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Rationale (used for novels only)Unit 1Grade Level and Audience / Age Appropriateness:9th grade Pre-AP and AcademicBook Title: Tuesdays with MorriePlot Summary:Tuesdays with Morrie is the final lesson between a collegeprofessor, Morrie, and one of his long lost students and the authorof the book, Mitch Albom. After seeing his professor in an interviewon the show "Nightline," the author is reminded of a promise hemade sixteen years ago to keep in touch with him.Literary Merit:Illustrates for students how literature can help the reader deal withreal-life issues.Sensitive Subject in the Text/Possible Objections:Mature emotional themes surrounding Morrie’s death.(www.commonsensemedia.org)How Sensitive Subjects and Possible Objections Will be Handled inClass:Novels that contain ideas worthy of rich discussion and writing oftendeal with sensitive subject matter. If a parent/guardian is concernedabout the subject matter in any novel, we encourage the following: read the novel in its entiretymeet with the teacher to discuss the how and why the novelwill be taught in the class (phone or in person)If the parent, guardian, or student still objects to the content of thenovel, the students will read an alternative text. Although theteacher will provide the student with rigorous and high quality work,the student will miss opportunities to engage in rich and meaningfulclassroom discussion and collaboration. Students working withalternative texts will be working independently; therefore, they will
miss group instruction around the novel being taught to the wholeclass. Due to missed instructional time, opting out of the whole classnovel is not a decision that should be taken without carefulconsiderationLearning Goals:1. Understanding the role Morrie plays in helping Mitch definewho he is.2. Recognize aphorisms and the manner in which Albom usesthem throughout the text.3. Analyze how, according to Morrie, the individual has theability to shape society.Alternative Texts Must: Selected by parent and child and be approved by teacher.Age appropriate autobiography / memoir of approx. 150-200pages Represents an exchange of life lessons.Address the following thematic ideas: FriendshipThe Bonds between usRelationship
Rationale (used for novels only)Unit 2Current ISBN: 978-0-06-207348-8Grade Level and Audience / Age Appropriateness:9th grade Pre-AP and Academic English.Book Title: And Then There Were None by Agatha ChristiePlot Summary:Ten strangers, apparently with little in common, are lured to anisland mansion off the coast of Devon by the mysterious U.N.Owen.Over dinner, a record begins to play, and the voice of an unseen hostaccuses each person of hiding a guilty secret. That evening, formerreckless driver Tony Marston is found murdered by a deadly dose ofcyanide. The tension escalates as the survivors realize the killer is notonly among them but is preparing to strike again and again.(www.agathachristie.com)Literary Merit:Although the book was written for adults, teens can learn a lot aboutthe mystery genre from this master. (www.commonsensemedia.org)Also, mysteries get reluctant readers and writers enthusiastic aboutreading, thinking, and writing. They contain intriguing characters andhold a student's interest with their suspenseful and dynamic plots.Mysteries are a wonderful vehicle for teaching critical thinking anddeductive reasoning skills in an exciting and enjoyable way.(www.scholastic.com)Sensitive Subject in the Text/Possible Objections:ViolenceDrinking, Drugs, SmokingHow Sensitive Subjects and Possible Objections Will be Handled inClass:
Novels that contain ideas worthy of rich discussion and writing oftendeal with sensitive subject matter. If a parent/guardian is concernedabout the subject matter in any novel, we encourage the following: read the novel in its entiretymeet with the teacher to discuss the how and why the novelwill be taught in the class (phone or in person)If the parent, guardian, or student still objects to the content of thenovel, the students will read an alternative text. Although theteacher will provide the student with rigorous and high quality work,the student will miss opportunities to engage in rich and meaningfulclassroom discussion and collaboration. Students working withalternative texts will be working independently; therefore, they willmiss group instruction around the novel being taught to the wholeclass. Due to missed instructional time, opting out of the whole classnovel is not a decision that should be taken without carefulconsideration.Learning Goals:1. Based upon reading students will develop and support an opinionas to who or what decides what is just.2. Determine how mysteries, as well as, And Then There Were None,helps readers to understand the human condition.3. Identify and explain how structural elements are used in order tocreate suspense and develop a mystery.Alternative Texts Must: Selected by parent and child and be approved by teacher.Age appropriate mystery (1930’s) of at least 300 pages.Represents a well-written mystery.Address the following thematic ideas: relationships, aging,popular cultural vs. traditional values
Rationale (used for novels only)Unit 5Current ISBN: 978-0-7432-4754-2Grade Level and Audience /Age Appropriateness:9th grade Pre-AP and AcademicEnglish.Age Appropriateness: 13 yearsold and aboveTHIS WILL ONLY BE TAUGHT INSELECTED EXCERPTSBook Title: The Glass Castle (Selections)Plot Summary: The Glass Castle, a New York Times Bestseller, is an autobiography written by JeannetteWalls about her childhood. After seeing her homeless mother digging through the trash, Jeannette takesher readers on a flashback to her childhood. It begins with Jeannette at a young age burning herself whilecooking. After landing in the hospital, her father sneaks Jeannette out of the hospital without paying hermedical bills. Much of Jeannette's childhood is reminiscent her family performing "the skedaddle",consisting of living nowhere more than a few months. After countless moves the family lands in Welch,West Virginia. Jeannette's grandmother, Erma, lives here. Welch turns out to be worse than any other placethey have lived, due to their grandmother and terrible new house. Erma turns out to be severely abusivetowards Jeanette, and even forces the family to stay in the basement. The town is extremely segregatedand dislikes the newcomers. Girls at Jeannette's school physically and verbally harass her constantly. Aftergraduating high school Jeannette moves to New York with her sister Lori. Jeannette becomes a successfulwriter at The Phoenix despite her dysfunctional family. Jeannette Walls proves to be a great role model thatshows anyone can rise above their childhood.THIS WILL ONLY BE TAUGHT IN SELECTED EXCERPTSLiterary Merit:The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional anduniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology,and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the ideaof domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to NewYork. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered. The Glass Castle is truly astonishing--a memoirpermeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family.
