BHS ELA Instructional Guide

Literary Texts

Informational Texts

● “Human Ingenuity: A 100,000-Year-Old Story” by Bruce Upbin (Forbes Magazine) ● “The Stories We Tell” Rachelle Gardner ● “Empathy and Fiction” by Keith Oatley (The Psychology of Fiction) ● “Can Science Explain Why We Tell Stories?” Adam Gopnik (TheNew Yorker) ● “Once Upon a Time: How Fairy Tales Shape Our Lives” by Jonathan Young (Inside Journal Magazine) ● “The barrier-breaking power of learning someone else’s story” by Larison Epatko ( PBS Newshour /Newsela) ● “Homeless” by Anna Quindlen ( Mirrors and Windows p. 833-835) Paired Texts “The Most Dangerous Game” ● “Hunters are killing millions of animals, and 1 in 8 of those are endangered” by Damian Carringon ( The Guardian /Newsela) “The Cask of Amontillado” ● “Opinion: Are horror flms no longer cool if they go too mainstream?” by April Wolfe ( The Washington Post /Newsela) “House on Mango Street” ● “For most women and girls, it's still a man's world” by Los Angeles Times (Newsela) ● “Only Daughter” by Sandra Cisneros ( Mirrors and Windows p. 316-319) “Fahrenheit 451” ● “The appeal of dystopian novels for teens” by Thought Co. (Newsela) ● “Opinion: Why you should read this article slowly” by Joe Moran ( The Guardian /Newsela) Media Texts

Unit 1 in Mirrors and Windows Level IV covers plot, point of view, character, setting, and theme. Novels ● House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros ● Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Short Stories ● “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell ( Mirrors and Windows p. 26) ● “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe ( Mirrors and Windows p. 58) ● “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant ( Mirrors and Windows p. 138) ● “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson Poetry ● “Beware: Do Not Read This Poem” by Ishamel Reed ( Mirrors and Windows p. 357-358) ● “Gifts” by Shu Ting ( Mirrors and Windows p. 363) ● “Oral History” by Pat Mora ( Mirrors and Windows p. 371) ● “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall ( Mirrors and Windows p. 375)

● Why We Tell Stories - Margarett Atwood (0:00-2:20) ● The Story that Lasts 10,000 Years - Neill Gaiman

Theme

Essential Questions

● How do interpersonal relationships affect our identities and choices? ● What forces and variables contribute to the outcome of an event? ● How does cultural experience impact the relationship between society’s view on fate and free will?

Relationships and Identity

Literary Texts

Informational Texts

Paired Text Romeo and Juliet

Unit 4 in Mirrors and Windows Level IV covers drama and Romeoand Juliet . Poetry ● “Sonnet 43” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning ● “American Sonnet” by Billy Collins ( Mirrors and Windows p. 428) ● “The Story of Pyramus and Thisbe” by Ovid ● “Fifteen” by William Stafford

● “Afghanistan’s Real-Life Romeo and Juliet” NPR (audio and text) ● "The Teen Brain: Still Under Construction" by the National Institute of Mental Health ● "Teenage Brains Are Malleable And Vulnerable, Researchers Say" by NPR ● “When Your Teenager’s ‘In Love’” by Steven Schlozman Psychology Today ● “Study: Teen Love Hurts” by Malcolm Ritter ABCNews

Last Updated August 13, 2024

High School ELA, Page 61