generations unit 1.pdf

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

UNIT 1

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

Discuss It What are some examples of things that one generation can learn from another?

Write your response before sharing your ideas.

Young people often learn from older people, but sometimes it works the other way around.

Generations

Grizzly Bear Teaches Her Cubs

2

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

SMALL-GROUP LEARNING

WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING

INDEPENDENT LEARNING

UNIT INTRODUCTIONUNIT 1

NEWS ARTICLE

Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech TricksJennifer Ludden

MEDIA CONNECTION: Cyber-Seniors

POETRY COLLECTION 2

LineageMargaret Walker

FamilyGrace Paley

OPINION PIECE

“Gotcha Day” Isn’t a Cause for CelebrationSophie Johnson

SHORT STORY

An Hour With AbueloJudith Ortiz Cofer

SHORT STORY

The Grandfather and His Little GrandsonLeo Tolstoy

BLOG POST

Bridging the Generational Divide Between a Football Father and a Soccer SonJohn McCormick

SHORT STORY

Water NamesLan Samantha Chang

MEMOIR

from Mom & Me & MomMaya Angelou

MEDIA: VIDEO

Learning to Love My MotherMaya Angelou with Michael Maher

MEDIA: IMAGE GALLERY

Mother-Daughter DrawingsMica and Myla Hendricks

POETRY COLLECTION 1

Mother to SonLangston Hughes

To JamesFrank Horne

PERFORMANCE TASK

SpeakINg aNd LISTeNINg focUS:

Present a Nonfiction Narrative

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT PREP

Review Evidence for a Nonfiction Narrative

PERFORMANCE TASK

WrITINg focUS:

Write a Nonfiction Narrative

LaUNcH TeXT NoNfIcTIoN NarraTIve ModeL

Grounded

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENTNarration: Nonfiction Narrative and Multimedia Presentation

NOVEL EXCERPT

Two Kinds from The Joy Luck ClubAmy Tan

NEWS BLOG

A Simple ActTyler Jackson

MEMOIR

from An Invisible ThreadLaura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski

MEDIA CONNECTION: Maurice’s Toast

co

Mpa

re

co

Mpa

re

eSSeNTIaL QUeSTIoN:

What can one generation learn from another?

proMpT: In what situations can one generation learn from another?

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION

1 2 3 4 5

NOT AT ALL NOT VERY SOMEWHAT VERY EXTREMELY WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL

SCA

LE

READING GOALS

•Read and analyze how authors express point of view in nonfiction narrative.

•Expand your knowledge and use of academic and concept vocabulary.

WRITING AND RESEARCH GOALS

•Write a nonfiction narrative in which you develop experiences or events using effective technique.

•Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning.

LANGUAGE GOAL

•Develop your voice, or style of writing, with word choice and sentence structure to convey meaning and add variety and interest to your writing and presentations.

SPEAKING AND LISTENING GOALS

•Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate.

•Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations.

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

Unit GoalsThroughout this unit you will deepen your perspective about different generations by reading, writing, speaking, listening, and presenting. These goals will help you succeed on the Unit Performance-Based Assessment.

Rate how well you meet these goals right now. You will revisit your ratings later when you reflect on your growth during this unit.

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

STANDARDSLanguageAcquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

4 UNIT1•GENERATIONS

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

essential question: What can one generation learn from another?

WORD SENTENCES PREDICT MEANING RELATED WORDS

dialogue

ROOT:

-log-

“word”

1. The television show was known for its well-written dialogue between characters.

2. The confusion between Dina and Janet started a dialogue that cleared the air.

monologue;

logical

consequence

ROOT:

-sequ-

“follow”

1. A consequence of oversleeping is being late for school.

2. Earning an A on my math test was a positive consequence of studying all week.

perspective

ROOT:

-spec-

“look”

1. It’s important to keep perspective when facing a challenging situation.

2. The personal essay was written from the author’s perspective.

notable

ROOT:

-not-

“mark”

1. Every notable person in the city was invited to the mayor’s fund-raising gala.

2. It had been a long week, and nothing particularly notable had happened.

contradict

ROOT:

-dict-

“speak” or

“assert”

1. The facts of the case remain unclear because the witnesses’ statements contradict each other.

2. The new test results contradict what we once thought to be true about the product.

Academic Vocabulary: Nonfiction NarrativeUnderstanding and using academic terms can help you read, write, and speak with precision and clarity. Here are five academic words that will be useful in this unit as you analyze and write narrative texts.

Complete the chart.

1. Review each word, its root, and the mentor sentences.

2. Use the information and your own knowledge to predict the meaning of each word.

3. For each word, list at least two related words.

4. Refer to the dictionary or other resources if needed.

FOLLOW THROUGH

Study the words in this chart, and mark them or their forms wherever they appear in the unit.

Unit Introduction 5

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

LAUNCH TEXT | NONFICTION NARRATIVE MODEL

This selection is an example of nonfiction narrative text, a type of writing in which an author explores an experience using descriptive details and events. This is the type of writing you will develop in the Performance-Based Assessment at the end of the unit.

As you read, look at the way the writer of the selection tells about a real experience she had with her grandmother. How did she feel about it at the time? As you read, look at the way the writer creates a picture of her experience. Mark the text to help you answer this question: How did the author feel, and how does she show that to the reader?

Growing up I really didn’t know my grandmother. She was a private person, and didn’t talk about her past much, but I

know she had one. She once told me that before she got married she was a backup singer in a band that I had actually heard of. But that’s all she would say about it, no matter how often I prodded.

“El pasado es el pasado,” she told me. The past is the past. To me, she talked in Spanish. I talked back in English. We

understood each other. The thing I remember most about Grandma Sofia was how

much she loved driving, especially since she came to live with us. She had a 1960s red Chevy Impala convertible that was all her own, a remnant of her band days. She loved driving with the top down, the radio blasting, singing at the top of her lungs when a good song came on. Driving was her independence, her freedom.

My parents, however, were concerned that she was getting too old to drive around by herself. One night, I overheard them:

“She’s okay for now, but how long before she can’t manage?” “I’ll speak to her tomorrow.”I felt sick at the thought of Grandma giving up her car. I knew

what driving meant to her. I knew that without her wheels she’d feel ordinary—just another grandma, hovering and wise.

Sometimes it felt like Grandma and I were on the sidelines and my parents were in the middle, dragging us toward the center, where we did not want to be. I was often grounded for the smallest things. I didn’t really mind, under normal circumstances.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Grounded

6 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS

WORD NETWORK fOR GENERATIONS

Vocabulary A Word Network is a collection of words related to a topic. As you read the selections in this unit, identify interesting words related to the idea of generations and add them to your Word Network. For example, you might begin by adding words from the Launch Text, such as concerned, disobeying, and independence. Continue to add words as you complete this unit.

Tool Kit Word Network Model

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


notes

GENERATIONS

concerned

disobeying

independence

One time—the time I’m writing about—circumstances were not normal. My parents had grounded me for the weekend of Luisa’s party, easily the social event of the season. No way was I going to miss it. But my parents weren’t even going to be home! They were going to my Aunt Leticia’s. It would just be me and Grandma. Me and Grandma and a 1966 red Chevy Impala convertible . . .

Saturday night arrived and I was itching to go to the party, so I did the unthinkable: I asked Grandma to drive me to Luisa’s. I figured she didn’t know about me being grounded. She looked at me quizzically and said she would. I got dressed and ran out to the car. She was waiting for me. I got in.

The sky was just beginning to darken, blue clouds against a darker blue sky. Soon it would be nighttime. Grandma looked a little uncomfortable. At first I thought it was because she knew about me being grounded. But then I wondered if maybe she didn’t want to drive at night and didn’t want to tell me.

At that moment I wouldn’t have minded getting out and going back home. I felt bad about Grandma. I felt bad about disobeying my parents. But how could I say any of this?

We took off. She drove slowly, maybe too slowly. But we didn’t get very far. Suddenly she pulled over and stopped the car.

We must have been sitting in that car for five minutes, which is a long time if you’re sitting in a car not talking. I couldn’t ask her if she stopped because she was nervous about driving. And I couldn’t ask if she stopped because she knew I was grounded.

Finally she turned to me. “Regresamos?” Shall we turn back?“Sure,” I replied. I was so relieved I could have cried. “Bueno,” she said, with a nod. She started the car and turned

on the radio. It was a song we both knew by heart. But it was clear that Grandma and I could still learn a lot from each other. ❧

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Grounded 7

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION

Launch ActivityConduct a Discussion Consider this statement: Senior citizens can learn a lot from younger people. Decide your position, and rate your response using this scale.

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

Discuss your ratings with classmates and then participate in a whole-class discussion:

•Give examples from stories you have heard or read in which seniors learn from younger people.

•Exchange ideas and comments about the examples that were discussed.

•As a class, come to consensus about the statement.

SummaryWrite a summary of “Grounded.” A summary is a concise, complete, and accurate overview of a text. It should not include a statement of your opinion or an analysis.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What can one generation learn from another?

EVIDENCE LOG FOR GENERATIONS

Review your QuickWrite. Summarize your initial position in one sentence to record in your Evidence Log. Then, record evidence from “Grounded” that supports your initial position.

After each selection you will continue to use your Evidence Log to record the evidence you gather and the connections you make.

Tool Kit Evidence Log Model

QuickWriteConsider class discussions, the video, and the launch text as you think about the prompt. Record your first thoughts here.

PROMPT: In what situations can one generation learn from another?

Title of Text: Date:

CONNECTION TO PROMPT TEXT EVIDENCE/DETAILS ADDITIONAL NOTES/IDEAS

How does this text change or add to my thinking? Date:

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

Unit Introduction 9

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

OVERVIEW: WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

What can one generation learn from another?The famous Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi said, “Learn as if you were to live forever.” You are always learning, from peers as well as from teachers, parents, and relatives. You will work with your whole class to explore ways in which generations can learn from each other.

Whole-Class Learning StrategiesThroughout your life, in school, in your community, and in your career, you will continue to learn and work in large-group environments.

Review these strategies and the actions you can take to practice them as you work with your whole class. Add ideas of your own to each step. Get ready to use these strategies during Whole-Class Learning.

STRATEGY ACTION PLAN

Listen actively • Eliminate distractions. For example, put your cell phone away.

• Keep your eyes on the speaker.

•

Clarify by asking questions

• If you’re confused, other people probably are, too. Ask a question to help your whole class.

• If you see that you are guessing, ask a question instead.

•

Monitor understanding

•Notice what information you already know and be ready to build on it.

•A sk for help if you are struggling.

•

Interact and share ideas

• Share your ideas and answer questions, even if you are unsure.

•Build on the ideas of others by adding details or making a connection.

•

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA10 UNIT 1 • GENERATIONS

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.CONTENTS

ANCHOR TEXT: NOVEL EXCERPT

Two Kinds from The Joy Luck ClubAmy Tan

A daughter feels stifled by her mother’s high expectations.

CO

MPA

RE

TEX

TS

ANCHOR TEXT: NEWS BLOG

A Simple ActTyler Jackson

A chance encounter changes two people’s lives forever.

ANCHOR TEXT: MEMOIR

from An Invisible ThreadLaura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski

Two friends celebrate an unlikely bond. MEDIA CONNECTION: Maurice’s Toast

PERFORMANCE TASKWRITING FOCUS

Write a Nonfiction NarrativeThe Whole-Class readings illustrate the influence of one generation on another. After reading, you will write a nonfiction narrative about an event in which a person from one generation influenced a person from a different generation.

Overview: Whole-Class Learning 11

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

MAKING MEANING

Two KindsConcept VocabularyYou will encounter the following words as you read “Two Kinds.”

Before reading, note how familiar you are with each word. Then, rank the words in order from most familiar (1) to least familiar (6).

About the Author

If her mother had gotten her way, Amy Tan (b. 1952) would have two professions—doctor and concert pianist. Although Tan showed early promise in music, at 37 she became a successful fiction writer instead. Tan has written many books—most for adults, and some for children. Writing is sometimes tough, Tan admits, but she keeps this in mind: “A story should be a gift.” That thought propels Tan to keep creating memorable characters and events.

WORD YOUR RANKING

lamented

indignity

reproach

discordant

squabbling

devastated

After completing your first read, come back to the concept vocabulary and review your rankings. Mark changes to your original rankings as needed.

First Read FICTIONApply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an opportunity to complete the close-read notes after your first read.

NOTICE whom the story is about, what happens, where and when it happens, and why those involved react as they do.

CONNECT ideas within the selection to what you already know and what you have already read.

ANNOTATE by marking vocabulary and key passages you want to revisit.

RESPOND by completing the Comprehension Check and by writing a storyboard of the selection.

Tool Kit First-Read Guide and Model Annotation

STANDARDSReading LiteratureBy the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

BACKGROUNDIn 1949, following years of civil war, the Communist Party seized control of China. A number of Chinese who feared Communists—like the mother in “Two Kinds”—fled to the United States. Many lost everything except their hopes for a better future. They placed these hopes on the shoulders of their children born in the new land.

My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant. You could work

for the government and get good retirement. You could buy a house with almost no money down. You could become rich. You could become instantly famous.

“Of course, you can be prodigy,1 too,” my mother told me when I was nine. “You can be best anything. What does Auntie Lindo know? Her daughter, she is only best tricky.”

America was where all my mother’s hopes lay. She had come here in 1949 after losing everything in China: her mother and father, her family home, her first husband, and two daughters, twin baby girls. But she never looked back with regret. There were so many ways for things to get better.

* * *

1. prodigy (PROD uh jee) n. child of unusually high talent.

1

2

3

Amy Tan

Two Kindsfrom The Joy Luck Club

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

NOTESNOTES

ANCHOR TEXT | NOVEL EXCERPT

Two Kinds 13

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESWe didn’t immediately pick the right kind of prodigy. At first

my mother thought I could be a Chinese Shirley Temple.2 We’d watch Shirley’s old movies on TV as though they were training films. My mother would poke my arm and say, “Ni kan”—You watch. And I would see Shirley tapping her feet, or singing a sailor song, or pursing her lips into a very round O while saying, “Oh my goodness.”

“Ni kan,” said my mother as Shirley’s eyes flooded with tears. “You already know how. Don’t need talent for crying!”

Soon after my mother got this idea about Shirley Temple, she took me to a beauty training school in the Mission district and put me in the hands of a student who could barely hold the scissors without shaking. Instead of getting big fat curls, I emerged with an uneven mass of crinkly black fuzz. My mother dragged me off to the bathroom and tried to wet down my hair.

“You look like Negro Chinese,” she lamented, as if I had done this on purpose.

The instructor of the beauty training school had to lop off these soggy clumps to make my hair even again. “Peter Pan is very popular these days,” the instructor assured my mother. I now had hair the length of a boy’s, with straight-across bangs that hung at a slant two inches above my eyebrows. I liked the haircut and it made me actually look forward to my future fame.

In fact, in the beginning, I was just as excited as my mother, maybe even more so. I pictured this prodigy part of me as many different images, trying each one on for size. I was a dainty ballerina girl standing by the curtains, waiting to hear the right music that would send me floating on my tiptoes. I was like the Christ child lifted out of the straw manger, crying with holy indignity. I was Cinderella stepping from her pumpkin carriage with sparkly cartoon music filling the air.

In all of my imaginings, I was filled with a sense that I would soon become perfect. My mother and father would adore me. I would be beyond reproach. I would never feel the need to sulk for anything.

But sometimes the prodigy in me became impatient. “If you don’t hurry up and get me out of here, I’m disappearing for good,” it warned. “And then you’ll always be nothing.”

* * *

Every night after dinner, my mother and I would sit at the Formica kitchen table. She would present new tests, taking her examples from stories of amazing children that she read in Ripley’s Believe It or Not, or Good Housekeeping, Reader’s Digest, and a dozen

2. Shirley Temple American child star of the 1930s. She starred in her first movie at age three and won an Academy Award at age six.

4

5

6

7lamented (luh MEHNT ihd) v. expressed regret

8

9

indignity (ihn DIHG nuh tee) n. feeling that one has been disrespected

10

reproach (rih PROHCH) n. criticism or disapproval 11

12

CLOSE READANNOTATE: Mark the italicized words in paragraphs 4 and 5.

QUESTION: What is different or unusual about these words?

CONCLUDE: What effect is created by the author’s use of these words?


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTES

CLOSE READANNOTATE: Mark words or phrases in paragraphs 18 and 19 that reveal the narrator’s feelings.

QUESTION: Why might the author have chosen to reveal the contrasting emotions of the narrator?

CONCLUDE: What effect does this choice have on the reader?

other magazines she kept in a pile in our bathroom. My mother got these magazines from people whose houses she cleaned. And since she cleaned many houses each week, we had a great assortment. She would look through them all, searching for stories about remarkable children.

The first night she brought out a story about a three-year-old boy who knew the capitals of all the states and even most of the European countries. A teacher was quoted as saying the little boy could also pronounce the names of the foreign cities correctly.

“What’s the capital of Finland?” My mother asked me, looking at the magazine story.

All I knew was the capital of California, because Sacramento was the name of the street we lived on in Chinatown. “Nairobi!” I guessed, saying the most foreign word I could think of. She checked to see if that was possibly one way to pronounce “Helsinki” before showing me the answer.

The tests got harder—multiplying numbers in my head, finding the queen of hearts in a deck of cards, trying to stand on my head without using my hands, predicting the daily temperatures in Los Angeles, New York, and London.

One night I had to look at a page from the Bible for three minutes and then report everything I could remember. “Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance and . . . that’s all I remember, Ma,” I said.

And after seeing my mother’s disappointed face once again, something inside of me began to die. I hated the tests, the raised hopes and failed expectations. Before going to bed that night, I looked in the mirror above the bathroom sink and when I saw only my face staring back—and that it would always be this ordinary face—I began to cry. Such a sad, ugly girl! I made high-pitched noises like a crazed animal, trying to scratch out the face in the mirror.

And then I saw what seemed to be the prodigy side of me—because I had never seen that face before. I looked at my reflection, blinking so I could see more clearly. The girl staring back at me was angry, powerful. This girl and I were the same. I had new thoughts, willful thoughts, or rather thoughts filled with lots of won’ts. I won’t let her change me, I promised myself. I won’t be what I’m not.

So now on nights when my mother presented her tests, I performed listlessly, my head propped on one arm. I pretended to be bored. And I was. I got so bored I started counting the bellows of the foghorns out on the bay while my mother drilled me in other areas. The sound was comforting and reminded me of the cow jumping over the moon. And the next day, I played a game with myself, seeing if my mother would give up on me before

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Two Kinds 15

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESeight bellows. After a while I usually counted only one, maybe two bellows at most. At last she was beginning to give up hope.

Two or three months had gone by without any mention of my being a prodigy again. And then one day my mother was watching The Ed Sullivan Show3 on TV. The TV was old and the sound kept shorting out. Every time my mother got halfway up from the sofa to adjust the set, the sound would go back on and Ed would be talking. As soon as she sat down, Ed would go silent again. She got up, the TV broke into loud piano music. She sat down. Silence. Up and down, back and forth, quiet and loud. It was like a stiff embraceless dance between her and the TV set. Finally, she stood by the set with her hand on the sound dial.

She seemed entranced by the music, a little frenzied piano piece with this mesmerizing quality, sort of quick passages and then teasing lilting ones before it returned to the quick playful parts.

“Ni kan,” my mother said, calling me over with hurried hand gestures. “Look here.”

I could see why my mother was fascinated by the music. It was being pounded out by a little Chinese girl, about nine years old, with a Peter Pan haircut. The girl had the sauciness of a Shirley Temple. She was proudly modest like a proper Chinese child. And

3. The Ed Sullivan Show popular television variety show that ran from 1948 to 1971.

21

22

23

24


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTES

CLOSE READANNOTATE: Mark the punctuation in paragraphs 32 and 33 that reveals how the mother and daughter communicate.

QUESTION: What does the punctuation suggest about the tone of the conversation?

CONCLUDE: How does the punctuation in these paragraphs help you to better understand the conflict between the mother and the daughter?

she also did this fancy sweep of a curtsy, so that the fluffy skirt of her white dress cascaded slowly to the floor like the petals of a large carnation.

In spite of these warning signs, I wasn’t worried. Our family had no piano and we couldn’t afford to buy one, let alone reams of sheet music and piano lessons. So I could be generous in my comments when my mother bad-mouthed the little girl on TV.

“Play note right, but doesn’t sound good! No singing sound,” complained my mother.

“What are you picking on her for?” I said carelessly. “She’s pretty good. Maybe she’s not the best, but she’s trying hard.” I knew almost immediately that I would be sorry I said that.

“Just like you,” she said. “Not the best. Because you not trying.” She gave a little huff as she let go of the sound dial and sat down on the sofa.

The little Chinese girl sat down also to play an encore of “Anitra’s Dance” by Grieg.4 I remember the song, because later on I had to learn how to play it.

Three days after watching The Ed Sullivan Show, my mother told me what my schedule would be for piano lessons and piano practice. She had talked to Mr. Chong, who lived on the first floor of our apartment building. Mr. Chong was a retired piano teacher and my mother had traded housecleaning services for weekly lessons and a piano for me to practice on every day, two hours a day, from four until six.

When my mother told me this, I felt as though I had been sent to hell. I whined and then kicked my foot a little when I couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Why don’t you like me the way I am? I’m not a genius! I can’t play the piano. And even if I could, I wouldn’t go on TV if you paid me a million dollars!” I cried.

My mother slapped me. “Who ask you be genius?” she shouted. “Only ask you be your best. For you sake. You think I want you be genius? Hnnh! What for! Who ask you!”

“So ungrateful,” I heard her mutter in Chinese, “If she had as much talent as she has temper, she would be famous now.”

Mr. Chong, whom I secretly nicknamed Old Chong, was very strange, always tapping his fingers to the silent music of an invisible orchestra. He looked ancient in my eyes. He had lost most of the hair on top of his head and he wore thick glasses and had eyes that always looked tired and sleepy. But he must have been younger than I thought, since he lived with his mother and was not yet married.

I met Old Lady Chong once and that was enough. She had this peculiar smell like a baby that had done something in its pants.

4. Grieg (greeg) Edvard Grieg (1843–1907), Norwegian composer.

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

Two Kinds 17

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESAnd her fingers felt like a dead person’s, like an old peach I once found in the back of the refrigerator; the skin just slid off the meat when I picked it up.

I soon found out why Old Chong had retired from teaching piano. He was deaf. “Like Beethoven!”5 he shouted to me. “We’re both listening only in our head!” And he would start to conduct his frantic silent sonatas.

Our lessons went like this. He would open the book and point to different things, explaining their purpose: “Key! Treble! Bass! No sharps or flats! So this is C major! Listen now and play after me!”

And then he would play the C scale a few times, a simple chord, and then, as if inspired by an old, unreachable itch, he gradually added more notes and running trills and a pounding bass until the music was really something quite grand.

I would play after him, the simple scale, the simple chord, and then I just played some nonsense that sounded like a cat running up and down on top of garbage cans. Old Chong smiled and applauded and then said, “Very good! But now you must learn to keep time!”

