Altruism and Interconnectedness in Short Texts

Lesson 1
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ELA

Unit 1

10th Grade

Lesson 1 of 11

Objective


Synthesize ideas from excerpts from Justice and SuperFreakonomics to formulate an argument about altruism.

Readings and Materials


  • Excerpt: SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (Chapter 3)  pp. 139 – 141

  • Excerpt: Justice by Michael J. Sandel 

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Target Task


Writing Prompt

To what extent were the individuals' responses to Kitty Genovese’s tragic incident and Hurricane Charley ethical and altruistic?

Criteria for Success

  • Thesis: Responds to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible interpretation
  • Evidence: Includes multiple and varied evidence to support your line of reasoning
  • Commentary: Explains how your evidence supports your line of reasoning (reason or claim used to support a larger thesis)
  • Sophistication: Demonstrates sophistication of thought or develops a complex literary argument

Sample Response

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Key Thinking


Annotation Focus

(SuperFreakonomics) How did the bystanders respond to the incident involving Kitty Genovese?

(Justice) How did companies respond to Hurricane Charley?

Scaffolding Questions

(SuperFreakonomics) What is the author’s perspective about how the bystanders responded? How do you know?

(SuperFreakonomics) What is the bystander effect? In what way does the lack of response from observers relate to the bystander effect?

(Justice) What are the arguments for and against price gouging? 

Discourse Questions

 

To what extent were the individuals' responses to Kitty Genovese’s tragic incident and Hurricane Charley ethical and altruistic?

Homework


  • Read and annotate “Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation” by John Lewis. 
    • Annotation Focus: According to John Lewis, why is standing up for what is right important?

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Standards


  • LO 1.1A — Analyze a wide range of texts for multiple meanings.
  • LO 1.4B — Synthesize ideas from multiple texts and explain how the texts may convey different perspectives on a common theme or idea.
  • RL.9-10.1 — Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Supporting Standards

LO 2.2A
LO 5.1A
SL.9-10.1
W.9-10.1.a
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Lesson 2

Lesson Map

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