Sharing Stories: An Introduction to Literary Writing and Analysis (9th grade)

The purpose and intent of this unit is to provide 9th grade English students (in either Pre-AP or Grade-Level placements) with the foundational skills and understandings needed for English, particularly for literary analysis, at the high school level as well as to help students build an appreciation for literature and narrative forms. The framework and context in which the unit is designed is based on longer, ~9-week-long learning blocks based on skills-development in reading and writing, and the unit is intended to be implemented either at the beginning of the year or as the students’ introduction to literary analysis, to be followed by a unit focused on literary analysis using a longer work or novel as its focus. As the unit’s focus is the development of skills— close reading, annotation, and analytical writing including thesis, use of concrete evidence, commentary, organization, etc.— conferencing, feedback, and practice are essential; additionally, because the unit is skill-driven, the texts may be adapted to or changed for the context of one’s classroom and teaching, and no specific texts are explicitly included in the unit. Suggested texts are listed at the bottom of the document, however, other short stories may be considered and included in the implementation of the unit. Similarly, the Learning Plan (Stage 3), has been loosely outlined to allow for implementation in a manner that reflects teaching context, students, time frame, or other focus