So that’s how I discovered that Old Chong’s eyes were too slow to keep up with the wrong notes I was playing. He went through the motions in half-time. To help me keep rhythm, he stood behind me, pushing down on my right shoulder for every beat. He balanced pennies on top of my wrists so I would keep them still as I slowly played scales and arpeggios.6 He had me curve my hand around an apple and keep that shape when playing chords. He marched stiffly to show me how to make each finger dance up and down, staccato7 like an obedient little soldier.

He taught me all these things, and that was how I also learned I could be lazy and get away with mistakes, lots of mistakes. If I hit the wrong notes because I hadn’t practiced enough, I never corrected myself. I just kept playing in rhythm. And Old Chong kept conducting his own private reverie.

So maybe I never really gave myself a fair chance. I did pick up the basics pretty quickly, and I might have become a good pianist at that young age. But I was so determined not to try, not to be anybody different that I learned to play only the most ear-splitting preludes, the most discordant hymns.

Over the next year, I practiced like this, dutifully in my own way. And then one day I heard my mother and her friend Lindo Jong both talking in a loud bragging tone of voice so others could hear. It was after church, and I was leaning against the

5. Beethoven (BAY toh vuhn) Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), German composer. Some of his greatest pieces were written when he was completely deaf.

6. arpeggios (ahr PEHJ ee ohz) n. notes in a chord played separately in quick succession.7. staccato (stuh KAHT oh) adv. played crisply, with clear breaks between notes.

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

discordant (dihs KAWRD uhnt) adj. lacking harmony 44


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESbrick wall wearing a dress with stiff white petticoats. Auntie Lindo’s daughter, Waverly, who was about my age, was standing farther down the wall about five feet away. We had grown up together and shared all the closeness of two sisters squabbling over crayons and dolls. In other words, for the most part, we hated each other. I thought she was snotty. Waverly Jong had gained a certain amount of fame as “Chinatown’s Littlest Chinese Chess Champion.”

“She bring home too many trophy,” lamented Auntie Lindo that Sunday. “All day she play chess. All day I have no time do nothing but dust off her winnings.” She threw a scolding look at Waverly, who pretended not to see her.

“You lucky you don’t have this problem,” said Auntie Lindo with a sigh to my mother.

And my mother squared her shoulders and bragged: “Our problem worser than yours. If we ask Jing-mei wash dish, she hear nothing but music. It’s like you can’t stop this natural talent.”

And right then, I was determined to put a stop to her foolish pride.

* * *

A few weeks later, Old Chong and my mother conspired to have me play in a talent show which would be held in the church hall. By then, my parents had saved up enough to buy me a secondhand piano, a black Wurlitzer spinet with a scarred bench. It was the showpiece of our living room.

For the talent show, I was to play a piece called “Pleading Child” from Schumann’s8 Scenes from Childhood. It was a simple, moody piece that sounded more difficult than it was. I was supposed to memorize the whole thing, playing the repeat parts twice to make the piece sound longer. But I dawdled over it, playing a few bars and then cheating, looking up to see what notes followed. I never really listened to what I was playing. I daydreamed about being somewhere else, about being someone else.

The part I liked to practice best was the fancy curtsy: right foot out, touch the rose on the carpet with a pointed foot, sweep to the side, left leg bends, look up and smile.

My parents invited all the couples from the Joy Luck Club to witness my debut. Auntie Lindo and Uncle Tin were there. Waverly and her two older brothers had also come. The first two rows were filled with children both younger and older than I was. The littlest ones got to go first. They recited simple nursery rhymes, squawked out tunes on miniature violins, twirled Hula

8. Schumann (SHOO mahn) Robert Alexander Schumann (1810–1856), German composer.

squabbling (SKWAHB blihng) v. fighting noisily over small matters

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

Two Kinds 19

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTES

CLOSE READANNOTATE: In paragraph 54, mark descriptive words, and note what they describe.

QUESTION: Why does the author use positive and negative descriptions?

CONCLUDE: What effect do these descriptions have over the course of the paragraph?

Hoops, pranced in pink ballet tutus, and when they bowed or curtsied, the audience would sigh in unison, “Awww,” and then clap enthusiastically.

When my turn came, I was very confident. I remember my childish excitement. It was as if I knew, without a doubt, that the prodigy side of me really did exist. I had no fear whatsoever, no nervousness. I remember thinking to myself, This is it! This is it! I looked out over the audience, at my mother’s blank face, my father’s yawn, Auntie Lindo’s stiff-lipped smile, Waverly’s sulky expression. I had on a white dress, layered with sheets of lace, and a pink bow in my Peter Pan haircut. As I sat down, I envisioned people jumping to their feet and Ed Sullivan rushing up to introduce me to everyone on TV.

And I started to play. It was so beautiful. I was so caught up in how lovely I looked that at first I didn’t worry how I would sound. So it was a surprise to me when I hit the first wrong note and I realized something didn’t sound quite right. And then I hit another and another followed that. A chill started at the top of my head and began to trickle down. Yet I couldn’t stop playing, as though my hands were bewitched. I kept thinking my fingers would adjust themselves back, like a train switching to the right track. I played this strange jumble through two repeats, the sour notes staying with me all the way to the end.

When I stood up, I discovered my legs were shaking. Maybe I had just been nervous and the audience, like Old Chong, had seen me go through the right motions and had not heard anything wrong at all. I swept my right foot out, went down on my knee, looked up and smiled. The room was quiet, except for Old Chong, who was beaming and shouting “Bravo! Bravo! Well done!” But then I saw my mother’s face, her stricken face. The audience clapped weakly, and as I walked back to my chair, with my whole face quivering as I tried not to cry, I heard a little boy whisper loudly to his mother, “That was awful,” and the mother whispered back, “Well, she certainly tried.”

And now I realized how many people were in the audience, the whole world it seemed. I was aware of eyes burning into my back. I felt the shame of my mother and father as they sat stiffly throughout the rest of the show.

We could have escaped during intermission. Pride and some strange sense of honor must have anchored my parents to their chairs. And so we watched it all: the eighteen-year-old boy with a fake moustache who did a magic show and juggled flaming hoops while riding a unicycle. The breasted girl with white makeup who sang from Madama Butterfly and got honorable mention. And the eleven-year-old boy who won first prize playing a tricky violin song that sounded like a busy bee.

53

54

55

56

57


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESAfter the show, the Hsus, the Jongs, and the St. Clairs from the

Joy Luck Club came up to my mother and father.“Lots of talented kids,” Auntie Lindo said vaguely, smiling

broadly. “That was somethin’ else,” said my father, and I wondered if

he was referring to me in a humorous way, or whether he even remembered what I had done.

Waverly looked at me and shrugged her shoulders. “You aren’t a genius like me,” she said matter-of-factly. And if I hadn’t felt so bad, I would have pulled her braids and punched her stomach.

But my mother’s expression was what devastated me: a quiet, blank look that said she had lost everything. I felt the same way, and it seemed as if everybody were now coming up, like gawkers at the scene of an accident, to see what parts were actually missing. When we got on the bus to go home, my father was humming the busy-bee tune and my mother was silent. I kept thinking she wanted to wait until we got home before shouting at me. But when my father unlocked the door to our apartment, my mother walked in and then went to the back, into the bedroom. No accusations. No blame. And in a way, I felt disappointed. I had been waiting for her to start shouting, so I could shout back and cry and blame her for all my misery.

* * *

I assumed my talent-show fiasco meant I never had to play the piano again. But two days later, after school, my mother came out of the kitchen and saw me watching TV.

“Four clock,” she reminded me as if it were any other day. I was stunned, as though she were asking me to go through the talent-show torture again. I wedged myself more tightly in front of the TV.

“Turn off TV,” she called from the kitchen five minutes later. I didn’t budge. And then I decided. I didn’t have to do what

my mother said anymore. I wasn’t her slave. This wasn’t China. I had listened to her before and look what happened. She was the stupid one.

She came out from the kitchen and stood in the arched entryway of the living room. “Four clock,” she said once again, louder.

“I’m not going to play anymore,” I said nonchalantly. “Why should I? I’m not a genius.”

She walked over and stood in front of the TV. I saw her chest was heaving up and down in an angry way.

58

59

60

61

62 devastated (DEH vuh

stay tihd) v. destroyed; completely upset

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

Two Kinds 21

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTES“No!” I said, and I now felt stronger, as if my true self had

finally emerged. So this was what had been inside me all along.“No! I won’t!” I screamed. She yanked me by the arm, pulled me off the floor, snapped off

the TV. She was frighteningly strong, half pulling, half carrying me toward the piano as I kicked the throw rugs under my feet. She lifted me up and onto the hard bench. I was sobbing by now, looking at her bitterly. Her chest was heaving even more and her mouth was open, smiling crazily as if she were pleased I was crying.

“You want me to be someone that I’m not!” I sobbed. “I’ll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!”

“Only two kinds of daughters,” she shouted in Chinese. “Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!”

“Then I wish I wasn’t your daughter. I wish you weren’t my mother,” I shouted. As I said these things I got scared. It felt like worms and toads and slimy things crawling out of my chest, but it also felt good, as if this awful side of me had surfaced, at last.

“Too late change this,” said my mother shrilly.And I could sense her anger rising to its breaking point. I

wanted to see it spill over. And that’s when I remembered the babies she had lost in China, the ones we never talked about. “Then I wish I’d never been born!” I shouted. “I wish I were dead! Like them.”

It was as if I had said the magic words. Alakazam!—and her face went blank, her mouth closed, her arms went slack, and she backed out of the room, stunned, as if she were blowing away like a small brown leaf, thin, brittle, lifeless.

It was not the only disappointment my mother felt in me. In the years that followed, I failed her so many times, each time asserting my own will, my right to fall short of expectations. I didn’t get straight A’s. I didn’t become class president. I didn’t get into Stanford. I dropped out of college.

For unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be. I could only be me.

And for all those years, we never talked about the disaster at the recital or my terrible accusations afterward at the piano bench. All that remained unchecked, like a betrayal that was now unspeakable. So I never found a way to ask her why she had hoped for something so large that failure was inevitable.

And even worse, I never asked her what frightened me the most: Why had she given up hope?

For after our struggle at the piano, she never mentioned my playing again. The lessons stopped. The lid to the piano was closed, shutting out the dust, my misery, and her dreams.

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESSo she surprised me. A few years ago, she offered to give me the

piano, for my thirtieth birthday. I had not played in all those years. I saw the offer as a sign of forgiveness, a tremendous burden removed.

“Are you sure?” I asked shyly. “I mean, won’t you and Dad miss it?”

“No, this your piano,” she said firmly. “Always your piano. You only one can play.”

“Well, I probably can’t play anymore,” I said. “It’s been years.” “You pick up fast,” said my mother, as if she knew this was

certain. “You have natural talent. You could been genius if you want to.”

“No I couldn’t.” “You just not trying,” said my mother. And she was neither

angry nor sad. She said it as if to announce a fact that could never be disproved. “Take it,” she said.

But I didn’t at first. It was enough that she had offered it to me. And after that, every time I saw it in my parents’ living room, standing in front of the bay windows, it made me feel proud, as if it were a shiny trophy I had won back.

* * *

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

Two Kinds 23

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Last week I sent a tuner over to my parents’ apartment and had the piano reconditioned, for purely sentimental reasons. My mother had died a few months before and I had been getting things in order for my father, a little bit at a time. I put the jewelry in special silk pouches. The sweaters she had knitted in yellow, pink, bright orange— all the colors I hated—I put those in moth-proof boxes. I found some old Chinese silk dresses, the kind with little slits up the sides. I rubbed the old silk against my skin, then wrapped them in tissue and decided to take them home with me.

After I had the piano tuned, I opened the lid and touched the keys. It sounded even richer than I remembered. Really, it was a very good piano. Inside the bench were the same exercise notes with handwritten scales, the same secondhand music books with their covers held together with yellow tape.

I opened up the Schumann book to the dark little piece I had played at the recital. It was on the left-hand side of the page, “Pleading Child.” It looked more difficult than I remembered. I played a few bars, surprised at how easily the notes came back to me.

And for the first time, or so it seemed, I noticed the piece on the right-hand side. It was called “Perfectly Contented.” I tried to play this one as well. It had a lighter melody but the same flowing rhythm and turned out to be quite easy. “Pleading Child” was shorter but slower; “Perfectly Contented” was longer, but faster. And after I played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song. ❧

92

93

94

95

NOTES


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Comprehension CheckComplete the following items after you finish your first read.

1. In what ways does the mother pressure her daughter to change?

2. How does the mother arrange for her daughter to take piano lessons?

3. How does the narrator prepare for the talent show?

4. What happens when the narrator performs at the talent show?

5. What happens to the piano at the end of the story?

Notebook Draw a storyboard of key events in “Two Kinds” to confirm your understanding of the story.

RESEARCHResearch to Clarify Choose at least one unfamiliar detail from the text. Briefly research that detail. In what way does the information you learned shed light on an aspect of the story?

Research to Explore Choose something that interested you from the text and formulate a research question.

Two Kinds 25

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

making meaning

TWO KINDS

Cite textual evidenCe to support your answers.

2. For more practice, go back into the text and complete the close-read notes.

3. Revisit a section of the text you found important. Read this section and annotate what you notice. Ask yourself questions such as “Why did the author make this choice?” What can you conclude?

Analyze the Text notebook Respond to these questions.

1. (a) Compare and Contrast How are the mother and her daughter similar and different? (b) analyze Cause and effect How does the difference in their attitudes cause problems?

2. draw Conclusions In this story, conflict, or a struggle between the characters, results when a mother pushes her daughter to succeed. Is there a winner in this conflict? Explain.

3. Make a Judgment Should the narrator’s mother have pushed the daughter as she did? Explain.

4. essential Question What can one generation learn from another? What have you learned about how people of different generations interact from reading this story?

Close Read the Text1. This model, from paragraph 10 of the text, shows two

sample annotations, along with questions and conclusions. Close read the passage, and find another detail to annotate. Then, write a question and conclusion.

ANNOTATE: The word would is repeated several times.

QUESTION: What idea is stressed by the repetition of would?

CONCLUDE: The repetition shows the narrator’s hopes for the future. It also shows that she does not feel that her parents adore her, she often feels criticized, and she likely sulks a lot.

In all of my imaginings, I was filled with a sense that I would soon become perfect. My mother and father would adore me. I would be beyond reproach. I would never feel the need to sulk for anything.

ANNOTATE: The author uses italics to emphasize a specific word.

QUESTION: Why is the word perfect emphasized?

CONCLUDE: The narrator believes that the only way her parents will be satisfied with her is if she is without fault.

tool KitClose-Read Guide and Model Annotation

STaNDarDSReading Literature•Citeseveralpiecesoftextualevidencetosupportanalysisofwhatthetextsaysexplicitlyaswellasinferencesdrawnfromthetext.•Analyzehowanauthordevelopsandcontraststhepointsofviewofdifferentcharactersornarratorsinatext.

26 UNIT 1 • GeNeraTIoNs

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE to support your answers.

Analyze Craft and StructureCharacter and Point of View A character is a person or an animal in a literary work.

• Character traits are the individual qualities that make each character unique.You can identify character traits by making inferences, or educated guesses, about a character based on how he or she thinks, acts, and speaks.

• A character’s motives are the emotions or goals that drive him or her to act in a certain way.

• A character’s perspective is how he or she views events based on his or her experiences and emotions.

Point of view is the perspective from which the story is told.

• When a story is told from the first-person point of view, the narrator is a character who participates in the action and uses first-person pronouns such as I and me to refer to himself or herself.

• When a story is told from the third-person point of view, the narrator is not a character in the story. The narrator uses third-person pronouns such as he and she to refer to the characters.

Practice

Notebook Respond to these questions.

1. Use the diagram to list the daughter’s character traits.

2. Reread paragraphs 24–28 of the text. What does this passage show about the difference between the mother’s motives and the daughter’s motives?

3. How do the different perspectives of the mother and daughter create challenges for each character?

4. (a) From what point of view is the story told? (b) What details in the text enabled you to identify the point of view?

5. How might the story be different if it were told from the mother’s point of view?

THE DAUGHTER

Two Kinds 27

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

TWO KINDS

lamented reproach squabbling

indignity discordant devastated

Concept Vocabulary

Why These Words? These concept vocabulary words relate to the idea of conflict. For example, the narrator fantasizes that she might one day be beyond reproach. The word reproach describes the heavy criticism that she feels as a result of her mother’s actions.

1. Select three of the concept vocabulary words, and explain how each word helps the reader better understand the conflict between the mother and the daughter.

2. What other words in the selection connect to the concept of conflict, or struggle?

Practice

Notebook The concept vocabulary words appear in “Two Kinds.” Answer the questions, using the vocabulary words to show your understanding.

1. Why might a person who experiences indignity feel upset or angry?

2. Why might a famous chef feel that his or her cooking is beyond reproach?

3. Why might someone’s neighbors complain about discordant music coming from a stereo?

4. What advice can you give people to help them avoid squabbling with each other?

5. If a student lamented after taking a test, how did the student do?

6. What kind of weather might have devastated an apple orchard?

Word StudyLatin Prefix: in- The prefix in- means “not.” When this prefix is added to a base word, the new word takes on the opposite meaning from the original word. Practice your knowledge of this prefix by completing the following activities.

1. When people have dignity, they are worthy of honor and respect. Write a definition of the word indignity based on your knowledge of the prefix in-.

2. Define these words that contain the prefix in-: incorrect, inactive, incomplete.

WORD NETWORK

Look in the text for words related to the topic of generations, and add them to your Word Network.

STANDARDSLanguage•Determineorclarifythemeaningofunknownandmultiple-meaningwordsandphrasesbasedongrade 7 reading and content, choosingflexiblyfromarangeofstrategies.

b.Usecommon,grade-appropriateGreekorLatinaffixesandrootsascluestothemeaningofaword.

•DemonstratecommandoftheconventionsofstandardEnglishcapitalization,punctuation,andspellingwhenwriting.


CLARIFICATION

Proper nouns are always capitalized. Examples of proper nouns include Abraham Lincoln, London, and Selena.

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


ConventionsNouns and Pronouns A common noun names a person, place, thing, or idea. A proper noun names a specific person, place, or thing. A possessive noun shows ownership.

A personal pronoun takes the place of a noun or several nouns named elsewhere in the text, referring to a specific person or thing. A possessive pronoun shows possession or ownership.

Read It

Reread paragraph 29 of “Two Kinds.” Mark the nouns. Then, classify each noun as common or proper. Finally, identify the possessive noun in the paragraph.

Write It

Revise the sentences. Replace nouns with appropriate pronouns.

1. When the daughter performed, the daughter’s playing was sloppy.

2. My father listened patiently, although my father did not want to be there.

3. The youngest children played first. Most of the youngest children were prepared.

Notebook Write three sentences about an important scene between the mother and daughter in the selection. Include at least one of each type of noun and pronoun in your sentences.

mother, daughter, country, street

Mr. Chong, China, Main Street

the audience’s reaction

Lucas’s piano

the musicians’ bows

the children’s concert

Common nouns ProPer nouns Possessive nouns

Personal Pronouns I, me, we, us, you, he, him, she, her, it, they, them

Possessive Pronouns my, mine, our, ours, your, yours, his, hers, its, their, theirs

Two Kinds 29

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

TWO KINDS

Writing to SourcesWriting an effective narrative, whether fiction or nonfiction, requires creativity and imagination. When developing a narrative, consider the points of view of all the characters, because each one has unique experiences and perspectives. By doing so, you will gain a deeper understanding of how point of view shapes your writing.

AssignmentChoose a scene from the story, and write a retelling of the scene from the mother’s point of view.

•Review the story, and note important details that can help you identify the mother’s character traits and motives. Use these details to ensure that you accurately portray the mother’s character.

•Present a clear sequence of events for the scene that you chose.

•Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue and description, to convey the mother’s thoughts and feelings.

EFFECTIVE EXPRESSION

lamented reproach squabbling

indignity discordant devastated

Vocabulary and Conventions Connection Think about including several of the concept vocabulary words in your retelling. Be sure to correctly use nouns and pronouns to establish a clear point of view and clarify the relationships between characters.

Reflect on Your WritingAfter you have written your retelling, answer the following questions.

1. How did writing from the mother’s point of view help you to better understand her perspective?

2. What narrative techniques did you use in your writing? Which narrative technique do you think was most effective in portraying the mother’s character?

3. Why These Words? The words you choose make a difference in your writing. Which words did you specifically choose to bring the mother’s point of view to life?

STANDARDSWriting•Writenarrativestodeveloprealorimaginedexperiencesoreventsusingeffectivetechnique,relevantdescriptivedetails,andwell-structuredeventsequences.

a.Engageandorientthereaderbyestablishingacontextandpointofviewandintroducinganarratorand/orcharacters;organizeaneventsequencethatunfoldsnaturallyandlogically.b.Usenarrativetechniques,suchasdialogue,pacing,anddescription,todevelopexperiences,events,and/orcharacters.d.Useprecisewordsandphrases,relevantdescriptivedetails,andsensorylanguagetocapturetheactionandconveyexperiencesandevents.

Speaking and ListeningPresentclaimsandfindings,emphasizingsalientpointsinafocused,coherentmannerwithpertinentdescriptions,facts,details,andexamples;useappropriateeyecontact,adequatevolume,andclearpronunciation.

30 UNIT1•GeNeraTIoNs

What happened earlier in the story? Think about how these events influence the daughter’s feelings.

How will your monologue begin? Choose a strong statement to grab your audience’s interest.

What happens during the monologue?

Show how the daughter’s thoughts and feelings change during the monologue.

How will your monologue end? Conclude your monologue with a thought-provoking statement that ends the scene.

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


evidence log

Before moving on to a new selection, go to your Evidence Log and record what you learned from “Two Kinds.”

Speaking and listeningA monologue is a dramatic speech presented by a single character. The character speaks from the first-person point of view and relates his or her thoughts and feelings about an event.

AssignmentChoose one of the passages listed, and develop a dramatic monologue in which the daughter expresses aloud her thoughts and feelings in this moment of the story.

•paragraphs 18–20



Rate each statement on a scale of 1 (not demonstrated) to 5 (demonstrated).

The speaker communicated events from the daughter’s point of view.

The speaker provided details to demonstrate shifts in feeling.

The speaker maintained eye contact with audience members.

The monologue was clear and easy to follow.

Presentation evaluation Guide

1. Organize Your Monologue Use the following questions to gather ideas and prepare notes.

2. Prepare Your Delivery Using your notes, practice your monologue.

•Maintain eye contact with members of your audience as you speak.

•Vary the volume of your voice and your pacing to reflect emotion.

3. Evaluate Monologues Use a presentation evaluation guide like the one shown to analyze your classmates’ monologues.

Two Kinds 31

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

MAKING MEANINGMAKING MEANING

NOTICE the general ideas of the text. What is it about? Who is involved?



RESPOND by completing the Comprehension Check and by writing a timeline of the selection.

Comparing TextsIn this lesson, you will read and compare “A Simple Act” and an excerpt from An Invisible Thread. First you will complete the first-read and close-read activities for “A Simple Act.”

