Curriculum / ELA / 7th Grade / Unit 3: Pursuing Dreams: A Raisin in the Sun / Lesson 25
ELA
Unit 3
7th Grade
Lesson 25 of 27
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Draft dialogue and stage directions for a short dramatic scene.
Play: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
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This reading lesson depicts sexual assault and harrassment. Be mindful of how your students may respond.
Today students will draft lines of dialogue for their dramatic scenes. Thus far in this task students have been asked to closely study Hansberry's structural and craft moves and emulate those moves in their own writing. However, as students move into writing dialogue it is important to communicate that they should not write dialogue in a vernacular dialect that is not their own.
Lorraine Hansberry was a Black woman from Chicago writing in the 1950s about a Black family in Chicago in the 1950s. While Hansberry herself may or may not have used African American Vernacular English, the historical record demonstrates that many (though not all) members of the Black community in 1950s Chicago used AAVE. Students should understand that Hansberry made the choice to write Raisin's dialogue in the vernacular dialect from her position of an insider in that community.
Explain to students that appropriating the dialect of a culture that is not one's own—particularly one that has historically been marginalized—has the potential to do real harm. Instead of trying to emulate Hansberry's dialogue, students should use this assignment as an opportunity to write dialogue from their own cultural and linguistic perspectives. For some students, this may mean writing in contemporary AAVE; for others, it may mean writing bilingually. Others may feel most comfortable writing dialogue in "standard" English. The most important thing is that the dialogue stays true to what students know about the characters and the relationships between them.
Resources
Tasks that represents the peak thinking of the lesson - mastery will indicate whether or not objective was achieved
Submit your 10+ lines of dialogue with stage directions.
An example response to the Target Task at the level of detail expected of the students.
Reading and/or task to be completed at home in preparation for the next lesson.
Complete any work on dialogue not finished in class.
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W.7.3 — Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
W.7.3.b — Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit
L.7.1 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L.7.2 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
L.7.3 — Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
L.7.5.a — Interpret figures of speech (e.g., literary, biblical, and mythological allusions) in context.
RL.7.5 — Analyze how a drama's or poem's form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.
RL.7.10 — By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
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.
SL.7.6 — Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
W.7.3.a — Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
W.7.3.c — Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.
W.7.3.d — Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
W.7.4 — Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
W.7.5 — With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.
W.7.6 — Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others, including linking to and citing sources.
W.7.10 — Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Lesson 24
Lesson 26
Define the American dream and explain how and why it has changed over time.
RI.7.3
Determine the causes and impacts of the Great Migration and explain how the author develops his central ideas.
RI.7.2 RI.7.3
Identify the claims made in a radio story and assess whether the evidence used to support those claims is relevant and sufficient.
RI.7.8 SL.7.3
Explain the meaning and impact of word choice and literary devices in Langston Hughes’s "Harlem," and how they work together to develop theme.
RL.7.2 RL.7.4
Identify features of setting and explain how setting shapes characters in A Raisin in the Sun.
RL.7.3
Identify characters’ points of view in A Raisin in the Sun and explain how the playwright develops differences in perspective.
RL.7.6
Writing
Unpack a writing prompt, study an exemplar, and gather evidence in preparation for writing a persuasive letter.
W.7.1 W.7.1.a W.7.5
Outline and draft a persuasive letter including a counterclaim.
W.7.1 W.7.1.a W.7.1.b W.7.1.e W.7.5
Revise for linking words; identify and correct misplaced and dangling modifiers.
L.7.1 L.7.1.c W.7.1 W.7.1.c
Compare and contrast the film version of A Raisin in the Sun with the original text and explain the impact of specific techniques used by the filmmakers.
RL.7.7
Identify characters’ points of view in A Raisin in the Sun and explain what their words and actions reveal about them.
Explain how the physical and historical setting of A Raisin in the Sun impacts characters.
Identify and contrast different characters’ perspectives in A Raisin in the Sun, and explain how they change.
Explain the impact of specific word choice on mood and meaning in A Raisin in the Sun, and how word choice reveals a character’s perspective.
RL.7.4 RL.7.6
Compare and contrast the film version of A Raisin in the Sun with the original text by identifying techniques used by the filmmakers and their impact on mood and meaning.
Explain the impact of word choice on mood and tone in A Raisin in the Sun.
RL.7.4
Identify characters’ points of view in A Raisin in the Sun and explain how the playwright develops differences and changes in perspective.
Socratic Seminar
Engage in a Socratic Seminar with peers, demonstrating a deep understanding of the text and topic by posing and responding to questions, and providing evidence to support ideas.
SL.7.1 SL.7.1.a SL.7.1.c SL.7.4
Unpack a prompt, study a Mentor Text, and begin to brainstorm ideas for a setting.
W.7.3
Draft setting paragraphs, focusing on vivid descriptive details.
L.7.5 W.7.3 W.7.3.a W.7.3.d
Outline a short dramatic scene and draft "At Rise" paragraphs.
W.7.3 W.7.3.a
W.7.3 W.7.3.b
Engage in peer feedback with a partner and present scenes to the class.
SL.7.4 W.7.3 W.7.5
Assessment – 2 days
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