Close Read: Determine Central Ideas: “Conflicting Ideas” | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA 2019 G7:M2:U2:L4

Close Read: Determine Central Ideas: “Conflicting Ideas”

In this Lesson

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Focus Standards: These are the standards the instruction addresses.

  • SL.7.1d, RI.7.2

Supporting Standards: These are the standards that are incidental—no direct instruction in this lesson, but practice of these standards occurs as a result of addressing the focus standards.

  • RI.7.1, RI.7.8
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can determine two or more central ideas of a text. (RI.7.2)
  • I can trace the development of central ideas over the course of a text. (RI.7.2)
  • I can write an objective summary of a text. (RI.7.2)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Opening A: Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 4 (SL.7.1d)
  • Work Time A: Central Ideas in "Conflicting Ideas" note-catcher (RI.7.1, RI.7.2)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engage the Learner - SL.7.1d (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Close Read: Determine Central Ideas: "Conflicting Ideas" - RI.7.2 (35 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Write Summary: "Conflicting Ideas" - RI.7.2 (5 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Complete Summary: Students finish their summaries of "Conflicting Ideas," tracing the development of central ideas across the article.

B. Determine Meaning of Unfamiliar Vocabulary: Students use context and, if necessary, a dictionary to determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary in "Conflicting Ideas." Then they record the words and their definitions in the correct section of their vocabulary log.

Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

  • SL.7.1d – Opening A: On an entrance ticket, students self-assess and practice acknowledging new information expressed by others and changing their ideas when warranted.
  • RI.7.2 – Work Time A: Students participate in a close read in order to determine central ideas of the article “Conflicting Ideas.”
  • RI.7.2 – Closing and Assessment A: Students begin writing an objective summary of “Conflicting Ideas,” in which they trace the development of central ideas.
  • In this lesson, students focus on working to become effective learners by persevering and collaborating to understand a complex text.
  • The Think-Pair-Share protocol is used in this lesson. Protocols are an important feature of our curriculum because they are one of the best ways we know to engage students in discussion, inquiry, critical thinking, and sophisticated communication. A protocol consists of agreed-upon, detailed guidelines for reading, recording, discussing, or reporting that ensure equal participation and accountability in learning.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

  • Students who finish their summaries early can begin to list the argument claims that they see the author making in the article, in order to prepare for continued analysis in the next lesson.

How It Builds on Previous Work

  • In previous lessons, students have read articles that have introduced them to the ideas of social contagion and epidemics and have analyzed an argument that uses ideas from epidemiology to understand social behavior. In this lesson, students are introduced to a differing opinion, as they analyze the article “Conflicting Views” for central ideas and discover that not all writers and researchers agree with the idea of studying social behavior through the lens of epidemiology.

Support All Students

  • Note there are differentiated versions of Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 4 used in Opening A, the “Conflicting Ideas” article, and the Close Read: “Conflicting Ideas” note-catcher used in Work Time A in the supporting materials download. ▲
  • Due to the complexity and lexile of this text, it will be read aloud.
  • The subject matter in this excerpt includes descriptions of social media. Some students may have a great deal of experience with social media, while others may have limited or no experience. Level the playing field by explaining the basics of Facebook.
  • Students should be filling out the graphic organizer independently at this point. If students continue to require more support, pull a small strategy group to support these students with this work.
  • If time permits, consider using the Dance Card protocol to provide a movement break for students. Use the Dance Card protocol in place of the Turn and Talk or Think-Pair-Share protocol.
  • If students require more structure during the text-based discussion, consider appointing roles to the groups. Assign a facilitator, timekeeper, includer (who invites unheard voices into the conversation), and/or notetaker to each group.

Assessment Guidance

  • Review students’ Close Read note-catchers to ensure they understand how to trace and evaluate the author’s arguments.

Down the Road

  • In the next lesson, students will continue to analyze “Conflicting Views,” focusing on how the author presents the argument and whether the evidence is sufficient and the reasoning relevant.