A Simple ActConcept VocabularyYou will encounter the following words as you read “A Simple Act.”

Before reading, rate how familiar you are with each word. Indicate how well you know it on a scale of 1 (do not know it) to 5 (know it very well).

After completing your first read, come back to the concept vocabulary and review your rankings. Mark changes to your original rankings as needed.

First Read NONFICTIONApply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an opportunity to complete the close-read notes after your first read.

from An InvISIble ThreAdA SIMPle ACT

About the Author

Tyler Jackson (b. 1981) was raised in England but has traveled extensively, writing about many of the places he has lived. Jackson has survived a hurricane in North Carolina and a flood in Texas, and says, “People pull together in a disaster, but it’s remarkable to see the small acts of kindness that usually go unreported.”

WOrd YOUr rAnKInG

connects

influence

encouraged

bond

STAndArdSReading Informational TextBy 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.


Simple Act

A

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

ANCHOR TEXT | NEWS BLOG

BACKGROUNDIn a big city like New York, thousands of strangers from many different backgrounds cross paths every day. But they rarely stop on the street to get to know each other. When people from very different places make the effort to connect, unexpected friendships can form.

I t was the first day of September in 1986, and the morning rain had given way to bright sunshine. A successful advertising

executive made her way across 56th street toward Broadway, on the west side of Manhattan. A young boy—all of eleven years old and dressed in scruffy clothes—asked for some change for something to eat. Laura Schroff lowered her head and walked on; Manhattan was full of panhandlers, and she hardly even noticed them any more.

1

Tyler Jackson

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

NOTES

A Simple Act 33

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESBut something drew Laura back to the boy. She still doesn’t

know what it was, but she calls it an “invisible thread.” There’s an old Chinese proverb that says that an invisible thread connects two people who are destined to meet and influence each other. Laura believes she felt that thread. She turned back from the middle of the street and took the boy to lunch.

The boy lived in a single room in a welfare hotel with his mother and numerous other relatives. It was only two blocks away from Laura’s home, but it might as well have been a different planet. As they talked over their lunch, Laura learned about the boy’s life. She herself had not had an easy childhood, but what she heard shocked her, and before she left, she told him to phone her if he was ever hungry. When she didn’t hear from him after several days, she returned to the spot they had met—and there he was, in the same clothes and too-tight sneakers. They arranged to meet again the next Monday.

Every Monday, Laura Schroff and Maurice Mazyck had dinner together. Some Mondays they ate at Laura’s home, and Maurice discovered a life he had only seen on television. Gradually, Laura became the young boy’s first role model. She encouraged him to have dreams about his future, and got involved in his education. Maurice’s teacher was perhaps the only other person who believed in him, and she made Laura take a long hard look at what she was doing. Was she helping Maurice just as a way of helping herself? Could she commit to being there for Maurice even when she didn’t feel like it? What kind of damage might it cause Maurice if she were to abandon him after becoming so important to him? Laura thought it through, and came to a decision.

The two continued sharing dinner every Monday, and a close bond formed between them. Laura introduced Maurice to new places, new ideas, and new possibilities. And Maurice became almost like the child Laura had always wanted. One day, she offered to make lunch for Maurice and leave it with her doorman for him to pick up on his way to school. He asked her if she could put the lunch in a brown paper bag, because then the other kids would know that someone cared about him.

Maurice had never left the city until Laura took him to visit her sister’s family on Long Island. Her memory of their trip is a favorite one. She had expected Maurice to be amazed by the huge

2

connects (kuh NEHKTS) v. joins together

influence (IHN floo uhns) v. affect someone in an important way

3

4

encouraged (ehn KUR ihjd) v. inspired; offered support to

5

bond (BAHND) n. uniting connection; link

6

CLOSE READANNOTATE: Mark the questions included in paragraph 4.

QUESTION: Why might the author have included these questions?

CONCLUDE: What effect do these questions have on Laura?


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESfront lawn and even larger backyard. But what amazed him the most was the large dining room table where they all sat down and talked and ate together. He declared that he wanted a table like that when he had a family of his own. Only months earlier, Maurice had seriously doubted that he would live to be an adult.

Laura and Maurice’s relationship lasted, and in 1997 a magazine published an article, less than one page long, about it. Laura’s friends suggested that she write a book telling the whole story. It was 10 years before she began writing—and another three years before she found a co-writer and started seriously getting down to business. The result of their work, An Invisible Thread, reached number one on the New York Times best sellers list.

Today, Maurice works in construction. He is the first person in his family to earn a paycheck. He has a family of his own, and his children are all very fond of their “Aunt Laurie.” If you were to visit the family’s apartment, you might notice that there is no couch in the living room. But there is a huge dining room table.

The writer Ernest Hemingway said, “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” Over the years, Laura discovered the truth of that statement. She feels that Maurice has given her one of the greatest gifts she has ever had. He repaid her trust by giving her life more meaning than her success at work ever did. He taught her to be grateful for what she has, and for the chance to share it. ❧

7

8

9

A Simple Act 35

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


1. How did Laura Schroff and Maurice Mazyck meet?

2. What does the old Chinese proverb say connects two people who are destined to meet and influence each other?

3. What weekly ritual do Laura and Maurice begin after their first meeting?

4. What was Maurice’s favorite part of the visit to Laura’s sister?

5. Describe Maurice’s adult life, professionally and personally.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Comprehension Check

6. How did Laura share the story of her relationship with Maurice with an audience?

7. Notebook Write a timeline of key events in “A Simple Act.”


Research to Explore Choose something that interested you from the text and formulate a research question about it.

A Simple Act 37

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

making meaning


A SIMPLE ACT

Close Read the Text1. The model, from paragraph 6 of the essay, shows two sample

annotations, along with questions and conclusions. Close read the passage and find another detail to annotate. Then, write a question and your conclusion.


1. (a) analyze How does Maurice surprise Laura when he explains in paragraph 6 what he liked most about visiting Laura’s sister? (b) infer What do readers learn about Maurice’s values?

2. draw Conclusions How do both Laura and Maurice benefit from their relationship?

3. evaluate In paragraph 7 the author mentions that a book about Laura and Maurice’s friendship became a best-seller. Why do you think people became so interested in this friendship?

4. essential Question What can one generation learn from another? What have you learned about how people of different generations learn from each other?


3. Revisit a section of the text you found important during your first read. Read this section closely and annotate what you notice. Ask questions such as “Why did the author make this choice?” What can you conclude?

She had expected Maurice to be amazed by the huge front lawn and even larger backyard. But what amazed him the most was the large dining room table where they all sat down and talked and ate together. He declared that he wanted a table like that when he had a family of his own.

ANNOTATE: The word amazed is repeated.

QUESTION: Why does the author repeat this word?

CONCLUDE: The author wants to emphasize that Maurice has a stronger interest in how the family spends time together than in property size.

ANNOTATE: This passage describes what most impressed Maurice.

QUESTION: Why does the writer include this information in the text?

CONCLUDE: The writer shows that Maurice yearns for a close family, which he doesn’t currently have.

STAndArdSReading Informational Text•Citeseveralpiecesoftextualevidencetosupportanalysisofwhatthetextsaysexplicitlyaswellasinferencesdrawnfromthetext.•Determineanauthor’spointofvieworpurposeinatextandanalyzehowtheauthordistinguisheshisorherpositionfromthatofothers.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Analyze Craft and StructureAuthor’s Point of View The attitudes and approach that an author takes in an informational text show the author’s point of view. In some informational texts, authors take an objective approach, avoiding opinions and other biases. These texts are based almost entirely on factual information.

In other informational texts, authors are more subjective—mixing facts with their own commentary and interpretation. The commentary may take the form of direct opinions, or it may involve using weighted words—words that have strong emotional associations beyond their basic meanings.

• In “A Simple Act,” the phrase “all of eleven years old” in paragraph 1 shows that the author is concerned that the boy was too young to be begging for money on the streets.

• In paragraph 4, the author writes that Maurice’s teacher “made Laura take a long hard look at what she was doing” to show that the teacher took Maurice’s situation very seriously.

In these paragraphs, the author uses weighted words to create sympathy for Maurice in the reader’s mind.

CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE to support your answers.Practice


1. Reread paragraph 3, and use the chart to analyze the author’s use of weighted words and phrases, and the effect these word choices have on readers.

WORD OR PHRASE PRECISE MEANING EFFECT

2. Explain how the weighted words in paragraph 3 affect the reader’s understanding of the differences between Maurice’s life and Laura’s life.

3. Find an additional example of weighted words in paragraphs 5–9, and explain why the author might have chosen such language.

4. How would the reader’s understanding of the article differ if the author had avoided using weighted words and used more objective language?

A Simple Act 39

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


A SIMPLE ACT

WORD NETWORK


Concept Vocabulary

connects encouraged

influence bond

Why These Words? The concept vocabulary words help to show relationships between people. For example, the old Chinese proverb says that an invisible thread connects, or joins together, two people who are destined to meet. In turn, these two people will influence each other, or affect each other in an important way. Notice that both words relate to the relationship between Laura and Maurice.

1. How does the concept vocabulary sharpen the reader’s understanding of the relationship between Laura and Maurice?

2. Identify two other words in the selection that are related to this concept, and explain how they are related.

Practice

Notebook The concept words appear in “A Simple Act.”

1. Use each concept word in a sentence that shows your understanding of each word’s meaning.

2. Work with a partner, and take turns trying to list as many words as you can about interpersonal relationships.

Word StudyMultiple-Meaning Words A multiple-meaning word is a word with more than one definition. Sometimes the definitions of multiple-meaning words are similar, but in other cases they may be completely unrelated. For example, the word bond, which appears in “A Simple Act,” has several different meanings. Write the meaning of bond as it is used in the fifth paragraph. Then, use a dictionary to find two more definitions of the word bond.

STANDARDSLanguage•DemonstratecommandoftheconventionsofstandardEnglishgrammarandusagewhenwritingorspeaking.•Determineorclarifythemeaningofunknownandmultiple-meaningwordsandphrasesbasedongrade 7 reading and content, choosingflexiblyfromarangeofstrategies.

40 UNIT 1 • GeNerATIoNS

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


ConventionsAdverbs An adverb is a word that modifies or describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb. These words provide information by answering the question How? When? Where? How often? or To what extent? Many adverbs end in the suffix -ly. This chart shows examples:

How? Maurice asked politely for change.

When? Laura said no, but soon changed her mind.

Where? They went inside for a meal.

How often? They usually met for dinner on Monday night.

To what extent? Today, Maurice and Laura are extremely good friends.

Read It

1. Identify the adverb or adverbs in each sentence. Then, identify the word each adverb modifies or describes.

a. Maurice and Laura shared meals regularly and enthusiastically.

b. They often exchanged opinions and frequently agreed.

c. Later, Laura befriended Maurice’s children, too.

d. Laura’s book was very popular and deeply affected many readers.

2. Reread paragraphs 4–7 of the text. Mark the adverbs, identify the verbs they modify, and tell how these words clarify information.

Write It

Notebook The sample sentence here was revised by adding an adverb that addresses the question in parentheses. Add adverbs to the sentences provided, based on the questions in parentheses.

ExAMpLELaura was glad she went back to meet Maurice. (To what extent was she glad?)Laura was extremely glad she went back to meet Maurice.

1. Maurice and Laura became good friends. (When did they become friends?)

2. Maurice confided in his new friend. (How did he confide?)

3. They pushed each other to try new things. (How often did they push each other?)

A Simple Act 41

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

MAKING MEANINGMAKING MEANING

NOTICE the general ideas of the text. What is it about? Who is involved?



RESPOND by competing the Comprehension Check and by writing a brief summary of the selection.

from An Invisible ThreadConcept VocabularyYou will encounter the following words as you read an excerpt from An Invisible Thread.

Before reading, note how familiar you are with each word. Then, rank the words in order from most familiar (1) to least familiar (3).

After completing the first read, come back to the concept vocabulary and review your rankings. Mark changes to your original rankings as needed.

First Read NONFICTIONApply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an opportunity to complete the close-read notes after your first read.

from AN INVISIBLE THREAD

Comparing TextsYou will now read an excerpt from An Invisible Thread. First, complete the first-read and close-read activities. Then, compare the point of view of “A Simple Act” with the point of view of An Invisible Thread.

A SIMPLE ACT

About the Authors

Laura Schroff had a career in advertising sales for more than 30 years and helped launch USA Today and several other highly successful publications. She is now a motivational speaker and encourages people to make a difference in the lives of others.

Alex Tresniowski is a writer based in New York City. He has been a senior writer for People magazine, writing human-interest, crime, and sports articles, and he is the co-author of several books, including An Invisible Thread and The Vendetta.

WORD YOUR RANKING

resilience

perseverance

generosity

STANDARDSReading Informational TextBy 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.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

ANCHOR TEXT | MEMOIR

BACKGROUNDLaura Schroff and Maurice Mazyck had been friends for 15 years when he gave the final toast at the celebration of her 50th birthday. Maurice’s words, and Laura’s reaction to them, reveal what each had gained from their long friendship.

T hen came the final toast. The speaker was in a sharp black tuxedo with spectacular black-and-white shoes, and his wife

was in a stunning navy blue gown, her hair swept up. Nearly everyone in the room had met him or at least knew his story, and so everyone was excited to see him and hear him speak. He kissed his wife, walked up and took the microphone, and began his toast.

“Laurie, where can I start,” Maurice began. “We met . . . the way we met was so special to me. I was a young boy on the street with barely nothing, and I was very hungry that day and I asked this lady, ‘Miss, can you spare some change?’ And she walked away. And then she stopped. She was in the middle of the street—she almost got hit—and she looked and came back and took me to McDonald’s. We ate and then walked around Central Park; she took me to Haagen-Dazs and then we played some games.

“You know, at that moment she saved my life. ‘Cause I was going down the wrong road, the wrong hill, and, you know, my mother—bless her soul, my mother died—and the Lord sent me an angel. And my angel was Laurie.

“Without you,” Maurice said, raising his glass, “I could not be the man I am today.”

I was so incredibly moved when I heard Maurice say I saved his life. Heck, I nearly lost it throughout his whole darn toast. Whenever I hear someone tell me how lucky Maurice is to have

1

2

3

4

5

Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski

from AnInvisible Thread

NOTES

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

NOTES

CLOSE READANNOTATE: In paragraphs 3 and 4, mark the punctuation.

QUESTION: Why do you think the author uses this type of punctuation in transcribing Maurice’s words?

CONCLUDE: Would this passage have the same effect if it had just summarized what Maurice said? Explain.

NOTES

from An Invisible Thread 43

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESmet me, I have to stop them and correct them. The truth is that the lucky one is me.

Maurice taught me so many things; I can’t possibly list them all. He taught me how to live. He taught me one of the most important lessons a person can hope to learn—he taught me to be grateful for what I have. He taught me about resilience, courage, perseverance, and about the special strength that comes from overcoming adversity. He taught me the true value of money, the real meaning of lunch in a brown paper bag, the importance of a silly ritual like baking cookies. He taught me, more than I ever taught him, what it means to be a friend.

Everything I ever gave to Maurice, he gave back to me tenfold. Every meal, every shirt, every bike or toothbrush, was matched by Maurice with a more genuine appreciation than I have ever known. Every hand I ever lent him was returned with a hug; every kindness was paid back with an impossibly optimistic smile. If love is the greatest gift of all—and I believe it is—then the greatest privilege of all is to be able to love someone. Maurice appeared out of nowhere and allowed me to love him, and for that, I simply can never thank him enough. His generosity of spirit continues to astound me, and to this day my relationship with him is the relationship I am most proud of in my life. ❧

6

resilience (rih ZIHL yuhns) n. ability to recover quickly

perseverance (pur suh VIHR uhns) n. continued, patient effort

7

generosity (jehn uhr AHS uh tee) n. willingness to give or share

Discuss It In what way does this video of Maurice’s toast deepen your understanding of and appreciation for the text?


Media ConneCtion

Maurice’s Toast


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


1. At what stage of his life does Maurice give a toast explaining how he and Laura met?

2. What statement does Maurice make that makes Laura “nearly lose it”?

3. How does Laura respond when people say that Maurice was lucky to meet her?

4. What does Laura say she learned from knowing Maurice?

5. According to Laura, what are the greatest gift and greatest privilege of all?

6. Notebook Write a summary of the excerpt from An Invisible Thread to confirm your understanding of the selection.


Research to Explore Choose something that interests you from the text and formulate a research question.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

making meaning


Close Read the Text1. The model, from paragraph 1 of the essay, shows two sample

annotations, along with questions and conclusions. Close read the passage, and find another detail to annotate. Then, write a question and your conclusion.from AN INVISIBLE THREAD

Then came the final toast. The speaker was in a sharp black tuxedo with spectacular black-and-white shoes, and his wife was in a stunning navy blue gown, her hair swept up.


3. Revisit a section of the text you found important and annotate what you notice. Ask questions such as “Why did the author make this choice?” What can you conclude?


1. analyze In the first paragraph of the excerpt from her memoir, Laura Schroff gives the reader a positive impression of Maurice. Which of her word choices contribute most to this positive tone?

2. draw Conclusions In his toast, Maurice says that when he asked Laura for spare change, at first she walked past him. Then, she stopped in the middle of the street, almost got hit by a car, and then walked back to him. Why do you think Laura turned around?

3. interpret In paragraph 7, Laura says, “Everything I ever gave to Maurice, he gave back to me tenfold.” What does this statement suggest about her friendship with Maurice?

4. Make inferences Why do you think Maurice gave the final toast?

5. essential Question: What can one generation learn from another? How did reading this excerpt affect your understanding of how people from different generations can learn from one another?

ANNOTATE: The author uses vivid language here.

QUESTION: Why does the author provide so much detail about the speaker and his wife?

CONCLUDE: These details emphasize that Maurice has become successful.

ANNOTATE: This phrase has unusual word order.

QUESTION: Why did the author choose to put the verb before the noun?

CONCLUDE: Using this word order makes the sentence seem more formal, which suits the setting of the scene.

STANDARDSReading Informational TextDetermine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author distinguishes his or her position from that of others.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Analyze Craft and StructureNarrative Point of View An Invisible Thread is a memoir written from the first-person point of view. You can tell a work of nonfiction is written from the first-person point of view by looking for the following clues.

•The author uses the pronoun I to refer to himself or herself.

•The author is involved in the events being described.

•Authors often use direct quotations, or a person’s exact words, to reflect the views of other people involved in the narrative.

Memoirs are usually written from the first-person point of view. Authors of memoirs use the first-person point of view because they are describing events and experiences in their own lives—both what happened as well as personal reactions and emotions.

Practice


1. Record two examples of first-person point of view in paragraphs 5–7 of the text. Rewrite each example to change the point of view to third person by using the pronoun she. An example is shown.

Example: “I was so incredibly moved when I heard Maurice say I saved his life.” She was so incredibly moved when she heard Maurice say she saved his life.

2. (a) When the text begins, the point of view is unclear. At what point in the text is it evident that it is written in the first-person point of view? (b) What clues in the text helped you to recognize point of view?

3. (a) What strategy do the writers of An Invisible Thread use to present Maurice’s point of view? (b) Do you think this strategy is effective? Why or why not?

4. How do the ideas expressed by the first-person narrator in An Invisible Thread deepen your understanding of relationship between Laura and Maurice?


Original Passage rewritten Passage


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Concept Vocabulary

resilience perseverance generosity

Why These Words? These concept vocabulary words show positive qualities or personality traits. Maurice and Laura demonstrate these qualities in their relationship with each other. For example, the way Maurice overcomes adversity teaches Laura about resilience and perseverance. Notice that both of these words show positive aspects of Maurice’s personality.

1. How does the concept vocabulary sharpen your understanding of how both Laura and Maurice benefited from their relationship?

2. What other words in the selection connect to the concept of positive personality traits?

Practice

Notebook The concept vocabulary words appear in the excerpt from An Invisible Thread.

1. Use each word in a sentence that demonstrates your understanding of the word’s meaning.

2. Work with a partner, and take turns coming up with as many synonyms, or words with similar meanings, and antonyms, or words with opposite meanings, as you can for each concept vocabulary word.

Word StudyLatin Suffix: -ity The Latin suffix -ity means the “state, quality, or condition of.” In the selection, the author refers to Maurice’s “generosity of spirit.”

1. Explain how the suffix -ity contributes to the meaning of the concept vocabulary word generosity.

2. Look at paragraph 6, and find another word that uses the suffix -ity. Identify the base word that was combined with the suffix. Write a definition for that word.


WORD NETWORK

Add words related to generations from the text to your Word Network.

STANDARDSLanguage• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

a. Use a comma to separate coordinate adjectives.

• Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 7 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

b. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word.

• Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

b. Use the relationship between particular words to better understand each of the words.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


ConventionsAdjectives An adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives may answer the question What kind? How many? Which one? or Whose? Possessive nouns and pronouns are used as adjectives to answer the question Whose?

What kind? The young boy had a genuine smile. Which one? Have you read that book?

How many? They talked for fifty minutes. Whose? I greatly admired Maurice’s speech.

Two or More Adjectives Coordinate adjectives are two or more adjectives that modify the same noun and are separated by a comma. You can tell whether adjectives are coordinate if the word and could be used in place of the comma and you could reverse the adjectives. Cumulative adjectives also modify the same noun, but they are not separated by a comma. Cumulative adjectives cannot be reversed.

Read It

Identify the adjectives in each sentence, and name the nouns they modify. Then tell whether the adjectives are coordinate or cumulative and explain why.

1. Maurice gave an emotional, heartfelt speech.2. His warm good nature inspired many listeners.3. The book teaches many valuable life lessons.

Write It

The original sentence in the example below was revised by adding two adjectives. Review the example, and then add two adjectives to each practice sentence. Separate the adjectives with commas if needed.

ExAMPlEOriginal: laura wrote a memoir.Revision: laura wrote an unforgettable personal memoir.

1. Maurice shared a story with the audience.

2. laura wore a dress.

Notebook Write a paragraph describing laura and Maurice’s relationship. Include at least one pair of coordinate and one pair of cumulative adjectives.

COORDINATE ADJECTIVES CUMULATIVE ADJECTIVES

They became lifelong, devoted friends.

You could say: They became devoted and lifelong friends.

She wore a light blue sweater.

(She wore a blue light sweater does not mean the same thing.)


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


A SIMPLE ACT


Writing to CompareYou have read two selections about the friendship between Laura Stroff and Maurice Mazyck: the news blog “A Simple Act” and the excerpt from the memoir An Invisible Thread. Now, deepen your analysis and express your observations in writing.

AssignmentThe news blog and the memoir tell about how Laura and Maurice’s friendship helped them both. To prepare for your assignment, consider the following:

•How the friendship started and grew

•Why the friendship lasted so long

Write an explanatory essay in which you analyze ways in which the authors of the two pieces present information about the same topic: the friendship between Laura and Maurice.

Analyze the Texts

Gather Evidence Reread both “A Simple Act” and the excerpt from An Invisible Thread to examine the key information that the two authors provide when describing their friendship. Use the chart to record your notes.

As you gather evidence, ask yourself the following questions:

•What descriptive details do the two texts provide?

