Classroom Activities Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Contents Unit 1: Reading: What’s in It for You? Unit 2: Which Is More Important, the Journey or the Destination? Unit 3: When Is the Price Too High? Unit 4: What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do? Unit 5: How Do You Stay True to Yourself? Unit 6: How Do You Keep from Giving Up When Bad Things Happen? Unit 7: What’s Worth Fighting For? What’s Not? Unit 8: What Is the American Dream? Click a hyperlink to go to the corresponding activity. Press the ESC (escape) key at any time to exit the presentation.

Unit 1: Reading: What’s in It for You? Background Information Biographies and autobiographies are types of nonfiction. When an author writes about another person’s life, it is called a biography. When a person writes a story about his or her own life, it is called an autobiography.

Unit 1: Reading: What’s in It for You? Your Task: Imagine you are seventy-five years old and have decided to write your autobiography. Create a presentation outlining the events in your life that you would like to write about in your autobiography. Your story should include the most important moments in your life, both good and bad.

Unit 1: Reading: What’s in It for You? Step 1: Brainstorm a list of possibilities. Imagine that you are looking back on your life at age seventy-five. What problems might you face during your lifetime? Who were the most important people in your life? Where did you live? What kind of job did you have? Make a list of six personal accomplishments and six professional accomplishments.

Unit 1: Reading: What’s in It for You? Step 2: Organize your ideas into a timeline of your life. Make sure you provide enough information for your audience to understand how each event affected your future. Search for images and pictures in Student Presentation Builder that relate to your life story.

Unit 1: Reading: What’s in It for You? Step 3: Using the PowerPoint ® template and the images in Student Presentation Builder, prepare an 8 tot 10 slide presentation. Refer to the PowerPoint ® tutorial for tips and guidance. Your slides should be organized and well designed.

Unit 1: Reading: What’s in It for You? Step 4: Put the finishing touches on your presentation. Make sure the slides appear in the right order and check your presentation for spelling and grammatical errors. Practice delivering the oral presentation along with the PowerPoint ® slides.

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Unit 2: Which Is More Important, the Journey or the Destination? Background Information Folktales are stories that were told for many generations before being written down. Throughout history, people told stories to explain who they are and where they come from. Folktales can help you understand human nature, connect the past with the present, and share cultural traditions.

Unit 2: Which Is More Important, the Journey or the Destination? Your Task: Write an outline for a modern-day folktale about a character that goes on a journey. This journey may take your character around the world, or around the block—it’s up to you. The traveler in your tale should learn an important lesson by the time he or she reaches the final destination.

Unit 2: Which Is More Important, the Journey or the Destination? Step 1: Working with a partner, brainstorm ideas for a unique story that teaches a lesson. Review the key literary elements of protagonist and antagonist, plot, conflict, and theme on pages 150 and 178. Decide on the main elements of your story: characters, reason for the journey, major events of the journey, outcome, and central message of your folktale. Use a story map (see page 179) to help you organize your ideas.

Unit 2: Which Is More Important, the Journey or the Destination? Step 2: Organize your story into a sequence of plot points. You do not need to write the complete tale, but you should list the main points of the plot in chronological order (arranged in order according to time) and include character descriptions. Look for images in Student Presentation Builder that you can use to illustrate your folktale.

Unit 2: Which Is More Important, the Journey or the Destination? Step 3: Using the PowerPoint ® template and the images in Student Presentation Builder, prepare an slide presentation. Refer to the PowerPoint ® tutorial for tips and guidance. Your slides should be in order, to the point, and well designed.

Unit 2: Which Is More Important, the Journey or the Destination? Step 4: Put the finishing touches on your presentation. Make sure the slides appear in the right order and check your presentation for spelling and grammatical errors. With your partner, practice delivering an oral presentation of your folktale along with the PowerPoint ® slides. Each student should deliver part of the presentation.

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Unit 3: When Is the Price Too High? Background Information Informational articles present information, facts, and explanations of various topics. Informational articles can be found in textbooks as well as in newspapers, magazines, and Web sites. When you want information about an unfamiliar topic, reading an informational article is a good place to start.

Unit 3: When Is the Price Too High? Your Task: Read an informational news article about someone who made an important decision. The subject of the article may be a politician, an entertainer, or an ordinary citizen. Analyze the article, decide if you think the correct choice was made, and explain why or why not. Think about the Big Question: “When is the Price Too High?”

Unit 3: When Is the Price Too High? Step 1: Find an informational news article in a newspaper, a magazine, or on the Internet. Sample topics include: Did an athlete decide to switch teams? Did your community decide to build a new library? Did a local politician decide to support a new tax law? As you read pay attention to the article’s tone and text structure. Circle the article’s main idea and underline the article’s supporting evidence (see page 292). Finally, decide if you agree or disagree with the decision that was made.

