems include Son” by Langston Hughes, the structural pattern can be irregular and
rhyme. Free verse poetry, such as “To James” or closer to the natural rising and falling of spoken language. The term
“Mother to Son,” does not employ rhyme, and “free verse” refers to poetry that has no standard pattern of rhyme
often follows the rhythm of natural speech. For GROUP DISCUSSION
or rhythm.
more support, see Author’s Style: Rhythm and Take turns presenting Repetition is the repeated use of any element of language. Poets can
Repetition. portions of each poem
repeat a sound, a word, a phrase, a sentence, a rhyme, a rhythm, or all
aloud. Discuss how listening
of these elements to emphasize ideas and create musical effects. Here are
to a poem read aloud helps
some examples:
Read It you to hear rhythm, rhyme,
and other sound devices.
Possible responses: • The sun sank in the sea.
Discuss the connection
Mother to Son between the sound of a • We didn’t look, we didn’t listen, we only were.
• and; lines 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, and 20 poem and its meaning. • I gallop’d, Dirck gallop’d, we gallop’d all three;
• I’se . . . climbin’: lines 9 and 19 Notice that in these examples, both words and sounds are repeated.
To James
• Do you: lines 1 and 11
Read It
• Don’t you think: lines 12 and 15 Test your understanding of repetition with a game. Working individually,
• Run . . .: lines 42, 43, and 44 make a list of the repeated elements in “To James” and “Mother to
• . . .?: lines 3, 11, 14, 22, and 28 Son.” Identify as many examples as you can; then rejoin your group and
compare lists.
Write It
Responses will vary but students should identify Write It
uses of rhythm and repetition in their chosen
poem. Ask them to explain why particular rhythms Choose one poem from the collection and write a paragraph describing
and repetitions are appropriate to the poem or to how the poet uses rhythm and repetition to emphasize certain ideas.
particular parts of the poem.

 STaNdaRdS
Reading Literature
Determine the meaning of words
and phrases as they are used in
a text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze
the impact of rhymes and other
Formative Assessment repetitions of sounds on a specific
verse or stanza of a poem or
Author’s Style section of a story or drama.
If students struggle to identify repetition in the Language
Demonstrate understanding
poems, then have them read aloud the first and of figurative language, word
last words of each line, looking and listening relationships, and nuances in word
for words or phrases that repeat. For Reteach meanings.
and Practice, see Author’s Style: Rhythm and

Repetition (RP). 102 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS
Personalize for Learning LIT17_SE07_U01_B5_SG_app.indd 102 4/13/16 4:47 PM
English Language Support absence of a regular rhythm, affects each Ask students to read “To James” and “Mother to
Rhythm in Poetry Explain to students that when poem. Emerging Son” and discuss the effect that free verse, or the
reading poetry aloud, it is important to find the Have pairs of students read “To James” and absence of a regular rhythm, has on how a poem
rhythm of the words. “Mother to Son” out loud and discuss the sounds. Ask them to write a brief paragraph
Have pairs of students work together to discuss effect that free verse, or the absence of a about whether they prefer free verse or a poem
rhythm. Have one student read “To James” softly regular rhythm, has on how a poem sounds. with a regular rhythm and why. Bridging
to him or herself and have one student read Ask them to discuss if they prefer free verse An expanded English Language Support
“Mother to Son” to him or herself. Then have each or a poem with a regular rhythm and why. Lesson on Rhythm is available in the
student explain to the other how free verse, or the Expanding Interactive Teacher’s Edition.

EFFECTIVE EXPRESSION
Writing to Sources Writing to Sources

Assignment Ensure that all group members have an
Write a narrative poem in which the speaker shares with readers opportunity to think about how they would
a lesson learned through personal experience. Include at least one share a lesson they learned through personal
symbol in your poem. experience.
You will work individually to craft your poem. After you have Analyze Sources for Inspiration Remind
completed your poems, you will revise and discuss them as a group. students to think about how the poets use
symbols to convey their insights, as well as how
the speakers in the poems share advice.
Analyze Sources for Inspiration As you brainstorm ideas for your
 EVIDENCE LOG
poem, review the poems by Hughes and Horne. Note the ways in which Organize Your Ideas Encourage students to
the poets use symbols to convey the experience of the speaker and to
new selection, go to your
take notes as they consider each question. Point
develop the theme of the poem. Also, note other techniques, such as log and record what you out that they may change their minds about
description, that the poets use to capture the experiences of the speaker learned from “Mother to various details as they begin drafting the poem.
and the subjects. Studying the ways poets effectively use symbols and Son” and “To James.”
narrative techniques can help you better apply them to your own writing. Draft Your Poem Have students work
independently to draft their poems. Encourage
Organize Your Ideas Consider the following questions to organize your them to use the ideas they have noted but point
thoughts and add interest to your poem: out that they should be open to new ideas in
• What experience will my poem describe? What symbol will I use to their writing process.
convey this experience? Revise and Evaluate Students may not
 StandardS
• Who is the speaker of my poem? Whom will the speaker be Writing immediately recognize symbols or themes in
addressing, and what is their relationship?
poetry. It will be valuable for students to be able
• What is the setting of my poem? What specific details describe the events using effective technique, to name the symbol, theme, and descriptive
relevant descriptive details, and language of their own poems, as well as the
setting? well-structured event sequences.
a. Engage and orient the reader poems of others. Encourage them to discuss the
• How can I use sensory language, or language that appeals to one by establishing a context and strengths and weaknesses of each other’s poems
or more of the five senses, to vividly describe my speaker, subjects, point of view and introducing
setting, and experience? a narrator and/or characters; while keeping a collegial tone.
organize an event sequence that
• What is the theme of my poem? What lesson is the experience in my unfolds naturally and logically. Discuss as a Group Students should reflect
poem meant to convey?
b. Use narrative techniques, on the process of using symbols and descriptive
such as dialogue, pacing
and description, to develop language to convey an insight in poetry. For more
Draft Your Poem Once you have planned your poem, write it down. Try
support, see Writing to Sources: Narrative
experiences, events, and/or

not to self-edit at this point; strive to get it written in one sitting so that characters.
d. Use precise words and Poem.
you can maintain your flow of ideas.
phrases, relevant descriptive
details, and sensory language to Evidence Log Support students in completing
Revise and Evaluate Exchange the first draft of your poem with a group
capture the action and convey their Evidence Log. This paced activity will
member. See if you can determine the subject, symbol, and theme of your experiences and events.
classmate’s poem. Also, consider your classmate’s use of sensory language • With some guidance and help prepare them for the Performance-Based
and descriptive details: Is any sensory language confusing or inaccurate? support from peers and adults, Assessment at the end of the unit.
develop and strengthen writing
Are there places where descriptive details would make the poem more as needed by planning, revising,
interesting? Provide feedback to your classmate politely and respectfully. editing, rewriting, or trying a new
approach, focusing on how well
Discuss as a Group Read the final version of your poem to your group. purpose and audience have been
addressed.
After all members have recited their poems, discuss the similarities and • Draw evidence from literary
differences between them. Discuss the process of writing a poem and or informational texts to support
creating a symbol: How was this challenging? How did the process analysis, reflection, and research.
a. Apply grade 7 Reading
increase your understanding of the ways in which symbols can be standards to literature.
effective in poetry?
Writing to Sources
If groups struggle to combine and revise their
LIT17_SE07_U01_B5_SG_app.indd 103 4/13/16 4:47 PM
poem, then suggest they think about what
the group members’ individual drafts have
in common and how they complement one
another. For Reteach and Practice, see Writing to
Sources: Narrative Poem (RP).
Selection Test
Administer the “Mother to Son; To James”
Selection Test, which is available in both print and
digital formats online in Assessments.

FACILITATING Performance Task: sPeaking and LisTening focUs
SOURCES
Present a Nonfiction Narrative • TUTORS TEACH SENIORS
Present a Nonfiction Narrative
Remind groups to consult the schedule for Small- NEW HIGH-TECH TRICKS
Group Learning to guide their work during the Assignment

• from MOM & ME & MOM
Performance Task. Work with your group to present a panel discussion in which you tell
stories and give examples that relate to the following question.
Students should complete the assignment • LEARNING TO LOvE
using presentation software to take advantage of My MOTHER What new knowledge or skills can you learn from
text, graphics, and sound features. someone of a different generation?
• MOTHER TO SON
Plan With Your Group • TO JAMES
Analyze the Texts Students should understand Plan With Your Group
that each text may contain more than one lesson, Analyze the Texts With your group, identify a key lesson about life
and the same lesson may have been taught in taught in each text listed. Summarize your ideas on this chart.
more than one text.
TITLE LESSON TAUGHT / SUPPORTING DETAILS
Assign Roles Have students try to accommodate
individual group members’ wishes to act as the Tutors Teach Seniors
speaker or narrator for a given text, especially if a New High-Tech Tricks
person feels he or she has special insight. Remind
students that all group members will have an
from Mom & Me & Mom
important role to play in the discussion.
Learning to Love
My Mother
Mother to Son
To James
 STANDARDS
• Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions with diverse

partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and Assign Roles When the chart is complete, review with your group.
issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly. Then, identify one group member to act as moderator and the other
a. Come to discussions prepared, group members to represent one narrator or one speaker in the panel
having read or researched material
discussion.
under study; explicitly draw on
that preparation by referring to
evidence on the topic, text, or issue
to probe and reflect on ideas under
discussion.
b. Follow rules for collegial
discussions, track progress toward
specific goals and deadlines, and
define individual roles as needed.
• Analyze the main ideas and
supporting details presented in
diverse media and formats and
explain how the ideas clarify a topic,
text, or issue under study.
Author's Perspective Ernest Morrell, Ph.D.

