Unit Plan ESC 522/422

Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen

Kevin Middleton,

Central Text: Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen

Essential Question/Guiding Idea:
Why is knowledge powerful?
What is Authors Craft?
How does an authors craft affect his/her message?

Grade Level: 2nd Semester 8th Graders with mixed abilities

Unit Length: 15 Days
Reasoning:This unit is important and appropriate for students because it will guide them in
discovering why literacy powerful. As 8th graders transitioning into High School, they need to
know the effect that education may have on the rest of their lives; It is a key to a whole new
world. Students will learn about the origins of power-struggle that surround literacy, discuss
how it impacts them today, and examine Nightjohn as a work of literature. Through close-reading
they will observe Gary Paulsens writing as a mentor text, and students will analyze Authors
Craft. Through reading from a writers perspective, students will ultimately take on the
techniques of Authors Craft to produce their own pieces of narrative writing.

Instructional Goals:
Define, identify, and use the elements of Authors Craft
Track and cite specific examples of writing techniques used in Nightjohn and analyze why Gary
Paulsen employs them
Write narrative pieces using Nightjohn as a mentor text
Learn about the historical context of plantation life

Supplementary Materials:
Authors Craft demo PowerPoint
YouTube video on plantation life

Literacy Skills:
Identifying and analyzing voice, style, structure, figurative language, point of view, and dialogue
Close reading through the lens of Authors Craft, and with the intent of transferring writing
techniques to students own narratives
Active Listening

What Literary Topic will you teach?

Authors Craft

Frontloading:
Short Lecture on the concept of slavery
Life of a Plantation Slave (Youtube Clip) is approximately two minutes
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9ieTEHCow4) This video defines what a plantation slave
is as well as the difference of house slaves and plantation slaves. It also highlights how it was
illegal to receive an education.

Formative Assessments:
Exit Slip: Identify an example of Authors craft from this excerpt of Nightjohn. Explain what it
adds to your understanding of the story. (I will create an exit slip ticket, and I will provide the
excerpt of Nightjohn that I would have students do a close reading of.)
Close-reading practice from Chapter 1 (Annotating and brief explanation)
Authors Craft Tracker: This will be a table-layout chart, each chapter will have a column for
Authors Craft and Examples. Students will record what they observe about Paulsens craft
throughout the book.
Summative Assessment:
Write a personal narrative in which you describe an experience in your life where you realized
something, or learned a lesson. Employ the elements of authors craft that we have been
identifying and analyzing throughout our reading of Nightjohn. This narrative is to be 3 pages in
length minimum.

Differentiated Materials:
Modified Text: Shortened excerpts for close-reading practice
Scaffolded prompts: Question broken into two parts

New York State Common Core State Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or
events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event
sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3.B Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description,
and reflection, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3.D
Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to
capture the action and convey experiences and events