Defining Identity: Dyamonde Daniel and My Name is María Isabel

Students explore the concept of identity and what makes a person who they are by reading the core texts Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel and My Name is María Isabel.

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ELA

Unit 1

3rd Grade

Unit Summary


In this unit, students explore the concept of identity and what makes a person who they are. By reading the texts Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel by Nikki Grimes and My Name is María Isabel by Alma Flor Ada, students explore some of the different aspects of a person’s identity and how they should treat people who have different identities. In Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel, students see the importance of getting to know a person and not making judgments about a person based on aspects of their identity or their actions. In My Name is María Isabel, students learn about the importance of respecting and valuing people’s names. Throughout the unit, students also have multiple opportunities to reflect on their own identities and learn about their classmates’ identities. Based on Social Justice Standards: The Learning for Justice Anti-bias Framework (Learning for Justice), the unit strives to help students develop a positive self-identity while also affirming the dignity of other people to set the foundation for further units that explore diversity, justice, and action. 

This unit sets a strong foundation for reading, writing, and academic discourse. Through daily reading, discourse, and writing, students dive deep into characters and study how authors develop characters. Students learn that characters are nuanced and that character traits, feelings, and motivations directly influence a character’s actions.  Students also learn how to prepare for class discussions, determining which evidence best supports a particular idea and how to elaborate on that evidence. By writing daily in response to the Target Task question, students begin to build their writing fluency, seeing the power of writing as a tool for understanding what they are reading. Using both core texts as a guide, students end this unit with a narrative writing project, writing about an experience that shaped who they were.

Texts and Materials


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Core Materials

Assessment


The following assessments accompany Unit 1.

Content Assessment

The Content Assessment pushes students to synthesize unit content knowledge or unit essential questions in writing. The Content Assessment should be used as the primary assessment because it shows mastery of unit content knowledge and standards.

Cold Read Assessment

The Cold Read Assessment tests students' ability to comprehend a "cold" or unfamiliar passage and answer standards-based questions. The Cold Read Assessment can be given in addition to the Content Assessment as a pulse point for what students can read and analyze independently, a skill often required for standardized testing.

Fluency Assessment

The Fluency Assessment allows teachers to monitor students' oral reading fluency progress with a reading passage drawn from one of the unit's core texts. Find guidance for using this assessment and supporting reading fluency in Teacher Tools.

Unit Prep


Intellectual Prep

Unit Launch

Before you teach this unit, unpack the texts, themes, and core standards through our guided intellectual preparation process. Each Unit Launch includes a series of short videos, targeted readings, and opportunities for action planning to ensure you're prepared to support every student.

Essential Questions

  • What makes me who I am? 
  • How should we treat people who are different from us? 
  • Why are our names important?

Reading Focus Areas

  • Character traits describe what a character is like. Readers determine a character’s traits by noticing what they say, think and do.

  • Character feelings help a reader understand why a character does or says something in a particular moment.

  • Character motivation is what the character wants and why. Character motivation is often connected to character feelings and traits.

Writing Focus Areas

Narrative Writing

  • Brainstorm a logical sequence of events that includes a clear beginning, middle, and end.

  • Write events that unfold in a logical way and include a problem, solution, key events, and lesson.

  • Introduce characters and setting.

  • Include specific details to describe events, including using dialogue to show the response of characters to solutions.

  • Use different strategies to start and end a story.

Speaking and Listening Focus Areas

  • Prepare for discussion.

  • Elaborate to support ideas. Provide evidence or examples to justify and defend a point clearly.

  • Use specific vocabulary. Use vocabulary that is specific to the subject and task to clarify and share thoughts.

Vocabulary

Text-based

cherishdetermineddelightedempatheticextraordinarygratefulidentityimpatientinsistirritatedlonelymisunderstandingobservantoddopen-mindedreflectivereassurescowlself-awarestubborn

Root/Affix

-fulim-mis-re-

To see all the vocabulary for Unit 1 , view our 3rd Grade Vocabulary Glossary.

Supporting All Students

In order to ensure that all students are able to access the texts and tasks in this unit, it is incredibly important to intellectually prepare to teach the unit prior to launching the unit. Use the intellectual preparation protocol and the Unit Launch to determine which support students will need. To learn more, visit the Supporting all Students teacher tool.

Lesson Map


Common Core Standards


Core Standards

L.3.1
L.3.1.f
L.3.1.i
L.3.2
L.3.2.c
L.3.2.e
L.3.2.e
L.3.2.f
L.3.3
L.3.3
L.3.3.a
L.3.3.a
L.3.3.b
L.3.4
L.3.5
L.3.5
L.3.6
RL.3.2
RL.3.3
RL.3.6
SL.3.1
SL.3.1.a
SL.3.1.d
SL.3.6
W.3.3
W.3.3.a
W.3.3.b
W.3.3.d
W.3.5

Supporting Standards

L.3.1.a
L.3.1.b
L.3.1.c
L.3.4.a
L.3.4.b
L.3.4.c
L.3.5.a
L.3.5.a
RF.3.3
RF.3.4
RL.3.1
RL.3.4
RL.3.10
SL.3.1.b
W.3.4
W.3.6
W.3.10

Next

Describe a few key aspects of your identity.

Lesson 1
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