LIT17_SE07_U01_B_SG_PT.indd 104 4/13/16 4:47 PM
How to Package a Speech/Oral Presentation The • Posture: Does my posture convey authority and • Humor: How do I add humor when it suits
Small-Group speaking and listening activity will help ease? Do I look relaxed and comfortable as I’m my audience and purpose? Do I tell jokes or
students learn how to engage an audience during presenting? anecdotes, for instance?
a presentation. This is important for students as • Body language: How do I connect physically with • Tone: Do I speak with passion to engage my
they prepare for careers, public service, and higher my audience? For instance, do I make eye contact, audience?
education. Help students learn to become better lean forward at key points to show emphasis, and
speakers by reminding them to ask themselves Remind students that the way they present their
use appropriate gestures?
these questions as they practice and rehearse their information is often just as important as what they
• Voice: Am I changing my voice by varying my are saying.
speeches and oral presentation: pitch and volume to show emotion and convey
meaning? Does my voice project to the back rows?
Plan Your Panel Discussion Allow time for the moderator to prepare
Plan Your Panel Discussion Students may
questions for the discussion about life lessons that are passed on
between generations. Other group members should use this time to
choose to work together to plan questions that
become expert on the speaker or narrator of a given text. Keep the the moderator may ask. Encourage students to
following in mind: think about the answers to those questions from
the point of view of the speaker or narrator each
• The moderator’s questions should lead responders to relate
is representing.
anecdotes, or short, true-life stories, about their experiences.
• Panel members should be prepared to respond to the moderator’s
questions with stories about what they learned from another Rehearse With Your Group
generation. Review Requirements After the first run-
through, have students discuss whether the
Rehearse With Your Group questions were meaningful and whether the
answers were stories told from the point of view
Review Requirements As you practice your panel discussion, use this
of the speakers and narrators of the texts.
checklist to evaluate the effectiveness of your first run-through. Then, use
your evaluation and these instructions to guide any changes you make to Fine-Tune the Content If students are having
the format of the panel discussion. difficulty in asking or answering questions based
on the texts, encourage them to share their
CONTENT PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES own ideas about the texts, so that the narratives
presented can be stronger.
The questions posed are Speakers make eye contact
meaningful and answerable. and speak clearly.
Brush Up on Your Presentation Techniques
The responses should be in Speakers adjust volume and
Remind students that when taking part in the
the form of a narrative. pacing as appropriate. panel discussion, they may need to speak at a
Speakers use their tone of volume that is somewhat louder than they are
voice to emphasize main accustomed to so that their voice projects to the
points. entire presentation space.
make it interactive
Fine-Tune the Content If the connection between the moderator’s Suggest that groups video record their rehearsal
questions and the panel members’ responses are not yet clear, work as and watch it together as a strategy for refining
a group to make the connections stronger. You may need to perform their panel discussion.
further analysis of the source texts to strengthen the content.
Brush Up on Your Presentation Techniques Practice making eye
Present and Evaluate
contact with the moderator and with other panel members as they
speak. Avoid multitasking during the discussion so that the focus remains Before beginning the panel discussions, set the
on the person speaking. expectations for the audience. You may wish to
have students consider these questions as groups
present.
Present and Evaluate  STANdARdS
Speaking and Listening • What are the main lessons addressed in the
Remember that you must use teamwork to make this presentation • Present claims and findings,
emphasizing salient points in a presentation?
effective. As you listen to other groups present, take notes and be
ready to ask questions and provide feedback at the conclusion of their pertinent descriptions, facts, details, • How does each panelist address lessons about
discussion. and examples; use appropriate eye life through narratives related to the texts you
pronunciation.
have read?
• Adapt speech to a variety of
contexts and tasks, demonstrating
• What presentation skills did the group
command of formal English when excel at?
indicated or appropriate.
As students provide feedback to the presenting
group, remind them that compliments are just as
Performance Task: Present a Nonfiction Narrative 105
valuable as constructive criticism.
LIT17_SE07_U01_B_SG_PT.indd 105 PERSONALIZE FOR LEARNING 4/13/16 4:47 PM
Challenge
Building Understanding Have groups discuss how found most understandable or thought-provoking
the genres and/or media of the selections in the Remind students that there is no one genre that
Small-Group Learning section affected students’ is better than another, and that a genre or format
understandings of and receptiveness to the they find easy to understand may be challenging
lessons presented throughout the unit. Encourage for another student.
students to share which genre or medium they

OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW: INDEPENDENT LEARNING
INDEPENDENT LEARNING ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
What can one generation learn What can one generation

from another? learn from another?
Encourage students to think carefully about People from different generations sometimes have very different ways of looking
what they have already learned and what at the world. For your final reading selection in this unit, you will choose one
more they want to know about the unit additional text about generations. Follow these steps to help you choose.
topic of generations. This is a key first step to Look Back Think about the selections you have already read. What more do
previewing and selecting the text they will read in you want to know about the topic of generations?
Independent Learning.
Look Ahead Preview the selections by reading the descriptions. Which one
Independent Learning seems most interesting and appealing to you?
Strategies Look Inside Take a few minutes to scan through the text you chose. Make
another selection if this text doesn’t meet your needs.
Review the Learning Strategies with students and
explain that as they work through Independent
Learning they will develop strategies to work on Independent Learning Strategies
their own. Throughout your life, in school, in your community, and in your career, you will
need to rely on yourself to learn and work on your own. Review these strategies
• Have students watch the video on Independent
and the actions you can take to practice them during Independent Learning.
Learning Strategies.
Add ideas of your own for each category.
• A video on this topic is available online in the
STRATEGY ACTION PLAN
Students should include any favorite strategies Create a schedule • Make a plan for what to do each day.
that they might have devised on their own during
• Understand your goals and deadlines.
Whole-Class and Small-Group Learning. For
example, for the strategy “Take notes,” students •
might include:
• Organize notes in a chart.
• Highlight most important notes so they are

Practice what you’ve • Use first-read and close-read strategies to deepen your understanding.
easy to find. learned • Evaluate the usefulness of the evidence to help you understand the topic.
• Consider the quality and reliability of the source.
Block Scheduling •
Each day in this Pacing Plan represents a
40–50 minute class period. Teachers using
block scheduling may combine days to reflect Take notes • Record important ideas and information.
their class schedule. In addition, teachers may • Review notes before preparing to share with a group.
•

Pacing Plan
Introduce
Whole-Class LIT22_SE07_U01_C_INO.indd 106 18/03/21 1:03 PM
Learning
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING

CONTENTS
Choose one selection. Selections are available online only.
POETRY COLLECTION 2
Contents
Lineage Margaret Walker
Selections Encourage students to scan and
Family Grace Paley
preview the selections before choosing the
one they would like to read. Suggest that they
What do you inherit from your ancestors? consider the genre and subject matter of each
one before making their decision. You can use
OPINION PIECE the information on the following Planning pages
“Gotcha Day” Isn’t a Cause for Celebration to advise students in making their choice.
Sophie Johnson
Remind students that the selections for
Can you yearn for a past that you barely remember?
Independent Learning are only available in the
Interactive Student Edition. Allow students
SHORT STORY who do not have digital access at home to
preview the selections using classroom or
The Grandfather and His Little Grandson computer lab technology. Then either have
Leo Tolstoy
students print the selection they choose or
Time will catch up to all of us. provide a printout for them.
BLOG POST Performance-Based Assessment Prep

Review Evidence for a Nonfiction Narrative
Bridging the Generational Divide Between
Point out to students that collecting evidence
a Football Father and a Soccer Son John McCormick during Independent Learning is the last step in
How do a father and son find common ground in a completing their Evidence Log. After they finish
disagreement?
their independent reading, they will synthesize all
the evidence they have compiled in the unit.
SHORT STORY The evidence students collect will serve as the
Water Names primary source of information they will use to
Lan Samantha Chang complete the writing and oral presentation for
the Performance-Based Assessment at the end of
An eerie tale has been passed down for generations.
the unit.
SHORT STORY
An Hour With Abuelo

Judith Ortiz Cofer
An old man can still surprise his grandson.
PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT PREP

Review Evidence for a Nonfiction Narrative
Complete your Evidence Log for the unit by evaluating what you’ve learned and
synthesizing the information you’ve recorded.
Overview: Independent Learning 107
Introduce Introduce
LIT22_SE07_U01_C_INO.indd 107
Small-Group 18/03/21 1:03 PM
Independent Learning
Learning
Learning
Performance-Based
to Love
Assessment
Tutors Teach Seniors My Mother Performance Task
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
INDEPENDENT LEARNING
Independent Learning 107

planning independent learning
Lineage • Family
Summaries Insight
Margaret Walker’s poem “Lineage” is composed of two six-line Reading “Lineage” and “Family”
stanzas, the first in the past tense, the second in the present. Both will help students reflect on how
stanzas describe the speaker’s grandmothers. In the first, they are different experiences and external
SELECTION RESOURCES forces shape each generation.
working the land and singing. In the second, they tell stories of the
When one generation is defined
First-Read Guide: Poetry past, and they smell of cooking and cleanliness. The speaker wants by trials and hardships, the people
to ask them a question, but they suddenly disappear into the past, of later generations may compare
Close-Read Guide: Poetry
and they will never reply. themselves with those ancestors
oetry Collection 2: Text
P In Grace Paley’s autobiographical poem “Family,” the poet lists and either come up short or
Questions groups of adjectives and phrases that she heard as a child. They appreciate the opportunities
were used among her family to describe various family members. they’ve been given.
Audio Summaries
To Paley as a child, they seemed mysterious and dramatic. In time,
Selection Audio some of them came to describe her, too, but others never did,
Selection Test because she is American.
Connection to Essential Question

These poems provide reflective perspectives on the Essential Question—
What can one generation learn from another? In “Lineage,” the speaker’s
reflections on her grandmothers’ strength makes her wonder why she herself
is not strong. In “Family,” the speaker reflects on her family members and
finds that, because she never had to endure the hardships they faced in their
home country and as immigrants in America, she has escaped some of their
negative traits.
Connection to Performance Task

Unit Performance-Based Assessment This selection shows students that it is
important for younger generations to acknowledge the hard work of older
generations that made life better for those who followed. Students should
consider this in light of the question they will answer in the Performance-
Based Assessment: What is an example of a lesson one generation can learn
from another?
Text Complexity Rubric: Poetry: Lineage • Family

Lexile: NP; NP Text Length: 12 lines; 9 lines
Knowledge Demands For both poems it is helpful for students to know that the family members referred to may be
1 2 3 4 5 immigrants to the U.S., so activities referenced in poems may have been in other countries.
Structure Both poems are written in free verse, so they follow the rhythm of natural speech. Many of the lines are
1 2 3 4 5 full sentences, following a repetitive pattern (for example, multiple sentences starting the same way).
Language Conventionality and Clarity Conventional language is used in both poems. “Lineage” uses literal language, evoking strong images.
1 2 3 4 5 “Family” uses figurative language (fell among adjectives… buried with opportunity.)
Levels of Meaning/Purpose “Lineage” is very straightforward in meaning; “Family” is mostly straightforward but ends with
1 2 3 4 5 meaning that is ambiguous and must be interpreted.