Sensitive Subject in theText/Possible Objections:rape, sexual assault, bullying,physical abuse, drug andalcohol addiction, andhomelessnessHow Sensitive Subjects and Possible Objections Will be Handled in Class:Novels that contain ideas worthy of rich discussion and writing often deal with sensitive subject matter. If aparent/guardian is concerned about the subject matter in any novel, we encourage the following: read the novel in its entiretymeet with the teacher to discuss the how and why the novel will be taught in the class (phone or inperson)If the parent, guardian, or student still objects to the content of the novel, the students will read analternative text. Although the teacher will provide the student with rigorous and high quality work, thestudent will miss opportunities to engage in rich and meaningful classroom discussion and collaboration.Students working with alternative texts will be working independently; therefore, they will miss groupinstruction around the novel being taught to the whole class. Due to missed instructional time, opting out ofthe whole class novel is not a decision that should be taken without careful consideration.THIS WILL ONLY BE TAUGHT INSELECTED EXCERPTSLearning Goals:Alternative Texts Must: Selected by parent and child and be approved by teacher.include vigorous, Tier 3 vocabularybe a memoir of at least 200 pages in lengthAddress the following thematic ideas: resiliency, poverty, and family relationships
Rationale (used for novels only)Unit 7Current ISBN: 978-0-374-50001-6 OR 0-03-055462-4Grade Level and Audience / Age Appropriateness:9th grade Pre-AP and Academic EnglishBook Title: NightPlot Summary:Night is Elie Wiesel’s masterpiece, a candid, horrific, and deeplypoignant autobiographical account of his survival as a teenager in theNazi death camps.Literary Merit:Pulitzer Price 1986Literary Elements: Motif, Theme, ForeshadowingSensitive Subject in the Text/Possible Objections:Graphic descriptions of crimes against humanityExtreme brutalityTemporary InsanityEmotional Unbalance(Holt, Rinehart and Winston Teachers Guide)How Sensitive Subjects and Possible Objections Will be Handled inClass:Novels that contain ideas worthy of rich discussion and writing oftendeal with sensitive subject matter. If a parent/guardian is concernedabout the subject matter in any novel, we encourage the following: read the novel in its entiretymeet with the teacher to discuss the how and why the novelwill be taught in the class (phone or in person)If the parent, guardian, or student still objects to the content of thenovel, the students will read an alternative text. Although the teacherwill provide the student with rigorous and high quality work, thestudent will miss opportunities to engage in rich and meaningfulclassroom discussion and collaboration. Students working withalternative texts will be working independently; therefore, they will
miss group instruction around the novel being taught to the wholeclass. Due to missed instructional time, opting out of the whole classnovel is not a decision that should be taken without carefulconsideration.Learning Goals:1. Recognize the lessons Wiesel provides focusing on and analyzingthe primary lesson.2. Develop and support an opinion on the importance ofremembering.Alternative Texts Must: Selected by parent and child and be approved by teacher.Age appropriate Holocaust memoir of at least 120 pages.Represents a grade-level true account.Address some of the following thematic ideas: violence,mortality, family, lies and deceit, freedom and confinement,religion, and identity.
