Page 103 - SpringBoard_ELA_CA_Smapler_Flipbook

Planning the unit
unit 4
Context
Students have learned that overcoming challenges is not easy, but they have also experienced that finding humor in life can help along the way. In Unit 4, students identify and analyze the elements commonly found
in humorous writing and visual media. Students will examine the ways authors create humor for effect and will demonstrate their understanding by writing an expository essay analyzing a humorous text and by analyzing and performing scenes from a Shakespeare comedy.
Instructional Sequence
The first half of the unit introduces comedy as a genre for study. Students explore how authors create humor, and they use comedic vocabulary
to discuss humor. To further develop critical analysis skills, students identify and analyze levels of comedy and elements of humor. Finally, to synthesize their understanding of humorous texts and to create a model for Embedded Assessment 1, students work collaboratively to write and revise a multiparagraph expository analysis of a humorous text.
In the second half of the unit, students study the humor in William Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. After an introduction to Shakespeare and his play, students learn to make meaning of the text through close reading and comparative analysis of film. Working in collaborative groups, students interpret and perform a scene from the play for Embedded Assessment 2.
AP/College Readiness
In this unit, students will focus on refining these important skills and knowledge areas for AP/College Readiness:
• Reading to make careful observations of textual detail and draw an interpretive conclusion about the meaning and value of a piece of writing (Activities 4.4, 4.5, 4.8)
• Reading to become aware of how stylistic effects are achieved by a writer (Activities 4.8, 4.9, 4.14 )
• Analyzing literature using the language of literary analysis (Activities 4.4, 4.5, 4.10)
• Applying effective strategies and techniques in own writing (Activities 4.2, 4.4, 4.11)
• Controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure (Activities 4.4, 4.14, 4.16)
Unit 4 • Planning the Unit 247a
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