Curriculum / ELA / 6th Grade / Unit 1: Finding Your Way: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 / Lesson 20

Finding Your Way: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

Lesson 20: Writing Project Overview

ELA

Unit 1

6th Grade

Lesson 20 of 21

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Lesson Map

Describe how the author reveals the narrator's perspective and introduces the setting.

TWGTB pp. 1–7 — end at "cold can kill you!"

Standards

RL.6.3RL.6.6

Explain how the author develops the plot and the narrator's unique perspective.

TWGTB pp. 7–19 — Start at "I didn't hear any sound"

Standards

RL.6.5RL.6.6

Explain how the author develops the narrator's perspective of himself and other characters.

TWGTB pp. 20–31 — Chapter 2

Standards

RL.6.3RL.6.6

progress
monitoring

progress
monitoring

Explain how the protagonist responds to significant events and analyze how particular scenes contribute to the development of the plot.

TWGTB pp. 32–46 — Chapter 3

Standards

RL.6.3RL.6.5

progress
monitoring

progress
monitoring

3 days

Write a paragraph that makes and supports a clear claim.

Day 1 - Planning

Generate ideas and write a clear claim that fully answers the prompt.

Single Paragraph Outline
Claim Practice Page (G6, U1, L5)

Standards

L.6.3.aW.6.1W.6.1.a

Day 2 - Planning

Create a single paragraph outline.

Details Brainstorming Page (G6, U1, L12)
Single Paragraph Outline

Standards

W.6.1W.6.1.b

Day 3 - Drafting

Draft a complete paragraph that includes a claim, supporting details, an explanation, and a concluding sentence.

Single Paragraph Outline

Standards

W.6.1.aW.6.1.b

Explain how the events of this chapter both reveal and change the characters' perspectives.

TWGTB pp. 47–63 — Chapter 4

Standards

RL.6.3RL.6.6

Explain how the author both characterizes and develops the perspectives of Kenny and his family members.

TWGTB pp. 64–85 — Chapters 5–6

Standards

RL.6.3RL.6.6

Craft an objective summary of a section of text.

TWGTB pp. 86–99 — Chapter 7

Standards

RL.6.2RL.6.3

Analyze how the author's language choices convey Kenny's development and drive the plot forward.

TWGTB pp. 100–120 — Chapter 8

Standards

RL.6.3RL.6.4

Summarize sections of the text and describe how the story's plot unfolds.

TWGTB pp. 121–137 — Chapter 9

Standards

RI.6.2RL.6.3

Analyze how the use of figurative language develops mood and meaning in the poem "Mother to Son."

“Mother to Son”

Standards

RL.6.2RL.6.4

2 days

Write a paragraph that makes and supports a clear claim.

Day 1 - Planning / Drafting

Draft a paragraph that includes strong explanations of how the evidence supports the claim.

Details Brainstorming Page (G6, U1, L12)
Single Paragraph Outline

Standards

W.6.1W.6.1.aW.6.1.b

Day 2 - Revising / Editing / Language

Revise and edit a paragraph by intentionally replacing repeated nouns with pronouns and correcting errors in pronoun case.

Pronouns Reference Sheet (G6–8)

Standards

L.6.1.aW.6.5

Analyze how the author develops and contrasts characters' perspectives in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963.

TWGTB pp. 138–161 — Chapters 10–11

Standards

RL.6.3RL.6.6

progress
monitoring

progress
monitoring

Explain how characters respond and change as the plot of The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 progresses.

TWGTB pp. 162–179 — Chapters 12–13

Standards

RL.6.3

Analyze how the author develops mood and meaning in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963.

TWGTB pp. 180–190 — Chapter 14

Standards

RL.6.2RL.6.4

Analyze how the author conveys a coming-of-age theme by revealing a change in the protagonist's perspective.

TWGTB pp. 191–206 — Chapter 15

Standards

RL.6.2RL.6.3RL.6.6

progress
monitoring

progress
monitoring

Integrate information from multiple sources to explain the impact of segregation on Black Americans.

“Radio and Television Report to the American People on Civil Rights” — paras. 1–15
“President John F. Kennedy's Civil Rights Address” — (00:00–06:57)
At Segregated Drinking Fountain, Mobile, Alabama
Department Store, Mobile, Alabama
Outside Looking In, Mobile, Alabama
Segregated Birmingham Streetcar

Standards

RI.6.2RI.6.7

Analyze the development of the mother's perspective in "The Ballad of Birmingham."

“Ballad of Birmingham”
TWGTB pp. 180–190 — Chapter 14

Standards

RL.6.6RL.6.9

Socratic Seminar

Take a clear position on a question and share evidence to support that point of view in a Socratic Seminar.

TWGTB

Standards

SL.6.1SL.6.1.aSL.6.1.bSL.6.4

5 days

Write a personal narrative that conveys the significance of an important experience in the writer's life through description and reflection.

Day 1 - Planning

Select an important experience to write about and plan the setting, characters, and plot for a personal narrative.

Narrative Graphic Organizer (G6–8)
Mentor Text Narrative Arc (G6, U1, L20)
Plot Structure Reference Sheet (G6–8)

Standards

W.6.3W.6.3.a

Day 2 - Drafting

Draft a beginning that introduces the reader to a clear setting, narrator, and conflict.

Narrative Graphic Organizer (G6–8)
Mentor Text Narrative Arc (G6, U1, L20)

Standards

W.6.3.aW.6.3.bW.6.3.d

Day 3 - Drafting / Language

Draft a clear and cohesive personal narrative by using pronouns in the correct case to refer to characters and ideas.

Narrative Graphic Organizer (G6–8)
Mentor Text Narrative Arc (G6, U1, L20)
Pronouns Reference Sheet (G6–8)

Standards

L.6.1.aW.6.3.b

Day 4 - Revising

Revise the climax by adding descriptive details that build tension and reveal the narrator's thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Narrative Graphic Organizer (G6–8)

Standards

W.6.3.bW.6.3.d

Day 5 - Revising

Revise the ending by adding the narrator's reflection on the importance or impact of the experience.

Standards

W.6.3.dW.6.3.e

2 days

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