The 12th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 12th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Language study is embedded in every 12th grade unit as students use annotation to closely review aspects of each text. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

The laws that govern and the social norms that regulate society are not always fair, legal, moral, or ethical. What is a person to do about all this injustice? What are the hazards of righting injustices or changing social norms? And what are the dangers of doing nothing?

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and annotate Antigone, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” and Pygmalion.
Students write a literary analysis showing the effect of social class or the law on a character’s life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do social class and legal institutions shape literary characters’ lives (and presumably our lives)?
How does social class affect a person in dealing with the law (protect a person, hurt a person)?
How is social class determined in America and in other places in the world?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this lesson, students continue to discuss Dr. King’s writing style. Then they will read and discuss W. H. Auden's “Law Like Love,” focusing on the comparisons to law in the poem.

In this multi-day lesson, students will play the role of "devil's advocate" in debating the potential reform of professional sports. Students will consider multiple perspectives as they annotate texts in preparation for a culminating debate activity in which they assume roles of several hypothetical stakeholders.

In this lesson, students learn the basics of annotating poetry as a means to analyze it. Students use a short poem of their (or your) choice and follow step-by-step instructions to break it down.

The following lesson plan uses Guy De Maupassant's "The Necklace" to guide students through a close annotated reading of the short story with an emphasis on insight, comprehension, analysis, characterization, structure, tone, and gathering of textual support.

In this lesson plan, students analyze a poem in groups on a very rigid schedule. Students read and annotate the poem, then prepare a three-minute presentation to the class about it.

This resource contains a lesson designed to assist learners with developing key skills to properly annotate a piece of literature. Instructors will provide students with applicable readings from texts or newspapers while students will spend time annotating the articles.

In this lesson, students learn the definition and concept of theme in a literary work. Students look at a list of the main themes of the novel The Great Gatsby, which they will trace as they read the book.