Unit 3: When Is the Price Too High? Step 2: Make an outline of the article’s main points and supporting details. Describe the writer’s tone by quoting an example from the text. Write a short paragraph that tells why you agree or disagree with the decision. Search for images in Student Presentation Builder that will make your presentation more interesting and visually pleasing.

Unit 3: When Is the Price Too High? Step 3: Using the PowerPoint ® template and the images in Student Presentation Builder, prepare an 8 to 10 slide presentation about the article. Refer to the PowerPoint ® tutorial for tips and guidance. Your slides should be in a logical order and well designed. Make sure you’ve used correct grammar and punctuation.

Unit 3: When Is the Price Too High? Step 4: Put the finishing touches on your presentation. Check that the slides are in the right order and review your presentation for spelling errors. Practice delivering an oral presentation along with the PowerPoint ® slides.

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Unit 4: What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do? Background Information Not knowing what to do can make you feel helpless. Your options are usually to get help from someone else or rely on your own judgment. The next time you face a problem that you cannot solve right away, try reading. Literature is filled with characters that have problems they do not know how to solve. Maybe reading about someone else’s problems can help you fix your own.

Unit 4: What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do? Your Task: Reread “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost on page 447. Think about the choices you have made that took you down a certain path. Imagine how your life might be different if you had chosen a different “road.” Create a presentation which offers two different solutions to the same problem. Analyze the effect each solution could have on your life and the people close to you.

Unit 4: What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do? Step 1: Think of a problem that can be solved two different ways. The problem may be one you have experienced in real life, or one you imagine. Make a two-column chart with each solution listed at the top of a column. Fill in each column with the chronological events most likely to occur for each choice.

Unit 4: What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do? Step 2: Write a paragraph that describes the problem and the two possible solutions. Use charts or another type of graphic organizer to prepare your material for a PowerPoint ® presentation. Make sure the events in each column follow a cause and effect sequence. Search for images in Student Presentation Builder that will enhance your presentation.

Unit 4: What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do? Step 3: Using the PowerPoint ® template and the images in Student Presentation Builder, prepare an 8 to 10 slide presentation. Refer to the PowerPoint ® tutorial for tips and guidance. Your slides should be in a logical order and well designed. Make sure you use correct grammar and punctuation.

Unit 4: What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do? Step 4: Put the finishing touches on your presentation. Make sure the slides are in the right order and check your presentation for spelling errors. Practice delivering your oral presentation along with the PowerPoint ® slides.

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Unit 5: How Do You Stay True to Yourself? Background Information A short story is a brief fictional narrative. A short story typically focuses on one main character and event. Short stories usually contain a main character, setting, conflict, and resolution.

Unit 5: How Do You Stay True to Yourself? Your Task: With a partner, create an outline for a short story that answers the Big Question: “How do you stay true to yourself?”

Unit 5: How Do You Stay True to Yourself? Step 1: Working with your partner, brainstorm ideas for your short story. Decide on main and supporting characters, the setting, and the conflict of your story. Will the conflict be a disagreement between two people? Or, will the conflict be a personal struggle, such as making the right decision? Refer to the Writing Workshop on page 580 for help getting started.

Unit 5: How Do You Stay True to Yourself? Step 2: Organize your work into four main points: characters, setting, conflict, and resolution. Include character descriptions such as age, appearance, and personality. List the events that lead to the conflict. Explain how the conflict gets resolved. You do not need to write the story or create dialogue, just outline the main points. Use graphic organizers that present your ideas in a visual format. Search for images, such as photographs and drawings, in Student Presentation Builder to illustrate your story.

Unit 5: How Do You Stay True to Yourself? Step 3: Using the PowerPoint ® template and the images in Student Presentation Builder, prepare an 8 to 10 slide presentation. Refer to the PowerPoint ® tutorial for tips and guidance. Your slides should be in order, to the point, and well designed. Make sure you use correct grammar and punctuation.

Unit 5: How Do You Stay True to Yourself? Step 4: Put the finishing touches on your presentation. Make sure the slides are in the right order and check your presentation for spelling errors. With your partner, practice delivering a short oral presentation along with the PowerPoint slides. Each student must deliver part of the presentation.

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Unit 6: How Do You Keep from Giving Up When Bad Things Happen? Background Information A drama is any story intended to be performed for an audience. Before the performance, the director, actors, and set designers make decisions that affect the audience’s understanding and enjoyment of the drama. A scene is a subdivision of an act in a play. Each scene takes place in a specific setting and time. The action and dialogue in a scene is usually about the one specific topic.

Unit 6: How Do You Keep from Giving Up When Bad Things Happen? Your Task: Write a dramatic scene that answers the Big Question: “How do you keep from giving up when bad things happen?”