•What quotations, if any, are used?

•Does the text focus on a series of events or more on the quality of the friendship?

Types of Details Used Overall Effect of the Text

A Simple Act

from An Invisible Thread


1. How do the two texts differ in their presentation of the benefits of friendship?

2. What key information is the same across the two texts?

3. In which text is the emphasis on friendship more apparent? Explain your response.

STANDARDSReading Informational TextAnalyze how two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their presentations of key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different interpretations of facts.

WritingDraw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

50 UNIT1•GeNeraTIoNs

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


evidence log

Before moving on to a new selection, go to your Evidence Log and record what you learned from these selections.

Planning and Prewriting

Determine Your Central Idea In one sentence, write the central idea, or thesis, you will develop in your essay:

Central Idea/Thesis:___________________________________

__________________________________________________

Create an Outline To help you structure your essay, create an outline to organize your ideas.

OutlineI. Types of Details Used A. “A Simple Act”

B. excerpt from An Invisible Thread

II. Overall Effect of the Text A. “A Simple Act”

B. excerpt from An Invisible Thread

draftingWrite a First Draft Use your completed outline to write your first draft. Develop your essay with details from the texts and present a smooth and logical explanation of your ideas. Use clear language and transitions to connect your ideas.

Use Transition Words Using transition words can help you present your ideas in a logical sequence and you make your essay flow more smoothly. There are several types of transitional words and phrases.•Words and phrases that show similarities: also, in addition, likewise •Words and phrases that show differences: but, however, yet•Words and phrases that show sequence: first, next, then, finally•Words and phrases that show examples: for example, for instance

Review and ReviseOnce you are done writing, critically review your essay. Make sure you have given specific examples to support your ideas. Then, check to be sure you have used transitions to link those ideas. Finally, proofread your work to ensure it is free from errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

STANDARDSWritingWrite informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

b. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.c. Use appropriate transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

Language Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

b. Spell correctly.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Performance Task: WriTing focus

WRITING TO SOURCES

•TWOKINDS

•ASIMPLEACT

•fromANINVISIBLETHREAD

WriteaNonfictionNarrativeYou have just read texts in which people of different generations have an influence on each other’s lives. In “Two Kinds,” an ambitious mother ends up teaching her child unexpected but valuable lessons. “A Simple Act” and the excerpt from An Invisible Thread present the story of two friends whose chance meeting enriched both of their lives. Now you will use your knowledge of these texts to write a nonfiction narrative about the ways in which people of different generations can influence each other.

AssignmentWrite a nonfiction narrative about the influence someone from a different generation has had on you or someone you know. In your narrative, draw on the texts you have read in this section. Your narrative should answer this question:

What unexpected event shows how a person can influence someone from a different generation?

Elements of a Nonfiction Narrative

A nonfiction narrative is a story of something that actually happened. In a personal narrative, the writer uses the first-person point of view (employing pronouns I and me) to tell the true story of something that he or she has experienced. Other nonfiction narratives, such as biography, are written from the third-person point of view.

An engaging nonfiction narrative contains these elements:

• well-developed major and minor characters as well as a narrator, who is you, the writer

• a problem or conflict

• a clear sequence of events that unfolds naturally and logically

• narrative techniques such as dialogue, description, and pacing

• a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one setting or time frame to another

• precise words, well-chosen quotations, vivid descriptive details, and powerful sensory language

• a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the experiences in the narrative

Model Nonfiction Narrative For a model of a well-crafted nonfiction narrative, see the Launch Text, “Grounded.”

Challenge yourself to find all of the elements of an effective nonfiction narrative in the text. You will have an opportunity to review these elements as you prepare to write your own nonfiction narrative.

LAUNCH TEXT

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

LAUNCH TEXT | NONFICTION NARRATIVE MODEL

This selection is an example of nonfiction narrative text, a type of writing in which an author explores an experience using descriptive details and events. This is the type of writing you will develop in the Performance-Based Assessment at the end of the unit.

As you read, look at the way the writer of the selection tells about a real experience she had with her grandmother. How did she feel about it at the time? As you read, look at the way the writer creates a picture of her experience. Mark the text to help you answer this question: How did the author feel, and how does she show that to the reader?

Growing up I really didn’t know my grandmother. She was a private person, and didn’t talk about her past much, but I

know she had one. She once told me that before she got married she was a backup singer in a band that I had actually heard of. But that’s all she would say about it, no matter how often I prodded.

“El pasado es el pasado,” she told me. The past is the past. To me, she talked in Spanish. I talked back in English. We

understood each other. The thing I remember most about Grandma Sofia was how

much she loved driving, especially since she came to live with us. She had a 1960s red Chevy Impala convertible that was all her own, a remnant of her band days. She loved driving with the top down, the radio blasting, singing at the top of her lungs when a good song came on. Driving was her independence, her freedom.

My parents, however, were concerned that she was getting too old to drive around by herself. One night, I overheard them:

“She’s okay for now, but how long before she can’t manage?” “I’ll speak to her tomorrow.”I felt sick at the thought of Grandma giving up her car. I knew

what driving meant to her. I knew that without her wheels she’d feel ordinary—just another grandma, hovering and wise.

Sometimes it felt like Grandma and I were on the sidelines and my parents were in the middle, dragging us toward the center, where we did not want to be. I was often grounded for the smallest things. I didn’t really mind, under normal circumstances.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Grounded


LIT17_SE07_U01_LT.indd 6 18/03/16 3:01 PM

ACADEMIC VOCABULARY

As you craft your argument, consider using some of the academic vocabulary you learned in the beginning of the unit.

dialogueconsequenceperspectivenotablecontradict

Tool Kit Student Model of a Nonfiction Narrative

STANDARDSWriting•Writenarrativestodeveloprealorimaginedexperiencesoreventsusingeffectivetechnique,relevantdescriptivedetails,andwell-structuredeventsequences.•Writeroutinelyoverextendedtimeframesandshortertimeframesforarangeofdiscipline-specifictasks,purposes,andaudiences.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


evidence log

Review your Evidence Log and identify types of details you may want to cite in your nonfiction narrative.

Prewriting / Planning

Gather Details Details for a nonfiction narrative come mainly from your own memories and experiences. A photo album or a conversation with a relative may stimulate your memory and help you find a topic.

There are many different types of details you can use to craft your nonfiction narrative:

•anecdotes: brief stories that illustrate a point or key idea

•dialogue/quotations: statements from personal interviews or conversations with the people who are featured in your narrative

•examples: facts, ideas, and events that support an idea or insight

Study the Launch Text to identify ways in which the writer uses various types of details to develop characters and ideas.

Focus Your Topic Reread the assignment. Consider the person and event you would like to highlight in your narrative. State your main idea in a sentence:

helped to influence (person from generation 1) (person from generation 2)

by . (action that influenced person from generation 2)

Develop Characters Realistic, engaging characters make a narrative come alive. Think about each character you will include in your narrative. List traits and descriptive details that make him or her unique and interesting. Consider the ways in which dialogue between the characters will help propel the action in your narrative. Don’t forget to include yourself as the narrator!

CHARACTERS TRAITS DETAILS/DIALOGUE

STANDARDSWritingWrite narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

Performance Task: Write a Nonfiction Narrative 53

LAUNCH TEXT

IntroductIon

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Nonfiction Narrative TimelineMODEL: “Grounded” TimelineINTrODucTIONnarrator, Grandma, and their relationship are described.

1. Parents talk about Grandma’s driving.

2. narrator is grounded.

3. narrator asks Grandma for a ride to a party.

4. narrator and Grandma feel bad on the ride.

5. Grandma asks to turn back; narrator agrees.

cONcLuSIONGrandma and narrator have learned from each other and share an understanding.

conclusIon

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Use Transitions To make the sequence of events in your narrative clear to readers, use transition words, such as first, then, next, later, and finally, to establish a clear chronological order. Use the numbered events in your timeline to help you determine which transition words to use and where in your writing to use them.

Write a First Draft Refer to your timeline as you write your first draft. As you draft your narrative, refer to the elements of nonfiction narrative writing as well as your Prewriting/Planning notes.

DraftingOrganize a Sequence of Events In a nonfiction narrative, the writer often sequences events in chronological order, so that one event proceeds to the next in the order in which they actually happened.

Use a timeline to organize your narrative so that it flows in chronological order. Then, add details to elaborate on the action. The timeline here shows key events in the Launch Text. Use it as a model to construct a timeline of your own narrative.

stAndArdsWriting•Engageandorientthereaderbyestablishingacontextandpointofviewandintroducinganarratorand/orcharacters;organizeaneventsequencethatunfoldsnaturallyandlogically.•Useavarietyoftransitionwords,phrases,andclausestoconveysequenceandsignalshiftsfromonetimeframeorsettingtoanother.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.



Develop Technique: Finding Your VoiceVoice A writer’s distinctive style is referred to as voice, and it can be influenced by word choice, sentence structure (the way the author constructs a sentence), and tone—the writer’s attitude toward his or her subject. Developing a unique voice can take time. These tips and activities will help get you started.

Read It

This chart shows examples from the Launch Text that contribute to the author’s voice.

Word Choicesinging at the top of her lungs; just beginning to darken with blue clouds against a darker blue sky

Varied Sentence Structure and Dialogue

We took off. She drove slowly, maybe too slowly. “Bueno,” she said, with a nod.

Reflective, Genuine Tone

But how could I say any of this?I was so relieved I could have cried.

Write It

As you draft your nonfiction narrative, think of ways in which you can develop your voice. To do so, ask yourself questions such as: What should the tone of my narrative be? What emotions do I want the audience to experience? and How can I make my personality as narrator more authentic?

Also pay close attention to your sentence structures, and strive to mimic real speech patterns. When writing from the first-person point of view, you might be inclined to begin many of your sentences with the pronoun I, which will create a repetitive, dull pattern. This chart provides strategies to help you avoid repetitive sentence beginnings and create variety.

ORIGINAL STRATEGY TO ADD VARIETY REVISION

I was surprised to see my sister on the stage.

Start your sentence with a word that describes your emotion or mood.

Startled, I noticed the familiar figure of my sister on the stage.

I rushed to congratulate her after the play ended.

Move another part of the sentence to the beginning.

After the play ended, I rushed to congratulate her.

I said her portrayal of the character was so realistic I forgot she was my sister.

Start with a real quotation instead of writing that someone said something.

“Great job!” I exclaimed. “You really made me believe you were Alice.”

STANDARDSWritingWrite narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


WORD NETWORK

Include interesting words from your Word Network in your personal narrative.

FOCUS AND ORGANIZATION EVIDENCE AND ELABORATION CONVENTIONS

Provides an introduction that establishes a clear context and point of view.

Presents a clear chronological sequence of events that are linked by clarifying transitions.

Provides a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the events and experiences in the narrative.

Effectively uses narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description.

Uses descriptive details, sensory language, and precise words and phrases.

Establishes voice through word choice, sentence structure, and tone.

Attends to the norms and conventions of the discipline.

RevisingEvaluating Your Draft

Use the following checklist to evaluate the effectiveness of your first draft. Then, use your evaluation and the instruction on this page to guide your revision.

Revising for Focus and Organization

Provide a Clear Conclusion The conclusion of a nonfiction narrative clarifies the overall message and provides readers with a sense of resolution, or completion. It resolves any conflicts or questions presented in the narrative. To increase the clarity of your conclusion, check to be sure that it follows logically from the body of your essay. Then, consider whether your conclusion provides a fresh insight on your topic.

Revising for Evidence and Elaboration

Use Precise Language In order to craft a lively narrative that engages readers, avoid words and language that leave the reader with questions such as What kind? How? In what way? How often? and To what extent? As you review your draft, identify vague words that do not provide specific answers to questions such as those in the previous sentence. As you revise, replace these vague words with specific, precise words that convey your ideas more vividly and accurately. Here are some examples:

vague noun: stuff use souvenirs, gifts, photos

vague verb: said use exclaimed, whispered, declared

vague adjective: pretty use attractive, exquisite, adorable

vague adverb: greatly use enormously, incredibly, remarkably

Adjust Pacing Read through your draft. If part of your story seems to lag or feel boring, try one of the following: Cut unneeded plot events; put dialogue in place of description; or shorten the sentences so that events seem to happen more rapidly.

STANDARDSWriting•Writenarrativestodeveloprealorimaginedexperiencesoreventsusingeffectivetechnique,relevantdescriptivedetails,andwell-structuredeventsequences.a.Engageandorientthereaderbyestablishingacontextandpointofviewandintroducinganarratorand/orcharacters;organizeaneventsequencethatunfoldsnaturallyandlogically.d.Useprecisewordsandphrases,relevantdescriptivedetails,andsensorylanguagetocapturetheactionandconveyexperiencesandevents.e.Provideaconclusionthatfollowsfromandreflectsonthenarratedexperiencesorevents.

•Produceclearandcoherentwritinginwhichthedevelopment,organization,andstyleareappropriatetotask,purpose,andaudience.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Editing and ProofreadingEdit for Conventions Reread your draft for accuracy and consistency. Correct errors in grammar and word usage. Be sure you have included a variety of sentence structures and word choices that reflect your unique voice.

Proofread for Accuracy Read your draft carefully, looking for errors in spelling and punctuation. As you proofread, make sure that any dialogue—the actual words spoken by a character—is enclosed in quotation marks. A split dialogue is a quotation that is interrupted by the inclusion of additional information, such as the identification of the speaker. Refer to the Launch Text for examples of each type of dialogue.

Publishing and PresentingCreate a final version of your narrative. Share it with a small group so that your classmates can read it and make comments. In turn, review and comment on your classmates’ work. As a group, discuss what your narratives have in common and the ways in which they are different.

ReflectingReflect on what you learned as you wrote your narrative. In what ways did writing about past experiences and events help to heighten your understanding of them? What was the most challenging aspect of composing your narrative? Did you learn something from reviewing the work of others and discussing your narrative that might inform your narrative writing process in the future?

PEER REVIEW

Exchange narratives with a classmate. Use the checklist to evaluate your classmate’s narrative, and provide supportive feedback.

1. Is the point of view clear, and are the characters well developed?

yes no If no, suggest how the writer might improve them.

2. Is there a clear sequence of events that unfolds chronologically and is clarified by transitions?

yes no If no, explain what confused you.

3. Does the narrative end with a conclusion that connects to and reflects on the events and experiences presented?

yes no If no, tell what you think might be missing.

4. What is the strongest part of your classmate’s narrative? Why?

STANDARDSWritingWith 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.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

OVERVIEW: SMALL-GROUP LEARNING

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

What can one generation learn from another?What people value can change from one generation to the next, but there are always some common threads despite these differences. You can gain new insight and knowledge when you understand the values and challenges facing other generations. You will work in a group to continue your exploration of the relationship between generations.

Small-Group Learning StrategiesThroughout your life, you’ll continue to develop strategies that make you a better learner. In school, in your community, in college, and in your career, you will continue to learn and work in teams.

Look at these strategies and the actions you can take to practice them. Add ideas of your own for each step. Get ready to use these strategies during Small-Group Learning.


Prepare • Completeyourassignmentssothatyouarepreparedforgroupwork.

• Organizeyourthinkingsoyoucancontributetoyourgroup’sdiscussions.

•

Participatefully • Makeeyecontacttosignalthatyouarelisteningandtakinginwhatisbeingsaid.

• Usetextevidencewhenmakingapoint.

•

Supportothers • Buildoffideasfromothersinyourgroup.

• Inviteotherswhohavenotyetspokentodoso.

•

Clarify • Paraphrasetheideasofotherstoensurethatyourunderstandingiscorrect.

• Askfollow-upquestions.

•


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.CONTENTS


Mother-Daughter DrawingsMica and Myla Hendricks

An artist collaborates with her four-year-old child.

NEWS ARTICLE

Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech TricksJennifer Ludden

It’s never too late to learn something new. MEDIA CONNECTION: Cyber-Seniors

POETRY COLLECTION 1

Mother to SonLangston Hughes

To JamesFrank Horne

Two parents pass on some hard-earned wisdom.

PERFORMANCE TASKSPEAKING AND LISTENING FOCUS

Present a Nonfiction NarrativeThe Small-Group readings explore the insights that people of different generations share with each other. After reading, your group will plan and deliver a multimedia presentation about a lesson one generation can learn from another.

MEMOIR

from Mom & Me & MomMaya Angelou

A young girl is reunited with the mother who once abandoned her.

MEDIA: VIDEO


Maya Angelou talks about her complicated relationship with her mother.

CO

MPA

RE

Overview: Small-Group Learning 59

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

OVERVIEW: SMALL-GROUP LEARNING

Working as a Team1. Discuss the Topic In your group, discuss the following question:

What kinds of ideas and experiences can young people and adults share?

As you take turns sharing your thoughts, be sure to provide examples for your response. After all group members have shared, discuss the similarities and differences among your responses.

2. List Your Rules As a group, decide on the rules that you will follow as you work together. Two samples are provided. Add two more of your own. You may add or revise rules based on your experience together.

•Everyoneshouldparticipateingroupdiscussions.

•Peopleshouldnotinterrupt.

•

•

3. Apply the Rules Before you engage in group discussions or activities, review the rules and adapt them as needed based on your group’s experience.

4. Name Your Group Choose a name that reflects the unit topic.

Our group’s name:

5. Create a Communication Plan Decide how you want to communicate with one another. For example, you might use online collaboration tools, email, or instant messaging.

Our group’s decision:


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Making a ScheduleFirst, find out the due dates for the small-group activities. Then, preview the texts and activities with your group and make a schedule for completing the tasks.

Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks

from Mom & Me & Mom

Learning to Love My Mother

Mother-Daughter Drawings

Mother to Son

To James

SELECTION ACTIVITIES DUE DATE

Working on Group ProjectsDifferent projects require different roles. As your group works together, you’ll find it more effective if each person has a specific role. Before beginning a project, decide among yourselves on each group member’s role. Here are some possible roles; add your own ideas.

Project Manager: monitors the schedule and keeps everyone on task

Researcher: organizes research activities

Recorder: takes notes during group meetings

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA Overview: Small-Group Learning 61

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

MAKING MEANING

NOTICE the general ideas of the text. What is it about? Who is it about?



RESPOND by completing the Comprehension Check and by writing a brief summary of the selection.

Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech TricksConcept VocabularyYou will encounter the following words as you read “Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks.”

struggling impairments frustrated

Context Clues To find the meaning of unfamiliar words, look for clues in the context, which is made up of the surrounding words and phrases.

Example: To edit the photo on her laptop, Sigrid had to download a new program.

Context clue: To get a new program on your computer, you need to download it.

Possible meaning: To download means “to transfer data to your computer.”

Example: My computer is infected with a nasty worm.

Context clues: The word nasty means “unpleasant,” and it describes the worm that has infected a computer.

Possible meaning: A worm means “a computer bug” or “problem.”

Apply your knowledge of context clues and other vocabulary strategies to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words you encounter during your first read.

First Read NONFICTIONApply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an opportunity to complete a close read after your first read.

About the Author

Jennifer Ludden (b. 1967) is a correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR). Ludden has won and shared in several awards for her work as a foreign reporter covering the Middle East, Europe, and West and Central Africa. She graduated from Syracuse University in 1988.


LanguageDetermine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 7 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

a. Use context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NEWS ARTICLE

BACKGROUNDModern technology allows us to easily connect with one another. People can instantaneously share photographs and have face-to-face conversations with friends and family both down the street and on the other side of the world. However, technology changes so quickly that senior citizens are often left behind.

A week after Christmas, many Americans are no doubt trying to figure out how to use the high-tech gadgets they got as

gifts. This can be especially challenging for seniors. But a number of programs across the country are finding just the right experts to help usher older adults into the digital age.

For Pamela Norr, of Bend, Ore., the light bulb went off as she, yet again, was trying to help her own elder parents with a tech problem. To whom did she turn?

“My teenage kids,” she says.Norr happens to head the Central Oregon Council on Aging,

and thus was born TECH—Teenager Elder Computer Help.“I thought if my parents need it, probably other seniors need it,

too,” she says.High school students studying computer tech or involved

with the National Honor Society sign up to teach local senior citizens about Facebook, Skype, smartphones, even something as seemingly simple as a camera. Norr discovered that many seniors had been given digital cameras by their children.

“They were going around town taking all these great pictures that they wanted to send to their family members,” she says. But

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

NOTES

Jennifer Ludden


Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks 63

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESthey “couldn’t figure out how to connect to the USB port1 or take out the SIM card.2”

Many elders have moved to central Oregon to retire. Sigrid Scully, 84, signed up for a TECH class because she was struggling to stay connected with far-flung family.

“My kids were not returning calls,” she says. “They don’t write letters. They are so knowledgeable about texting and email, and so I needed to get to know how to do that.”

Scully worried she’d never catch on. She’d read a computer manual once, but didn’t understand words like “icon” or “cookies.” She says her teen tutor was personable and used plain language.

“So many teenagers think that seniors are just old people that don’t know anything,” she says. “And actually, the camaraderie and knowledge that we can transmit to one another is so wonderful and so helpful. I had that feeling with this class.”

Sensitivity Training“It has made me think about what life was like without Facebook and the Internet,” says 15-year-old Tucker Rampton, who’s helped train about a dozen Oregon seniors. He’s been surprised to have to explain email, something he thought everyone had mastered. Then again, a lot of seniors ask him about Twitter, which Rampton admits he knows nothing about. He says teaching tech to seniors has changed his perspective.

“I think it’s a very good idea to work on your patience,” he says, “and be more understanding when it comes to what’s going on in their minds.”

At Pace University in New York, college students who tutor seniors in local retirement homes are prepped with sensitivity training.

“They get to feel what it’s like to be 70, 80, 90 years old,” says associate professor Jean Coppola, who directs the program. “They wear specially prepared glasses that give them different visual impairments.”

Coppola also has students do things like tape two fingers together—to simulate the effects of arthritis or a stroke—then try to navigate a mouse. By the time they’re at the computer with an elder, she says, they’re not frustrated at all.

“They’ll say something a hundred times because they’ve worn cotton balls or earplugs in their ear,” she says. “They understand that they have to speak up, articulate their words.”

1. USB port n. computer hardware for connecting other devices to computers.2. SIM card n. smart card used in cell phones to store identification information.

8Mark context clues or indicate another strategy you used that helped you determine meaning.

struggling (STRUHG lihng) v.MEANING:

9

10

11

12

13

14

15Mark context clues or indicate another strategy you used that helped you determine meaning.

impairments (ihm PAIR muhnts) n.MEANING:

16

Mark context clues or indicate another strategy you used that helped you determine meaning.

frustrated (FRUHS trayt ehd) adj.MEANING:

17


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESCoppola says the whole thing is a bonding experience for both

generations. Applause often breaks out the first time a senior receives an email. Some have been able to see new grandchildren for the first time through emailed photos.

Pamela Norr, in Oregon, says young trainers also gain new confidence. They see that the seniors are “not criticizing me for the way I dress,” she says, “or clucking their tongue. They’re actually respecting me for the knowledge base that I have.”