Digital Digital
Audio Video Document Annotation EL Online
perspectives perspectives
“Gotcha Day” Isn’t a Cause for Celebration

Summary Insight
Families with an adopted child like to make an annual celebration of Sometimes it takes the clear eyes
the date their new son or daughter joined the family. Some families of a new generation to point out
the mistakes of the past. Reading
call this anniversary “Gotcha Day.” In her opinion piece “‘Gotcha
SELECTION RESOURCES “’Gotcha Day’ Isn’t a Cause for
Day’ Isn’t a Cause for Celebration,” Sophie Johnson explains why
Celebration” will help students
irst-Read Guide:
F she finds the name inappropriate. Sophie is an adopted child herself, understand that the traditions
Nonfiction and very happy—her adoptive parents came to China when she of past generations, such as
was five and took her with them back to America. Adoption is celebrating “Gotcha Day,” may
lose-Read Guide:
C
Nonfiction
something to celebrate, but Sophie points out that every adopted not be welcomed by the current
child was once lost, abandoned, or rejected. For every adoptive generation. Those traditions
“Gotcha Day” Isn’t a family, there was once a biological mother and father. Sophie and that no longer have meaning or
Cause for Celebration: her family have abandoned “Gotcha Day” and adopted a different are hurtful need to change to
Text Questions name for their annual celebration. accommodate the sensibilities of a
new generation.
Audio Summaries
Selection Audio
Selection Test “’Gotcha Day’ Isn’t a Cause for Celebration” relates to the Essential Question—
What can one generation learn from another?—in that Sophie Johnson is a
teenager who teaches her parents to be more mindful of the loss surrounding
adoption. Drawing on her personal experience, Sophie points out to her
adoptive parents that the flip side of their happiness is someone else’s grief.
Unit Performance-Based Assessment This selection shows students that a
younger generation can provide a new perspective on an idea that has gone
unquestioned for generations. Students should consider this as they prepare to
answer the question in the Performance-Based Assessment: What is an example
of a lesson one generation can learn from another?
Text Complexity Rubric: “Gotcha Day” Isn’t a Cause for Celebration

Knowledge Demands The selection is about a topic that might not be familiar to all students (conflicting feelings about
1 2 3 4 5 adoption), but the situations and feelings are clearly explained.
Structure The structure is a straightforward account of facts and feelings. Connection between ideas is clear.
1 2 3 4 5
Language Conventionality and Clarity Account is written in conversational language. Some sentences are lengthy, with multiple clauses.
1 2 3 4 5
Levels of Meaning/Purpose Concepts are clearly explained. Understanding the meaning of the selection requires being able to see
1 2 3 4 5 two sides of an issue (why “Gotcha Day” can be a “mixed bag”).
Independent Learning 108B

The Grandfather and His Little Grandson

Summary Insight
In his short story “The Grandfather and His Little Grandson,” Leo Reading “The Grandfather and His
Tolstoy tells a tale of three generations living under the same roof. Little Grandson” will help students
The grandfather is so old and weak that his food sometimes falls reflect on the responsibilities that
SELECTION RESOURCES one generation has for another.
from his lips as he eats. His son and daughter-in-law make him eat
The parents in the story have a
First-Read Guide: Fiction near the stove, instead of at the table with them. When he breaks responsibility to take care of the
a bowl, his daughter-in-law tells him she’s going to give him his older generation, but they also
food in a wooden bowl from now on. One day, his little grandson, have a responsibility to lead the
he Grandfather and
T Misha, is on the floor making something from wood. His parents ask younger generation by example.
His Little Grandson: Text him what he’s making, and Misha’s reply makes them ashamed of
Questions themselves.
Audio Summaries
Selection Audio
Selection Test
“The Grandfather and His Little Grandson” provides a fable-like perspective on the
Essential Question—What can one generation learn from another? The young child
in the story innocently delivers the moral “What goes around comes around.” He
assumes that his parents’ treatment of his grandfather is the right way to behave,
so he plans to treat them the same way. They are treating the old man cruelly,
and, if the child follows their example, their own son would in turn be treating
them cruelly. Learning their lesson, they treat the old man the way they themselves
would like to be treated.

Unit Performance-Based Assessment This selection illustrates for students that
someone from a younger generation can show people of an older generation how
to be better people, simply by reflecting back to them their questionable behavior.
The child in the story is a mirror in which the parents are forced to see themselves.
Students should consider lessons older generations can learn from younger
generations as they prepare to answer the question in the Performance-Based
Assessment: What is an example of a lesson one generation can learn from
another?
Text Complexity Rubric: The Grandfather and His Little Grandson

Knowledge Demands The theme of family life and interactions are mostly common and familiar. Some references will not be as
1 2 3 4 5 familiar because of the folk origin (peasant couple, living in a hut, playing with bits of wood, wooden bucket).
Structure Story is told chronologically and is easy to predict. There is a small amount of dialogue.
1 2 3 4 5
Language Conventionality and Clarity Selection has mainly simple sentences. The longer sentences are compound sentences that can be easily
1 2 3 4 5 broken down to understand.
Levels of Meaning/Purpose The meaning of the story is presented with some subtlety (students must infer meaning from child’s
1 2 3 4 5 behavior and words), but conclusion of story is clearly stated.

Digital
perspectives
Bridging the Generational Divide Between

a Football Father and a Soccer Son
Summary Insight
SELECTION RESOURCES John McCormick loves football. His son Will loves soccer. This The more things change, the
difference in sporting loyalties causes endless argument between more they stay the same. Reading
irst-Read Guide:
F “Bridging the Generational Divide
father and son. McCormick tells the story of how peace was
Nonfiction Between a Football Father and
restored in his blog post, “Bridging the Generational Divide Between
a Soccer Son” will help students
lose-Read Guide:
C a Football Father and a Soccer Son.” One day, when Will refers to
understand that the generations
Nonfiction soccer as “a sport whose time has come,” McCormick remembers are more alike than different.
that he used the same argument to defend football when his own The younger generation may feel
Bridging the Generational
Divide: Text Questions father tried to tell him baseball was the best sport. McCormick sees that it knows better than the
a pattern here and decides to bring this intergenerational dispute prior generation, but the prior
Audio Summaries to an end. generation very likely felt the same
way when it was the younger
Selection Audio
generation.
Selection Test Connection to Essential Question
“Bridging the Generational Divide Between a Football Father and a Soccer Son”
looks at the Essential Question—What can one generation learn from another?—
from the perspective of family traditions. As the author argues with his son about
the best sport, he realizes that despite their differences, they are very much the
same. The father and son prefer different sports because they are the products
of different generations, but their support for a sport “whose time has come” is
almost a family trait, passed down from one generation to the next.
Unit Performance-Based Assessment This selection illustrates for students that
a child can help a parent gain a new perspective. The son in this selection, by
arguing for soccer, forces his father to reconsider his lifelong belief that football
is “the beautiful sport,” and inadvertently uncovers a common thread between
the generations. Students should consider different generations’ viewpoints when
answering the Performance-Based Assessment question: What is an example of a
lesson one generation can learn from another?
Text Complexity Rubric: Bridging the Generational Divide . . .

Knowledge Demands Subject matter relies on common practical language with some discipline-specific content knowledge
1 2 3 4 5 (sports: soccer and football).
Structure Connection between ideas is mostly explicit. Arguments laid out in dialogue in pairs of contrasting ideas
1 2 3 4 5 can enhance understanding.
Language Conventionality and Clarity Selection contains some complex sentences and figurative language; most language is easy to
1 2 3 4 5 understand, with some occasions for more complex meaning.
Levels of Meaning/Purpose Purpose is explicitly stated. Some double meanings are implied but easy to identify based on the
1 2 3 4 5 context.
Independent Learning 108D

Water Names
Summary Insight
In “Water Names,” a short story by Lan Samantha Chang, the Cultural history bridges the gaps
narrator remembers an old Chinese story her grandmother told between generations. Reading
her. She often told stories in Chinese because she wanted her “Water Names” will help students
SELECTION RESOURCES consider the bond between
grandchildren to honor their heritage. This story was about one of
generations when ancestral ties
First-Read Guide: Fiction their ancestors, Wen Zhiqing, who lived 1,200 years ago and loved
are not forgotten. The city girls in
to go fishing with his daughter on the Yangtze River. One day they the story forge a link with their
caught a very big fish and found a pearl ring in its stomach. The cultural past by imagining the river
ater Names: Text
W daughter believed that it was a gift from a young man who had they’ve never seen and the beauty
Questions drowned many years ago. She believed he now ruled an underwater of their grandmother as a young
kingdom, and he wanted her to join him. Wen was afraid and woman they never knew.
Audio Summaries
forbade her to go near the river. The following spring there was a
Selection Audio great flood. The daughter was nowhere to be found.
Selection Test

“Water Names” looks at the Essential Question—What can one generation learn
from another?—from the perspective of ancestry. Waipuo may be teaching her
granddaughters a lesson about controlling their passions or teaching them to follow
their passions, but she most certainly is teaching them not to ignore their ancestry.
Wen Zhiqing’s daughter either fulfills her dream of living a magical life with her
water husband or she drowns in the flood. Either way, the river seals her fate, and
the river symbolizes the girls’ Chinese ancestry.

Unit Performance-Based Assessment This selection provides students with the
cultural lessons that Waipuo teaches her granddaughters, helping them connect
to their ancestry even though they live American lives. Students should think
about how meaning in older generations’ storytelling can help them answer the
Performance-Based Assessment question: What is an example of a lesson one
generation can learn from another?
Text Complexity Rubric: Water Names

Knowledge Demands Selection contains stories told by a grandmother with themes that are unfamiliar to most readers (China
1 2 3 4 5 long ago and Chinese folklore).
Structure Selection contains two storylines and time shifts from present to ancient times.
1 2 3 4 5
Language Conventionality and Clarity Story has dense and complex language, with abundant use of figurative language, similes and
1 2 3 4 5 metaphors, and vivid imagery.
Levels of Meaning/Purpose Multiple levels of meaning that may be difficult to identify; theme is subtle and is revealed over the
1 2 3 4 5 entirety of the text.
108E UNIT 1 • Generations

Digital
perspectives
An Hour with Abuelo

Summary Insight
Judith Ortiz Cofer’s short story “An Hour with Abuelo” begins Reading “An Hour With Abuelo”
when Arturo finally agrees to visit his grandfather for just one hour. will help students reflect on
His grandfather, or abuelo, is writing when Arturo arrives. After the mistake that people of one
SELECTION RESOURCES generation make when they
checking the time, Arturo asks Abuelo to read his story. It is called
underestimate or disregard the
First-Read Guide: Fiction “That’s the Way Life Is.”
people of a different generation.
Close-Read Guide: Fiction Abuelo always loved words and books. He went to high school and
later got a teaching job he loved. Then the war came and he had
n Hour with Abuelo:
A to join up. He wanted to teach young soldiers, but his sergeant said
Text Questions no. After the war, he couldn’t get his teaching job back. He gave up
Audio Summaries and became a farmer. Arturo wants to tell Abuelo he should have
fought for his dream. Abuelo has to go, though. He’s off to a poetry
Selection Audio reading. Arturo wants to come, but his hour is up.
Selection Test

“An Hour with Abuelo” provides an interesting perspective on the Essential
Question, What can one generation learn from another? Arturo is very
concerned with time: how much he has left to finish his reading, how long he
has to spend with his abuelo, and the time remaining in his visit. His grandfather
pointedly remarks that Arturo has plenty of time to hear his life story, and then
just as pointedly remarks that Arturo has run out of time and cannot stay to hear
the poetry reading. In this way, Arturo’s abuelo teaches Arturo that time—in this
case “one hour”—can change what you think you know about someone else.

