English Language Arts Grades 11-12 (2023)
Lesson Plans

Reading (11-12.R)

Students will learn to proficiently read and comprehend grade level literature and informational text, including seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance, at the high end of the grade level text complexity band, with scaffolding as needed. *Standard R.4 includes an asterisk to refer educators back to the Text Complexity Grade Bands and Associated Lexile Ranges in the introduction of the standards.

Standard 11-12.R.14:

Analyze two or more texts of literary significance across and within time periods with similar topics and themes, drawing on their purposes, stylistic choices, and rhetorical features. (RL)
Analyze and evaluate works of cultural significance for the way in which these works treat similar themes, conflicts, issues, or topics, and maintain relevance for current audiences. (RI)

• "Remember" by Joy Harjo
  This lesson plan is the ninth in the "Incredible Bridges: Poets Creating Community" series. It provides a video recording of the poet, Joy Harjo, reading the poem "Remember." The companion lesson contains a sequence of activities for use with secondary students before, during, and after reading to help them enter and experience the poem.
• Classical Appeals and War Speeches
  This set of lessons extends over several days. Students watch a Prezi and take notes about the classical appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos). Students then read and annotate (focusing on the classical appeals) Winston Churchill's "Be Ye Men of Valour" and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation." Students work in groups to complete a graphic organizer which helps them analyze the classical appeals in the speeches. Finally, students write an analysis of ethos, pathos, and logos in one of the speeches.
• Crane, London, and Literary Naturalism
  Heavily influenced by social and scientific theories, including those of Darwin, writers of naturalism described"?usually from a detached or journalistic perspective"?the influence of society and surroundings on the development of the individual. In the following lesson plan, students will learn the key characteristics that comprise American literary naturalism as they explore London's "To Build a Fire" and Crane's "The Open Boat."
• Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, and the Unreliable Biographers
  We are naturally curious about the lives (and deaths) of authors, especially those, such as Edgar Allan Poe and Ambrose Bierce, who have left us with so many intriguing mysteries. But does biographical knowledge add to our understanding of their works? And if so, how do we distinguish between the accurate detail and the rumor; between truth and exaggeration? In this lesson, students become literary sleuths, attempting to separate biographical reality from myth. They also become careful critics, taking a stand on whether extra-literary materials such as biographies and letters should influence the way readers understand a writer's texts.
• Lesson 2: The Debate in Congress on the Sedition Act
  What provisions in the U.S. Constitution are relevant to the debate over the Sedition Act? For this lesson, students will read brief excerpts from actual debates in the House of Representatives as the legislators attempted to work with the version of the bill "Punishment of Crime" (later known as the Sedition Act) already passed by the Senate.
• Lesson 2: The Question of Representation at the 1787 Convention
  When the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention convened in May of 1787 to recommend amendments to the Articles of Confederation, one of the first issues they addressed was the plan for representation in Congress. This lesson will focus on the various plans for representation debated during the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
• The Debate in the United States over the League of Nations
  American foreign policy continues to resonate with the issues surrounding the debate over U.S. entry into the League of Nations-collective security versus national sovereignty, idealism versus pragmatism, the responsibilities of powerful nations, the use of force to accomplish idealistic goals, the idea of America. Understanding the debate over the League and the consequences of its ultimate failure provides insight into international affairs in the years since the end of the Great War.
• The Federalist and Anti-federalist Debates on Diversity and the Extended Republic
  This curriculum unit explores some of the most important arguments of those opposing or supporting the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
• What Makes a Change-Maker?: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
  Students will watch excerpts from Ken Burns?s film Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony, a video about Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and read a speech by Harper. They will then analyze the factors that led these women to become iconoclastic advocates for women?s rights and compare how and why their experiences differed. Students will then create a diagram, recipe, or slide show that demonstrates how these women?s life circumstances, personal qualities, significant experiences, and role models contributed to their actions. The activity will culminate in students reflecting on what makes a change-maker and considering their own capacities as change-makers.

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http://www.uen.org - in partnership with Utah State Board of Education (USBE) and Utah System of Higher Education (USHE).  Send questions or comments to USBE Specialist - Naomi  Watkins and see the Language Arts - Secondary website. For general questions about Utah's Core Standards contact the Director - Jennifer  Throndsen.

These materials have been produced by and for the teachers of the State of Utah. Copies of these materials may be freely reproduced for teacher and classroom use. When distributing these materials, credit should be given to Utah State Board of Education. These materials may not be published, in whole or part, or in any other format, without the written permission of the Utah State Board of Education, 250 East 500 South, PO Box 144200, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4200.