Language, Literature & Argument
Objectives
- D04.S1.09.01 Synthesize information from multiple spoken sources and present a coherent account or argument.
- D04.S1.09.02 Lead or facilitate a discussion, inviting participation and managing disagreement with fairness.
- D04.S2.09.01 Analyze how a text's structure, style, and argument work together to create meaning and effect.
- D04.S2.09.02 Synthesize ideas and evidence from multiple texts on the same topic to form a supported position.
- D04.S3.09.01 Write a research-supported argument that integrates and cites sources and evaluates conflicting evidence.
- D04.S3.09.02 Compose for real audiences and purposes, such as letters, proposals, or published digital pieces.
- D04.S4.09.01 Explain how a person's languages are part of their identity, and reflect on their own multilingual or monolingual experience.
- D04.S4.09.02 Describe language loss and revitalization, and why protecting languages matters for humanity and the environment.
Essential questions
- How do I synthesize multiple sources into a coherent account, and lead a discussion that welcomes every voice and manages disagreement fairly?
- How do structure, style, and argument work together in a text, and how do I synthesize evidence across texts into a supported position?
- How do I write research-supported argument for real audiences, and why do my languages matter to who I am and to the wider world?
Big ideas
- Synthesis — of spoken sources and of evidence across texts — is how a mature mind builds a supported position rather than a mere opinion.
- Research-supported argument integrates and cites sources and weighs conflicting evidence, and composing for real audiences makes writing matter.
- A person's languages are part of their identity, and language loss and revitalization are questions of justice for humanity and the environment.
Lessons
- 1 Language, Literature & Argument: Where We've Been, Where We're Going 50 minutes
- 2 Synthesizing Many Voices into One Account 55 minutes
- 3 Leading a Discussion That Welcomes Every Voice 55 minutes
- 4 Structure, Style & Argument: One Text Working Together 55 minutes
- 5 World Literature Gallery: Structure, Style & Argument Across Cultures 55 minutes
- 6 Synthesizing Across Texts: Many Views, One Position 55 minutes
- 7 Writing a Research-Supported Argument: Claim, Evidence, Citation 55 minutes
- 8 Weighing Conflicting Evidence 55 minutes
- 9 Composing for Real Audiences 55 minutes
- 10 My Languages, My Identity 55 minutes
- 11 Language Loss & Revitalization 55 minutes
- 12 Capstone: Synthesis & Authorship — Putting It Together 55 minutes
Assessment plan
Observation of a learner synthesizing sources and leading a discussion; a structure-style-argument analysis, a multi-text synthesis with a supported position, a research-supported argument with cited sources and evaluated conflicting evidence, a real-audience composition, and a language-identity and language-loss reflection as portfolio artifacts.
Unit 6 — Language, Literature & Argument
Overview
This unit is the heart of the year’s intellectual work in language, building on Grade 8’s rhetoric, structured debate, and cited writing toward synthesis and authorship. Learners synthesize information from multiple spoken sources and present a coherent account or argument, and lead or facilitate a discussion, inviting participation and managing disagreement with fairness. They analyze how a text’s structure, style, and argument work together to create meaning and effect, and synthesize ideas and evidence from multiple texts to form a supported position. They write a research-supported argument that integrates and cites sources and evaluates conflicting evidence, compose for real audiences and purposes, explain how a person’s languages are part of their identity, and describe language loss and revitalization and why protecting languages matters for humanity and the environment — always home language first, with multilingualism held as wealth.
Essential questions
- How do I synthesize multiple sources into a coherent account, and lead a discussion that welcomes every voice and manages disagreement fairly?
- How do structure, style, and argument work together in a text, and how do I synthesize evidence across texts into a supported position?
- How do I write research-supported argument for real audiences, and why do my languages matter to who I am and to the wider world?
Lessons
| Lesson | Title | Standards |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Language, Literature & Argument: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going | D04.S1.09.01, D04.S1.09.02 |
| 02 | Synthesizing Many Voices into One Account | D04.S1.09.01 |
| 03 | Leading a Discussion That Welcomes Every Voice | D04.S1.09.02 |
| 04 | Structure, Style & Argument: One Text Working Together | D04.S2.09.01 |
| 05 | World Literature Gallery: Structure, Style & Argument Across Cultures | D04.S2.09.01 |
| 06 | Synthesizing Across Texts: Many Views, One Position | D04.S2.09.02 |
| 07 | Writing a Research-Supported Argument: Claim, Evidence, Citation | D04.S3.09.01 |
| 08 | Weighing Conflicting Evidence | D04.S3.09.01 |
| 09 | Composing for Real Audiences | D04.S3.09.02 |
| 10 | My Languages, My Identity | D04.S4.09.01 |
| 11 | Language Loss & Revitalization | D04.S4.09.02 |
| 12 | Capstone: Synthesis & Authorship — Putting It Together | all eight D04 grade-9 objectives |