Perhaps most unexpected, some teen trainers and seniors have even become friends. They keep in touch long after class ends—through Facebook, of course. ❧

18

19

20

Comprehension Check Notebook Complete the following items after you finish your first read.

Review and clarify details with your group.

1. What situation led Pamela Norr to start TECH—Teenager Elder Computer Help?

2. What kinds of things do seniors want to do with computers and other tech devices?

3. In the Pace University program, how did teenagers experience what it is like to be an older person?

4. Write a summary of the selection that answers Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How?

RESEARCHResearch to Clarify Briefly research at least one unfamiliar detail from the selection. In what way does the information shed light on an aspect of the article?

Discuss It What benefits do young people get when they teach seniors about technology and the Internet?


Cyber-Seniors

Media ConneCtion

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA


language development

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

MAKING MEANING

TUTORS TEACH SENIORS NEW HIGH-TECH TRICKS


Close Read the textWith your group, revisit sections of the text you marked during your first read. annotate details that you notice. What questions do you have? What can you conclude?

analyze the text notebook Complete the activities.

1. Review and Clarify With your group, reread paragraphs 12–13 of the selection. Discuss how helping seniors with tech problems has changed the perspective of Tucker Rampton. In what way has reading this selection changed your own perspective?

2. Present and discuss Share with your group the passages from the selection that you found especially important. Take turns presenting your passages. Discuss what you noticed in the selection, what questions you asked, and what conclusions you reached.

3. essential Question: What can one generation learn from another? What has this article taught you about how different generations can learn from one another? Discuss with your group.

Concept vocabulary

struggling impairments frustrated

Why these Words? The concept vocabulary words from the text are related. With your group, determine what the words have in common. Write your ideas and add another word that fits the category.

Practice notebook Confirm your understanding of the concept vocabulary

words by using each word in a sentence that demonstrates your understanding of the word.

Word Study notebook Suffix: -ment The suffix -ment means “the result of an

action.” When added to a verb (the action), the suffix creates a noun. Use a dictionary to find the meaning of the following words that contain the suffix -ment: advertisement, amusement, settlement. Explain how the suffix -ment contributes to the meaning of each word.

GROUP DISCUSSION

If you do not fully understand a classmate’s comment, don’t hesitate to ask for clarification. Use a friendly and respectful tone when you ask.


WoRd netWoRK

STANDARDSReading Informational Text•Citeseveralpiecesoftextualevidencetosupportanalysisofwhatthetextsaysexplicitlyaswellasinferencesdrawnfromthetext.•Determinetwoormorecentralideasinatextandanalyzetheirdevelopmentoverthecourseofthetext;provideanobjectivesummaryofthetext.

LanguageDetermineorclarifythemeaningofunknownandmultiple-meaningwordsandphrasesbasedongrade 7 reading and content,choosingflexiblyfromarangeofstrategies.c.Consultgeneralandspecializedreferencematerials,bothprintanddigital,tofindthepronunciationofawordordetermineorclarifyitsprecisemeaningoritspartofspeech.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Analyze Craft and StructureDevelopment of Central Ideas The central idea, or main idea, is the most important point in a text. Sometimes the writer directly states the central idea of a text. More often, the central idea is unstated, or implied. When a central idea is implied, readers must make inferences, or educated guesses, from the details included in the text in order to determine the central idea.

When you read nonfiction, adjust your reading rate to help you recognize the central idea.

•Skim, or look over the text quickly, to get a sense of important ideas before you begin reading.

•Read closely to learn what the central ideas are.

•Scan, or run your eyes over the text, to find answers to questions, to clarify, or to find supporting details.



1. What details does the article provide to support the central idea that teens are

well-suited to help seniors with technology?

2. (a) Complete the chart below to help you analyze the development of central

ideas in the article. Identify the needs of each group, what group members

provided for each other, and how they benefited from each other.

(b) Review your chart entries. How well do the needs of each group match

what the other group is able to provide? Explain.

3. How does the author’s use of quotations from program participants contribute

to the development of central ideas?

4. At the end of the article, the author describes how seniors and teens continue

to maintain their friendships through Facebook. In what way does this detail

connect with the central idea of the text?

Seniors Seniors have difficulty with high-tech gadgets.

Teens Teens share technology expertise.

Teens gain confidence.

WHAT THEY NEED WHAT THEY PROVIDE HOW GROUP BENEFITS


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Language deveLopment

ConventionsConjunctions connect parts of a sentence. Coordinating and subordinating conjunctions both clarify relationships between ideas. Coordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses of equal importance. Subordinating conjunctions connect a less important clause to a more important clause.

coordinating and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet Original:

Tommy was tired. He watched the movie anyway.

Revised: Tommy was tired but watched the movie anyway.

subordinating after, although, as, as if, as long as, because, before, even though, how, if, in order that, since, so that, than, that, though, till, unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, whether, while, why

Original:

Gabby made her bed. It was evening.

Revised: Gabby made her bed even though it was evening.

TYPE OF CONJUNCTION CONJUNCTIONS EXAMPLES

Read ItIdentify the conjunction in each sentence. Label each conjunction as coordinating or subordinating.

1. Sigrid joined the program because she had no idea how to send email.

2. Today, Omar will teach seniors how to email or how to use a digital camera.

Write It Notebook Sometimes, too many short sentences in a row can seem

choppy and unclear. Using conjunctions can create a smoother writing style. To fix short and choppy sentences, rewrite them by following these steps. First, identify whether the ideas in the sentences are of equal importance or unequal importance. Then, combine the sentences using either coordinating or subordinating conjunctions. Look at the example, and then revise the sentences provided.

EXAMPLE

Original: Pamela couldn’t download an app. She asked her teenaged son for help.Revised: Pamela couldn’t download an app until she asked her teenaged son for help.

1. Edward’s tech class ended. He enrolled in additional computer classes.

2. Marsha mumbled. Steve understood every word she said.

TUTORS TEACH SENIORS NEW HIGH-TECH TRICKS

STANDARDSLanguage•DemonstratecommandoftheconventionsofstandardEnglishgrammarandusagewhenwritingorspeaking.•Useknowledgeoflanguageanditsconventionswhenwriting,speaking,reading,orlistening.

a.Chooselanguagethatexpressesideaspreciselyandconcisely,recognizingandeliminatingwordinessandredundancy.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

eFFeCTIVe eXPreSSION

eVIDeNCe LOG

Before moving on to a new selection, go to your log and record what you learned from “Tutors Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks.”

Speaking and Listening

Project Plan Make a list of tasks that your group will need to carry out. Assign individual group members to carry out each task. Determine how you will obtain or create multimedia items for your presentation. Use this chart to organize your plans.

Organize and Practice Organize your project plan by making a script that includes speakers’ lines and indicates media cues. Then, practice your presentation before you present it to your class. Use the following techniques:

•Record each speaker and then play the recording to ensure all are speaking clearly and with adequate volume.

•Work on transitions between speakers and various media to ensure the presentation flows smoothly.

•Time your presentation to ensure that it is paced appropriately. Slow down when necessary so that your audience can understand what you are saying.

Present and Evaluate Present your work to the class, and invite questions when you are finished. Listen to the presentations of other groups, and ask questions if anything is unclear. Note presentation techniques and creative ideas in other groups’ presentations that you found interesting.

TASK WHO QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

Assignment

Work with your group to create a multimedia presentation in which you incorporate text, charts, images, videos, music, or other media that help you to convey your ideas effectively. Choose from the following topics:

an instructional brochure in which you explain to seniors how to use a technology application

a program proposal in which you present an idea for a program that would connect teens and seniors in new ways

STANDARDSSpeaking and Listening•Engageeffectivelyinarangeofcollaborativediscussionswithdiversepartnersongrade 7 topics, texts, and issues,buildingonothers’ideasandexpressingtheirownclearly.b.Followrulesforcollegialdiscussions,trackprogresstowardspecificgoalsanddeadlines,anddefineindividualrolesasneeded.c.Posequestionsthatelicitelaborationandrespondtoothers’questionsandcommentswithrelevantobservationsandideasthatbringthediscussionbackontopicasneeded.d.Acknowledgenewinformationexpressedbyothersand,whenwarranted,modifytheirownviews.

•Presentclaimsandfindings,emphasizingsalientpointsinafocused,coherentmannerwithpertinentdescriptions,facts,details,andexamples;useappropriateeyecontact,adequatevolume,andclearpronunciation.•Includemultimediacomponentsandvisualdisplaysinpresentationstoclarifyclaimsandfindingsandemphasizesalientpoints.

WritingConductshortresearchprojectstoansweraquestion,drawingonseveralsourcesandgeneratingadditionalrelated,focusedquestionsforfurtherresearchandinvestigation.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

MAKING MEANING

LEARNING TO LOVE MY MOTHER

Comparing Text to MediaIn this lesson, you will read an excerpt from Maya Angelou’s memoir Mom & Me & Mom. Then, you will watch a video in which Angelou discusses her relationship with her mother. The work your group does on this selection will prepare you to compare it with the video.

from Mom & Me & MomConcept VocabularyAs you perform your first read of the excerpt from Mom & Me & Mom, you will encounter these words.

supervision charitable philanthropist

Base Words Use your knowledge of the “inside,” or base, word along with context to determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word. Here is an example of how to apply the strategy.

Unfamiliar Word artisan

Familiar “Inside” Word art, which means “something made through skill and creativity.”

Context The beautiful ceramic jug was created by an artisan in the town next to ours.

Conclusion The jug was a beautiful ceramic piece made by someone. Artisan must mean “someone who creates a type of art.”

Apply your knowledge of base words and other vocabulary strategies to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words you encounter during your first read.

First Read NONFICTIONApply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an opportunity to complete a close read after your first read.

About the Author

Born Marguerite Johnson, Maya Angelou (1928–2014) struggled with racism, poverty, and ill treatment early in her life. Across her long career she was a dancer, actress, singer, teacher, and writer. Angelou became one of the best-known African American authors in the world, and she was an activist for women and for the African American community.

from MOM & ME & MOM

Notice the general ideas of the text. What is it about? Who is involved?

coNNect ideas within the selection to other knowledge and other selections you have read.

ANNotAte by marking vocabulary and key passages you want to revisit.

RespoNd by completing the Comprehension Check and by writing a brief summary of the selection.


Language Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 7 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

MEMOIR

NOTES

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

BACKGROUNDWhen Maya Angelou was 3 years old and her brother Bailey was 5, her parents divorced and sent the children off to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. When Maya was 13, she and Bailey were sent back to San Francisco to live with their mother, Vivian Baxter.

Chapter 3

My grandmother made arrangements with two Pullman

car1 porters and a dining car waiter for tickets for herself, my brother, and me. She said she and I would go to California first and Bailey would follow a month later. She said she didn’t want to leave me without adult supervision, because I was a thirteen-year-old girl. Bailey would be safe with Uncle Willie. Bailey thought he was looking after Uncle Willie, but the truth was, Uncle Willie was looking after him.

By the time the train reached California, I had become too frightened to accept the idea that I was going to meet my mother at last.

My grandmother took my hands. “Sister, there is nothing to be scared for. She is your mother, that’s all. We are not surprising her.

1. Pullman car n. type of railroad sleeping car built by the Pullman Company.

1

Mark base words or indicate another strategy you used that helped you determine meaning.

supervision (soo pehr VIH zhun) n.MEANING:

2

3

from Mom & Me & Mom Maya Angelou

from Mom & Me & Mom 71

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESWhen she received my letter explaining how Junior was growing up, she invited us to come to California.”

Grandmother rocked me in her arms and hummed. I calmed down. When we descended the train steps, I looked for someone who could be my mother. When I heard my grandmother’s voice call out, I followed the voice and I knew she had made a mistake, but the pretty little woman with red lips and high heels came running to my grandmother.

“Mother Annie! Mother Annie!”Grandmother opened her arms and embraced the woman. When

Momma’s arms fell, the woman asked, “Where is my baby?” She looked around and saw me. I wanted to sink into the

ground. I wasn’t pretty or even cute. That woman who looked like a movie star deserved a better-looking daughter than me. I knew it and was sure she would know it as soon as she saw me.

“Maya, Marguerite, my baby.” Suddenly I was wrapped in her arms and in her perfume. She pushed away and looked at me. “Oh baby, you’re beautiful and so tall. You look like your daddy and me. I’m so glad to see you.”

She kissed me. I had not received one kiss in all the years in Arkansas. Often my grandmother would call me and show me off to her visitors. “This is my grandbaby.” She would stroke me and smile. That was the closest I had come to being kissed. Now Vivian Baxter was kissing my cheeks and my lips and my hands. Since I didn’t know what to do, I did nothing.

Her home, which was a boardinghouse,2 was filled with heavy and very uncomfortable furniture. She showed me a room and said it was mine. I told her I wanted to sleep with Momma. Vivian said, “I suppose you slept with your grandmother in Stamps, but she will be going home soon and you need to get used to sleeping in your own room.”

My grandmother stayed in California, watching me and everything that happened around me. And when she decided that everything was all right, she was happy. I was not. She began to talk about going home, and wondering aloud how her crippled son was getting along. I was afraid to let her leave me, but she said, “You are with your mother now and your brother will be coming soon. Trust me, but more than that trust the Lord. He will look after you.”

Grandmother smiled when my mother played jazz and blues very loudly on her record player. Sometimes she would dance just because she felt like it, alone, by herself, in the middle of the floor. While Grandmother accepted behavior so different, I just couldn’t get used to it.

2. boardinghouse n. house where people rent one or more rooms for either short or long periods of time.

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESMy mother watched me without saying much for about two

weeks. Then we had what was to become familiar as “a sit-down talk-to.”

She said, “Maya, you disapprove of me because I am not like your grandmother. That’s true. I am not. But I am your mother and I am working some part of my anatomy3 off to pay for this roof over your head. When you go to school, the teacher will smile at you and you will smile back. Students you don’t even know will smile and you will smile. But on the other hand, I am your mother. If you can force one smile on your face for strangers, do it for me. I promise you I will appreciate it.”

She put her hand on my cheek and smiled. “Come on, baby, smile for Mother. Come on. Be charitable.”

She made a funny face and against my will, I smiled. She kissed me on my lips and started to cry. “That’s the first time I have seen you smile. It is a beautiful smile. Mother’s beautiful daughter can smile.”

I was not used to being called beautiful.That day, I learned that I could be a giver simply by bringing a

smile to another person. The ensuing4 years have taught me that a kind word or a vote of support can be a charitable gift. I can move over and make another place for another to sit. I can turn my music up if it pleases, or down if it is annoying.

I may never be known as a philanthropist, but I certainly want to be known as charitable.

* * *

I was beginning to appreciate her. I liked to hear her laugh because I noticed that she never laughed at anyone. After a few weeks it became clear that I was not using any title when I spoke to her. In fact, I rarely started conversations. Most often, I simply responded when I was spoken to.

She asked me into her room. She sat on her bed and didn’t invite me to join her.

“Maya, I am your mother. Despite the fact that I left you for years, I am your mother. You know that, don’t you?”

I said, “Yes, ma’am.” I had been answering her briefly with a few words since my arrival in California.

“You don’t have to say ‘ma’am’ to me. You’re not in Arkansas.”

“No, ma’am. I mean no.”“You don’t want to call me ‘Mother,’ do you?”I remained silent.

3. anatomy (uh NAT uh mee) n. the structure of the body.4. ensuing adj. following.

13

14

15

Mark base words or indicate another strategy you used that helped you determine meaning.

charitable (CHAIR ih tuh buhl) adj.MEANING:

16

17

18

19 philanthropist (fih LAN thruh pihst) n.MEANING:

20

2!

22

23

24

25

26

27


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTES“You have to call me something. We can’t go through life

without you addressing me. What would you like to call me?”I had been thinking of that since I first saw her. I said, “Lady.”“What?”“Lady.”“Why?”“Because you are beautiful, and you don’t look like a mother.”“Is Lady a person you like?”I didn’t answer.“Is Lady a person you might learn to like?”She waited as I thought about it.I said, “Yes.”“Well, that’s it. I am Lady, and still your mother.”“Yes, ma’am. I mean yes.”“At the right time I will introduce my new name.”She left me, turned up the player, and sang loudly with the music.

The next day I realized she must have spoken to my grandmother.Grandmother came into my bedroom. “Sister, she is your

mother and she does care for you.”I said, “I’ll wait until Bailey gets here. He will know what to do,

and whether we should call her Lady.”

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESChapter 4

Mother, Grandmother, and I waited at the railway station. Bailey descended from the train and saw me first. The smile

that took over his face made me forget all the discomfort I had felt since coming to California.

His eyes found Grandmother and his smile changed to a grin, and he waved to her. Then he saw Mother and his response broke my heart. Suddenly he was a lost little boy who had been found at last. He saw his mother, his home, and then all his lonely birthdays were gone. His nights when scary things made noise under the bed were forgotten. He went to her as if hypnotized. She opened her arms and she clasped him into her embrace. I felt as if I had stopped breathing. My brother was gone, and he would never come back.

He had forgotten everything, but I remembered how we felt on the few occasions when she sent us toys. I poked the eyes out of each doll, and Bailey took huge rocks and smashed to bits the trucks or trains that came wrapped up in fancy paper.

Grandmother put her arm around me and we walked ahead of the others back to the car. She opened the door and sat in the backseat. She looked at me and patted the seat beside her. We left the front seat for the new lovers.

The plan was that Grandmother would return to Arkansas two days after Bailey arrived. Before Lady and Bailey Jr. reached the car I said to Grandmother, “I want to go back home with you, Momma.”

She asked, “Why?”I said, “I don’t want to think of you on that train all alone. You

will need me.”“When did you make that decision?” I didn’t want to answer.She said, “When you saw the reunion of your brother and his

mother?” That she should have such understanding, being an old woman and country, too: I thought it was amazing. It was just as well that I had no answer, because Bailey and his mother had already reached the car.

Vivian said to Grandmother, “Mother Annie, I didn’t look for you two. I knew you would go to the car.” Bailey didn’t turn to look at me. His eyes were glued to his mother’s face. “One thing about you that cannot be denied, you are a true sensible woman.”

Grandmother said, “Thank you, Vivian. Junior?”She had to call twice to get his attention, “Junior, how was the

train? Did somebody make food for your trip? How did you leave Willie?”

Suddenly he remembered there was someone else in the world. He grinned for Grandmother. “Yes, ma’am, but none of them can cook like you.”

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESHe turned to me and asked, “What’s happening, My? Has

California got your tongue? You haven’t said a word since I got in the car.”

I made my voice as cold as possible. I said, “You haven’t given me a chance.”

In a second he said, “What’s the matter, My?”I had hurt him and I was glad. I said, “I may go back to Stamps

with Momma.” I wanted to break his heart.“No, ma’am, you will not.” My grandmother’s voice was

unusually hard.My mother asked, “Why would you leave now? You said all

you were waiting on was your brother. Well, here he is.” She started the car and pulled out into traffic.

Bailey turned back to her. He added, “Yep, I’m in California.”Grandmother held my hand and patted it. I bit the inside of my

mouth to keep from crying.No one spoke until we reached our house. Bailey dropped his

hand over the back of the front seat. When he wiggled his fingers, I grabbed them. He squeezed my fingers and let them go and drew his hand back to the front seat. The exchange did not escape Grandmother’s notice, but she said nothing. ❧

* * *

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

Comprehension CheckComplete the following items after you finish your first read. Review and clarify details with your group.

1. What was Angelou frightened of at the beginning of the story?

2. Why did Angelou think her grandmother had been mistaken in identifying the woman on the train platform as her mother?

3. What lesson does Angelou learn from her mother when she finally smiles for her?

4. Notebook Write a summary of the excerpt from Mom & Me & Mom to confirm your understanding of the memoir.


from MOM & ME & MOM


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

maKIng meanIng


WoRd netWoRK

Identify words from the memoir that relate to generations. Add these words to your Word Network.

GROUP DISCUSSION

Be sure to identify specific events or passages so your classmates can follow your thinking. Use precise words and specific details to express your thoughts.

Close Read the textWith your group, revisit sections of the text you marked during your first read. annotate details that you notice. What questions do you have? What can you conclude?

analyze the text notebook Complete the activities.

1. Review and Clarify With your group, reread paragraphs 45–48 of the excerpt. How does Angelou describe her brother Bailey’s reunion with their mother? What was Angelou’s response to seeing their reunion? Why might she have responded this way?

2. Present and discuss Now, work with your group to share passages from the memoir that you found especially important. Take turns presenting your passages. Discuss what you noticed in the text, what questions you asked, and what conclusions you reached.

3. essential Question: What can one generation learn from another? What has this excerpt taught you about the ways in which people of different generations can learn from each other?

Concept vocabulary

charitable philanthropist supervision

Why these Words? The three concept words from the text are related. With your group, determine what the words have in common. Write your ideas and add another word that fits the category.

Practice notebook Confirm your understanding of the concept vocabulary

words from the text by using them in sentences. Be sure to use context clues that signal the meaning of the words.

Word Studylatin Prefix: super- The Latin prefix super- means “above,” “over,” or “beyond.” Angelou’s grandmother did not want Maya to leave without adult supervision; she wanted an adult to be watching over Maya. Using your knowledge of the prefix super-, determine the meanings of the following words: superhuman, superstructure, supersonic. Then, use a dictionary to find the precise meaning of each word.

STANDARDSSpeaking and ListeningEngage 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.


b. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word.d. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


MAKING MEANING

Analyze Craft and Structurenarrative nonfiction: Characterization Authors of nonfiction use descriptions and details to help a reader understand the people about whom they are writing. These descriptions help reveal character traits, the qualities that make people unique. For example, a person may have the character traits of intelligence and friendliness.

Characterization is the process that writers use to develop their descriptions of people. For instance, in describing a person, a writer might focus on one type of character trait early in a piece of writing and switch to another character trait later in the piece to further develop the portrayal. There are two types of characterization:

•direct characterization: The writer directly describes a person’s character traits.

•indirect characterization: The writer reveals a person’s character traits through the person’s own words and actions and from the words and actions of other people. Readers must make inferences, or educated guesses, to determine character traits from indirect characterization.

CLOSE READING

When analyzing characterization, pay attention to the words the author uses to describe how the characters speak.

from MOM & ME & MOM

Practice

Use the chart to analyze indirect characterization in Mom & Me & Mom. First, write down some of the person’s words and actions that are revealed in the text. Then, make an inference about a character trait of the person, based on these words and actions. The first row has been done for you.

PERSONWORDS AND ACTIONS IN TEXT

INFERENCE ABOUT CHARACTER TRAIT

Grandmother My grandmother took my hands. “Sister, there is nothing to be scared for. She is your mother, that’s all. We are not surprising her.” (paragraph 3)

nurturing

Maya

Mother

STANDARDSReading Informational Text• Citeseveralpiecesoftextualevidencetosupportanalysisofwhatthetextsaysexplicitlyaswellasinferencesdrawnfromthetext.• Analyzetheinteractionsbetweenindividuals,events,andideasinatext.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Language DeveLopment

ConventionsIndependent and Dependent Clauses A clause is a group of words that has both a subject and a verb. An independent clause has a subject and a verb, and it can stand by itself as a sentence. A dependent, or subordinate, clause has a subject and a verb, but it cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.

