Voice from the Trains | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA 2019 G8:M3:U2:L9

Voice from the Trains

In this Lesson

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Focus Standards: These are the standards the instruction addresses.

  • RL.8.1, RL.8.2, L.8.1b, L.8.1c, L.8.1d, L.8.3a

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.

  • RL.8.3, RL.8.4, RL.8.10, W.8.4, W.8.10, L.8.4c
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can determine a theme and analyze its development in an excerpt from Night by Elie Wiesel. (RL.8.1, RL.8.2)
  • I can write an objective summary of an excerpt from Night by Elie Wiesel. (RL.8.2)
  • I can use verbs in different moods to achieve particular effects. (L.8.1c, L.8.3a)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Opening A: Entrance Ticket
  • Work Time A: Track Gist, Plot, Character, and Theme: Night, Pages 23-24 note-catcher (RL.8.1, RL.8.2, RL.8.3)
  • Work Time B: Objective Summary: Night, Pages 23-24 (RL.8.1, RL.8.2)
  • Closing and Assessment A: Selected and Constructed Response Questions: Verb Mood and Voice (L.8.1b, L.8.1c, L.8.1d, L.8.3a)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engage the Learner - L.8.1c (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Read Excerpt from Night, Pages 23-24, and Identify Development of Theme - RL.8.2 (20 minutes) 

B. Write an Objective Summary: Excerpt from Night, Pages 23-24 - RL.8.2 (10 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Selected and Constructed Response Questions: Verb Mood and Voice - L.8.3a (10 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Verb Mood: Students complete Homework: Verb Mood: Objective Summary to answer selected response questions about verb mood in a summary of an excerpt from Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl.

B. Preread Text: Students complete Homework: Preread Night, Pages 29-34 in preparation for studying the text in the next lesson.

Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

  • L.8.1c – Opening A: Students answer selected and constructed response questions about the indicative, imperative, and interrogative verb moods.
  • RL.8.2 – Work Time A: Students determine the theme(s) of an excerpt from Night, Pages 23–24, and analyze the development of the theme(s) over the course of the excerpt.
  • RL.8.1 – Work Time A: Students identify key plot elements from text to determine the theme.
  • RL.8.2 – Work Time B: Students write an objective literary summary with a theme statement for an excerpt from Night, Pages 23–24.
  • L.8.1b – Closing and Assessment A: Students answer a constructed response question about forming the active voice.
  • L.8.1c – Closing and Assessment A: Students answer selected and constructed response questions about the form and use of verb moods.
  • L.8.1d – Closing and Assessment A: Students answer selected and constructed response questions to correct inappropriate shifts in verb moods.
  • L.8.3a – Closing and Assessment A: Students answer selected and constructed response questions about the effects created by verb mood and voice.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

  • Encourage students to identify theme independently before discussing as a group. Students may also choose to write about additional themes in their summaries.
  • In this unit, students study verb moods and their effects. Work focuses on using the subjunctive mood to express necessity and the conditional mood to express possibility and uncertainty, but these verb moods can also be used to create other effects, as well (e.g., to express a wish or an unreal hypothetical). Students can research and practice using the subjunctive and conditional moods to create additional effects in their text reflections.
  • Students may research additional stories of survivors of the Holocaust who were transported on trains by Nazi soldiers. Students can share what they have learned in small groups or with the whole class.

How It Builds on Previous Work

  • In the previous lesson, students read an excerpt from a text about a Holocaust survivor, determined the theme, and wrote an objective summary of the excerpt. Students will build upon this work by reading another excerpt of a text about a Holocaust survivor and writing an objective summary, including the theme statement.

Support All Students

  • Note that the excerpt from Night, Pages 23–24, in this lesson brings up potentially sensitive topics such as starvation, imprisonment, and dehumanization. Allow for time to process and respond to this topic during individual, small group, or full class discussion, and reach out to families as needed. Use thoughtful strategic pairing for discussions around these topics to ensure that all students feel comfortable.
  • Some students may have difficulty determining the theme of a new text. Ask prompting questions to support students in identifying themes in Work Time A. ▲
  • Some students may require reminders about synthesizing a text to identify the most relevant details for the context of a summary. Support students in annotating the text for the most poignant details to include in their summary. ▲
  • Some students may benefit from choosing how they will read the text. Read the text aloud with some students, have student-led groups read amongst themselves, and allow other students to read independently. ▲

Assessment Guidance

  • Review student summaries after the lesson to check whether they are on the right track. Use common issues as teaching points for the whole group in the next lesson.

Down the Road

  • In the next lesson, students continue to practice the skills of analyzing the development of themes in a text as well as building strong summaries with increased independence. Students will continue to read voices of Holocaust survivors, building toward a poster-sharing session commemorating victims and survivors of the Holocaust in Lesson 14.

In Advance

  • Prepare Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 9.
  • Ensure there is a copy of Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 9 at each student's workspace.
  • Preread the excerpt from Night, Pages 23-24, in preparation for reading the text with students in this lesson. Note the strong emotional content about the harsh conditions of the transport trains.
  • 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 8.I.C.11, 8.I.C.12, 8.II.A.1, and 8.II.A.2.