Rationale (used for novels only)Book Title: To Kill a MockingbirdUnit 8978-0-446-31078-9Grade Level and Audience / AgeAppropriateness:9th grade Pre-AP and AcademicEnglishPlot Summary:The plot of To Kill a Mockingbird is driven forward by the conflict that the main characters experience astheir beliefs about justice and morality come into conflict with the mores of the society they inhabit. Thenovel interweaves two primary plots: Atticus Finch’s effort to follow his conscience and break theunwritten rules of the Jim Crow criminal justice system, and the socialization of Atticus’s children—Scoutand Jem—as they negotiate the spoken and unspoken rules of their community. Throughout the novel weobserve these three individuals seeking to define their identities both within and in opposition to theirsociety’s moral universe.Literary Merit:This richly textured novel, woven from the strands of small-town life, lets readers walk in the shoes of one fully realized character afteranother. Jem and Scout see the heart of their town laid bare -- divided not just between black and white, but also between the prevailingracism and "the handful of people in this town who say that fair play is not marked White Only." Their father is a hero, willing to stand upagainst an entire town on behalf of justice. They see the evil born of ignorance and squalor. And they see their father, under whose quietrighteousness and gentle civility lives an undemonstrative love that will always be there. With unmatched power of loving wisdom about thehuman heart, this book is one that no one should miss.Sensitive Subject in theHow Sensitive Subjects and Possible Objections Will be Handled in Class:Text/Possible Objections:Novels that contain ideas worthy of rich discussion and writing often deal with sensitive subject matter. IfDeatha parent/guardian is concerned about the subject matter in any novel, we encourage the following:Rape read the novel in its entiretyRacism meet with the teacher to discuss the how and why the novel will be taught in the class (phone orDrug Usein person)Mild ProfanityIf the parent, guardian, or student still objects to the content of the novel, the students will read analternative text. Although the teacher will provide the student with rigorous and high quality work, thestudent will miss opportunities to engage in rich and meaningful classroom discussion and collaboration.
Students working with alternative texts will be working independently; therefore, they will miss groupinstruction around the novel being taught to the whole class. Due to missed instructional time, opting outof the whole class novel is not a decision that should be taken without careful consideration.Learning Goals:Alternative Texts Must: Selected by parent and child and be approved by teacher.include vigorous, Tier 3 vocabularybe historical fiction of at least 200 pagesAddress the following thematic ideas: racism, morality, and justice
Rationale (used for novels only)Unit 10Current ISBN: 0-345-34296-8Grade Level and Audience / AgeAppropriateness:9th grade Pre-AP and AcademicEnglishBook Title: Fahrenheit 451Plot Summary:Fahrenheit 451 is a classic example of dystopian fiction, written by one of the most acclaimed authorsof American science fiction and fantasy. It depicts a near-future America where books are prohibitedand the populace is placated with cheap, shallow entertainment. Guy Montag, the protagonist, is afireman. However, the firemen in Fahrenheit 451 have little in common with the men in yellow suits,driving red trucks that we picture today. Instead, these firemen are in charge of burning books, whichare seen as a threat to society because they cause people think too much. Instead, people are expectedto relinquish their individuality and be content with vapid radio and television shows. Thinking isdangerous. The title of the novel is the temperature at which paper burns-a fitting title considering somuch of the plot revolves around the burning of books.Literary Merit:FAHRENHEIT 451 is a classic science fiction novel and a powerful commentary on humankind's urge to suppress what it doesn't understand.The shadow of the Cold War looms over the plot, but the truths Ray Bradbury unearths are timeless. The novel won the National Book Awardand has been adapted for film, radio, stage, and graphic novel, and it's likely to be read widely for a long time to come.Sensitive Subject in theHow Sensitive Subjects and Possible Objections Will be Handled in Class:Text/Possible Objections:Novels that contain ideas worthy of rich discussion and writing often deal with sensitive subject matter.DeathIf a parent/guardian is concerned about the subject matter in any novel, we encourage the following:Suicide read the novel in its entiretyViolence meet with the teacher to discuss the how and why the novel will be taught in the class (phoneDrug Useor in person)If the parent, guardian, or student still objects to the content of the novel, the students will read analternative text. Although the teacher will provide the student with rigorous and high quality work, thestudent will miss opportunities to engage in rich and meaningful classroom discussion andcollaboration. Students working with alternative texts will be working independently; therefore, they
will miss group instruction around the novel being taught to the whole class. Due to missedinstructional time, opting out of the whole class novel is not a decision that should be taken withoutcareful consideration.Learning Goals:Alternative Texts Must: Selected by parent and child and be approved by teacher.include vigorous, Tier 3 vocabularybe dystopian literature of at least 200 pagesaddress the following thematic ideas: conformity, rebellion, censorship, identity, power, youth,fear, and morality
Unit 1 Book Title: Tuesdays with Morrie Grade Level and Audience / Age Appropriateness: 9th grade Pre-AP and Academic Plot Summary: Tuesdays with Morrie is the final lesson between a college professor, Morrie, and one of his long lost students and the author of the book, Mitch Albom. A
