Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

• RL.6.1 – Work Time A: Students participate in the Infer the Topic protocol and engage with literary resources (e.g., excerpts from the anchor text) related to the topic of the module.
• RI.6.1 – Work Time A: Students participate in the Infer the Topic protocol and engage with informational texts (e.g., excerpts from historical documents) related to the topic of the module.
• SL.6.2 – Work Time A: Students collaborate during the Infer the Topic protocol, integrating information presented in diverse media and explaining its relationship to the topic of the module.
• Students are introduced to the module anchor text, Two Roads, in Work Time C. Be aware that the topic presented in the book, American Indian boarding schools, may be sensitive for students, and that some students may connect with these issues personally and deeply. After exploring the text, students have time to reflect. Monitor students and determine if there are issues surfacing that need to be discussed in more detail as a whole group, in smaller groups, or independently. Be aware that reflections may be personal, and students are not required to share them. Consider providing background information and discussion on the treatment of American Indians by the US government as necessary.
• The Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center at Dickinson College, and the author Joseph Bruchac were consulted in the naming of this module's topic – American Indian Boarding Schools. Within indigenous communities, discussions of preferred terminology (i.e., American Indian versus Native American) are ongoing, and vast diversity across communities means that reaching consensus about terminology cannot and should not be a goal. For this reason, the title of this module should be considered changeable, not prescriptive. Invite students' input and encourage discussion about naming practices, emphasizing the importance of calling people what they wish to be called. As a way to demonstrate respect for diversity, aim to be as precise as possible when discussing indigenous groups. For example, the main character of the anchor text Two Roads, Cal, describes himself as Creek Indian and, thus, is referred to as such in lessons and students' materials.
• This lesson is the first that includes built-out instruction for the use of Goal 4 Conversation Cues. Goal 4 Conversation Cues help students think with others to expand the conversation. Refer to the Online Resources for the complete set of cues. Examples of the Goal 4 Conversation Cues used in this module include:
• To prompt students to compare:

“How is what _____ said the same as/different from what _____ said?”

• To prompt students to agree, disagree, and explain why:

“Do you agree or disagree with what your classmate said? Why?”

• To prompt students to add on to classmates’ comments:

“Who can add on to what your classmate said?”

• To prompt students to explain:

“Who can explain why your classmate came up with that response?”

Opportunities to Extend Learning

• In addition to the resources provided for the Infer the Topic protocol, consider adding other resources such as videos, music, graphics, historical documents, or picture books related to the module topic.
• Chapters 1–4 in the anchor text will not be read in their entirety during class time due to time constraints. Students may wish to read these chapters outside of class and should be encouraged to do so.
• In chapter 1, the narrator Cal refers to himself and his Pop as “knights of the road” or “hoboes.” The term “hobo” generally holds a negative connotation today and can be used as an insult, though the term historically referred to migratory workers, who traveled from place to place, often by rail, seeking honest work. Many people were forced to become “hoboes” during the 1930s as the Great Depression left them without homes or jobs, as is the case in the anchor text, Two Roads. Consider inviting students to participate in an extension activity in which they serve as “linguistic investigators” to track the evolution of this word. Students can use online dictionaries (including etymological dictionaries), encyclopedias, search engines, articles, etc. to explore former and current interpretations of the word, including its general perception today. Provide these, or other questions, to guide students’ queries:
• When was the term hobo first used?
• What kind of people did this word originally describe? What did they do? What did they look like?
• Who uses the word hobo today? Why do they use this word?
• How does the word hobo make you feel when you hear it?
• What are other similar words or phrases that could be used instead without hurting people’s feelings?
• This exercise reinforces student work with W.6.7 and W.6.8, which were assessed during Module 2. It also provides space for students to understand the way in which language changes and can become weaponized. Students can apply this learning to their understanding of other more painful or charged terms they may encounter in Two Roads or other texts.

How It Builds on Previous Work

• This module builds on skills practiced in previous modules, specifically in students’ ability to determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed as they did in Module 1 and identify a central idea of a text and include it in an effective summary as they did in Module 2.

Support All Students

• Integrated ELL supports are marked throughout lessons with a ▲. These teaching suggestions support student comprehension without disrupting lesson flow or requiring extensive class time or additional materials. Deeper, high-leverage supports, designed to accelerate ELLs’ language development, can be found in the Teacher’s Guide for English Language Learners.
• Note that there is a differentiated version of the I Notice/I Wonder note-catcher used in Work Time A in the separate Teacher's Guide for English Language Learners. Differentiated versions of some materials are available in most lessons as a way to provide additional support to ELLs. As the Infer the Topic protocol in this lesson is a collaborative exercise, consider pairing students who need heavier support and working with them to complete the differentiated note-catchers. If feasible, it may also be strategic to create home-language pairs and allow students to use their home language as a resource to help them interpret content and develop inferences during Work Time A. ▲
• Students may need additional support reading the text excerpts in the Infer the Topic protocol. Invite students to help each other by reading the excerpts aloud to each other. ▲
• Consider pairing English language learners with a partner who has 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. ▲
• Students may lack the background knowledge needed to make informed inferences based on the images and quotes they see during the Infer the Topic protocol. Remind students that inferences need to be evidence-driven; in other words, any inference made should explicitly reference the content of the resources they examine.
• If any students have visual barriers, consider presenting the Infer the Topic resources in large typeface.
• Beginning a new text may be intimidating or challenging for developing readers. Work Time B introduces students to the text through short excerpts that spark interest and require minimal reading. ▲
• The anchor text, Two Roads, is set in the 1930s; as a result, some characters use terms that may be seen as derogatory or offensive today. For example, Cal refers to African-Americans as “Negroes” in early chapters of the text. Explain to students that this is a dated and derogatory term reflective of the time period in which the novel takes place. Invite frank discussion about whether the class feels comfortable hearing the word read aloud or not, and remind students that the term should not be used otherwise.
• Pre-reading new texts can be a valuable exercise for slower or struggling readers. Consider presenting students with the Unit 1 reading schedule ahead of time and encourage them to skim and scan new chapters the night before to acquaint themselves with the content.

Assessment Guidance

• Monitor students’ Infer the Topic: I Notice/I Wonder note-catchers to ensure they are on the right track for inferring what the module is about at the end of the Infer the Topic protocol.
• Consider numbering the resources and asking students to record the number of the resource next to their notices and wonderings to make the connections among them clearer.

Down the Road

• In the next lesson, students will spend some time discussing their reflections on the module guiding questions. They will continue in the anchor text, Two Roads, picking up with the story at the end of chapter 4 and begin tracking how the main character, Cal, responds to and changes as a result of plot events.