UNIT PLAN

Name:
10th Grade Honors Zach Halpern
January 2015

Date:

Unit Description: A literature unit on A Tale of Two Cities, which includes an overlapping
writing unit. Students will write 4-5 page papers at the end of the unit and two short papers in the
middle. The unit will focus on Dickens use of foreshadowing and the pathetic fallacy; his
method of characterization; the novels themes of inequality, revenge; Dickens tone as analyzed
through close reading.
Student Demographics/description of class for which unit is intended: The class
is an honors level class. Two students are ELLs; they are advanced and no longer take ESL
classes, but Ill still be on the lookout for helping them with language difficulties. There are no
special education students, though some students are struggling with the work. Some students are
very anxious about their schoolwork, which impacts attendance.
STAGE ONE - Established Goals
Relevant Standards/Intended Learning Outcomes and Goals:
Common Core Standards:
1. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word
choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how
it sets a formal or informal tone).
2. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.6
Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature
from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
3. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
4. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the
course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details;
provide an objective summary of the text.
5. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3
Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations)
develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or
develop the theme.
6. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.3
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts,
to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading
or listening.
7. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.4
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases

based on grades 9-10 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
8. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.6
Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases,
sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness
level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a
word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
WIDA Standards: Writing-Level 5-Bridging: Rich descriptive discourse with complex
sentences - Cohesive and organized related ideas - Compound, complex grammatical
constructions (e.g., multiple phrases and clauses)- A broad range of sentence patterns
characteristic of particular content areas - Technical and abstract content-area
language - Words and expressions with shades of meaning for each content area

Essential Question(s):
1. What are effective ways to respond to
injustice?
2. Why did Dickens choose to write a novel
about the events leading up to the French
Revolution, which occurred in 1789, during
the Victorian era in 1859?
3. How does Dickens reveal/create his
characters?
4. How and why does Dickens use
foreshadowing and the pathetic fallacy?
5. What are characteristics of Dickens tone
when he writes about the 3rd Estate? And the
aristocracy?

Enduring Understandings: Students will

understand
1. Using violence to respond to injustice, even
when the cause is justified, can be
counterproductive.
2. Dickens, and many writers, may write about a
time and place different from their own in order
to make comments on their own society.
3. Dickens characters are often defined by an
expressive name, distinct speech pattern, phrase,
gesture, or piece of clothing.
4. He uses foreshadowing to create suspense and
setup readers expectations; he uses the pathetic
fallacy to depict characters states of mind.
5. He has a mixture of pity, disgust, and fear for
the 3rd estatepity for their hard lives; fear and
disgust for their violence. He depicts many of the
aristocrats as grotesque figures.

Content Knowledge: Students will

know

Skills: Students will be able to.

1. Basic contextual knowledge about

Dickens and the Victorian era, and
basic history of the French
Revolution.
2. The plot and themes of A Tale of Two
Cities.
3. How ideas of equality can be taken to
extremes; how violent revolution can
work against beneficial social change.

1. Comprehend difficult prose by annotating

their texts, asking questions, and
researching independently.
2. Analyze Dickens language: make
inferences about character, connect a
sequence of plot events to a larger theme,
and articulate the effects of sarcasm and
satire.
3. Formulate their own argumentative
claims about a novel, which they develop

4. How to identify rhetorical effects and

plot devices (i.e. pathos, irony
sarcasm, flashbacks) and understand
why the author uses them in this
novel.

in a short essay.
4. Use transitions when writing arguments
within paragraphs and between
paragraphs.

Anticipated Misunderstandings: Dickens language will be difficult for students. His

sentences are lengthy, his voice does not sound contemporary, and his diction is sometimes
unfamiliar. The novel is long, and students may become bored. The key to preventing students
from falling asleep will be to connect the novel to their lives and current society. Along those
lines, I will mention contemporary inequality and revolutions. I can also encourage them to
consider smaller scale inequalities in their own lives. Finally, varying my instructional strategy,
so that students do some activities in which they move around and talk to their peers, will help
them stay engaged and will help me reach students with different learning styles. I will likely
need about one month to complete this unit.
STAGE TWO Assessment: Acceptable Evidence
Performance Tasks: Socratic seminar (1), short writing assignments (2), final essay
(1), vocabulary quizzes (2), Reading quizzes (2)

Other Evidence to be Collected: Exit tickets that recap daily lessons, homework
writing assignments (i.e. short answer questions).

Student Self-Assessment and Reflection: Students will write two selfassessments: one of their short essay and one of their final essay

STAGE THREE Learning Experiences

1.
Chapter 1
Introduction to
novel. Read
chapter 1
together.

2.
Chapter 2-3
Debate Activity

3.
Chapter 4
Reading Quiz

Calendar of Unit Plan

(Approximate reading schedule
and activities)
4.
II. 1-3
Group
Summary and
close reading
questions

5.
Continue
Close reading
Questions

6.
II.4-6
Quick recap
Drawing
Dickens
characters/Dic
kens
illustrators

7.
II.6-8
Vocabulary
Notes on
Dickens
Characters

8.
II.9-12
Close-reading
questions
Notes on
Foreshadowing

9.
II.13-15
Short writing
activity:
Foreshadowing

10.
II.16-18
Tableau
Vivant/Perfor
mances

11.
Vocab Quiz
Finish
performances

12.
II.19-21
Dramatic
Adaptation of
a Scene

13.
Finish book II
Performances
And closereading questions

14.
III. 1-2
Performances
and close-reading
questions

15.
III.3-5
Connecting to
Current Events

16.
III.6-7
Connecting to
Current
Events
(continued)

17.
Group closereading
activity

18.
III.8-9
Group closereading
activity
(continued)
Reading Quiz

19.
III.10-12
Close Reading of
a Passage
(Short Writing
Activity)

20.
III. 13-14
Group Closereading

21.
Finish Book
Final Paper
Prep

22.
Review:
Trivia
Competition

23.
Review:
Trivia
Competition

24.
Review for
Socratic
Seminar

25.
Socratic Seminar

26. Add. Day

Questions about
paper. Choose
topics and start
outlines.

27. Add. Day

Draft of Final
Paper Due
(Revision Due
1 week later)

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY EDUCATION PROGRAM