Read It1. Identify each group of words as an independent clause or a

dependent clause.

a. I had not received one kiss in all the years in Arkansas

b. That woman who looked like a movie star

c. I was beginning to appreciate her

d. Before Lady and Bailey Jr. reached the car

2. Reread paragraph 20 of Mom & Me & Mom. Mark and then label one example of an independent clause and one example of a dependent clause.

Write It Notebook Write a brief paragraph that describes how Maya’s

interactions with her mother changed before Bailey’s arrival. Include two independent clauses and two dependent clauses in your writing. Then label these types of clauses in your finished paragraph.

Type of Clause examples

Independent Clause

• My grandmother took my hands

• Grandmother rocked me in her arms and hummed

• She asked me into her room

• Mother, Grandmother, and I waited at the railway station

Dependent Clause • Because I was a thirteen-year-old girl

• Since I didn’t know what to do

• While Grandmother accepted behavior so different

• When he wiggled his fingers

evIDenCe Log

Before moving on to a new selection, go to your Evidence Log and record what you learned from the excerpt from Mom & Me & Mom.

sTaNDaRDsLanguageDemonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

a. Explain the function of phrases and clauses in general and their function in specific sentences.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Making Meaning

Learning to Love My MotherMedia VocabularyThe following words or concepts will be useful to you as you analyze, discuss, and write about video interviews.

set: where the interview takes place

• The set of an interview is usually free of noise and other distractions.

• The set may be in a location that suits the subject matter of the interview.

questions: what the interviewer chooses to ask an interviewee to elicit specific information

• The questions may ask for factual responses or encourage the subject to reflect on a particular topic or experience.

• “Leading” questions suggest the particular answer an interviewer wants to hear.

tone: the attitude of an interviewer or interviewee toward the subject matter or audience

• The overall tone of an interview may vary depending on the topic and interviewer’s purpose.

•Word choice, vocal qualities, and facial expressions set the tone of the interview.

First Review MEDIA: VIDEOApply these strategies as you watch the video interview. Be sure to note time codes so you can more easily revisit specific sections of the video.

About the Interviewer

Michael Maher has produced and filmed numerous videos, including many for BBC News Magazine. In most of his work—even when he is the interviewer—he is not very visible, and the focus of the video doesn’t stray from the subject.


from MoM & Me & MoM

Comparing Text to MediaThe video interview you will watch features Maya Angelou, the author of Mom & Me & Mom, describing some of the experiences she wrote about in her memoir. While watching this video, think about ways in which both written text and spoken words can tell a story.

WATCH who speaks, what they say, and how they say it.

NOTE elements that you find interesting and want to revisit.

RESPOND by completing the Comprehension Check at the end.

WAT

CH

CONNECT details in the interview to other texts you’ve read or images you’ve seen.

StandardSReading Informational TextBy 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.

LanguageAcquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

BackgroundWhen Maya Angelou was three years old, she and her brother were sent to live with their grandmother. Their mother, Vivian Baxter, was not ready to be tied down with a family. Ten years later, the two children returned to live with their mother. More than 70 years later, Angelou wrote about this transition in her memoir Mom & Me & Mom. In this interview, she tells Michael Maher some of the lessons she learned from her experiences.


SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

noTES

MEDIA: VIDEO

ESSEnTIaL QuESTIon: What can one generation learn from another?

Learning to Love My Mother 81

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Comprehension CheckCompete the following items after you finish your first review. Review and clarify details with your group.

1. What are some of the ways in which Vivian Baxter was unlike Maya Angelou’s grandmother?

2. How did Vivian Baxter react to her daughter’s calling her Lady?

3. According to Angelou, what would Vivian Baxter have thought about there being an African American president?

4. What are two life lessons Angelou thinks people should learn?

5. What is one reason Angelou forgives her mother for abandoning her?

6. Explain how Maya Angelou overcame her problems with her mother, and describe how she based her advice to others on her own experience.




© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

MAKING MEANING

Close ReviewWatch the interview again. Write down any new observations that seem important. What questions do you have? What can you conclude?

analyze the media Notebook Complete the activities.

1. Present and Discuss Choose a section of the interview that you find most interesting and powerful. Share your choice with your group and discuss why you chose it. Explain what you noticed in the section, what questions it raised for you, and what conclusions you reached about it.

2. Review and Synthesize With your group, review the video. What impact do the old photographs of Angelou and her family create? How do they affect your understanding of Angelou and her experiences? Discuss with your group.

3. Essential Question: What can one generation learn from another? What did Maya Angelou learn from her mother and grandmother? What does Angelou hope future generations will take away from her story? Discuss your response with the group.

media vocabularyUse these words in your responses to the questions.

set questions tone

1. If you were conducting this interview, what location would you have chosen?

2. Would you have asked Maya Angelou anything that the interviewer did not?

3. How did the interviewer relate to Maya Angelou on a personal level? How does the tone of both speakers affect your viewing of the interview?

STANdARdSSpeaking and ListeningAnalyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study.



© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Assignment

Write a comparison-and-contrast essay in which you analyze the similarities and differences in the way each medium portrays Maya Angelou and her relationship with her mother.

Writing to CompareBoth Mom & Me & Mom and the interview with Maya Angelou, “Learning to Love My Mother,” discuss Angelou’s relationship with her mother. Review the selections and consider how the medium in which information is provided—text and audiovisual—affects what you learn about the subject.

Prewriting and PlanningYou will complete the Prewriting and Planning sections as a group, and work individually to write your essay. After you finish your first draft, you will work with your group to revise your essay before handing it in.

Compare the Text and Video With your group, compare the ways in which the text and the video provide information. Use the chart to record your findings.

Notebook Respond to these questions.1. Does the video reveal aspects of the mother-daughter relationship that

the text does not?

2. Does the text provide information not found in the video?


ANGELOU’S EXPERIENCES

WHAT I LEARNED FROM MOM & ME & MOM

WHAT I LEARNED FROM “LEARNING TO LOVE MY MOTHER”

HOW THE TEXT COMPARES WITH THE VIDEO INTERVIEW

Maya’s first impressions of her mother

Why Maya calls her mother Lady

How Maya’s feelings about her mother change

from MOM & ME & MOM


STANDARDSReading Informational TextCompare and contrast a text to an audio, video, or multimedia version of the text, analyzing each medium’s portrayal of the subject.

WritingDraw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

b. Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literary nonfiction.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Assign Tasks Make a list of tasks that members of your group will need to complete for your project. Assign each task to a different group member.

Organize Your Essay Before you begin drafting, decide how you will organize information for your comparison-and-contrast essay. Choose the method that will best suit your purpose.

•Block Method: Presentalldetailsaboutoneofyoursubjects.Then,presentalldetailsaboutyournextsubject.Thismethodemphasizesthe subjects being discussed, since each gets its own treatment.

•Point-by-Point Method: Discussoneaspectofbothsubjects,thenanotheraspectofbothsubjects,andsoon.Thismethodemphasizesthe points of comparison rather than the subjects being compared.

Regardless of the method you choose, be sure that each of your main points is stated clearly and supported by evidence from the selections.

DraftingUsing Transitions Once you have gathered details and decided on an organizing structure, draft the essay. As you draft, use words and phrases toshowtherelationshipsbetweenideasinyouressay.Transitionwordsand phrases can emphasize points of comparison and of contrast.

TRANSITION WORDS AND PHRASES

Comparisons similarly, also, in addition, furthermore

Contrasts although, however, but, on the other hand

Review, Revise, and EditWork with your group to critically review and then revise and edit your essay. If the answer to any of these questions is no, edit your work before submitting a final draft.

•Are the main points of the essay clearly stated? Is each point supported with evidence in the text?

• Is the essay clearly organized using either the block method or the point-by-point method?

•Are the relationships between ideas clarified by transition words and phrases?

• Is your essay free from errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation?

ESSENTIAl quESTION: What can one generation learn from another?

EviDEncE log

Before moving on to a new selection, go to your Evidence Log and record what you learned from Mom & Me & Mom and “Learning to Love My Mother.”

STANDARDSReading Informational TextCompare and contrast a text to an audio, video, or multimedia version of the text, analyzing each medium’s portrayal of the subject.

Writing•Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting, graphics, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. b. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.c. Use appropriate transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

•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.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Making Meaning

Mother-Daughter DrawingsMedia VocabularyThese words will be useful to you as you analyze, discuss, and write about drawings.

composition: arrangement of elements in a drawing

• The elements of a drawing’s composition include color, line, shape, space, form, and texture.

• The way an artist arranges the elements may create emphasis on one part of the drawing over others.

light and shadow: techniques that add depth to a drawing and make it more realistic

• Light and shadow can turn a two-dimensional shape, such as a circle, into a three-dimensional form, such as a sphere.

• Light and shadow help create perspective and mood

perspective: technique used to create the illusion of a three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional surface, such as a piece of paper

•Correct proportion helps a drawing look realistic, taking into account how close or far objects in it are meant to be.

• Smaller objects in a drawing appear to be farther way, and larger ones closer.

First Review MEDIA: ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Apply these strategies as you study each drawing.

About the Artist

Mica Angela Hendricks was born into a military family and traveled to many countries. As a child, she would carry a sketchbook everywhere she went. People who didn’t know her well would simply call her “that girl that draws.” Hendricks is now an illustrator and has collaborated with her four-year-old daughter, Myla, on the sketchbook “Share With Me.”

Look at each drawing and determine whom or what it portrays.

CoNNECT details in the drawings to other texts you’ve read or images you’ve seen.

NoTE elements in each drawing that you find interesting and want to revisit.

RESPoND by completing the Comprehension Check at the end.



86 UNIT1•geNeraTIoNs

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA


BackgroundArtist Mica Angela Hendricks had always tried to teach her four-year-old daughter Myla the importance of sharing. But it’s easier to talk about sharing than to do it. Mica found that out when Myla noticed her mother drawing in a sketchbook and asked if she could draw in it too. Mica was afraid Myla would ruin her drawings, but decided she had to set a good example by practicing what she preached, especially after Myla quoted her words back to her: “If you can’t share, we might have to take it away.”

Mica and Myla Hendricks


Mother-Daughter Drawings 87

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Image 1: Mica had just drawn a woman’s face from an old photograph. She let Myla draw the woman’s body and then used acrylic paint to add color, highlights, and texture to the entire piece.

NOTES

88 UNIT 1 • geNeraTIoNs

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESIMAGE 3: Mica began filling her sketchbook with drawings of heads and letting Myla draw the bodies.

NOTES

IMAGE 2: Mica was impressed that her collaboration with her daughter turned out so well and wanted to try it again.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTES

Image 5: Working with her daughter taught Mica that giving up control is not just fun, but necessary. “Those things you hold so dear cannot change and grow and expand unless you loosen your grip on them a little,” she says.

Image 4: At first, Mica tried telling Myla what kind of bodies to draw. She soon realized the drawings turned out better when Myla did what she wanted. “In most instances, kids’ imaginations way outweigh a grown-up’s,” Mica says.

NOTES


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Ph

oto

1P

ho

to 2

Ph

oto

3P

ho

to 4

Ph

oto

5P

ho

to 6

Comprehension CheckThe image gallery uses both words and images to tell a story. Use the chart below to note specific details about each image, then describe how each image relates to the text that accompanies it. Share your responses with your group.

IMAGE WHAT THE IMAGE SHOWS HOW THE IMAGE RELATES TO THE TEXT

NOTES

ima

ge

1im

ag

e 2

ima

ge

3im

ag

e 4

ima

ge

5



© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

MAKING MEANING


Close ReviewWith your group, revisit the images and your first-review notes. Record any new observations that seem important. What questions do you have? What can you conclude?

analyze the media Notebook Complete the activities.

1. Present and Discuss Choose the image you find most interesting or powerful. Share your choice with the group and discuss why you chose it. Explain what you noticed in the image, what questions it raised for you, and what conclusions you reached about it.

2. Review and Synthesize With your group, review all the images. What does Mica Hendricks’s experience drawing with her daughter reveal about how art is created?

3. Notebook Essential Question: What can one generation learn from another? What do you think the mother and daughter might have learned from each other by drawing together? What has learning about the Hendricks’ process taught you about the ways in which one generation can learn from another?

media vocabulary

composition light and shadow perspective

Use the concept vocabulary words in your responses to the following questions.

1. Why might Image 1 be made up of four separate photographs?

2. What mood is suggested by Image 4? How is that mood created?

3. In Image 5, what is the primary focus and what constitutes the background?

WoRd netWoRK

Look in the image gallery for words related to the topic of generations, and add them to your Word Network.

stanDarDsSpeaking and ListeningAnalyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study.

Language Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

EffEctivE ExprEssion

Speaking and Listening

Choose Your Images As your group researches images for your slideshow, consider what you have learned about the ways in which composition, perspective, and light and shadow affect an image. Discuss these questions with your group:

•What mood or feeling do you want your images to convey?

•Which images should be photographs, which should be illustrations, and which should be a combination of both?

•What materials, props, and locations do you need to create your images?

Plan the Project Once you have considered these questions, make a storyboard. Decide which part of the narrative each image will represent. Arrange the images in a logical sequence.

STORYBOARD TEMPLATE

Draft and Rehearse Work with your group to finalize the narrative and slideshow. Assign roles for presenting, and rehearse to ensure that speakers are prepared and that the media is integrated smoothly.

Present and Discuss Read the narrative for the class and then present the slideshow. Discuss which aspects of the narrative are best told in words and which are best told in pictures.

Reflect With Your Group In the caption that accompanies the last image of the gallery, Mica Hendricks says, “Those things you hold so dear cannot change and grow and expand unless you loosen your grip on them a little.” How did the process of working with your group to develop the slideshow influence your ideas about this quote? Did you find that it was difficult to “loosen your grip” and work collaboratively? What did you learn from the experience?

AssignmentSharing her sketchbook with her four-year-old daughter taught Mica Angela Hendricks that giving up control can help people grow. Write a brief narrative of an event that taught you a lesson about life, and share it with your group. Then, work together to create a multimedia slideshow. Choose one description on which to focus and combine it with at least four images, such as photos, illustrations, or other types of visual multimedia.

GROUP DISCUSSION

Think about the relationship between your images with your group. Should they have a similar look, or should they contrast with each other? Why?

evidence Log

Before moving on to a new selection, go to your Evidence Log and record what you learned from “Mother-Daughter Drawings.”

STAnDARDSSpeaking and Listening•Engageeffectivelyinarangeofcollaborativediscussionswithdiversepartnersongrade 7 topics, texts, and issues,buildingonothers’ideasandexpressingtheirownclearly.a.Cometodiscussionsprepared,havingreadorresearchedmaterialunderstudy;explicitlydrawonthatpreparationbyreferringtoevidenceonthetopic,text,orissuetoprobeandreflectonideasunderdiscussion.

•Includemultimediacomponentsandvisualdisplaysinpresentationstoclarifyclaimsandfindingsandemphasizesalientpoints.

LanguageAcquireanduseaccuratelygrade-appropriategeneralacademicanddomain-specificwordsandphrases;gathervocabularyknowledgewhenconsideringawordorphraseimportanttocomprehensionorexpression.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

MAKING MEANING

POETRY COLLECTION 1

Mother to SonTo James

Concept VocabularyAs you perform your first read of these two poems, you will encounter the following words.

flung catapulted lurched

Context Clues If these words are unfamiliar to you, try using context clues—other words and phrases that appear in a text—to help you determine their meanings. There are various types of context clues that you might encounter as you read.

Restatement of Idea: As they fought to get past the finish line, one runner hurled himself forward, throwing his body over the line.

Synonym: At the beginning of the race, he launched, or propelled, himself over the start line.

Contrast of Idea: The winners of the race glided across the finish line, while the remaining competitors stumbled behind them.

Apply your knowledge of context clues and other vocabulary strategies to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words you encounter during your first read of the two poems.

First Read POETRYRefer to these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an opportunity to complete a close read after your first read.

NOTICE who or what is “speaking” the poem and whether the poem tells a story or describes a single incident.

CONNECT ideas within the selection to what you already know and you have already read.


REspONd by completing the Comprehension Check.

STandardSReading LiteratureBy the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.


a. Use context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


About the Poets Backgrounds

Langston Hughes (1902–1967) was an African American writer known for jazz-inspired poems that portrayed African American life in America. His work was controversial. Some critics worried that it played into racial stereotypes. Others praised Hughes for reaching everyday people by using language and themes “familiar to anyone who had the ability simply to read.”

Frank Horne (1899–1974) was an African American writer and activist. As a director at the U.S. Housing Authority, he fought to end segregated housing. As a poet, he fought discrimination with poems that conveyed dignity and pride.

Mother to Son

Even after the abolition of slavery, life was very hard for most African Americans. Poetry, music, and the other arts were creative outlets that allowed them to express the hardships of their lives and to find inspiration.

To James

From 1914 through 1937, Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City, was the setting for an awakening of African American culture that came to be known as the Harlem Renaissance. During this period, African American writers such as Langston Hughes and Frank Horne searched for the truest way to express their experiences. Each developed a unique style that ultimately helped shape not just African American culture but also world culture.

Poetry Collection 1 95

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

POETRY

Well, son, I’ll tell you:Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.It’s had tacks in it,And splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no carpet on the floor—Bare.But all the timeI’se been a-climbin’ on,And reachin’ landin’s,And turnin’ corners,And sometimes goin’ in the darkWhere there ain’t been no light.So boy, don’t you turn back.Don’t you set down on the steps‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.Don’t you fall now—For I’se still goin’, honey,I’se still climbin’,And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

5

10

15

20

Langston Hughes

Mother to Son

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

NOTES


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Frank Horne

To James

POETRY

Do you rememberHow you wonThat last race . . . ?How you flung your bodyAt the start . . .How your spikesRipped the cinders1

In the stretch . . .How you catapultedThrough the tape . . .Do you remember . . . ?Don’t you thinkI lurched with youOut of those starting holes . . . ?Don’t you thinkMy sinews2 tightenedAt those firstFew strides . . .And when you flew into the stretch

1. cinders n. ashes.2. sinews n. strong tissue that connects muscle to bone.

Mark context clues or indicate another strategy you used that helped you determine meaning.

flung (FLUHNG) v.MEANING:

5

catapulted (KA tuh puhl tihd) v.MEANING:

10

lurched (LURCHT) v.MEANING:15

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

NOTES

Mother to Son • To James 97

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Was not all my thrillOf a thousand racesIn your blood . . . ?At your final driveThrough the finish lineDid not my shoutTell of theTriumphant ecstasyOf victory . . . ?LiveAs I have taught youTo run, Boy—It’s a short dashDig your starting holesDeep and firmLurch out of themInto the straightawayWith all the powerThat is in youLook straight aheadTo the finish lineThink only of the goal Run straightRun highRun hardSave nothingAnd finishWith an ecstatic burstThat carries youHurtlingThrough the tapeTo victory. . . .

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

NOTES


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Comprehension CheckComplete the following items after you finish your first read. Review and clarify details with your group.

MOTHER TO SON

1. Identify three words or phrases from the poem that describe the staircase.

2. What does the speaker tell her son NOT to do?

TO JAMES

1. What event does the speaker refer to at the poem’s start?

2. What goal does the speaker of the poem identify?

3. Which actions repeat throughout the poem?

RESEARCHResearch to Explore These poems may spark your curiosity to learn more. Briefly research a topic related to one of the poems. Then, share what you have learned with your group.

99Poetry Collection 1 99

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Close Read the textWith your group, revisit sections of the text that you marked during your first read. Annotate details that you notice. What questions do you have? What can you conclude?

analyze the text Notebook Complete the activities.

1. Review and Clarify With your group, reread “Mother to Son.” What qualities does the mother demonstrate through her words and actions? Why does the mother need these qualities?

2. Present and Discuss Now, work with your group to share lines from the poems that you found especially important. Take turns presenting your lines. Discuss what you noticed in the lines, what questions you asked, and what conclusions you reached.

3. Essential Question: What can one generation learn from another? What have these poems revealed about what one generation teaches another? Discuss your ideas with the group.

Concept vocabulary

flung catapulted lurched

Why These Words? The concept vocabulary words from the poems are related. With your group, determine what the words have in common. Write your ideas and add another word that fits the category.

Practice Notebook To gain a better understanding of the concept

vocabulary words, write a sentence for each word that demonstrates your understanding of the word’s meaning.

Word StudyConnotations and Denotations A connotation is an association or feeling that a word suggests in addition to its literal dictionary definition, or denotation. Two words can have similar denotations but different connotations. For example, the words mother and matriarch have the same basic denotation. However, mother has positive connotations of warmth and security, whereas matriarch suggests a feeling of distance and formality.

Find two synonyms in a thesaurus for the concept vocabulary word flung. Write an explanation of how the connotations of the three words differ.

maKIng meanIng

WoRd netWoRK



POETRY COLLECTION 1

STaNdaRdSReading Literature• Citeseveralpiecesoftextualevidencetosupportanalysisofwhatthetextsaysexplicitlyaswellasinferencesdrawnfromthetext.• Determineathemeorcentralideaofatextandanalyzeitsdevelopmentoverthecourseofthetext;provideanobjectivesummaryofthetext.• Determinethemeaningofwordsandphrasesastheyareusedinatext,includingfigurativeandconnotativemeanings;analyzetheimpactofrhymesandotherrepetitionsofsoundsonaspecificverseorstanzaofapoemorsectionofastoryordrama.

LanguageDemonstrateunderstandingoffigurativelanguage,wordrelationships,andnuancesinwordmeanings.c.Distinguishamongtheconnotationsofwordswithsimilardenotations.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Analyze Craft and StructureFigurative Language: Symbolism A symbol is anything—an object, person, animal, place, or situation—that represents something else. A symbol has its own meaning, but it also stands for something larger than itself, usually an abstract idea. For example, a dove is a type of bird that symbolizes peace.

In poetry, an author’s use of symbolism can often reveal the theme, or insight about life, of a poem. To determine the theme of a poem that incorporates symbolism, make inferences, or educated guesses, as to what the symbol might represent based on the details in the poem. Then, consider the meaning of the symbol and how it suggests the theme.

Mother to Son to JaMeS

How is symbolism used in the poem? What is the symbol?

What impression of life does this symbol create? What details from the poem suggest this impression?

What does this symbol suggest about how people should live their lives?

What is the theme of the poem? What details from your analysis of the author’s use of symbolism support this inference?


Gather your notes in this chart and share with your group.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Author’s StyleRhythm and Repetition Rhythm is the pattern of strong and weak beats in spoken or written language.

In free verse poems such as “To James” by Frank Horne and “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, the structural pattern can be irregular and closer to the natural rising and falling of spoken language. The term “free verse” refers to poetry that has no standard pattern of rhyme or rhythm.

Repetition is the repeated use of any element of language. Poets can repeat a sound, a word, a phrase, a sentence, a rhyme, a rhythm, or all of these elements to emphasize ideas and create musical effects. Here are some examples:

•The sun sank in the sea.

•We didn’t look, we didn’t listen, we only were.

• I gallop’d, Dirck gallop’d, we gallop’d all three;

Notice that in these examples, both words and sounds are repeated.