Unit 6: How Do You Keep from Giving Up When Bad Things Happen? Step 1: Form a group of three or four students and brainstorm ideas for a situation where a person or a group of people wants to give up. Think of ways that the problem could be solved. Use the Selection Checklist on page 790 to help you choose the best story line. Decide on the characters and setting. Create an outline of the plot and then write dialogue for one of the scenes in the story.

Unit 6: How Do You Keep from Giving Up When Bad Things Happen? Step 2: Write your scene in script form like the plays you have read in Unit 6. Try to make the dialogue sound natural as if real people are talking. Your scene will be more interesting if the characters do not agree on a resolution right away. Try to convey the conflict of your story through conversation between the characters. Write a short introduction before the scene begins to explain the circumstances of the scene. Include stage directions that convey the movements of your characters onstage.

Unit 6: How Do You Keep from Giving Up When Bad Things Happen? Step 3: Using the PowerPoint ® template and the images in Student Presentation Builder, prepare an 8 to 10 slide presentation of your scene. Add images or pictures to enhance each slide. Refer to the PowerPoint ® tutorial for tips and guidance. Your slides should be in order, to the point, and well designed. Make sure you use correct grammar and punctuation.

Unit 6: How Do You Keep from Giving Up When Bad Things Happen? Step 4: Put the finishing touches on your presentation. Make sure the slides are in the right order and check your presentation for spelling errors. With your group, rehearse the scene along with the PowerPoint ® slides. Each student should be involved in the scene.

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Unit 7: What’s Worth Fighting For? What’s Not? Background Information The goal of persuasive writing is to convince readers to agree with an opinion and, in some cases, act on it. Persuasive writing includes advertisements, critical reviews, speeches, and editorials. Persuasive writing helps you learn what other people think about an issue, decide how you feel about an issue, and learn to distinguish fact from opinion.

Unit 7: What’s Worth Fighting For? What’s Not? Your Task: Working in groups of three or four, choose an issue you feel strongly about that is worth fighting for. Create a presentation to convince others to agree with you and to take action.

Unit 7: What’s Worth Fighting For? What’s Not? Step 1: Organize into groups of three or four. Brainstorm ideas for topics and choose one that the entire group can agree on. It can be an issue in your school, your community, or the world. Think about what makes this situation worth fighting for. Provide facts, examples, and reasons to support your position. Think of ways your friends and family can take action against this problem.

Unit 7: What’s Worth Fighting For? What’s Not? Step 2: Write a clear position statement. Do additional research in the library and on the Internet. Remember that your presentation will be more convincing if you have facts to support your opinion. Arrange your arguments and information into outline form or use graphic organizers like web diagrams and charts. Search for images in Student Presentation Builder that will make your presentation more interesting.

Unit 7: What’s Worth Fighting For? What’s Not? Step 3: Using the PowerPoint ® template and the images in Student Presentation Builder, prepare an 8 to 10 slide presentation. Refer to the PowerPoint ® tutorial for tips and guidance. Your slides should be in order, to the point, and well designed. Make sure you use correct grammar and punctuation.

Unit 7: What’s Worth Fighting For? What’s Not? Step 4: Put the finishing touches on your presentation. Make sure the slides are in the right order and check for spelling errors. With your group, practice delivering an oral presentation along with the PowerPoint ® slides. Each student must present part of the presentation.

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Unit 8: What is the American Dream? Background Information Historical Texts include speeches, essays, autobiographies, biographies, and stories. Historical texts are often nonfiction and provide factual accounts of historical events, places, and people. Historical texts help us understand the problems of the past. Often, knowing about the past can help us prepare for the future.

Unit 8: What is the American Dream? Your Task: Research a person or place that has historical significance to your community.

Unit 8: What is the American Dream? Step 1: Working with a partner, choose a topic to research. It can be a public building, a park, an historic home, or a monument. You can also choose to research a historical figure from your community. Think of different sources to consult for information. Your local library is a great place to start. Also consider your community historical society, the Internet, and interviews with older citizens who may remember the past.

Unit 8: What is the American Dream? Step 2: Organize your information into an outline. Use graphic organizers to assemble your facts in a visual format. Search in Student Presentation Builder for interesting images such as photographs, drawings, and maps that will complement your research.

Unit 8: What is the American Dream? Step 3: Using the PowerPoint ® template and the images provided within Student Presentation Builder, prepare an 8 to 10 slide presentation. Refer to the PowerPoint ® tutorial for tips and guidance. Your slides should be in order, to the point, and well designed. Make sure you use correct grammar and punctuation.

Unit 8: What is the American Dream? Step 4: Put the finishing touches on your presentation. Make sure the slides are in the right order and check for spelling errors. With your partner, practice delivering the oral presentation along with the PowerPoint ® slides. Each student must present part of the presentation.

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