Unit Performance-Based Assessment This selection shows students that it is
possible, with time, to reach across the gap between the generations. Students
should think about how Arturo’s meeting with his abuelo can help them to
answer the Performance-Based Assessment Question: What is an example of a
lesson one generation can learn from another?
Text Complexity Rubric: An Hour with Abuelo

Knowledge Demands The story focuses on the relationships among family members. The situations presented will be familiar
1 2 3 4 5 to most students and are clearly explained.
Structure The selection is a narrative in the first person (from the grandson’s perspective). It also has flashbacks
1 2 3 4 5 that provide background about the characters, and a story told by the grandfather, also in first person.
Language Conventionality and Clarity Clear, conversational, modern language is used. Style of speech changes between characters. Tense also
1 2 3 4 5 changes to accommodate narration and flashbacks.
Levels of Meaning/Purpose The selection contains multiple levels of meaning. It addresses what happens between the two
1 2 3 4 5 characters, and it presents feelings and attitudes that must be inferred from actions or words.
Independent Learning 108F

advising INDEPENDENT LEARNING
First-Read Guide Tool Kit

First-Read Guide and
You may wish to direct students to use the
Model Annotation
generic First-Read and Close-Read Guides Use this page to record your first-read ideas.
in the Print Student Edition. Alternatively, you
may wish to print copies of the genre-specific Selection Title:
First-Read and Close-Read Guides for students.
These are available online in the Interactive
Student Edition or Unit Resources. NOTICE new information or ideas you learn ANNOTATE by marking vocabulary and key
about the unit topic as you first read this passages you want to revisit.
First Read text.
Students should perform the steps of the first

read independently:
NOTICE: Students should focus on the basic
elements of the text to ensure they understand
what is happening.
ANNOTATE: Students should mark any passages
they wish to revisit during their close read.
CONNECT: Students should increase their
understanding by connecting what they’ve read
to other texts or personal experiences.
RESPOND: Students will write a summary to
demonstrate their understanding.
Point out to students that while they will
always complete the Respond step at the end CONNECT ideas within the selection to RESPOND by writing a brief summary of
of the first read, the other steps will probably other knowledge and the selections you the selection.
happen somewhat concurrently. Remind students have read.
that they will revisit their first-read annotations
during the close read.

After students have completed the First-
Read Guide, you may wish to assign the Text
Questions for the selection that are available
in the Interactive Teacher’s Edition.
Anchor Standards
In the first two sections of the unit, students
worked with the whole class and in small
groups to gain topical knowledge and
greater understanding of the skills required
by the anchor standards. In this section, they
are asked to work independently, applying  STANDARD
Reading Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
what they have learned and demonstrating
increased readiness for college and career.
Personalize for Learning LIT17_SE07_U01_C_INO.indd 108 15-11-24 10:00 AM
English Language Support to them. Explain to students that when they skim, Finally, help partners complete a KWL chart to note
they should focus on understanding the general what they already know about the topic and what
Skim, Predict, and Use KWL Chart Use the Text
idea and should not stop to figure out unfamiliar they want to learn, and then after their first read,
Complexity Rubrics to help individual students select
words. what they learned:
a text appropriate for their English proficiency level.
Next, have students work with a partner to predict Know Want to Know Learned
Help students identify the genre of the selection
what their selection will be about. Instruct them
they chose: poem, short story, or opinion piece.
to ask and answer Wh- questions. Provide sample
Then have them skim the selection to notice text
question frames, such as What ____? Who ____?
features, such as headings or visuals. They can also ALL LEVELS
How ____?
look for quotation marks and words that stand out

Close-Read Guide Tool Kit

Close-Read Guide and
Model Annotation Close Read
Use this page to record your close-read ideas.
Students should begin their close read by revisiting
Selection Title: the annotations they made during their first read.
Then, students should analyze one of the author’s
choices regarding the following elements:
Textual Evidence Focus on Big Ideas
• patterns, such as repetition or parallelism
Annotate • Question • Conclude Think about the author’s choice of patterns,
Revisit sections of the text you marked during structure, techniques, and ideas included in • structure, such as cause-and-effect or
your first read. Read the sections closely the text. Select one and record your thoughts problem-solution
and annotate what you notice. Ask yourself about what this choice conveys.
• techniques, such as description or dialogue
questions about the text. What can you
conclude? Write your ideas. • ideas, such as the author’s main idea or claim
Make it Interactive
Group students according to the selection they
have chosen. Then, have students meet to discuss
the selection in depth. Their discussions should be
guided by their insights and questions.
QuickWrite
Pick a paragraph from the text that grabbed your interest. Explain the power of this passage.
 STANDARD
Reading Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
LIT17_SE07_U01_C_INO.indd 109 Personalize for Learning 15-11-24 10:00 AM

Read Aloud and Confirm Predictions Pair students or put them in Have students make predictions as they listen, and then have
groups so they can take turns reading aloud to one another. Each partners or groups discuss, compare, and confirm the predictions
student can read one paragraph, or you can split up the text in any they made. Ask: Did anything surprise you? Were any predictions
other way that makes sense. For example, for a short story, you correct? Which ones? Finally, have partners or groups work
may wish to assign different characters and the role of narrator to together to add more details about what they learned on their
individual students to take turns reading aloud. Close-Read Guide. ALL LEVELS

advising INDEPENDENT lEarNINg
 evIdence Log Share Your Independent Learning

Share Your Go to your Evidence Log Prepare to Share
Independent Learning and record what you
learned from the text What can one generation learn from another?
Prepare to Share you read. When you read something independently, you can continue to grow
Explain to students that sharing what they by sharing what you have learned with others. Reflect on the text you
learned from their Independent Learning selection explored independently, and write notes about its connection to the unit.
provides classmates who did not read the same In your notes, consider why this text belongs in this unit.
selection with an opportunity to consider the text
as a source of evidence during the Performance-
Based Assessment. As students prepare to share,
remind them to highlight how their selection
contributed to their knowledge of the concept of
generations as well as how the selection connects
to the question What can one generation learn
from another?
Learn From Your Classmates Learn From Your Classmates

As students discuss the Independent Learning
Discuss It Share your ideas about the text you explored on your
selections, direct them to take particular note of own. As you talk with your classmates, jot down ideas that you learn
how their classmates’ chosen selections align with from them.
their current position on the Performance-Based
Assessment question.
Reflect
Students may want to add their reflection to their
Evidence Log, particularly if their insight relates to
a specific selection from the unit.
Make it Interactive
Divide a board or large piece of paper at the
front of the classroom into a chart or table with Reflect

sections for each independent learning selection. Review your notes, and mark the most important insight you gained from
Have each student write his or her insight on a these writing and discussion activities. Explain how this idea adds to your
sentence strip and attach it to the section of the understanding of the topic of generations.
chart that corresponds to his or her selection. As
a class, discuss any patterns that emerge between
the student insights. For example, did some
students have the same insight even though
they read different selections? Did students who
chose the same selection tend to have the same
insights?
Evidence Log Support students in completing
Assessment at the end of the unit.
Author’s Perspective Ernest Morrell, Ph.D.

LIT17_SE07_U01_C_IN_PT.indd 110 4/13/16 4:48 PM
Learning From Others Independent learning helps students build • For nonfiction text: How is the information organized? What is the
vocabulary, background knowledge, and fluency. Teach students how most interesting thing you’ve learned so far?
to learn from each other by modeling how to ask clarifying questions • What parts of the text do you think were most important? Why?
when other students are sharing their experiences. Questions like
these can guide the discussion: • Did the text meet your expectations? Why or why not? Would you
recommend this text to a classmate? Explain your answer.
• Why did you choose this text? For example, did the topic interest you?
Have you heard of the author or read anything else by the author? • How does the text relate to other texts you have read on this
subject? How does it relate to your life?
• For narrative text: What is the problem in the story? When and
where does the story take place? Why?

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT PREP
Review Evidence for a Nonfiction Narrative Review Evidence for a

At the beginning of the unit, you expressed your own ideas in response
to the following question: Nonfiction Narrative
Evidence Log Students should understand that
In what situations can one generation learn from another?
their ideas about an issue could evolve as they
learn more about the subject and are exposed
 EvIdENcE log
to additional points of view. Point out that just
Review your Evidence Log and your QuickWrite from the beginning of the unit. because they expressed ideas in response to the
Did you learn anything new?
question In what situations can one generation
learn from another? doesn’t mean that the ideas
can’t change after careful consideration of their
NOTES
learning and evidence.
Identify at least three pieces of evidence that interested you about the relationships
between generations. Evaluate Your Evidence Remind students that
there are many different types of evidence they
can use to support their ideas, including:
1.
• nonfiction texts and media
• fiction texts and media
• anecdotes
2. • personal experiences
In addition to supporting their writing with
evidence, students should understand the factors
that led them to their ideas and opinions. Point
3.
out that these ideas and opinions should be:
• based on objective evidence while
incorporating subjective experience
• flexible and open to other points of view
Identify a real-life experience that illustrates one of your current ideas
about the ways in which people of different generations can learn from
each other.
To develop your thoughts into a topic for your nonfiction narrative,  STaNdardS
Writing
complete this sentence starter: • Write narratives to develop
I learned a great deal about the ways in which people from different events using effective technique,
generations can learn from each other when relevant descriptive details, and
well-structured event sequences.
establishing a context and point
of view and introducing a narrator
and/or characters; organize an
Evaluate Your Evidence Consider your original ideas and thoughts on naturally and logically.
the subject. How did the selections you read and watched impact your • Draw evidence from literary or
ideas and opinions? informational texts to support
Performance-Based Assessment Prep 111
LIT17_SE07_U01_C_IN_PT.indd 111 Personalize for Learning 4/13/16 4:48 PM
Strategic Support
Identify Insights If a student struggles to identify In the different columns, the student can list
a real-life experience about knowledge or skills interactions he or she has had with, or witnessed
passed between generations, it may be helpful between, individuals of different generations. The
for the student to create a chart that organizes student can then select the interaction that best
individuals in his or her personal life into two or represents his or her point of view.
more columns representing different generations.

