In this unit, students continue to explore the topic of Japanese American internment and analyze how significant ideas from Farewell to Manzanar are conveyed in the film adaptation of the text. In the first half of the unit, students read Part 2 of Farewell to Manzanar and continue to track connections and distinctions between individuals, ideas, and events in the text and answer selected and constructed response questions about connection and distinctions, point of view, vocabulary, and language to consider meaning in the text. For example, students consider how the authors use figurative language to make a connection between the narrator Jeanne Wakatsuki's baton and her father to convey Jeanne's anger toward her father. This work prepares students for the Mid-Unit 2 Assessment. Students also watch the third segment of the film adaptation of Farewell to Manzanar in Lesson 3 and continue to track the extent to which the film Farewell to Manzanar stays faithful to or departs from the text.

In the second half of Unit 2, students read the final chapters of Farewell to Manzanar while tracking connections and distinctions in the text and finish watching the film adaptation of Farewell to Manzanar. For the End of Unit 2 Assessment, students choose a significant idea from Farewell to Manzanar and write a literary argument essay to evaluate how effectively the film conveys this significant idea. In preparation for this assessment, students analyze a model essay that centers on how the film conveys the significant idea that Jeanne Wakatsuki's youth impacts her understanding of events in the text. They will then plan and draft a practice essay with partners to evaluate how the film conveys the significant idea that Jeanne's father feels deeply conflicted loyalties, both to Japan and to America. Finally, they will plan and draft their assessment over a series of scaffolded lessons.

Please note: For the 6-8 Language Arts Curriculum, there are Teaching Notes for each unit that contain helpful information for supporting English language learners. These overview notes complement the more specific English language learner supports and differentiated materials within each lesson. You will find the Teaching Notes in the Unit download below.