In Advance

  • Ensure there is a copy of Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 4 at each student's workspace.
  • Strategically group students into triads for the work in this lesson, with at least one strong reader per triad.
  • Preview the Close Reading Guide: "Conflicting Views" and "Conflicting Views" note-catcher to become familiar with what will be required of students.
  • Post the learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout previous modules to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 7.I.A.1, 7.I.B.5, 7.I.B.6, and 7.I.C.10.

Important points in the lesson itself

  • To support ELLs, this lesson provides students with the opportunity to participate in a teacher-led close read of a complex nonfiction article.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to answer the questions during the close read. Ensure students who need heavier support are paired with students who need lighter support. Also, repeat and rephrase questions and allow longer think time for students to comprehend and respond to questions.

Vocabulary

  • analogies, insubstantial, nebulous (A)
  • marketers, pollsters (DS)

Key

(A): Academic Vocabulary

(DS): Domain-Specific Vocabulary

Materials from Previous Lessons

Teacher

Student

  • Academic word wall (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time A)
  • Domain-specific word wall (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time A)
  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 5, Work Time A)
  • Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 5, Work Time A)
  • Criteria of an Effective Summary anchor chart (one for display; Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 9, Closing and Assessment A)
  • Vocabulary log (one per student; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Work Time A)

New Materials

Teacher

Student

  • Close Reading Guide: "Conflicting Ideas" (for teacher reference)
  • Close Read: "Conflicting Ideas" note-catcher (example for teacher reference)
  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 3, Lesson 4 (one per student)
  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 3, Lesson 4 ▲
  • “Conflicting Ideas” (one per student)
  • “Conflicting Ideas” ▲
  • Close Read: “Conflicting Ideas” note-catcher (one per student and one for display)
  • Close Read: “Conflicting Ideas” note-catcher ▲ 

Assessment

Each unit in the 6-8 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize students' understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

OpeningLevels of Support

A. Engage the Learner – SL.7.1d (5 minutes)

  • Repeated routine: Students respond to questions on Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 4 and Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 4 ▲ as necessary. The differentiated entrance ticket supports students’ discussion and comprehension with sentence frames. ▲
  • Once students have completed their entrance tickets, use a total participation technique to briefly review their responses to the third item.
  • Repeated routine: follow the same routine as with the previous lessons to review learning targets and the purpose of the lesson, reminding students of any learning targets that are similar or the same as in previous lessons.

For Lighter Support

  • Pair students with a native speaker so they are supported by the modeling of strong discussion abilities.

For Heavier Support

  • Invite students to use the Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 4 ▲. This resource supports students’ participation in a peer discussion with sentence starters. Encourage students to complete the sentence starters in writing. Writing down sentences they can use in a discussion gives students confidence to increase their successful participation.

Work Time

Work TimeLevels of Support

A. Close Read: Determine Central Ideas: “Conflicting Ideas” – RI.7.2 (35 minutes)

  • Review the appropriate learning targets relevant to the work to be completed in this section of the lesson:

“I can determine two or more central ideas of a text.

“I can trace the development of central ideas over the course of a text.”

  • Focus students on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart, and remind them that digging into the text deeper can help them understand it better, so they are going to dig deeper into an excerpt from the text through close reading.
  • Move students into predetermined triads.
  • Direct students’ attention to the Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart, and review what collaboration and perseverance look and sound like.
  • Use Close Reading Guide: “Conflicting Ideas” to set the purpose of the close read and to guide students through a close read of this excerpt. Refer to the guide for how to integrate the following:
    • “Conflicting Ideas” 
    • “Conflicting Ideas” ▲ as necessary. The differentiated article supports students’ comprehension with gist statements at the end of each paragraph. ▲
    • Close Read: “Conflicting Ideas” note-catcher
    • Close Read: “Conflicting Ideas” note-catcher ▲ as necessary. The differentiated note-catcher supports students’ writing and comprehension with sentence frames. ▲
  • Refer to Close Read: “Conflicting Ideas” note-catcher (example for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Repeated routine: invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning target.