Important Points in the Lesson Itself

  • To support ELLs, this lesson includes further practice with the language skills introduced in Lesson 8 and continued work with reading memoirs of Holocaust victims and summary writing. Students will focus on capturing central ideas and identifying theme in an excerpt from Elie Wiesel's Night. Ample time for reading and writing is built into the lesson and selected and constructed response questions on verb mood are closely aligned with the questions students worked through in Lesson 8 and the questions students will answer on the End of Unit 2 Assessment. 
  • ELLs may find it difficult to identify themes in the excerpt and to articulate this within a summary. Encourage students to use annotation as they read to record important notices and wonders, and prioritize collaborative discussion as students process what they have read. Students may benefit from discussing the text in home language groups before using English to write the summary.

Vocabulary

  • N/A

Materials from Previous Lessons

Teacher

Student

  • Homework: Verb Mood and Voice: Abe's Story (answers for teacher reference) (from Module 3, Unit 2, Lesson 8, Homework A)
  • Criteria for an Effective Literary Summary anchor chart (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 1, Work Time C)
  • Verb Mood organizer (for teacher reference) (from Module 3, Unit 2, Lesson 8, Closing and Assessment A)
  • Homework: Verb Mood and Voice: Abe's Story (one per student; from Module 3, Unit 2, Lesson 8, Homework A)
  • Holocaust Glossary (one per students, from Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 3, Work Time A)
  • Summarize a Literary Text rubric (one per student and one for display; from Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 1, Work Time C)
  • Verb Mood organizer (one per student; from Module 3, Unit 2, Lesson 8, Closing and Assessment A)

New Materials

Teacher

Student

  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 9 (answers for teacher reference)
  • Track Gist, Plot, Character, and Theme: Night, Pages 23-24 note-catcher (for teacher reference)
  • Objective Summary: Night, Pages 23-24 (example for teacher reference)
  • Selected and Constructed Response Questions: Verb Mood and Voice (answers for teacher reference)
  • Homework: Verb Mood: Objective Summary (answers for teacher reference) (see Homework Resources)
  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 9 (one per student)
  • Excerpt from Night, Pages 23-24 (one per student and one for display)
  • Synopsis: Excerpt from Night, Pages 23-24 (one per student)
  • Track Gist, Plot, Character, and Theme: Night, Pages 23-24 note-catcher (one per student and one for display)
  • Objective Summary: Night, Pages 23-24 (one per student)
  • Selected and Constructed Response Questions: Verb Mood and Voice (one per student)
  • Homework: Verb Mood: Objective Summary (one per student; see Homework Resources)
  • Homework: Preread Night, Pages 29-34 (one per student; see Homework Resources)

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

Opening

A. Engage the Learner - L.8.1c (5 minutes)

  • Repeated routine: As students arrive, invite them to complete Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 9.
  • Using a preferred classroom routine, collect or review the answers to Homework: Verb Mood and Voice:  Abe's Story from Lesson 8. Refer to the Homework: Verb Mood and Voice:  Abe's Story  (answers for teacher reference).
  • Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as 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.

Work Time

Work TimeLevels of Support

A. Read Excerpt from Night, Pages 23-24, and Identify Development of Theme - RL.8.2 (20 minutes)

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

"I can determine a theme and analyze its development in an excerpt from Night by Elie Wiesel."

  • Explain to students that the Nazis transported hundreds of thousands of captive Jews and other victims in trains to concentration camps during the Holocaust. The European railway system was used by Germans to deport Jews to camps in Poland. Victims were told they were going to labor camps, but they were transported on trains to kill centers at concentration camps.
  • Tell students that they will read a story of a Holocaust survivor's experience on a train en route to a concentration camp.
  • Distribute and display Excerpt from Night, Pages 23-24. Instruct students to read the text independently, and support struggling students as needed. Remind students that they can refer to their Holocaust Glossary if they encounter domain specific vocabulary they do not understand. If students do not finish reading the text within the allotted reading time, distribute Synopsis: Excerpt from Night, Pages 23-24 to each student to review the key details of the text.
  • Be available to support students in reflecting as they read. Ensure students have what they need to process, whether a quiet space to think, someone to talk to about how they are processing the text, or paper to write or sketch.
  • Think-Pair-Share, and remind students of the habits of an ethical person, particularly respect, empathy, and compassion, as they discuss the potentially upsetting content in this story:

"What did Elie Wiesel and the other Jews experience on the train?" (They starved, Nazis took their possessions, and threatened their lives.)

"How did Elie feel about the treatment of his people?" (He felt like they were being treated as animals instead of human beings.)

"What connections can you make between Elie's experience and the importance of habits of character?" (Nazis did not show respect, empathy, or compassion for the Jews.)

"As you read, what were you feeling about Elie's circumstance?" (Answers will vary, but may include that the way Nazis treated Jews was inhumane.)

"As you read about Elie's experience, what habits of character were you practicing? Why?" (Answers will vary, but may mention compassion and empathy for Elie and his family as they feared for their lives and faced inhumane treatment.)

