Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

• RL.8.2 – Opening A: Students write the central idea of a book they have read independently.
• RL.8.2 – Work Time B: Students track the gist, plot, character, and theme of chapter 5 of Maus I.
• RL.8.2 – Closing and Assessment A: Students study a model summary and brainstorm the components of an effective whole-book literary summary, noting how an effective summary begins with the central idea, uses concise details to explain it, and ends with a theme statement.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

• Students may practice writing a literary summary of an independent reading book using the criteria generated in this lesson. Students can share their summaries in small groups or with the whole class.
• To increase the level of challenge in Closing and Assessment A, before sharing the model whole-book summary with students, invite them to write their own summary of Summer of the Mariposas. Students can then compare their summaries with each other, or check their work against the model once it is presented.
• To help students navigate the potentially sensitive topics in chapter 5 of Maus I (suicide and its effect on the family), invite students to spend time reflecting in writing or discussion on how they practiced habits of character while reading this chapter.

How It Builds on Previous Work

• In previous modules, students wrote literary summaries of chapters of a novel and nonfiction summaries of informational texts. This lesson expands this work to include a literary summary of an entire book. Students will analyze a model summary of Summer of the Mariposas from Module 1.
• Students will also continue to track the gist, plot, and theme of Maus I through an analysis of chapter 5.

Support All Students

• Presenting learning targets in writing, orally, and if possible, accompanied by symbols will help students to understand the language within them. ▲
• Note that chapter 5 of Maus I depicts Art in bed with a romantic partner and brings up potentially sensitive topics such as Anja’s suicide, Vladek’s emotional response at her funeral, and the graphic depiction of Art’s thoughts of his mother’s suicide. Additionally, this chapter visually depicts Nazis killing children by slamming their bodies against walls and describes Tosha using poison to commit suicide and to kill Richieu and two other children before the Gestapo can take them to the gas chambers. Allow for time to process and respond to these topics during individual, small group, or full class discussion, and reach out to families as needed. Note that reading about these experiences might be a different experience for different students and expect varying levels of maturity from students in approaching this content. Use thoughtful strategic pairing for discussions concerning these topics to ensure that all students feel comfortable.
• Students may need additional support with collaborating with their peers for the jigsaw in Work Time B. Some students may struggle to share their ideas in their groups. Consider predetermined grouping to place struggling students in groups with the most peer support. ▲
• During Think-Pair-Share and Jigsaw protocols, pair ELLs with partners and groups who have more advanced or native language proficiency. The partner with greater language proficiency can serve as a model in the pair, initiating discussions and providing implicit sentence frames, for example. ▲

Assessment Guidance

• Check student vocabulary logs for accountability in recording vocabulary.
• Check gist statements to ensure students are recording quick notes about what the text is mostly about.

Down the Road

• In the next lesson, students will finish reading Maus I and continue tracking gist, plot, character, and theme. Students will also plan a whole-book summary of Maus I in preparation for the end of unit assessment.