Read ItTest your understanding of repetition with a game. Working individually, make a list of the repeated elements in “To James” and “Mother to Son.” Identify as many examples as you can; then rejoin your group and compare lists.

Write It Choose one poem from the collection and write a paragraph describing how the poet uses rhythm and repetition to emphasize certain ideas.

GROUP DISCUSSION

Take turns presenting portions of each poem aloud. Discuss how listening to a poem read aloud helps you to hear rhythm, rhyme, and other sound devices. Discuss the connection between the sound of a poem and its meaning.

POETRY COLLECTION 1

STaNdaRdSReading LiteratureDetermine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.

LanguageDemonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Writing to Sources

Analyze Sources for Inspiration As you brainstorm ideas for your poem, review the poems by Hughes and Horne. Note the ways in which the poets use symbols to convey the experience of the speaker and to develop the theme of the poem. Also, note other techniques, such as description, that the poets use to capture the experiences of the speaker and the subjects. Studying the ways poets effectively use symbols and narrative techniques can help you better apply them to your own writing.

Organize Your Ideas Consider the following questions to organize your thoughts and add interest to your poem:

•What experience will my poem describe? What symbol will I use to convey this experience?

•Who is the speaker of my poem? Whom will the speaker be addressing, and what is their relationship?

•What is the setting of my poem? What specific details describe the setting?

•How can I use sensory language, or language that appeals to one or more of the five senses, to vividly describe my speaker, subjects, setting, and experience?

•What is the theme of my poem? What lesson is the experience in my poem meant to convey?

Draft Your Poem Once you have planned your poem, write it down. Try not to self-edit at this point; strive to get it written in one sitting so that you can maintain your flow of ideas.

Revise and Evaluate Exchange the first draft of your poem with a group member. See if you can determine the subject, symbol, and theme of your classmate’s poem. Also, consider your classmate’s use of sensory language and descriptive details: Is any sensory language confusing or inaccurate? Are there places where descriptive details would make the poem more interesting? Provide feedback to your classmate politely and respectfully.

Discuss as a Group Read the final version of your poem to your group. After all members have recited their poems, discuss the similarities and differences between them. Discuss the process of writing a poem and creating a symbol: How was this challenging? How did the process increase your understanding of the ways in which symbols can be effective in poetry?


EVIDENCE LOG

Before moving on to a new selection, go to your log and record what you learned from “Mother to Son” and “To James.”

Assignment

Write a narrative poem in which the speaker shares with readers a lesson learned through personal experience. Include at least one symbol in your poem.

You will work individually to craft your poem. After you have completed your poems, you will revise and discuss them as a group.

StandardSWriting• Writenarrativestodeveloprealorimaginedexperiencesoreventsusingeffectivetechnique,relevantdescriptivedetails,andwell-structuredeventsequences.a.Engageandorientthereaderbyestablishingacontextandpointofviewandintroducinganarratorand/orcharacters;organizeaneventsequencethatunfoldsnaturallyandlogically.b.Usenarrativetechniques,suchasdialogue,pacinganddescription,todevelopexperiences,events,and/orcharacters.d.Useprecisewordsandphrases,relevantdescriptivedetails,andsensorylanguagetocapturetheactionandconveyexperiencesandevents.

• Withsomeguidanceandsupportfrompeersandadults,developandstrengthenwritingasneededbyplanning,revising,editing,rewriting,ortryinganewapproach,focusingonhowwellpurposeandaudiencehavebeenaddressed.• Drawevidencefromliteraryorinformationaltextstosupportanalysis,reflection,andresearch.a.Applygrade 7 Reading standardstoliterature.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

Performance Task: sPeaking and LisTening focUs

Present a Nonfiction NarrativeAssignmentWork with your group to present a panel discussion in which you tell stories and give examples that relate to the following question.

What new knowledge or skills can you learn from someone of a different generation?

Plan With Your GroupAnalyze the Texts With your group, identify a key lesson about life taught in each text listed. Summarize your ideas on this chart.


from Mom & Me & Mom


Mother to Son

To James

TITLE LESSON TAUGHT / SUPPORTING DETAILS

Assign Roles When the chart is complete, review with your group. Then, identify one group member to act as moderator and the other group members to represent one narrator or one speaker in the panel discussion.

SOURCES

•TUTORS TEACH SENIORS

NEW HIGH-TECH TRICKS

•from MOM & ME & MOM

•LEARNING TO LOvE

My MOTHER

•MOTHER TO SON

•TO JAMES

STANDARDSSpeaking and Listening • Engageeffectivelyinarangeofcollaborativediscussionswithdiversepartnersongrade 7 topics, texts, and issues,buildingonothers’ideasandexpressingtheirownclearly.a.Cometodiscussionsprepared,havingreadorresearchedmaterialunderstudy;explicitlydrawonthatpreparationbyreferringtoevidenceonthetopic,text,orissuetoprobeandreflectonideasunderdiscussion.b.Followrulesforcollegialdiscussions,trackprogresstowardspecificgoalsanddeadlines,anddefineindividualrolesasneeded.

• Analyzethemainideasandsupportingdetailspresentedindiversemediaandformatsandexplainhowtheideasclarifyatopic,text,orissueunderstudy.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Plan Your Panel Discussion Allow time for the moderator to prepare questions for the discussion about life lessons that are passed on between generations. Other group members should use this time to become expert on the speaker or narrator of a given text. Keep the following in mind:

•The moderator’s questions should lead responders to relate anecdotes, or short, true-life stories, about their experiences.

•Panel members should be prepared to respond to the moderator’s questions with stories about what they learned from another generation.

Rehearse With Your GroupReview Requirements As you practice your panel discussion, use this checklist to evaluate the effectiveness of your first run-through. Then, use your evaluation and these instructions to guide any changes you make to the format of the panel discussion.

CONTENT PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES

The questions posed are meaningful and answerable.

The responses should be in the form of a narrative.

Speakers make eye contact and speak clearly.

Speakers adjust volume and pacing as appropriate.

Speakers use their tone of voice to emphasize main points.

Fine-Tune the Content If the connection between the moderator’s questions and the panel members’ responses are not yet clear, work as a group to make the connections stronger. You may need to perform further analysis of the source texts to strengthen the content.

Brush Up on Your Presentation Techniques Practice making eye contact with the moderator and with other panel members as they speak. Avoid multitasking during the discussion so that the focus remains on the person speaking.

Present and EvaluateRemember that you must use teamwork to make this presentation effective. As you listen to other groups present, take notes and be ready to ask questions and provide feedback at the conclusion of their discussion.

STANdARdSSpeaking and Listening• Presentclaimsandfindings,emphasizingsalientpointsinafocused,coherentmannerwithpertinentdescriptions,facts,details,andexamples;useappropriateeyecontact,adequatevolume,andclearpronunciation.• Adaptspeechtoavarietyofcontextsandtasks,demonstratingcommandofformalEnglishwhenindicatedorappropriate.

Performance Task: Present a Nonfiction Narrative 105

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

OVERVIEW: INDEPENDENT LEARNING

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

What can one generation learn from another?People from different generations sometimes have very different ways of looking at the world. For your final reading selection in this unit, you will choose one additional text about generations. Follow these steps to help you choose.

Look Back Think about the selections you have already read. What more do you want to know about the topic of generations?

Look Ahead Preview the selections by reading the descriptions. Which one seems most interesting and appealing to you?

Look Inside Take a few minutes to scan through the text you chose. Make another selection if this text doesn’t meet your needs.

Independent Learning StrategiesThroughout your life, in school, in your community, and in your career, you will need to rely on yourself to learn and work on your own. Review these strategies and the actions you can take to practice them during Independent Learning. Add ideas of your own for each category.


Create a schedule •Make a plan for what to do each day.

•Understand your goals and deadlines.

•

Practice what you’ve learned

•Use first-read and close-read strategies to deepen your understanding.

• Evaluate the usefulness of the evidence to help you understand the topic.

•Consider the quality and reliability of the source.

•

Take notes • Record important ideas and information.

• Review notes before preparing to share with a group.

•


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

CONTENTSChoose one selection. Selections are available online only.

OPINION PIECE


Can you yearn for a past that you barely remember?

SHORT STORY


An eerie tale has been passed down for generations.

SHORT STORY


An old man can still surprise his grandson.

BLOG POST

Bridging the Generational Divide Between a Football Father and a Soccer Son John McCormick

How do a father and son find common ground in a disagreement?

POETRY COLLECTION 2

Lineage Margaret Walker

Family Grace Paley

What do you inherit from your ancestors?

SHORT STORY


Time will catch up to all of us.


Review Evidence for a Nonfiction NarrativeComplete your Evidence Log for the unit by evaluating what you’ve learned and synthesizing the information you’ve recorded.

Overview: Independent Learning 107

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

INDEPENDENT LEARNING

First-Read Guide

Use this page to record your first-read ideas.

Selection Title:

Tool KitFirst-Read Guide and Model Annotation

STANDARDReading Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

RESPOND by writing a brief summary of the selection.

CONNECT ideas within the selection to other knowledge and the selections you have read.

NOTICE new information or ideas you learn about the unit topic as you first read this text.



© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Close-Read Guide

Use this page to record your close-read ideas.

Selection Title:

Tool KitClose-Read Guide and Model Annotation

STANDARDReading Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Textual Evidence

Annotate • Question • ConcludeRevisit sections of the text you marked during your first read. Read the sections closely and annotate what you notice. Ask yourself questions about the text. What can you conclude? Write your ideas.

Focus on Big Ideas

Think about the author’s choice of patterns, structure, techniques, and ideas included in the text. Select one and record your thoughts about what this choice conveys.

QuickWrite

Pick a paragraph from the text that grabbed your interest. Explain the power of this passage.

Independent Learning 109

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.NOTES

BACKGROUNDFor Margaret Walker, her family history was her greatest source of inspiration. Her grandmother took care of Walker and her siblings as children and told them stories about their great-grandmother. Walker’s 500-page epic novel, Jubilee, was based on her great-grandmother’s life during slavery and immediately following the Civil War.

My grandmothers were strong.They followed plows and bent to toil.1

They moved through fields sowing seed.They touched earth and grain grew.They were full of sturdiness and singing.My grandmothers were strong.

My grandmothers are full of memoriesSmelling of soap and onions and wet clayWith veins2 rolling roughly over quick handsThey have many clean words to say.My grandmothers were strong.Why am I not as they?

1. toil n. hard physical work.2. veins n. vessels that carry blood to the heart.

5

10

About the PoetPoet and novelist Margaret Walker (1915–1998) was born in Birmingham, Alabama, daughter of a minister and a music teacher who nurtured her interest in poetry and philosophy. At the age of 19, Walker graduated from Northwestern University and began a career as a writer. In addition to earning a master of arts in 1940 and a PhD in 1965. Walker received numerous honorary

degrees and fellowships in recognition of her literary contributions.

LineageMargaret Walker

POETRY

IL1 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Lineage • Family

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTES

BACKGROUNDPaley’s family immigrated to America from Russia during the Russian Revolution of 1905. During this period, many Russians had become dissatisfied with the social and political system of their country. Protestors were initially met with violent resistance by the government, but continued unrest eventually convinced Tsar Nicholas II to institute the Fundamental Laws, which functioned as a constitution.

My father was brilliant embarrassed funny handsomemy mother was plain serious principled1 kindmy grandmother was intelligent lonesome for her other life her dead children silentmy aunt was beautiful bitter angry loving

I fell among these adjectives in earliest childhoodand was nearly buried with opportunitysome of them stuck to me othersfinding me American and smooth slipped away

1. principled adj. moral; knowing right from wrong.

5

About the PoetGrace Paley (1922–2007) was raised in the Bronx, in New York City. Her parents spoke both Russian and Yiddish, and this dual culture as well as the city itself inspired many of her writings. She described herself as a “combative pacifist” and spoke out against American militarization in anti-war protests. Paley taught writing at Sarah Lawrence College for many years, and her

work has won many awards.

FamilyGrace Paley

POETRY

UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Lineage • Family IL2

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.NOTES

BACKGROUNDBetween 1999 and 2013, United States families adopted over 200,000 children from overseas, including 70,000 children from China. Most children are less than two years old when adopted, but many are older, and have some memories of life in their birth country. In this piece, an author reflects on the mixed emotions she has about her own “Gotcha Day,” the day she was adopted.

I was five and a half years old when my parents adopted me in China and brought me to my new home to America. As my

mom always says, I eagerly ran into her arms and truly have stayed there for the past 12 years. She is my mom, my best friend, the woman I admire most in the world. But for the longest time, my family marked that day we met in China as something known in adoption circles as “Gotcha Day.”

Lots of families celebrate the day they met their adopted child and became a family. But while I appreciate the love and everything else my parents give me, Gotcha Day can be a mixed bag—one that leaves kids like me sad and confused. What’s missing from Gotcha Day is this: The acknowledgement that adoption is also about loss.

While adoptive parents may be celebrating a long-awaited child finally entering their lives, that child in their arms has experienced

1

2

3

About the AuthorSophie Johnson was a junior at Malibu High School in Malibu, California, when she wrote and published this article. She has written several articles for the Huffington Post.


OPINION PIECE

IL3 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • “Gotcha Day” Isn’t a Cause for Celebration

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESabandonment or has been surrendered for reasons they may never know or understand. It’s a lot to process. And sometimes while adopted kids are processing it, their feelings of loss override their feelings of happiness. Gotcha Day is one of those times when we think about our past and how little some of us actually know about it. We think about our biological parents and wish we knew them and could ask them why they didn’t keep us. We think about what our lives would be like, where would we be, what our futures would look like, had there been no Gotcha Day.

It’s been said that adoption loss is the only trauma in the world where everyone expects the victims to be grateful and appreciative. I am grateful and appreciative, but I also want to remind people that someone’s happiness over building their family through adoption may also be someone else’s sorrow over losing their child for circumstances they couldn’t control. Gotcha Day feels like a day of fake smiles if we don’t acknowledge that it’s also about loss, not just gain.

In my family, we now celebrate Family Day. My parents show my brother and me the photos of when we first met. We talk about how she fed me a big bag of candy that I promptly threw up on her in the cab ride back to the hotel. I tell her every Family Day how she shouldn’t have let our guide throw away the yellow sweatsuit that I vomited on. It was the last thing my orphanage caregivers dressed me in and was a tangible part of a past that has many unknowns. (I forgive her; she was jet-lagged1 and the guide took away the dirty clothes and just put them in the trash knowing my mom had a suitcase full of new things for me to wear from America.)

Every Family Day, we laugh about my little brother’s Elvis2 sneer and bewilderment at the events of the day we got him. We laugh about how—I was 7 at the time and had been living in America for two years—I took one look at him and began asking my mom if we could get a puppy instead. We remember how while my parents were busy filling out paperwork and he and I sat coloring and my dad threw a ball at his head. My mom screamed and my brother, without even looking up from his coloring, raised his left hand and caught the pitch perfectly. “A leftie! Yes!!” shouted out my dad, a life-long Cubs3 fan. I’m not sure if the Chinese officials thought it was funny, but we sure laugh about it every Family Day.

I love our Family Day. It celebrates our love for one another plain and simple. And we always end it by lighting a candle for our first families and going outside to talk to the moon. ❧

1. jet-lagged adj. exhausted from long-distance travel.2. Elvis Elvis Presley, wildly popular singer and actor, also known for his smiling sneer.3. Cubs Major League Baseball team of Chicago.

4

5

6

7

UNIT 1 Independent Learning • “Gotcha Day” Isn’t a Cause for Celebration IL4

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTES

BACKGROUND“The Grandfather and His Little Grandson” is originally a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, and first published in 1812. Many writers, including Leo Tolstoy, have retold different versions of this story over time.

The grandfather had become very old. His legs would not carry him, his eyes could not see, his ears could not hear, and

he was toothless. And when he ate, he was untidy. His son and the son’s wife no longer allowed him to eat with them at the table and had him take his meals near the stove. They gave him his food in a cup. Once he tried to move the cup closer to him and it fell to the floor and broke. The daughter-in-law scolded the old man, saying that he damaged everything around the house and broke their cups, and she warned him that from that day on she would give him his food in a wooden dish. The old man sighed and said nothing.

One day the old man’s son and his wife were sitting in their hut, resting. Their little son was playing on the floor. He was putting together something out of small bits of wood. His father asked him: “What are you making, Misha?” And Misha said: “I’m

1

2

About the AuthorLeo Tolstoy (1828–1910) was born into a wealthy family in Russia and inherited the family estate. By the time he was fifty, he had written some of the world’s most famous novels. In midlife, Tolstoy began to reject his life of luxury. He surrendered the rights to many of his works and gave his property to his family. This world-famous writer died alone in a remote train station in Russia.


ShORT STORY

IL5 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • The Grandfather and His Little Grandson

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESmaking a wooden bucket. When you and Mommie get old, I’ll feed you out of this wooden bucket.”

The young peasant and his wife looked at each other and tears appeared in their eyes. They were ashamed to have treated the old man so unkindly, and from that day they again ate with him at the table and took better care of him. ❧

Reprinted with the permission of Little Simon, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division from Twenty-Two Russian Tales for Young Children by Leo Tolstoy, Selected, Translated, and with an Afterword by Miriam Morton. Translation copyright 1969 Miriam Morton; copyright renewed (c) 1998 Miriam Morton

3

UNIT 1 Independent Learning • The Grandfather and His Little Grandson IL6

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTES

BACKGROUNDAmerican football originates from the sports of soccer and rugby. According to many metrics, it is the most popular sport in America. But it is soccer (known as football in most countries besides the United States) that reigns as the most popular sport across the globe. The World Cup is among the most-watched sporting events in the world. Today, soccer has gained popularity in the United States as well.

Nowhere is the generation gap between my 16-year-old son Will and me wider than when it comes to football. Football,

for me, is that most American of sports, pitting helmeted warriors colliding with one another across the line of scrimmage1. Football for Will is of the global variety, the “beautiful sport” consisting of touch passes and bending corner kicks, commonly referred to on this side of the Atlantic as soccer.

Will plays on his high school’s JV soccer team. Last weekend, he invited a few of his teammates for a sleepover at our home after their Friday night game. The next morning, Will and his teammates gathered around the television to watch an English Premiere League soccer game. Comparing players on their respective fantasy league soccer teams, they rattled off the names

1. line of scrimmage imaginary line used at the beginning of play to separate two football teams.

1

2

About the AuthorJohn McCormick is a blogger, author, and regular contributor to the Huffington Post’s Parents Section, where he provides insights and advice to fellow parents. McCormick is also a speaker, frequently visiting schools, fairs, and libraries to advocate for storytelling.

Bridging the Generational Divide Between a Football Father and a Soccer SonJohn McCormick

BLOG POST

IL7 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Bridging the Generational Divide . . .

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESof players I’d never heard of . . . Mesut Özil, Yaya Touré and Mathieu Flamini, to name just a few.

While impressed with their knowledge of EPL players, I wondered how many professional football players they could identify, so I asked them to name as many players they could from the National Football League.

The first five were easy for the boys—“RGIII, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Joe Flacco, Richard Sherman.”

An awkward pause ensued before another boy finally piped up with “Ray Rice.” I groaned.

When my son and his friends finally bogged down at eight, I asked, “Why do you know so much about soccer but so little about football?”

The gauntlet had been thrown down, and my son quickly took up the challenge. “Soccer is way more fun to watch and play than football,” he said. “There are so many commercial timeouts during football games on TV that you can die of old age waiting for play to resume.”

I had to give him that one. While I had lost one battle, I wasn’t about to concede the war. I told him that football had more offense, and that watching scoreless soccer games for ninety minutes was as dry as watching C-Span2 with the volume off.

Back and forth the arguments flew like headers3 on a soccer pitch.

Will: Soccer is followed by millions more fans than football and is the most popular sport in the world.

Dad: The 2014 Super Bowl is still the most watched in U.S. TV history.

Will: Soccer is a more fluid4 game, requiring skill, endurance and grace.

Dad: Football has all that, too, but the players don’t act like they’ve been mortally wounded every time an opposing player brushes against them!

Will: Soccer enthusiasts are the most passionate fans in the world, singing songs and standing on their feet for entire matches.

Dad: Ever been to a Seahawks game in Seattle or a Broncos game in Denver?

My son got in the last word. “Soccer is a sport whose time has come. It’s the sport of my generation.”

I suddenly remembered a conversation I had with my own father when I was my son’s age. My father, the starting catcher on his college baseball team, spoke passionately of why baseball is,

2. C-Span television network that broadcasts political proceedings and other public affairs programming.

3. headers n. shots or passes in soccer made by hitting the ball with the head.4. fluid adj. showing a smooth, easy style.

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Bridging the Generational Divide . . . IL8

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESand always will be, America’s national pastime. I argued just as fervently that football was now America’s national game. I even recall telling my dad that football was a sport whose time had come.

Every generation has its own collective character, its likes and dislikes, its passions and indifferences. While baseball was tops in my dad’s day and football in mine, many youth today are embracing soccer as the new “in” sport. Maybe it’s time for me to take a new perspective on “the beautiful game.”

My son and I came up with a compromise. I watch an EPL game with my son on Saturday mornings and he watches an NFL game with me on Sunday afternoons. Not only do we have the chance to spend more time together, but we teach each other the finer points of futbol vs. football. Along the way we even discovered that football is derived from soccer, with rugby providing the missing link. Who knew that both sports were in the same family? Just like in ours. ❧

18

19

IL9 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Bridging the Generational Divide . . .

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d. NOTES

BACKGROUNDThe Yangtze River is one of the longest rivers in the world, flowing 3,915 miles across China, and emptying out into the East China Sea. Throughout Chinese history, the Yangtze River has been a vital source of life, providing food and enabling irrigation, transportation, and industry. Yangtze is the river’s westernized name - in China it is called Chang Jiang, meaning “Long River.”

Summertime at dusk we’d gather on the back porch, tired and sticky from another day of fierce encoded quarrels, nursing

our mosquito bites and frail dignities, sisters in name only. At first we’d pinch and slap each other, fighting for the best—least ragged—folding chair. Then we’d argue over who would sit next to our grandmother. We were so close together on the tiny porch that we often pulled our own hair by mistake. Forbidden to bite, we planted silent toothmarks on each others’ wrists. We ignored the bulk of house behind us, the yard, the fields, the darkening sky. We even forgot about our grandmother. Then suddenly we’d hear her old, dry voice, very close, almost on the backs of our necks.

“Xiushila! Shame on you. Fighting like a bunch of chickens.”

1

2

About the AuthorWriter and novelist Lan Samantha Chang (b. 1965) grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, learning about China from her Chinese immigrant parents. She has received many awards, including a 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship. Chang is currently the director of the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop.


ShORT STORY

UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Water Names IL10

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESAnd Ingrid, the oldest, would freeze with her thumb and

forefinger right on the back of Lily’s arm. I would slide my hand away from the end of Ingrid’s braid. Ashamed, we would shuffle our feet while Waipuo calmly found her chair.

On some nights she sat with us in silence. But on some nights she told us stories, “just to keep up your Chinese,” she said.