  • Display and distribute Track Gist, Plot, Character, and Theme: Night, Pages 23-24 note-catcher.
  • Instruct students to record gist, key plot elements, and character and analysis, similar to how they tracked these elements in Unit 1. Circulate as students complete the note-catcher. Refer to Track Gist, Plot, Character, and Theme: Night, Pages 23-24 note-catcher (for teacher reference) if necessary.
  • Refocus class. Focus students on the "Theme(s)" and the "Evidence from Text to Support Theme(s)" columns of the note-catcher.
  • Ask students to Think-Pair-Share about theme by asking the following questions:

"What do you think is the theme of Night, Pages 23-24?" (Answers will vary, but may include that cruelty and total control by others can make people feel like helpless victims.)

"What evidence in the text supports the theme you determined?" (Answers will vary, but may include the following: "The doors were nailed, the way back irrevocably cut off. The world had become a hermetically sealed cattle car.")

  • As students share, record responses on the displayed Track Gist, Plot, Character, and Theme: Night, Pages 23-24 note-catcher. Instruct students to record these notes in their note-catcher.
  • Tell students that they will write an objective summary of this excerpt from Night, and remind them that they will include the theme in their summary.
  • Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.

For Lighter Support

  • During Work Time A, challenge students to find the metaphor (bitterness of fear) within the excerpt that has the same structure as the metaphor students explore in the Language Dive in Lesson 2 (the filth of hate). Invite students to engage in a brief discussion of the meaning of this figurative language. This work will reinforce students' understanding of how metaphors are often structured and of how figurative language is used to convey meaning.

For Heavier Support

  • During Work Time A, review the glossary in Excerpt from Night by Elie Wiesel, pages 23-24 with students who need heavier support.

B. Write an Objective Summary: Excerpt from Night, Pages 23–24 – RL.8.2 (10 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 an excerpt from Night by Elie Wiesel.”

  • Remind students that they will write a summary about Elie Wiesel and other Holocaust survivors in the next few lessons. They will choose one voice from a summary they have written that resonates with them and will choose visual elements to further convey this voice in a commemorative poster.
  • Display the Criteria for an Effective Literary Summary anchor chart.
  • Display the Summarize a Literary Text rubric, and instruct students to retrieve their copy.
  • Remind students to refer to the anchor chart and the handout when writing their summary paragraph as they did in the previous lesson. 
  • Tell students that they are now going to write a summary of Excerpt from Night, Pages 23–24. Give them 1 minute to think. Ask students to Turn and Talk. The first student to speak (partner A) will orally summarize the excerpt. Refocus the whole group and have partners switch roles. The second person to speak (partner B) will do the same, adding or removing any relevant details. ▲
  • Distribute Objective Summary: Night, Pages 23–24 handout. Invite students to write their summaries, and remind them to use the Criteria for an Effective Literary Summary anchor chart and refer to the Summarize a Literary Text rubric as needed.
  • Remind students that when writing paragraphs such as a summary, they should write in complete sentences.
  • Circulate to support students as they write. Note any trends to highlight in the next lesson. Ensure that all summaries are stored in a safe place for use in creating the commemorative poster in Lesson 12.
  • Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.
  • N/A

Closing & Assessments

ClosingLevels of Support

A. Selected and Constructed Response Questions: Verb Mood and Voice - L.8.3a (10 minutes)

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

"I can use verbs in different moods to achieve particular effects."

  • Display and distribute Selected and Constructed Response Questions: Verb Mood and Voice. Read each of the questions aloud as students read along silently, and explain that students will work independently to answer the questions about verb mood.
  • Instruct students to answer the questions individually.
  • Circulate as students work to ensure they are on track and answer any clarifying questions. Encourage them to refer to the Verb Mood organizer, as needed.
  • When students have completed this task, group students strategically into pairs, and invite them to share their responses to each question with each other as time permits. Display appropriate conversation cues to prompt students to encourage their partner to provide appropriate reasoning and evidence:

"Why do you think that?"

"What, in the sentence, makes you think so?"

  • Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.

For Lighter Support

  • If time remains in Closing and Assessment A, after students have reviewed their responses to Selected and Constructed Response Questions: Verb Mood and Voice, invite students to consider whether the sentences within these questions are written in active or passive voice (note: all are in active voice). Challenge students to experiment with changing the sentences from active to passive voice and give them time to discuss how this changes the emphasis and meaning of sentences. Guide students to notice that sentences in the imperative, conditional, and subjunctive moods are not easily changed into passive voice and that trying to do so results in awkward sentences with sometimes unclear meaning.

For Heavier Support

  • Before students begin their work with verb mood in Closing and Assessment A, review the information on the Verb Mood organizer to remind students how each verb mood in English is constructed. 

Homework

Homework

A. Verb Mood

  • Students complete Homework: Verb Mood: Objective Summary to answer selected response questions about verb mood in a summary of an excerpt from The Diary of a Young Girl.

B. Preread Text

  • Students complete Homework: Preread Night, Pages 29-34 in preparation for studying the text in the next lesson.

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