assessing PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT
sources Part 1
Writing to Sources: • Whole-class selections Writing to sources: Nonfiction Narrative
Nonfiction Narrative • small-group selections In this unit, you read about a variety of characters who influenced one
Students should complete the Performance-Based another across generations. Often, the insight went both ways, as older
Assessment independently, with little to no input • independent-learning
people learned from younger people, just as children learned from adults.
selection
or feedback during the process. Students should
use word processing software to take advantage Assignment
of editing tools and features. Write a nonfiction narrative in which you use dialogue, description,
Prior to beginning the Assessment, ask and precise words to develop and convey experiences and events. Your
students to think about times when they either narrative should respond to the following prompt:
learned something from or taught something to In what situations can one generation learn
an individual of a different generation. from another?
Your narrative might be about an experience that you had with an
Review the Elements of Effective Nonfiction older relative or another person from a different generation. As an
Narrative Students can review the work they alternative, you could write about an experience one of your friends
did earlier in the unit as they complete the or family members had with someone from a different generation.
Performance-Based Assessment. They may also Conclude your narrative by reflecting on the ways in which the
consult other resources, such as: selections in this unit and the process of writing this narrative have
• the elements of a nonfiction narrative,  WorD NeTWorK deepened your understanding of the relationships between people of
including people, sequence, dialogue, and different generations.
As you write and revise your
point of view, available in Whole-Class Learning nonfiction narrative, use
your Word Network to help
• their Evidence Log Reread the Assignment Review the assignment to be sure you fully
vary your word choices.
• their Word Network understand it. The assignment may reference some of the academic
words presented at the beginning of the unit. Be sure you understand
Although students will use evidence from the each of the words here in order to complete the assignment correctly.
unit selections for their nonfiction narrative, they
may need to collect additional evidence, including Academic Vocabulary
anecdotes and personal experiences.
dialogue consequence perspective
Connect to the Selections Encourage students notable contradict
to include references to specific selections from
the unit in their narratives, in order to help them Review the Elements of a Nonfiction Narrative Before you begin

convey the ideas they want to express. Point out writing, read the Nonfiction Narrative Rubric. Once you have completed
that they need not try to include a reference to your first draft, check it against the rubric. If one or more of the elements
every selection, but only to the ones that will help is missing or not as strong as it could be, revise your narrative to add or
strengthen that component.
them better communicate their ideas.  standards
Writing Connect to the Selections In your narrative, make connections to the
real or imagined experiences or selections in this unit by including details and examples that clarify the
events using effective technique, ideas in your narrative. Review the literary techniques, such as description
relevant descriptive details, and and dialogue, that the authors use in the selections to engage readers.
well-structured event sequences.
You may use the authors’ examples as a model to develop the use of
• Draw evidence from literary
or informational texts to support literary techniques in your own narrative.
• Write routinely over extended time
frames and shorter time frames for
a range of discipline-specific tasks,
purposes, and audiences.
Author’s Perspective Kelly Gallagher, M.LIT17_SE07_U01_U_PAS.indd

Ed. 112 4/13/16 4:50 PM
Building a Writing Portfolio with Students Teachers Teachers can set the criteria using such categories as Best To help them learn to reflect,
can create a portfolio that enables students to Argument, Best Narrative Piece, Best Informative Piece, use questions like these throughout
demonstrate the variety of writing they complete over the Best On-Demand Writing, Best Poetry, Best Blended the year.
year. There are three elements of keeping a portfolio— Genre, Best Writing from Another Class, Best Model • Where does your writing still need
collection of all the writing a student has done, selection of Revision, and Best Single Line You Wrote This Year. improvement? How will you improve?
of the best pieces, and reflection to evaluate growth. Students should also include a reflective letter at the end • Reflect on a struggle you faced during
of the year. this unit. How did you overcome it?

Nonfiction Narrative Rubric Nonfiction Narrative Rubric

Focus and Organization Evidence and Elaboration Language Conventions As you review the Nonfiction Narrative Rubric
The introduction is engaging and Narrative techniques, such The narrative intentionally with students, remind them that the rubric is a
introduces the characters and situation as dialogue, pacing, and uses standard English
resource that can guide their revisions. Students
in a way that appeals to readers. description, are used to add conventions of usage and
interest to the narrative and mechanics. should pay particular attention to the differences
Events in the narrative progress in
logical order and are linked by clear
to develop the characters between a nonfiction narrative that contains all of
and events.
transitions. the required elements (a score of 3) and one that
4
The conclusion follows the events in
Precise, vivid words and is engaging, insightful, and progresses in a logical
sensory language are
the narrative and provides insightful frequently used to convey
and thoughtful manner (a score of 4).
reflection on the related experiences in the experiences in the
the narrative. narrative and to help the
reader imagine the characters
and scenes.
The introduction is engaging and Narrative techniques, such The narrative demonstrates
clearly introduces the characters and as dialogue, pacing, and accuracy in standard English
situation. description, are often used to conventions of usage and
add interest to the narrative mechanics.
Events in the narrative progress and to develop experiences
logically, and transition words are used and events.
frequently.
3
Precise, vivid words and
The conclusion follows the rest of the sensory language are
narrative and provides some reflection usually used to convey the
on the experiences related in the experiences in the narrative
narrative. and to describe the characters
and events.
The introduction introduces the Narrative techniques, such The narrative demonstrates
characters. as dialogue and description, some accuracy in standard
are sometimes used in the English conventions of usage
Events in the narrative progress narrative. and mechanics.
somewhat logically, and some
transition words are used. Precise, vivid words and
sensory language are
2 The conclusion adds little to the sometimes used to convey
narrative and does not provide experiences.
reflection on the experiences in the
narrative.
The introduction does not introduce Few, if any, narrative The narrative contains
the characters and situation, or there is techniques are used in the mistakes in standard English
no introduction. narrative. conventions of usage and
mechanics.
Events in the narrative do not progress The narrative fails to
logically. The ideas seem disconnected incorporate sensory language
1 and are not linked by transitional words and precise words to convey
and phrases. experiences and to develop
characters.
The conclusion does not connect to
the narrative, or there is no conclusion.
Performance-Based Assessment 113
LIT17_SE07_U01_U_PAS.indd 113 4/13/16 4:50 PM
• Discuss a specific writing strategy you used and

how it worked for you.
• What strengths have you developed as a writer?
Where are those strengths found in this portfolio?
• Where can you demonstrate in this portfolio that
you have improved as a reader and as a writer?
At the end of the year, students can review these
pieces to see their growth as writers.

assessing performance-based assessment
PART 2
Speaking and Listening: Speaking and Listening:
Multimedia Presentation Multimedia Presentation
Students should annotate their nonfiction
narrative in preparation for the multimedia
Assignment
presentation, marking the important elements
After completing the final draft of your nonfiction narrative, use it as
(characters, situation) as well as critical anecdotes the foundation for a multimedia presentation.
or examples.
Remind students that the effectiveness
Do not simply read your narrative aloud. Take the following steps to
of a multimedia presentation relies on how make your multimedia presentation lively and engaging.
the speaker establishes credibility with his or
• Review your narrative, and concentrate your presentation on the parts
her audience. If a speaker comes across as  STANDARDS
of your narrative that provide reflection on the events and experiences
confident and authoritative, it will be easier for Speaking and Listening
• Present claims and findings, presented.
the audience to give credence to the speaker’s emphasizing salient points in a • Include different types of media that will help emphasize the main
presentation. focused, coherent manner with
pertinent descriptions, facts, details, points of your presentation.
Review the Rubric As you review the Rubric and examples; use appropriate eye • Use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear
with students, remind them that it’s a valuable contact, adequate volume, and clear
pronunciation. pronunciation.
tool that can help them plan their presentation. • Include multimedia components
They should strive to include all of the criteria and visual displays in presentations Review the Rubric Before you deliver your presentation, check your
to clarify claims and findings and plans against this rubric. If one or more of the elements is missing or not as
required to achieve a score of 3. Draw their emphasize salient points.
strong as it could be, revise your presentation.
attention to some of the subtle differences
between scores of 2 and 3. Content Use of Media Presentation Technique
The narrative effectively The media connect to all parts of The speaker makes eye
establishes a point of view and the narrative. contact and speaks clearly.
follows a logical sequence.
The media enhance and add The speaker adjusts volume
The speaker effectively uses interest to the narrative. and pacing effectively.
3
narrative techniques and a variety of
transitions for cohesion and clarity. The timing of the media matches
the timing of the narrative.
The speaker includes relevant
descriptive details.
The narrative establishes a point The media connect to some parts The speaker sometimes makes

of view and generally follows a of the narrative. eye contact and speaks clearly.
logical sequence.
The media add interest to the The speaker somtimes adjusts
2 The speaker uses some narrative narrative. volume and pacing.
techniques and some transitions.
The timing of the media sometimes
The speaker includes some matches the timing of the narrative.
The narrative does not establish a The media do not connect to the The speaker does not make
point of view and does not follow narrative. eye contact and does not
a logical sequence. speak clearly.
The media do not add interest to
The speaker does not use the narrative. The speaker does not adjust
1
narrative techniques and volume and pacing.
transitions. The timing of the media does not
match the timing of the narrative.
The speaker does not include
Preparing for the Assignment To help students students note the techniques that make each
understand what an effective multimedia speaker successful (that is, gestures, pacing, tone,
presentation looks and sounds like, find use of media, and so on). Suggest that students
examples on the Internet of students or adults record themselves presenting their narratives
incorporating multimedia as they tell nonfiction prior to presenting to the class so that they can
narratives. Project the examples for the class practice incorporating some of the elements in
(after previewing them yourself), and have the examples you showed them.

UNIT
1 REFLECTION
Reflect on the Unit Reflect on the Unit

Now that you’ve completed the unit, take a few moments to reflect on
your learning. • Have students watch the video on Reflecting
on Your Learning.
Reflect on the Unit Goals • A video on this topic is available online in the
Look back at the goals at the beginning of the unit. Use a Professional Development Center.
different-colored pen to rate yourself again. Then, think about
readings and activities that contributed the most to the growth of your
Reflect on the Unit Goals
understanding. Record your thoughts. Students should re-evaluate how well they met
the unit goals now that they have completed the
unit. You might ask them to provide a written
commentary on the goal they made the most
progress with, as well as the goal they feel
warrants continued focus.
Reflect on the Learning Strategies

Discuss It If you want to make this a digital
Reflect on the Learning Strategies activity, go online and navigate to the Discussion
Discuss It Write a reflection on whether you were able to improve Board. Alternatively, students can share their
your learning based on your Action Plans. Think about what worked, learning strategies reflections in a class discussion.
what didn’t, and what you might do to keep working on these strategies.
Record your ideas before a class discussion. Reflect on the Text
Consider having students share their text
reflections with one another.
MAKE IT INTERACTIVE
Have students prepare one slide using
presentation software that summarizes their
reflection.
Collate student slides into a presentation that
Reflect on the Text can be viewed by the class. Students should be
Choose a selection that you found challenging, and explain what prepared to give a 30-second oral summary for
made it difficult. their slide.
Describe something that surprised you about a text in the unit. Unit Test and Remediation
After students have completed the
Performance-Based Assessment, administer
Which activity taught you the most about generations? What did the Unit Test. Based on students’ performance
you learn? on the test, assign the resources as indicated
on the Interpretation Guide to remediate.
Students who take the test online will be
automatically assigned remediation, as
warranted by test results.
Unit Reflection 115

POETRY
Lineage
Margaret Walker
About the Poet

Poet and novelist Margaret Walker (1915–1998) was
born in Birmingham, Alabama, daughter of a minister
and a music teacher who nurtured her interest in poetry
and philosophy. At the age of 19, Walker graduated
from Northwestern University and began a career as a
writer. In addition to earning a master of arts in 1940
and a PhD in 1965. Walker received numerous honorary
degrees and fellowships in recognition of her literary contributions.
BACKGROUND
For Margaret Walker, her family history was her greatest source of
inspiration. Her grandmother took care of Walker and her siblings as
children and told them stories about their great-grandmother. Walker’s
500-page epic novel, Jubilee, was based on her great-grandmother’s life
during slavery and immediately following the Civil War.

