Grade 7: Building Background Knowledge - How Working Conditions Change: Chavez and the UFW
Rating: 
http://www.engageny.org/sites/default/files/resource/attachments/7m2a.2.pdf Grade 7: Module 2A Unit 2
Common Core Standards
Reading Informational Text
RI.7.2 Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
RI.7.3 Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).
RI.7.5 Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to the development of the ideas.
Speaking and Listening
SL.7.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Description of Unit
This Grade 7 unit titled "Building Background Knowledge: Who Changes Working Conditions?" developed by Expeditionary Learning for engageny.org is intended to be completed in approximately 4 weeks of forty-five minute sessions of ELA/Literacy instruction. This is primarily a reading unit that focuses on students’ ability to: determine the central ideas of a complex text, analyze how they are developed, understand how people and ideas interact in that text, and consider how the organization of a text relates to the author’s central claim. At the end of the unit, students independently apply their understanding of text structure to analyze a related text.
Cautions
Connecticut teachers should be aware that this curriculum unit is specifically designed for English Language Arts classes. Before this unit is used in a history/social studies course, some modifications will be necessary including: the replacement of the CCSS listed above with the English Language Arts Standards in History/Social Studies that are targeted in this unit, additional history/social studies content to meet grade-specific content standards, and possible assessment and/or rubric revision. While the curriculum is available at the site listed, materials used in the lessons may be limited.
Rationale for Selection
The unit is an exemplary example of how to integrate reading, speaking, and listening so that students apply and synthesize advancing literacy skills. Scaffolded lessons routinely expect students to draw evidence from texts. Technology and media deepen learning and draw attention to evidence and texts as appropriate. Unit activities cultivate student interest and engagement in reading and speaking about texts. Varied modes of assessment, including a range of pre, formative, summative, and self-assessment measures are clearly aligned to the CCSS.