“In these prairie crickets I often hear the sound of rippling water, of the Yangtze River,” she said. “Granddaughters, you are descended on both sides from people of the water country, near the mouth of the great Chang Jiang as it is called, where the river is so grand and broad that even on clear days you can scarcely see the other side.

“The Chang Jiang runs four thousand miles, originating in the Himalaya mountains1 where it crashes, flecked with gold dust, down steep cliffs so perilous and remote that few humans have ever seen them. In central China, the river squeezes through deep gorges, then widens in its last thousand miles to the sea. Our ancestors have lived near the mouth of this river, the ever-changing delta, near a city called Nanjing, for more than a thousand years.”

“A thousand years,” murmured Lily, who was only ten. When she was younger she had sometimes burst into nervous crying at the thought of so many years. Her small insistent fingers grabbed my fingers in the dark.

“Through your mother and I you are descended from a line of great men and women. We have survived countless floods and seasons of ill-fortune because we have the spirit of the river in us. Unlike mountains, we cannot be powdered down or broken apart. Instead, we run together like raindrops. Our strength and spirit wear down mountains into sand. But even our people must respect the water.”

She paused. “When I was young, my own grandmother once told me the story of Wen Zhiqing’s daughter. Twelve hundred years ago the civilized parts of China still lay to the north, and the Yangtze valley lay unspoiled. In those days lived an ancestor named Wen Zhiqing, a resourceful man, and proud. He had been fishing for many years with trained cormorants, which you girls of course have never seen. Cormorants are sleek, black birds with long, bending necks which the fishermen fitted with metal rings so the fish they caught could not be swallowed. The birds would perch on the side of the old wooden boat and dive into the river.” We had only known blue swimming pools, but we tried to imagine the sudden shock of cold and the plunge, deep into water.

“Now, Wen Zhiqing had a favorite daughter who was very beautiful and loved the river. She would beg to go out on the boat

1. Himalaya Mountains mountain range in South Asia.

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

IL11 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Water Names

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESwith him. This daughter was a restless one, never contented with their catch, and often she insisted they stay out until it was almost dark. Even then, she was not satisfied. She had been spoiled by her father, kept protected from the river, so she could not see its danger. To this young woman, the river was as familiar as the sky. It was a bright, broad road stretching out to curious lands. She did not fully understand the river’s depths.

“One clear spring evening, as she watched the last bird dive off into the blackening waters, she said, ‘If only this catch would bring back something more than another fish!’

“She leaned over the side of the boat and looked at the water. The stars and moon reflected back at her. And it is said that the spirits living underneath the water looked up at her as well. And the spirit of a young man who had drowned in the river many years before saw her lovely face.”

We had heard about the ghosts of the drowned, who wait forever in the water for a living person to pull down instead. A faint breeze moved through the mosquito screens and we shivered.

“The cormorant was gone for a very long time.” Waipuo said, “so long that the fisherman grew puzzled. Then, suddenly, the bird emerged from the waters, almost invisible in the night. Wen Zhiqing grasped his catch, a very large fish, and guided the boat back to shore. And when Wen reached home, he gutted the fish and discovered, in its stomach, a valuable pearl ring.”

“From the man?” said Lily.“Sshh, she’ll tell you.”Waipuo ignored us. “His daughter was delighted that her wish

had been fulfilled. What most excited her was the idea of an entire world like this, a world where such a beautiful ring would be only a bauble!2 For part of her had always longed to see far away things and places. The river had put a spell on her heart. In the evenings she began to sit on the bank looking at her own reflection in the water. Sometimes she said she saw a handsome young man looking back at her. And her yearning for him filled her heart with sorrow and fear, for she knew that she would soon leave her beloved family.

“‘It’s just the moon, said Wen Zhiqing, but his daughter shook her head. ‘There’s a kingdom under the water,’ she said. ‘The prince is asking me to marry him. He sent the ring as an offering to you.’ ‘Nonsense,’ said her father, and he forbade her to sit by the water again.

“For a year things went as usual, but the next spring there came a terrible flood that swept away almost everything. In the middle of a torrential rain, the family noticed that the daughter was

2. bauble (BAW buhl) n. object of little value.

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Water Names IL12

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESmissing. She had taken advantage of the confusion to hurry to the river and visit her beloved. The family searched for days but they never found her.”

Her smoky, rattling voice came to a stop.“What happened to her?” Lily said.“It’s okay, stupid,” I told her. She was so beautiful that she went

to join the kingdom of her beloved. Right?“Who knows?” Waipuo said. “They say she was seduced by a

water ghost. Or perhaps she lost her mind to desiring.”“What do you mean?” asked Ingrid.“I’m going inside,” Waipuo said, and got out of her chair with a

creak. A moment later the light went on in her bedroom window. We knew she stood before the mirror, combing out her long, wavy silver-gray hair, and we imagined that in her youth she too had been beautiful.

We sat together without talking. We had gotten used to Waipuo’s abruptness, her habit of creating a question and leaving without answering it, as if she were disappointed in the question itself. We tried to imagine Wen Zhiqing’s daughter. What did she look like? How old was she? Why hadn’t anyone remembered her name?

While we weren’t watching, the stars had emerged. Their brilliant pinpoints mapped the heavens. They glittered over us, over Waipuo in her room, the house, and the small city we lived in, the great waves of grass that ran for miles around us, the ground beneath as dry and hard as bone. ❧

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

IL13 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • Water Names

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTES

BACKGROUNDNursing homes are places that provide care for people who are unable to care for themselves because of chronic illness or disability. Usually, nursing home residents are elderly. A staff of nurses and aides provides medicine and food so that residents are free to spend their time doing other things.

“Just one hour, una hora, is all I’m asking of you, son.” My grandfather is in a nursing home in Brooklyn, and my

mother wants me to spend some time with him, since the doctors say that he doesn’t have too long to go now. I don’t have much time left of my summer vacation, and there’s a stack of books next to my bed I’ve got to read if I’m going to get into the AP English class I want. I’m going stupid in some of my classes, and Mr. Williams, the principal at Central, said that if I passed some reading tests, he’d let me move up.

Besides, I hate the place, the old people’s home, especially the way it smells like industrial-strength ammonia1 and other stuff I won’t mention, since it turns my stomach. And really the abuelo always has a lot of relatives visiting him, so I’ve gotten out of going out there except at Christmas, when a whole vanload of grandchildren are herded over there to give him gifts and a hug. We all make it quick and spend the rest of the time in the

1. ammonia n. liquid used for cleaning that has a very strong smell.

1

2

About the AuthorJudith Ortiz Cofer (1952–2016) was born in Puerto Rico. She grew up in both Puerto Rico and New Jersey, where her father was stationed in the United States Navy. She was introduced to the storytelling tradition at her grandmother’s house in Puerto Rico.


Short Story

UNIT 1 Independent Learning • An Hour With Abuelo IL14

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESrecreation area, where they play checkers and stuff with some of the old people’s games, and I catch up on back issues of Modern Maturity. I’m not picky, I’ll read almost anything.

Anyway, after my mother nags me for about a week, I let her drive me to Golden Years. She drops me off in front. She wants me to go in alone and have a “good time” talking to Abuelo. I tell her to be back in one hour or I’ll take the bus back to Paterson. She squeezes my hand and says, “Gracias, hijo,”2 in a choked-up voice like I’m doing her a big favor.

I get depressed the minute I walk into the place. They line up the old people in wheelchairs in the hallway as if they were about to be raced to the finish line by orderlies3 who don’t even look at them when they push them here and there. I walk fast to room 10, Abuelo’s “suite.” He is sitting up in his bed writing with a pencil in one of those old-fashioned black hardback notebooks. It has the outline of the island of Puerto Rico on it. I slide into the hard vinyl chair by his bed. He sort of smiles and the lines on his face get deeper, but he doesn’t say anything. Since I’m supposed to talk to him, I say, “What are you doing, Abuelo, writing the story of your life?”

It’s supposed to be a joke, but he answers, “Sí, how did you know, Arturo?”

His name is Arturo too. I was named after him. I don’t really know my grandfather. His children, including my mother, came to New York and New Jersey (where I was born) and he stayed on the Island until my grandmother died. Then he got sick, and since nobody could leave their jobs to go take care of him, they brought him to this nursing home in Brooklyn. I see him a couple of times a year, but he’s always surrounded by his sons and daughters. My mother tells me that Don Arturo had once been a teacher back in Puerto Rico, but had lost his job after the war. Then he became a farmer. She’s always saying in a sad voice, “Ay, bendito!4 What a waste of a fine mind.” Then she usually shrugs her shoulders and says, “Así es la vida.” That’s the way life is. It sometimes makes me mad that the adults I know just accept whatever is thrown at them because “that’s the way things are.” Not for me. I go after what I want.

Anyway, Abuelo is looking at me like he was trying to see into my head, but he doesn’t say anything. Since I like stories, I decide I may as well ask him if he’ll read me what he wrote.

I look at my watch; I’ve already used up twenty minutes of the hour I promised my mother.

2. Gracias, hijo (GRAH see uhs EE ho) Spanish for “Thank you, son.” Hijo also means “child.”

3. orderlies n. hospital workers who do nonmedical tasks such as moving patients around or cleaning.

4. bendito (vehn DEE toh) Spanish for “blessed.”

3

4

5

6

7

8

IL15 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • An Hour With Abuelo

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESAbuelo starts talking in his slow way. He speaks what my

mother calls book English. He taught himself from a dictionary, and his words sound stiff, like he’s sounding them out in his head before he says them. With his children he speaks Spanish, and that funny book English with us grandchildren. I’m surprised that he’s still so sharp, because his body is shrinking like a crumpled-up brown paper sack with some bones in it. But I can see from looking into his eyes that the light is still on in there.

“It is a short story, Arturo. The story of my life. It will not take very much time to read it.”

“I have time, Abuelo.” I’m a little embarrassed that he saw me looking at my watch.

“Yes, hijo. You have spoken the truth. La verdad. You have much time.”

Abuelo reads: “’I loved words from the beginning of my life. In the campo5 where I was born one of seven sons, there were few books. My mother read them to us over and over: the Bible, the stories of Spanish conquistadors and of pirates that she had read as a child and brought with her from the city of Mayagüez; that was before she married my father, a coffee bean farmer; and she taught us words from the newspaper that a boy on a horse brought every week to her. She taught each of us how to write on

5. campo (KAHM poh) Spanish for “open country.”

9

10

11

12

13


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESa slate with chalks that she ordered by mail every year. We used those chalks until they were so small that you lost them between your fingers.

“’I always wanted to be a writer and a teacher. With my heart and my soul I knew that I wanted to be around books all of my life. And so against the wishes of my father, who wanted all his sons to help him on the land, she sent me to high school in Mayagüez. For four years I boarded with a couple she knew. I paid my rent in labor, and I ate vegetables I grew myself. I wore my clothes until they were thin as parchment. But I graduated at the top of my class! My whole family came to see me that day. My mother brought me a beautiful guayabera, a white shirt made of the finest cotton and embroidered by her own hands. I was a happy young man.

“’In those days you could teach in a country school with a high school diploma. So I went back to my mountain village and got a job teaching all grades in a little classroom built by the parents of my students.

“I had books sent to me by the government. I felt like a rich man although the pay was very small. I had books. All the books I wanted! I taught my students how to read poetry and plays, and how to write them. We made up songs and put on shows for the parents. It was a beautiful time for me.

“’Then the war came,6 and the American President said that all Puerto Rican men would be drafted. I wrote to our governor and explained that I was the only teacher in the mountain village. I told him that the children would go back to the fields and grow up ignorant if I could not teach them their letters. I said that I thought I was a better teacher than a soldier. The governor did not answer my letter. I went into the U.S. Army.

“I told my sergeant that I could be a teacher in the army. I could teach all the farm boys their letters so that they could read the instructions on the ammunition boxes and not blow themselves up. The sergeant said I was too smart for my own good, and gave me a job cleaning latrines.7 He said to me there is reading material for you there, scholar. Read the writing on the walls. I spent the war mopping floors and cleaning toilets.

“’When I came back to the Island, things had changed. You had to have a college degree to teach school, even the lower grades. My parents were sick, two of my brothers had been killed in the war, the others had stayed in Nueva York. I was the only one left to help the old people. I became a farmer. I married a good

6. “Then the war came, . . .” The United States entered World War II in 1941, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

7. latrines (luh TREENZ) n. toilets.

14

15

16

17

18

19

IL17 UNIT 1 Independent Learning • An Hour With Abuelo

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

NOTESwoman who gave me many good children. I taught them all how to read and write before they started school.’”

Abuelo then puts the notebook down on his lap and closes his eyes.

“Así es la vida is the title of my book,” he says in a whisper, almost to himself. Maybe he’s forgotten that I’m there.

For a long time he doesn’t say anything else. I think that he’s sleeping, but then I see that he’s watching me through half-closed lids, maybe waiting for my opinion of his writing. I’m trying to think of something nice to say. I liked it and all, but not the title. And I think that he could’ve been a teacher if he had wanted to bad enough. Nobody is going to stop me from doing what I want with my life. I’m not going to let la vida get in my way. I want to discuss this with him, but the words are not coming into my head in Spanish just yet. I’m about to ask him why he didn’t keep fighting to make his dream come true, when an old lady in hot-pink running shoes sort of appears at the door.

She is wearing a pink jogging outfit too. The world’s oldest marathoner, I say to myself. She calls out to my grandfather in a flirty voice, “Yoo-hoo, Arturo, remember what day this is? It’s poetry-reading day in the rec room! You promised us you’d read your new one today.”

I see my abuelo perking up almost immediately. He points to his wheelchair, which is hanging like a huge metal bat in the open closet. He makes it obvious that he wants me to get it. I put it together, and with Mrs. Pink Running Shoes’s help, we get him in it. Then he says in a strong deep voice I hardly recognize, “Arturo, get that notebook from the table, please.”

I hand him another map-of-the-Island notebook—this one is red. On it in big letters it says, POEMAS DE ARTURO.

I start to push him toward the rec room, but he shakes his finger at me.

“Arturo, look at your watch now. I believe your time is over.” He gives me a wicked smile.

Then with her pushing the wheelchair—maybe a little too fast—they roll down the hall. He is already reading from his notebook, and she’s making bird noises. I look at my watch and the hour is up, to the minute. I can’t help but think that my abuelo has been timing me. It cracks me up. I walk slowly down the hall toward the exit sign. I want my mother to have to wait a little. I don’t want her to think that I’m in a hurry or anything. ❧

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

INDEPENDENT lEarNINg

Share Your Independent LearningPrepare to Share

What can one generation learn from another?When you read something independently, you can continue to grow by sharing what you have learned with others. Reflect on the text you explored independently, and write notes about its connection to the unit. In your notes, consider why this text belongs in this unit.

Reflect

Review your notes, and mark the most important insight you gained from these writing and discussion activities. Explain how this idea adds to your understanding of the topic of generations.

Learn From Your Classmates

Discuss It Share your ideas about the text you explored on your own. As you talk with your classmates, jot down ideas that you learn from them.

evIdence Log

Go to your Evidence Log and record what you learned from the text you read.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Identify a real-life experience that illustrates one of your current ideas about the ways in which people of different generations can learn from each other.

To develop your thoughts into a topic for your nonfiction narrative, complete this sentence starter:

I learned a great deal about the ways in which people from different generations can learn from each other when

Evaluate Your Evidence Consider your original ideas and thoughts on the subject. How did the selections you read and watched impact your ideas and opinions?

Review Evidence for a Nonfiction NarrativeAt the beginning of the unit, you expressed your own ideas in response to the following question:

In what situations can one generation learn from another?

EvIdENcE log

Review your Evidence Log and your QuickWrite from the beginning of the unit.Did you learn anything new?

NOTES

Identify at least three pieces of evidence that interested you about the relationships between generations.

1.

2.

3.

STaNdardSWriting•Writenarrativestodeveloprealorimaginedexperiencesoreventsusingeffectivetechnique,relevantdescriptivedetails,andwell-structuredeventsequences.

a.Engageandorientthereaderbyestablishingacontextandpointofviewandintroducinganarratorand/orcharacters;organizeaneventsequencethatunfoldsnaturallyandlogically.

•Drawevidencefromliteraryorinformationaltextstosupportanalysis,reflection,andresearch.

Performance-Based Assessment Prep 111

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

sources

•Whole-classselections

•small-groupselections

•independent-learningselection

Part 1

Writing to sources: Nonfiction NarrativeIn this unit, you read about a variety of characters who influenced one another across generations. Often, the insight went both ways, as older people learned from younger people, just as children learned from adults.

AssignmentWrite a nonfiction narrative in which you use dialogue, description, and precise words to develop and convey experiences and events. Your narrative should respond to the following prompt:

In what situations can one generation learn from another?

Your narrative might be about an experience that you had with an older relative or another person from a different generation. As an alternative, you could write about an experience one of your friends or family members had with someone from a different generation. Conclude your narrative by reflecting on the ways in which the selections in this unit and the process of writing this narrative have deepened your understanding of the relationships between people of different generations.

Reread the Assignment Review the assignment to be sure you fully understand it. The assignment may reference some of the academic words presented at the beginning of the unit. Be sure you understand each of the words here in order to complete the assignment correctly.

Academic Vocabulary

WorD NeTWorK

As you write and revise your nonfiction narrative, use your Word Network to help vary your word choices.

dialogue consequence perspective

notable contradict

Review the Elements of a Nonfiction Narrative Before you begin writing, read the Nonfiction Narrative Rubric. Once you have completed your first draft, check it against the rubric. If one or more of the elements is missing or not as strong as it could be, revise your narrative to add or strengthen that component.

Connect to the Selections In your narrative, make connections to the selections in this unit by including details and examples that clarify the ideas in your narrative. Review the literary techniques, such as description and dialogue, that the authors use in the selections to engage readers. You may use the authors’ examples as a model to develop the use of literary techniques in your own narrative.

standardsWriting• Writenarrativestodeveloprealorimaginedexperiencesoreventsusingeffectivetechnique,relevantdescriptivedetails,andwell-structuredeventsequences.

• Drawevidencefromliteraryorinformationaltextstosupportanalysis,reflection,andresearch.

• Writeroutinelyoverextendedtimeframesandshortertimeframesforarangeofdiscipline-specifictasks,purposes,andaudiences.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.


Nonfiction Narrative RubricFocus and Organization Evidence and Elaboration Language Conventions

4

The introduction is engaging and introduces the characters and situation in a way that appeals to readers.

Events in the narrative progress in logical order and are linked by clear transitions.

The conclusion follows the events in the narrative and provides insightful reflection on the related experiences in the narrative.

Narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, are used to add interest to the narrative and to develop the characters and events.

Precise, vivid words and sensory language are frequently used to convey the experiences in the narrative and to help the reader imagine the characters and scenes.

The narrative intentionally uses standard English conventions of usage and mechanics.

3

The introduction is engaging and clearly introduces the characters and situation.

Events in the narrative progress logically, and transition words are used frequently.

The conclusion follows the rest of the narrative and provides some reflection on the experiences related in the narrative.

Narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, are often used to add interest to the narrative and to develop experiences and events.

Precise, vivid words and sensory language are usually used to convey the experiences in the narrative and to describe the characters and events.

The narrative demonstrates accuracy in standard English conventions of usage and mechanics.

2

The introduction introduces the characters.

Events in the narrative progress somewhat logically, and some transition words are used.

The conclusion adds little to the narrative and does not provide reflection on the experiences in the narrative.

Narrative techniques, such as dialogue and description, are sometimes used in the narrative.

Precise, vivid words and sensory language are sometimes used to convey experiences.

The narrative demonstrates some accuracy in standard English conventions of usage and mechanics.

1

The introduction does not introduce the characters and situation, or there is no introduction.

Events in the narrative do not progress logically. The ideas seem disconnected and are not linked by transitional words and phrases.

The conclusion does not connect to the narrative, or there is no conclusion.

Few, if any, narrative techniques are used in the narrative.

The narrative fails to incorporate sensory language and precise words to convey experiences and to develop characters.

The narrative contains mistakes in standard English conventions of usage and mechanics.

Performance-Based Assessment 113

© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

performance-based assessment

Content Use of Media Presentation Technique

3

The narrative effectively establishes a point of view and follows a logical sequence.

The speaker effectively uses narrative techniques and a variety of transitions for cohesion and clarity.

The speaker includes relevant descriptive details.

The media connect to all parts of the narrative.

The media enhance and add interest to the narrative.

The timing of the media matches the timing of the narrative.

The speaker makes eye contact and speaks clearly.

The speaker adjusts volume and pacing effectively.

2

The narrative establishes a point of view and generally follows a logical sequence.

The speaker uses some narrative techniques and some transitions.

The speaker includes some descriptive details.

The media connect to some parts of the narrative.

The media add interest to the narrative.

The timing of the media sometimes matches the timing of the narrative.

The speaker sometimes makes eye contact and speaks clearly.

The speaker somtimes adjusts volume and pacing.

1

The narrative does not establish a point of view and does not follow a logical sequence.

The speaker does not use narrative techniques and transitions.

The speaker does not include descriptive details.

The media do not connect to the narrative.

The media do not add interest to the narrative.

The timing of the media does not match the timing of the narrative.

The speaker does not make eye contact and does not speak clearly.

The speaker does not adjust volume and pacing.

PART 2

Speaking and Listening: Multimedia Presentation

AssignmentAfter completing the final draft of your nonfiction narrative, use it as the foundation for a multimedia presentation.

Do not simply read your narrative aloud. Take the following steps to make your multimedia presentation lively and engaging.

•Review your narrative, and concentrate your presentation on the parts of your narrative that provide reflection on the events and experiences presented.

• Include different types of media that will help emphasize the main points of your presentation.

•Use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.

Review the Rubric Before you deliver your presentation, check your plans against this rubric. If one or more of the elements is missing or not as strong as it could be, revise your presentation.

STANDARDSSpeaking and Listening• Presentclaimsandfindings,emphasizingsalientpointsinafocused,coherentmannerwithpertinentdescriptions,facts,details,andexamples;useappropriateeyecontact,adequatevolume,andclearpronunciation.• Includemultimediacomponentsandvisualdisplaysinpresentationstoclarifyclaimsandfindingsandemphasizesalientpoints.


© P

ears

on E

duca

tion,

Inc.

, or i

ts a

ffilia

tes.

All r

ight

s res

erve

d.

unit 1 reflection

Reflect on the UnitNow that you’ve completed the unit, take a few moments to reflect on your learning.

Reflect on the Unit GoalsLook back at the goals at the beginning of the unit. Use a different-colored pen to rate yourself again. Then, think about readings and activities that contributed the most to the growth of your understanding. Record your thoughts.

Reflect on the Learning Strategies Discuss It Write a reflection on whether you were able to improve

your learning based on your Action Plans. Think about what worked, what didn’t, and what you might do to keep working on these strategies. Record your ideas before a class discussion.

Reflect on the TextChoose a selection that you found challenging, and explain what made it difficult.

Describe something that surprised you about a text in the unit.

Which activity taught you the most about generations? What did you learn?

SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA Unit Reflection 115

generations unit 1.pdf

Documents