My grandmothers were strong.
NOTES
They followed plows and bent to toil.1
They moved through fields sowing seed.
They touched earth and grain grew.
5 They were full of sturdiness and singing.
My grandmothers are full of memories

Smelling of soap and onions and wet clay
With veins2 rolling roughly over quick hands
10 They have many clean words to say.
Why am I not as they?
1. toil n. hard physical work.
2. veins n. vessels that carry blood to the heart.
IL1 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Lineage • Family

POETRY
Family
Grace Paley
About the Poet

Grace Paley (1922–2007) was raised in the Bronx, in
New York City. Her parents spoke both Russian and
Yiddish, and this dual culture as well as the city itself
inspired many of her writings. She described herself as a
“combative pacifist” and spoke out against American
militarization in anti-war protests. Paley taught writing
at Sarah Lawrence College for many years, and her
work has won many awards.
BACKGROUND
Paley’s family immigrated to America from Russia during the Russian
Revolution of 1905. During this period, many Russians had become
dissatisfied with the social and political system of their country.
Protestors were initially met with violent resistance by the government,
but continued unrest eventually convinced Tsar Nicholas II to institute
the Fundamental Laws, which functioned as a constitution.
My father was brilliant embarrassed funny handsome

NOTES
my mother was plain serious principled1 kind
my grandmother was intelligent lonesome for her
other life her dead children silent
5 my aunt was beautiful bitter angry loving
I fell among these adjectives in earliest childhood

and was nearly buried with opportunity
some of them stuck to me others
finding me American and smooth slipped away
1. principled adj. moral; knowing right from wrong.
UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Lineage • Family IL2

OPINION PIECE
“Gotcha Day”
Isn’t a Cause for
Celebration
Sophie Johnson
About the Author

Sophie Johnson was a junior at Malibu High School in
Malibu, California, when she wrote and published this
article. She has written several articles for the
Huffington Post.
BACKGROUND
Between 1999 and 2013, United States families adopted over 200,000
children from overseas, including 70,000 children from China. Most
children are less than two years old when adopted, but many are older,
and have some memories of life in their birth country. In this piece, an
author reflects on the mixed emotions she has about her own “Gotcha
Day,” the day she was adopted.
NOTES
1
I was five and a half years old when my parents adopted me in

China and brought me to my new home to America. As my
mom always says, I eagerly ran into her arms and truly have
stayed there for the past 12 years. She is my mom, my best friend,
the woman I admire most in the world. But for the longest time,
my family marked that day we met in China as something known
in adoption circles as “Gotcha Day.”
2 Lots of families celebrate the day they met their adopted child
and became a family. But while I appreciate the love and everything
else my parents give me, Gotcha Day can be a mixed bag—one that
leaves kids like me sad and confused. What’s missing from Gotcha
Day is this: The acknowledgement that adoption is also about loss.
3 While adoptive parents may be celebrating a long-awaited child
finally entering their lives, that child in their arms has experienced
IL3 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • “Gotcha Day” Isn’t a Cause for Celebration
abandonment or has been surrendered for reasons they may never
know or understand. It’s a lot to process. And sometimes while NOTES
adopted kids are processing it, their feelings of loss override their
feelings of happiness. Gotcha Day is one of those times when
we think about our past and how little some of us actually know
about it. We think about our biological parents and wish we knew
them and could ask them why they didn’t keep us. We think
about what our lives would be like, where would we be, what our
futures would look like, had there been no Gotcha Day.
4 It’s been said that adoption loss is the only trauma in the
world where everyone expects the victims to be grateful and
appreciative. I am grateful and appreciative, but I also want to
remind people that someone’s happiness over building their
family through adoption may also be someone else’s sorrow over
losing their child for circumstances they couldn’t control. Gotcha
Day feels like a day of fake smiles if we don’t acknowledge that
it’s also about loss, not just gain.
5 In my family, we now celebrate Family Day. My parents show
my brother and me the photos of when we first met. We talk about
how she fed me a big bag of candy that I promptly threw up on
her in the cab ride back to the hotel. I tell her every Family Day
how she shouldn’t have let our guide throw away the yellow
sweatsuit that I vomited on. It was the last thing my orphanage
caregivers dressed me in and was a tangible part of a past that
has many unknowns. (I forgive her; she was jet-lagged1 and the
guide took away the dirty clothes and just put them in the trash
knowing my mom had a suitcase full of new things for me to
wear from America.)
6 Every Family Day, we laugh about my little brother’s Elvis2
sneer and bewilderment at the events of the day we got him.
We laugh about how—I was 7 at the time and had been living
in America for two years—I took one look at him and began
asking my mom if we could get a puppy instead. We remember

how while my parents were busy filling out paperwork and he
and I sat coloring and my dad threw a ball at his head. My mom
screamed and my brother, without even looking up from his
coloring, raised his left hand and caught the pitch perfectly. “A
leftie! Yes!!” shouted out my dad, a life-long Cubs3 fan. I’m not
sure if the Chinese officials thought it was funny, but we sure
laugh about it every Family Day.
7 I love our Family Day. It celebrates our love for one another
plain and simple. And we always end it by lighting a candle for
our first families and going outside to talk to the moon. ❧
1. jet-lagged adj. exhausted from long-distance travel.

2. Elvis Elvis Presley, wildly popular singer and actor, also known for his smiling sneer.
3. Cubs Major League Baseball team of Chicago.
UNIT 1 Independent Learning • “Gotcha Day” Isn’t a Cause for Celebration IL4
SHORT STORY
The Grandfather and

His Little Grandson
Leo Tolstoy
About the Author

Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) was born into a wealthy
family in Russia and inherited the family estate. By
the time he was fifty, he had written some of the
world’s most famous novels. In midlife, Tolstoy began
to reject his life of luxury. He surrendered the rights to
many of his works and gave his property to his family.
This world-famous writer died alone in a remote train
station in Russia.
BACKGROUND
“The Grandfather and His Little Grandson” is originally a German fairy
tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, and first published in 1812. Many
writers, including Leo Tolstoy, have retold different versions of this story
over time.
NOTES
1
T he grandfather had become very old. His legs would not

carry him, his eyes could not see, his ears could not hear, and
he was toothless. And when he ate, he was untidy. His son and the
son’s wife no longer allowed him to eat with them at the table and
had him take his meals near the stove. They gave him his food
in a cup. Once he tried to move the cup closer to him and it fell
to the floor and broke. The daughter-in-law scolded the old man,
saying that he damaged everything around the house and broke
their cups, and she warned him that from that day on she would
give him his food in a wooden dish. The old man sighed and said
nothing.
2 One day the old man’s son and his wife were sitting in their
hut, resting. Their little son was playing on the floor. He was
putting together something out of small bits of wood. His father
asked him: “What are you making, Misha?” And Misha said: “I’m
IL5 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • The Grandfather and His Little Grandson
making a wooden bucket. When you and Mommie get old, I’ll
feed you out of this wooden bucket.” NOTES
3 The young peasant and his wife looked at each other and tears
appeared in their eyes. They were ashamed to have treated the old
man so unkindly, and from that day they again ate with him at the
table and took better care of him. ❧
Reprinted with the permission of Little Simon, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division from Twenty-Two
Russian Tales for Young Children by Leo Tolstoy, Selected, Translated, and with an Afterword by Miriam Morton. Translation
copyright 1969 Miriam Morton; copyright renewed (c) 1998 Miriam Morton
UNIT 1 Independent Learning • The Grandfather and His Little Grandson IL6
BLOG POST
Bridging the
Generational Divide
Between a Football
Father and a
Soccer Son
John McCormick
About the Author

John McCormick is a blogger, author, and regular contributor to the
Huffington Post’s Parents Section, where he provides insights and advice
to fellow parents. McCormick is also a speaker, frequently visiting schools,
fairs, and libraries to advocate for storytelling.
BACKGROUND
American football originates from the sports of soccer and rugby.
According to many metrics, it is the most popular sport in America.
But it is soccer (known as football in most countries besides the United
States) that reigns as the most popular sport across the globe. The
World Cup is among the most-watched sporting events in the world.
Today, soccer has gained popularity in the United States as well.
NOTES
1
N owhere is the generation gap between my 16-year-old son

Will and me wider than when it comes to football. Football,
for me, is that most American of sports, pitting helmeted warriors
colliding with one another across the line of scrimmage1. Football Copyright © SAVVAS Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.
for Will is of the global variety, the “beautiful sport” consisting of
touch passes and bending corner kicks, commonly referred to on
this side of the Atlantic as soccer.
2 Will plays on his high school’s JV soccer team. Last weekend,
he invited a few of his teammates for a sleepover at our home
after their Friday night game. The next morning, Will and his
teammates gathered around the television to watch an English
Premiere League soccer game. Comparing players on their
respective fantasy league soccer teams, they rattled off the names
1. line of scrimmage imaginary line used at the beginning of play to separate two
football teams.
IL7 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Bridging the Generational Divide . . .

of players I’d never heard of . . . Mesut Özil, Yaya Touré and
Mathieu Flamini, to name just a few. NOTES
3 While impressed with their knowledge of EPL players, I

wondered how many professional football players they could
identify, so I asked them to name as many players they could from
the National Football League.
4 The first five were easy for the boys—“RGIII, Peyton Manning,
Drew Brees, Joe Flacco, Richard Sherman.”
5 An awkward pause ensued before another boy finally piped up
with “Ray Rice.” I groaned.
6 When my son and his friends finally bogged down at eight,
I asked, “Why do you know so much about soccer but so little
about football?”
7 The gauntlet had been thrown down, and my son quickly took
up the challenge. “Soccer is way more fun to watch and play than
football,” he said. “There are so many commercial timeouts during
football games on TV that you can die of old age waiting for play
to resume.”
8 I had to give him that one. While I had lost one battle, I wasn’t
about to concede the war. I told him that football had more
offense, and that watching scoreless soccer games for ninety
minutes was as dry as watching C-Span2 with the volume off.
9 Back and forth the arguments flew like headers3 on a
soccer pitch.
10 Will: Soccer is followed by millions more fans than football and
is the most popular sport in the world.
11 Dad: The 2014 Super Bowl is still the most watched in U.S. TV
history.
12 Will: Soccer is a more fluid4 game, requiring skill, endurance
and grace.
13 Dad: Football has all that, too, but the players don’t act like
they’ve been mortally wounded every time an opposing player
brushes against them!