For Lighter Support

  • Before Work Time A, encourage students to share with their classmates who need heavier support their annotations and notes on the “Conflicting Ideas” article that they preread for the previous lesson’s homework. Sharing their annotations and notes will help students recall the work they did and cement their comprehension of the article before they delve deeper into analysis during the close read.
  • If time allows, extend students’ practice with adjective phrases from the Language Dive in Unit 1, Lesson 12. Pair or group students with classmates who need heavier support. Challenge students to review the purpose of adjective phrases (to describe or tell more about words or other phrases in a sentence). Then ask students to identify a sentence with an adjective phrase from the “Conflicting Ideas” article. Their classmates who need heavier support can then identify the adjective phrase within the sentence and work with these students to identify what the phrase is describing or telling more about. The following are some sentences with adjective phrases in the “Conflicting Ideas” article (with adjective phrases in italics and word or phrase modified in bold):
    • For many years marketers, pollsters and the like have been borrowing from epidemiology, the branch of medicine that deals with how diseases spread through populations. (paragraph 1)
    • A new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, though, has managed to get around that problem to study exactly how "social contagion" works—in the form of signing up to Facebook, the social-networking behemoth. (paragraph 3)

For Heavier Support

  • Before Work Time A, encourage students to partner with their classmates who need lighter support to review their annotations and notes on the “Conflicting Ideas” article ▲ that they preread for the previous lesson’s homework. At this time, students can ask any lingering questions of their classmates. Sharing their annotations and notes will help students recall the work they did and increase their comprehension of the article before they delve deeper into analysis during the close read.
  • During Work Time A, invite students to use the Close Read: “Conflicting Ideas” note-catcher ▲. This resource supports students’ writing and comprehension with sentence frames.
  • If time allows, extend students’ practice with adjective phrases from the Language Dive in Unit 1, Lesson 12. Pair or group students with classmates who need lighter support who will review the purpose of adjective phrases (to describe or tell more about words or other phrases in a sentence). Then these students who need lighter support will identify a sentence with an adjective phrase from the “Conflicting Ideas” article. Students who need heavier support can then identify the adjective phrase within the sentence and work with their classmates to identify what the phrase is describing or telling more about. The following are some sentences with adjective phrases in the “Conflicting Ideas” article (with adjective phrases in italics and the word or phrase modified in bold):
    • For many years marketers, pollsters and the like have been borrowing from epidemiology, the branch of medicine that deals with how diseases spread through populations. (paragraph 1)
    • A new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, though, has managed to get around that problem to study exactly how "social contagion" works—in the form of signing up to Facebook, the social-networking behemoth. (paragraph 3)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingLevels of Support

A. Write Summary: “Conflicting Ideas” – RI.7.2 (5 minutes)

  • Review the appropriate learning target relevant to the work to be completed in this section of the lesson:

“I can write an objective summary of a text.”

  • Instruct students to write a summary of the article “Conflicting Views,” referring to the Criteria of an Effective Summary anchor chart. For students who need additional support, consider beginning the summary together, modeling and asking for student modeling in writing a topic sentence and several body sentences. ▲
  • Repeated routine: invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets and the habits of character focus in this lesson, discussing what went well and what could be improved next time.

For Lighter Support

  • Before summary writing, ask students to orally rehearse with a partner what they will write. Rehearsal allows for both oral and written language development.

For Heavier Support

  • Provide the following frames to support students in writing a summary of the complex article:
    • The article "Conflicting Ideas" is about . . .
    • For example, . . .
    • Also, . . .
    • These examples show that . . .

Homework

HomeworkLevels of Support

A. Complete Summary

  • Students finish their summaries of "Conflicting Ideas," tracing the development of central ideas across the article.

B. Determine Meaning of Unfamiliar Vocabulary

  • Students use context and, if necessary, a dictionary to determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary in "Conflicting Ideas." Students then record the words and their definitions in the correct section of their vocabulary log.

For Lighter Support

  • Before summary writing, ask students to orally rehearse with a partner what they will write. Rehearsal allows for both oral and written language development.

For Heavier Support

  • Provide the following frames to support students in writing a summary of the complex article:
    • The article "Conflicting Ideas" is about . . .
    • For example, . . .
    • Also, . . .
    • These examples show that . . .

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