A. Compare and Contrast Texts – RL.7.9 (10 minutes)

• Ask students to retrieve their Similarities and Differences: A Long Walk to Water and “The ‘Lost Girls’ of Sudan” note-catchers and their copies of the texts A Long Walk to Water and “The ‘Lost Girls’ of Sudan.” Inform students that they will continue the work they did in the previous lesson, finding the similarities and differences in how the authors treat different subjects. Ask students to form pairs or small groups to discuss the events, ideas, and supporting evidence they’ve identified. ▲ Then students can discuss in their groups their plans for evidence-gathering at this stage:

“Do we have to identify more topics to compare or gather more evidence for topics already identified?” (Responses will vary.)

• Once students have a plan for evidence-gathering, release them to complete their note-catchers, finding all the evidence they will need for their compare and contrast essays.

C. Plan an Introduction – W.7.2a (15 minutes)

• Review the learning target:

“I can plan the introduction of a compare and contrast essay with a strong focus statement.”

• Inform students that they will use the notes they generated on the Similarities and Differences note-catcher as they begin planning their own in essays to the prompt: How has the author of A Long Walk to Water used or altered history in the novel?
• Explain that in this lesson, they are only organizing the information for the introduction in their graphic organizer and will draft the essay for Part I of their end of unit assessment.
• Ask students to retrieve their annotated copies of the Compare and Contrast Model Essay, and remind them that this essay was written to the same prompt to which they will write their essays, but that it used a different informational text to compare and contrast with A Long Walk to Water.
• Remind students that they will also be comparing and contrasting texts, and that this is one style of an informative essay.
• Invite students to refer to their Painted Essay® template to remember the parts of an introductory paragraph and review the general purpose of each part. (Students should draw on their responses to the entrance activity):
• Introduction (background information to provide needed context and engage the reader)
• Focus statement (states the central idea of the essay)
• Invite students to chorally read the introductory paragraph of the model essay as a class, stopping after each sentence to explain its function in the paragraph. ▲ Invite students to help record the criteria of an introductory paragraph on the Criteria of an Effective Informative Essay anchor chart. Refer to Criteria of an Effective Informative Essay anchor chart (example for teacher reference) as necessary.
• Focus the class on the following sentence from the model essay:

“The Second Sudanese Civil War was a tragedy for millions.”

• Ask students to discuss with their partners:

“What would the effect be if the sentence were removed from the paragraph?” (The reader wouldn’t understand why Salva and the boys were walking or what the Sudanese Civil War was.) 

• Ask for a student volunteer to answer the question:

“What is the best way to summarize the sentences that come before the focus statement in the Model Essay’s introduction?” (The sentences should give the history and context for the Sudanese civil war.)

• Direct students’ attention to the prompt and focus statement for the essay:
• Prompt: How has the author of A Long Walk to Water used or altered history in the novel?
• Focus Statement Sentences: Comparing the two texts shows how Park used historical events in the novel. Many of the same major events are described in both texts. However, the authors focus their attention differently in the two accounts.
• Ask for student volunteers to describe how the prompt and focus statement are related. (The focus statement answers the question in the prompt.)
• Invite students to Think-Pair-Share about the following question:

“What are some of the other ways the focus statement sentences might have been written that would have still answered the prompt?” (“One Day I Had to Run,” about a similar journey by another Lost Boy of Sudan, John Deng Langbany, revealed how much Park altered history in the novel . . . revealed how Park altered only some of history . . . .)

• Refocus whole group. Ask for volunteers to discuss their thinking about the focus statement. Use this discussion to remind students their focus statements are their interpretations based on their understanding of the evidence and how it answers the prompt. They can choose which direction to go in as long as it is supported by the evidence and answers the prompt.
• Move students into predetermined pairs, and invite them to label themselves A and B. Provide differentiated mentors by purposefully preselecting student partnerships, so that these students can work together throughout the planning of their essays. Meet with the mentors in advance to encourage them to share their thought process with their partner. ▲
• Display and distribute the Informative Writing checklist. Point out the following characteristic on the checklist:

“W.7.2a: I introduce the topic clearly, giving readers a preview of the piece.”

• Ask students to Think-Pair-Share:

“Are there any specific criteria that you should be aware of and list in that column on the checklist?” (Responses will vary.)

• As students share out, capture their responses in the “Characteristics of My Informative Essay” column as needed.
• Display and distribute the Informative Writing Plan graphic organizer and the Informative Writing Plan graphic organizer ▲ as necessary for students who need extra support. The differentiated graphic organizer supports students’ planning with additional prompts and sentence starters. ▲ Ask for student volunteers to share what they think the phrases “catch the reader’s attention” and “support this focus statement” mean in the organizer.
• Remind students to refer to the academic word wall and domain-specific word wall as needed.
• Invite students to use the Compare and Contrast Model Essay, the criteria on the Criteria of an Effective Informative Essay anchor chart, and the Informative Writing checklist to plan an introduction. Instruct students to use the guiding prompts in the introduction table of the Informative Writing Plan graphic organizer. Use the Informative Writing Plan graphic organizer (example for teacher reference) to model completing the planner as if writing the model essay, thinking aloud while recording ideas:

“I will catch my reader’s attention by giving a strong statement about the Sudanese Civil War. I need to give my reader the context of the civil war, who the lost children are, and the names and authors of the texts. My focus statement is . . . .”

• Circulate to support students as they plan. Provide students an opportunity to orally test and rehearse their ideas with a partner before recording. This may assist them to organize their thinking.
• Repeated routine: invite students to reflect on their progress toward the learning target.