14 Will: Soccer enthusiasts are the most passionate fans in the
world, singing songs and standing on their feet for entire matches.
15 Dad: Ever been to a Seahawks game in Seattle or a Broncos
game in Denver?
16 My son got in the last word. “Soccer is a sport whose time has
come. It’s the sport of my generation.”
17 I suddenly remembered a conversation I had with my own
father when I was my son’s age. My father, the starting catcher on
his college baseball team, spoke passionately of why baseball is,
2. C-Span television network that broadcasts political proceedings and other public affairs
programming.
3. headers n. shots or passes in soccer made by hitting the ball with the head.
4. fluid adj. showing a smooth, easy style.
UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Bridging the Generational Divide . . . IL8

and always will be, America’s national pastime. I argued just as
NOTES fervently that football was now America’s national game.
I even recall telling my dad that football was a sport whose time
had come.
18 Every generation has its own collective character, its likes and
dislikes, its passions and indifferences. While baseball was tops
in my dad’s day and football in mine, many youth today are
embracing soccer as the new “in” sport. Maybe it’s time for me to
take a new perspective on “the beautiful game.”
19 My son and I came up with a compromise. I watch an EPL game
with my son on Saturday mornings and he watches an NFL game
with me on Sunday afternoons. Not only do we have the chance to
spend more time together, but we teach each other the finer points
of futbol vs. football. Along the way we even discovered that
football is derived from soccer, with rugby providing the missing
link. Who knew that both sports were in the same family? Just like
in ours. ❧
IL9 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Bridging the Generational Divide . . .

SHORT STORY
Water Names
Lan Samantha Chang
About the Author

Writer and novelist Lan Samantha Chang (b. 1965)
grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, learning about China
from her Chinese immigrant parents. She has received
many awards, including a 2008 Guggenheim
Fellowship. Chang is currently the director of the
prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
BACKGROUND
The Yangtze River is one of the longest rivers in the world, flowing
3,915 miles across China, and emptying out into the East China Sea.
Throughout Chinese history, the Yangtze River has been a vital source of
life, providing food and enabling irrigation, transportation, and industry.
Yangtze is the river’s westernized name - in China it is called Chang
Jiang, meaning “Long River.”
S
1 ummertime at dusk we’d gather on the back porch, tired and

NOTES
sticky from another day of fierce encoded quarrels, nursing
our mosquito bites and frail dignities, sisters in name only. At
first we’d pinch and slap each other, fighting for the best—least
ragged—folding chair. Then we’d argue over who would sit next
to our grandmother. We were so close together on the tiny porch
that we often pulled our own hair by mistake. Forbidden to bite,
we planted silent toothmarks on each others’ wrists. We ignored
the bulk of house behind us, the yard, the fields, the darkening
sky. We even forgot about our grandmother. Then suddenly we’d
hear her old, dry voice, very close, almost on the backs of our
necks.
2 “Xiushila! Shame on you. Fighting like a bunch of chickens.”
UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Water Names IL10

3 And Ingrid, the oldest, would freeze with her thumb and
NOTES forefinger right on the back of Lily’s arm. I would slide my hand
away from the end of Ingrid’s braid. Ashamed, we would shuffle
our feet while Waipuo calmly found her chair.
4 On some nights she sat with us in silence. But on some nights
she told us stories, “just to keep up your Chinese,” she said.
5 “In these prairie crickets I often hear the sound of rippling
water, of the Yangtze River,” she said. “Granddaughters, you are
descended on both sides from people of the water country, near
the mouth of the great Chang Jiang as it is called, where the river
is so grand and broad that even on clear days you can scarcely see
the other side.
6 “The Chang Jiang runs four thousand miles, originating in the
Himalaya mountains1 where it crashes, flecked with gold dust,
down steep cliffs so perilous and remote that few humans have
ever seen them. In central China, the river squeezes through
deep gorges, then widens in its last thousand miles to the sea.
Our ancestors have lived near the mouth of this river, the ever-
changing delta, near a city called Nanjing, for more than a
thousand years.”
7 “A thousand years,” murmured Lily, who was only ten. When
she was younger she had sometimes burst into nervous crying at
the thought of so many years. Her small insistent fingers grabbed
my fingers in the dark.
8 “Through your mother and I you are descended from a line of
great men and women. We have survived countless floods and
seasons of ill-fortune because we have the spirit of the river in
us. Unlike mountains, we cannot be powdered down or broken
apart. Instead, we run together like raindrops. Our strength and
spirit wear down mountains into sand. But even our people must
respect the water.”
9 She paused. “When I was young, my own grandmother once

told me the story of Wen Zhiqing’s daughter. Twelve hundred
years ago the civilized parts of China still lay to the north, and
the Yangtze valley lay unspoiled. In those days lived an ancestor
named Wen Zhiqing, a resourceful man, and proud. He had been
fishing for many years with trained cormorants, which you girls
of course have never seen. Cormorants are sleek, black birds
with long, bending necks which the fishermen fitted with metal
rings so the fish they caught could not be swallowed. The birds
would perch on the side of the old wooden boat and dive into the
river.” We had only known blue swimming pools, but we tried to
imagine the sudden shock of cold and the plunge, deep into water.
10 “Now, Wen Zhiqing had a favorite daughter who was very
beautiful and loved the river. She would beg to go out on the boat
1. Himalaya Mountains mountain range in South Asia.
IL11 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Water Names

with him. This daughter was a restless one, never contented with
their catch, and often she insisted they stay out until it was almost NOTES
dark. Even then, she was not satisfied. She had been spoiled by
her father, kept protected from the river, so she could not see its
danger. To this young woman, the river was as familiar as the sky.
It was a bright, broad road stretching out to curious lands. She did
not fully understand the river’s depths.
11 “One clear spring evening, as she watched the last bird dive
off into the blackening waters, she said, ‘If only this catch would
bring back something more than another fish!’
12 “She leaned over the side of the boat and looked at the water.
The stars and moon reflected back at her. And it is said that the
spirits living underneath the water looked up at her as well. And
the spirit of a young man who had drowned in the river many
years before saw her lovely face.”
13 We had heard about the ghosts of the drowned, who wait
forever in the water for a living person to pull down instead.
A faint breeze moved through the mosquito screens and we
shivered.
14 “The cormorant was gone for a very long time.” Waipuo said,
“so long that the fisherman grew puzzled. Then, suddenly, the
bird emerged from the waters, almost invisible in the night. Wen
Zhiqing grasped his catch, a very large fish, and guided the boat
back to shore. And when Wen reached home, he gutted the fish
and discovered, in its stomach, a valuable pearl ring.”
15 “From the man?” said Lily.
16 “Sshh, she’ll tell you.”
17 Waipuo ignored us. “His daughter was delighted that her wish
had been fulfilled. What most excited her was the idea of an entire
world like this, a world where such a beautiful ring would be only
a bauble!2 For part of her had always longed to see far away things
and places. The river had put a spell on her heart. In the evenings
she began to sit on the bank looking at her own reflection in

the water. Sometimes she said she saw a handsome young man
looking back at her. And her yearning for him filled her heart
with sorrow and fear, for she knew that she would soon leave her
beloved family.
18 “‘It’s just the moon, said Wen Zhiqing, but his daughter shook
her head. ‘There’s a kingdom under the water,’ she said. ‘The
prince is asking me to marry him. He sent the ring as an offering
to you.’ ‘Nonsense,’ said her father, and he forbade her to sit by
the water again.
19 “For a year things went as usual, but the next spring there came
a terrible flood that swept away almost everything. In the middle
of a torrential rain, the family noticed that the daughter was
2. bauble (BAW buhl) n. object of little value.
UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Water Names IL12

missing. She had taken advantage of the confusion to hurry to the
NOTES river and visit her beloved. The family searched for days but they
never found her.”
20 Her smoky, rattling voice came to a stop.
21 “What happened to her?” Lily said.
22 “It’s okay, stupid,” I told her. She was so beautiful that she went
to join the kingdom of her beloved. Right?
23 “Who knows?” Waipuo said. “They say she was seduced by a
water ghost. Or perhaps she lost her mind to desiring.”
24 “What do you mean?” asked Ingrid.
25 “I’m going inside,” Waipuo said, and got out of her chair with a
creak. A moment later the light went on in her bedroom window.
We knew she stood before the mirror, combing out her long, wavy
silver-gray hair, and we imagined that in her youth she too had
been beautiful.
26 We sat together without talking. We had gotten used to
Waipuo’s abruptness, her habit of creating a question and leaving
without answering it, as if she were disappointed in the question
itself. We tried to imagine Wen Zhiqing’s daughter. What did she
look like? How old was she? Why hadn’t anyone remembered
her name?
27 While we weren’t watching, the stars had emerged. Their
brilliant pinpoints mapped the heavens. They glittered over us,
over Waipuo in her room, the house, and the small city we lived
in, the great waves of grass that ran for miles around us, the
ground beneath as dry and hard as bone. ❧
IL13 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Water Names

SHORT STORY
An Hour
With Abuelo
Judith Ortiz Cofer
About the Author

Judith Ortiz Cofer (1952–2016) was born in Puerto Rico. She grew up in
both Puerto Rico and New Jersey, where her father was stationed in the
United States Navy. She was introduced to the storytelling tradition at her
grandmother’s house in Puerto Rico.
BACKGROUND
Nursing homes are places that provide care for people who are unable
to care for themselves because of chronic illness or disability. Usually,
nursing home residents are elderly. A staff of nurses and aides provides
medicine and food so that residents are free to spend their time doing
other things.
“J
NOTES
1 ust one hour, una hora, is all I’m asking of you, son.” My
grandfather is in a nursing home in Brooklyn, and my
mother wants me to spend some time with him, since the doctors
say that he doesn’t have too long to go now. I don’t have much
time left of my summer vacation, and there’s a stack of books

next to my bed I’ve got to read if I’m going to get into the AP
English class I want. I’m going stupid in some of my classes, and
Mr. Williams, the principal at Central, said that if I passed some
reading tests, he’d let me move up.
2 Besides, I hate the place, the old people’s home, especially
the way it smells like industrial-strength ammonia1 and other
stuff I won’t mention, since it turns my stomach. And really the
abuelo always has a lot of relatives visiting him, so I’ve gotten out
of going out there except at Christmas, when a whole vanload
of grandchildren are herded over there to give him gifts and a
hug. We all make it quick and spend the rest of the time in the
1. ammonia n. liquid used for cleaning that has a very strong smell.
UNIT 1 Independent Learning • An Hour With Abuelo IL14

