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Lesson 17: Explanatory Paragraph Writing: Writing Across Texts
50 min
California CCSS: Focus Standards
California CCSS: Supporting Standards
ELD Standards
Student Lesson
Lesson 17: Explanatory Paragraph Writing: Writing Across Texts
Student Learning Objectives
1
Content
Students will write and revise an explanatory analysis paragraph explaining how the information expressed in the newspaper article “Mayor Stops Boycott Talk” agrees or disagrees with Lewis’s experiences and reflections about segregation in March.
2
Language
Students will produce a cohesive analytical explanation using evidence from both texts, transition phrases (for example, as a result, therefore), purposeful verbals and commas for clarity, and an academic tone and register.
Essential Question
How does storytelling become a tool for civic change?
Connections to
Knowledge-Building:
Students will continue to compare how white perspectives about segregation in the 1950s differ from Lewis’s experience and personal reflections.
Enduring Understanding:
People shape civic memory through storytelling.
Future Lessons:
In Lesson 18, students will begin engaging with pp. 63–73 of March.In Lesson 19, students will engage in an Academic Discussion of pp. 1–73 of March.
Unit Performance Task:
Learning how to write and revise an explanatory analysis of multiple texts will help students when constructing their Civic Memory Brief.
Lesson Pacing
| Lesson Flow | Purpose of Learning Experience |
|---|---|
Launch5 Minutes | Students will engage in a whole-class discussion, reviewing the success criteria for the analysis paragraph they will be writing today. |
Literacy Lab10 Minutes | Students will investigate commas and how they signal pauses or clarify meaning. |
Learning in Action30 Minutes | Part A: Writing an Explanatory Paragraph (RI.8.9, W.8.2.a-d, W.8.4, W.8.9.b, L.8.2.a) Students will write their analysis paragraphs using their T-chart notes from Lesson 16. Part B: Revising an Explanatory Paragraph (W.8.5) Students will engage in a Think-Pair-Write-Share to share feedback with a partner and revise their analysis paragraphs. |
Material List
- Unit 1 Lesson 17 Student Edition
- Continuum scale slide
Routines
- Think-Pair-Write-Share
- Reflection
Lesson Sequence
Lesson Texts
Short-Form Text
Mayor Stops Boycott Talk
Joe Azbell, The Montgomery (Alabama) Advertiser
Read text
