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Lesson 17: Can Symbols Say It Better?: Red, White, and Whole and “Search for My Tongue”
50 min
California CCSS: Focus Standards
California CCSS: Supporting Standards
ELD Standards
Student Lesson
Lesson 17: Can Symbols Say It Better?: Red, White, and Whole and “Search for My Tongue”
Student Learning Objectives
1
Content
Students will develop a clear argument about whether symbolism is an effective way to express living between two cultures using evidence from two poems.
2
Language
Students will use precise language and evidence-explanation sentences to draft a body paragraph and counterclaim paragraph.
Essential Question
What is culture, and how does it shape our identity and sense of belonging?
Connections to
Knowledge-Building:
Students build on the unit’s study of bicultural identity, symbolism, and belonging by explaining how symbols communicate experiences that may be difficult to state directly.
Enduring Understanding:
Identity is shaped by biological, cultural, and emotional connections, and literature helps us see how those layers come together to form a whole person.
Future Lessons:
Students will revise and complete this draft, strengthening commentary and organization as they move toward the unit literary analysis performance task.
Unit Performance Task:
Today’s work prepares students to write a clear literary analysis explaining how imagery or symbolism reveals an important connection.
Lesson Pacing
| Lesson Flow | Purpose of Learning Experience |
|---|---|
Launch5 Minutes | Students will activate thinking from the seminar in Lesson 16 and frame today’s argumentative writing task about symbolism and bicultural identity. |
Literacy Lab10 Minutes | Students will learn how to build a defensible claim that answers the prompt and describes how symbolism works. |
Learning in Action30 Minutes | Part A: Build a Strong Body Paragraph (W.7.4) Students will select and introduce evidence from both poems to draft a body paragraph that supports their claim. Part B: Add a Counterclaim That Pushes Back (W.7.4) Students will draft a counterclaim paragraph that considers an opposing view and responds to it with reasoning and evidence. |
Material List
- Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca
- Unit 4 Lesson 17 Student Edition
- RACE Writing Strategy graphic organizer
- Student journals
Routines
- Think-Pair-Share
- Language Study
- RACE Strategy Response
- Structured Paragraphs
- Quick Write
Lesson Sequence
Lesson Texts
Short-Form Text
“Search for My Tongue”
Sujata Bhatt
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