recreation area, where they play checkers and stuff with some of
NOTES the old people’s games, and I catch up on back issues of Modern
Maturity. I’m not picky, I’ll read almost anything.
3 Anyway, after my mother nags me for about a week, I let her
drive me to Golden Years. She drops me off in front. She wants
me to go in alone and have a “good time” talking to Abuelo. I tell
her to be back in one hour or I’ll take the bus back to Paterson. She
squeezes my hand and says, “Gracias, hijo,”2 in a choked-up voice
like I’m doing her a big favor.
4 I get depressed the minute I walk into the place. They line up
the old people in wheelchairs in the hallway as if they were about
to be raced to the finish line by orderlies3 who don’t even look at
them when they push them here and there. I walk fast to room 10,
Abuelo’s “suite.” He is sitting up in his bed writing with a pencil
in one of those old-fashioned black hardback notebooks. It has the
outline of the island of Puerto Rico on it. I slide into the hard vinyl
chair by his bed. He sort of smiles and the lines on his face get
deeper, but he doesn’t say anything. Since I’m supposed to talk to
him, I say, “What are you doing, Abuelo, writing the story of your
life?”
5 It’s supposed to be a joke, but he answers, “Sí, how did you
know, Arturo?”
6 His name is Arturo too. I was named after him. I don’t really
know my grandfather. His children, including my mother, came
to New York and New Jersey (where I was born) and he stayed on
the Island until my grandmother died. Then he got sick, and since
nobody could leave their jobs to go take care of him, they brought
him to this nursing home in Brooklyn. I see him a couple of times
a year, but he’s always surrounded by his sons and daughters. My
mother tells me that Don Arturo had once been a teacher back in
Puerto Rico, but had lost his job after the war. Then he became a
farmer. She’s always saying in a sad voice, “Ay, bendito!4 What a

waste of a fine mind.” Then she usually shrugs her shoulders and
says, “Así es la vida.” That’s the way life is. It sometimes makes
me mad that the adults I know just accept whatever is thrown at
them because “that’s the way things are.” Not for me. I go after
what I want.
7 Anyway, Abuelo is looking at me like he was trying to see into
my head, but he doesn’t say anything. Since I like stories, I decide
I may as well ask him if he’ll read me what he wrote.
8 I look at my watch; I’ve already used up twenty minutes of the
hour I promised my mother.
2. Gracias, hijo (GRAH see uhs EE ho) Spanish for “Thank you, son.” Hijo also means
“child.”
3. orderlies n. hospital workers who do nonmedical tasks such as moving patients around
or cleaning.
4. bendito (vehn DEE toh) Spanish for “blessed.”
IL15 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • An Hour With Abuelo

9 Abuelo starts talking in his slow way. He speaks what my
mother calls book English. He taught himself from a dictionary, NOTES
and his words sound stiff, like he’s sounding them out in his head
before he says them. With his children he speaks Spanish, and that
funny book English with us grandchildren. I’m surprised that he’s
still so sharp, because his body is shrinking like a crumpled-up
brown paper sack with some bones in it. But I can see from
looking into his eyes that the light is still on in there.
10 “It is a short story, Arturo. The story of my life. It will not take
very much time to read it.”
11 “I have time, Abuelo.” I’m a little embarrassed that he saw me
looking at my watch.
12 “Yes, hijo. You have spoken the truth. La verdad. You have much
time.”
13 Abuelo reads: “’I loved words from the beginning of my life.
In the campo5 where I was born one of seven sons, there were
few books. My mother read them to us over and over: the Bible,
the stories of Spanish conquistadors and of pirates that she had
read as a child and brought with her from the city of Mayagüez;
that was before she married my father, a coffee bean farmer; and
she taught us words from the newspaper that a boy on a horse
brought every week to her. She taught each of us how to write on
5. campo (KAHM poh) Spanish for “open country.”

a slate with chalks that she ordered by mail every year. We used
NOTES those chalks until they were so small that you lost them between
your fingers.
14 “’I always wanted to be a writer and a teacher. With my heart
and my soul I knew that I wanted to be around books all of my
life. And so against the wishes of my father, who wanted all
his sons to help him on the land, she sent me to high school in
Mayagüez. For four years I boarded with a couple she knew. I
paid my rent in labor, and I ate vegetables I grew myself. I wore
my clothes until they were thin as parchment. But I graduated at
the top of my class! My whole family came to see me that day. My
mother brought me a beautiful guayabera, a white shirt made of the
finest cotton and embroidered by her own hands. I was a happy
young man.
15 “’In those days you could teach in a country school with a high
school diploma. So I went back to my mountain village and got a
job teaching all grades in a little classroom built by the parents of
my students.
16 “I had books sent to me by the government. I felt like a rich
man although the pay was very small. I had books. All the books
I wanted! I taught my students how to read poetry and plays, and
how to write them. We made up songs and put on shows for the
parents. It was a beautiful time for me.
17 “’Then the war came,6 and the American President said that all
Puerto Rican men would be drafted. I wrote to our governor and
explained that I was the only teacher in the mountain village. I
told him that the children would go back to the fields and grow
up ignorant if I could not teach them their letters. I said that I
thought I was a better teacher than a soldier. The governor did not
answer my letter. I went into the U.S. Army.
18 “I told my sergeant that I could be a teacher in the army. I could
teach all the farm boys their letters so that they could read the

instructions on the ammunition boxes and not blow themselves
up. The sergeant said I was too smart for my own good, and gave
me a job cleaning latrines.7 He said to me there is reading material
for you there, scholar. Read the writing on the walls. I spent the
war mopping floors and cleaning toilets.
19 “’When I came back to the Island, things had changed. You had
to have a college degree to teach school, even the lower grades.
My parents were sick, two of my brothers had been killed in the
war, the others had stayed in Nueva York. I was the only one
left to help the old people. I became a farmer. I married a good
6. “Then the war came, . . .” The United States entered World War II in 1941, after the
bombing of Pearl Harbor.
7. latrines (luh TREENZ) n. toilets.
IL17 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • An Hour With Abuelo

woman who gave me many good children. I taught them all how
to read and write before they started school.’” NOTES
20 Abuelo then puts the notebook down on his lap and closes
his eyes.
21 “Así es la vida is the title of my book,” he says in a whisper,
almost to himself. Maybe he’s forgotten that I’m there.
22 For a long time he doesn’t say anything else. I think that he’s
sleeping, but then I see that he’s watching me through half-closed
lids, maybe waiting for my opinion of his writing. I’m trying to
think of something nice to say. I liked it and all, but not the title.
And I think that he could’ve been a teacher if he had wanted to
bad enough. Nobody is going to stop me from doing what I want
with my life. I’m not going to let la vida get in my way. I want
to discuss this with him, but the words are not coming into my
head in Spanish just yet. I’m about to ask him why he didn’t keep
fighting to make his dream come true, when an old lady in hot-
pink running shoes sort of appears at the door.
23 She is wearing a pink jogging outfit too. The world’s oldest
marathoner, I say to myself. She calls out to my grandfather in
a flirty voice, “Yoo-hoo, Arturo, remember what day this is? It’s
poetry-reading day in the rec room! You promised us you’d read
your new one today.”
24 I see my abuelo perking up almost immediately. He points to
his wheelchair, which is hanging like a huge metal bat in the open
closet. He makes it obvious that he wants me to get it. I put it
together, and with Mrs. Pink Running Shoes’s help, we get him in
it. Then he says in a strong deep voice I hardly recognize, “Arturo,
get that notebook from the table, please.”
25 I hand him another map-of-the-Island notebook—this one is
red. On it in big letters it says, POEMAS DE ARTURO.
26 I start to push him toward the rec room, but he shakes his finger
at me.
27 “Arturo, look at your watch now. I believe your time is over.”

He gives me a wicked smile.
28 Then with her pushing the wheelchair—maybe a little too fast—
they roll down the hall. He is already reading from his notebook,
and she’s making bird noises. I look at my watch and the hour is
up, to the minute. I can’t help but think that my abuelo has been
timing me. It cracks me up. I walk slowly down the hall toward
the exit sign. I want my mother to have to wait a little. I don’t
want her to think that I’m in a hurry or anything. ❧

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UNIT 1 AT A GLANCE

A Simple Act News Blog Concept Vocabulary

Jennifer Ludden 1020L Word Study: Suffix -ment (L.7.4, c)

from Mom & Me & Mom Memoir Concept Vocabulary (L.7.4)

Maya Angelou 610L Word Study: Latin Prefix: super- (L.7.4.b, d)

“Gotcha Day” Isn’t a Cause for Celebration Opinion Piece

The Grandfather and His Little Grandson Short Story

Water Names Short Story

An Hour With Abuelo Short Story

Performance-Based Assessment Writing

Conventions / Author’s Composition / Research /

Author’s Point of View (RI.7.1; RI.7.6) Conventions: Adverbs (L.7.1)

Write a Nonfiction Narrative (W.7.3, a–e; W.7.4; W.7.5; W.7.10)

Conventions: Independent and

Speaking and Listening: Multimedia Slideshow

Present a Nonfiction Narrative (SL.7.1, a–b; SL.7.2; SL.7.4; SL.7.6)

Independent Learning provides students with the opportunity to analyze

Writing to Sources: Nonfiction Narrative (W.7.3; W.7.9; W.7.10)

Copyright © SAVVAS Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Grizzly Bear Teaches Her Cubs

MEMOIR SHORT STORY Refer to the Teaching with Trade Books

To James online for stories about how people of

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AUTHOR’S PERSPECTIVE Ernest Morrell, Ph.D.

Academic Vocabulary: Nonfiction Narrative Academic Vocabulary:

dialogue 1. The television show was known monologue; Possible responses:

notable 1. Every notable person in the city Meaning: outstanding; remarkable

English Language Support

Purpose of the Launch Text LAUNCH TEXT | NONFICTION NARRATIVE MODEL

G rowing up I really didn’t know my grandmother. She was

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10 One time—the time I’m writing about—circumstances were not

 WORD NETWORK fOR GENERATIONS

Vocabulary A Word Network

LIT17_SE07_U01_LT.indd 7 AUTHOR’S PERSPECTIVE Elfrieda Hiebert, Ph.D. 4/13/16 3:59 PM

© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Discuss your ratings with classmates and then participate in a whole-class

LIT17_SE07_U01_LT.indd 8 16-03-16 4:51 PM

 EVIDENCE LOG FOR GENERATIONS

your Evidence Log. Then, record

LIT22_SE07_U01_LT.indd 9 WriteNow Express and Reflect 18/03/21 12:23 PM

WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

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the selections and as they participate in the

from An Invisible Thread

Two friends celebrate an unlikely bond.

Overview: Whole-Class Learning 11

12A UNIT 1 • Generations

Making Meaning Language Development Effective Expression

Whole-Class Learning 12B

Lexile: 870 Text Length: 4,592 words

Decide and Plan

English Language Support Strategic Support Challenge

Read and Respond

12C UNIT 1 • Generations

Instructional Standards: Two Kinds

Whole-Class Learning 12D

About the Author Two Kinds