Unit 1 PBL

Driving question:
Who am I and what matters to me?
Entry event:
Letter from Mr. Guthrie asking students to help
him understand who the new class of Lincoln
Leopards is by showing him who we are as a
class. The letter will indicate that hell get back to
them with more specifics on what hes looking
for in the coming weeks.
Follow-up memos will give more details of what
hes expecting in the creative piece, the writing
piece, and the presentation piece.
Grouping:
Primarily individual work
Many opportunities for feedback and
collaborative components in individual lessons.
Emphasize the collaborative nature of the
project in that everyones work will come
together at the end to produce a picture of who
we are as a class.
Product(s):
The Creative Piece
Modeling portfolio 3 head shots that
depict the different sides of you. Mixed
media collage to communicate details
Soundtrack of your life 3 songs that
represent different sides of you with
intentional lyrics. Include a letter explaining
each song choice.
Movie trailer use photos, words, and
intentional music selection to depict 3 sides
of you in a movie trailer format
The Narrative Writing Piece a personal
narrative that recounts a time 2 of your faces
were in conflict OR a personal narrative that
recounts a time you had to make a difficult
decision.
The Presentation Piece show Mr. Guthrie who
YOU are by explaining your creation and your
narrative to communicate who you are and
whats important to you.

Focus standards:
RL.7.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis
RL.7.2 Determine theme & analyze its development
RL.7.3 Analyze how elements of a story interact
RL.7.6 Analyze how an author develops & contrasts the POV of
different characters/narrators in a text
W.7.3 (a-e) Write narratives to develop experiences using
technique, descriptive details, and well-structured event
sequences; establish a context/POV; dialogue, pacing, description;
transitions; precise, descriptive, sensory language; conclusion that
reflects on the events
W.7.4 Clear & coherent writing
W.7.5 Develop & strengthen writing the writing process
L.7.1b & L.7.2 simple/compound/complex &
caps/punctuation/spelling, incl. coordinate adjectives
SL.7.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
SL.7.2 Analyze the main ideas & supporting details presented in
diverse media/explain how they clarify a topic under study
W.7.7 Conduct short research projects to answer a question,
drawing on several sources
W.7.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital
sources
Texts:
Short stories that can be used to define what makes a
person who they are (Fish Cheeks Orange Crush
The Mustache Eleven)
Visual texts: Girl at the Mirror, royal portrait(s)
Poems that can be used to define what makes a
person who they are (On Turning Ten I, Too, Sing
America
Novel: The Outsiders
Formative assessments:
RL standards - practices with The Outsiders
Interview questions & data collection
Creative piece planning to communicate 3
different aspects of the student
Narrative planning choosing all elements of the
story with the purpose of communicating theme
Various phases of the writing process
Presentation prep small group feedback
Summative assessment(s) & skills to assess:
Creative Piece / rubric to include: meets option-
specific requirements, achieves goal of depicting
3 aspects of the student, uses a variety of details
to communicate ideas, and includes values
beyond the surface-level.
Narrative / rubric to include: intentional use of
story elements to communicate theme, narrative
writing techniques, and effective use of language
Presentation / rubric to include: incorporates
details from the creative piece and the narrative
to communicate who you are and whats
important to you, practices professional
presentation skills

Anticipated Learning Progression/Timeline
Week 1:

Back to school, get to know you, rules & procedures, pre-assessments, etc
Introduce project with first letter from Mr. Guthrie & create a Know/Need to Know list (Friday)
Week 2:
Read a variety of short/visual texts to construct a list of aspects of what makes a person who they are to
guide our self-discovery & to gauge students understanding of RL standards
Week 3-5
Create interview questions to conduct research on ourselves
Conduct interviews outside of class to get others perspectives on who you are & interview yourself
Outsiders reading & mini-lessons/practices (annotate, cite evidence, write meaningful commentary, theme +
development, interaction of parts of a story, develop + contrast POV)
Work in class to execute the creative piece homework to supplement as needed for time/supplies
Socratic Circle: How do the decisions that Ponyboy makes help us understand him better as a character?
How can we learn about other people by studying the decisions they make? / How does the list we made of
what defines a person apply to characters in The Outsiders? Do we need to add to our list based on this text?
Narrative topic brainstorming: write a dialogue between you & Ponyboy where you discuss hard decisions
youve had to make or a decision you wish you had made differently
Week 6-8
Story planning analyze how each element of The Outsiders contributed to theme & then plan in the same
way
Draft the narrative
Craft mini-lessons: strong exposition to establish context/POV, dialogue, descriptive details, sensory
language, pacing/transitions/flow, coordinate adjectives & simple/compound/complex, and reflective
conclusion
Teacher feedback, peer revision & final draft
Prepare presentations watch videos to construct guidelines, plan yours, & practice to get feedback with a
peer/small group
Week 9-10
Presentations for Mr. Guthrie/other authentic audience members (1 day)
District common assessments (1-2 days)
Teen Brains (5 days; not included in PBL)