Overall Reflection:

Over the course of the unit, the seventy-five percent of students spent time gathering quotes from sources, sixty-percent

submitted an online thesis after the thesis prep work in class, and around sixty-percent submitted a reflection after the unit as well.

Additionally, around ninety percent of my students turned in a completed essay. For a stereotypically low-income, non-AP group of

high school students, I am more than happy with these numbers. My challenge for future years is to increase the amount of students

from sixty-percent to at least eighty in portions of their process work. Of course, students who did not turn in a final draft rarely met

the other deadlines either.

I have edited two major portions of this assignment for future years. First, I have increased the weight of the quote outline and

rough draft from five percent of the total grade to ten percent apiece. Doing so will hopefully increase engagement from the start. I

had many more students jump right in to the formative work than I expected; perhaps this was due to my emphasis on the benefit of

doing so, but I still must create ways to demonstrate its importance. Second, I have edited the RL.2 and RL.1 in the assignment rubric.

RL.2 now more accurately reflects how students incorporated elements of their textual analysis into their thesis and call to action than

my initial copy and paste of the state standard. RL.1 now includes a third category where I grade students on their quote gathering

sheets. I already would have graded students sheets on five occasions leading up to their final draft, but I believe this will give

additional emphasis on how their initial work will correlate directly to their final grade. This will also allow students to see a letter-

based score on their quote gathering because, unfortunately, many will not remember how many times they had quotes ready

otherwise.

Additionally, I would like to give more direct feedback on their process work. I have currently done this for the thesis and

topic choice submission, but I graded the quote sheets for completion. Since they were completion-based, many students wrote down
random quotes to meet the check and postpone any true work until a later date. Ironically, many students in their end-of-unit

reflection said the quote sheet was not as helpful as it could have been. Ten out of my sixty students stated the sheet was incredibly

helpful and useful and the remaining fifty submissions claimed they either did not take the sheet seriously and did all their work at the

end, changed topics making initial work more irrelevant, or did not have a strong enough grasp of their topic (perhaps by not reading

the stories) to gather effective quotes in the earlier stages of drafting. Each of these areas I would like to minimize on future essays.

This leads my back to my initial fears of grading pre-work for accuracy and having time for direct feedback. Even though students

will never take work for completion as seriously as work graded for accuracy, I believe I need to keep this system the same because I

would rather have students discover for themselves the need to do this right. As later comments will state, some of my students did

create a forced-failure scenario from this lack of prep, and they at least claim to have learned the importance of the quote gathering

sheet. I do not necessarily know the direction of all essays as well, making a common rubric for this extremely difficult. Furthermore,

I do not want to take up the quote sheets because my students need to gather quotes outside of class, but I also do not have amply class

time to give strong feedback for every student, especially since I will check them five times. Perhaps having students submit quote

sheets online or via Google Drive could garner more effective opportunities for genuine student work and feedback. My students are

currently scheduling outside-of-class meetings with me to discuss ideas for their senior research paper. Perhaps scheduling a one-on-

one meeting like this could help students find purpose in the pre-stages. I also have over one-hundred students, so any

feedback/meeting will be incredibly time consuming. I will most likely incorporate the online submission of quotes as I did for the

topic and thesis and go from there.

 I am excited to see the increased engagement and desire to complete the process work. Over ninety-percent of my students

who did not take the pre-work seriously or accurately claim they desperately need to on future essays. Perhaps the forced-fail scenario

they set themselves up for at the beginning of the year will create much greater future improvements in the realm of formative writing.

WRITING ASSIGNMENT DESIGN:

Rationale/Overview:

My purpose for this Writing Assignment Design is to teach research, particularly quote integration, as a formative step. I plan to

use this process writing to facilitate a more engaged, creative, communicative, and academic product. In previous teaching years and

in my own high school and undergraduate career, I saw student after student discuss how they were able to write their entire seven to

ten-page research paper in one night. Howard and Jamieson in A Guide to Composition Pedagogies illustrate how research has

become the antithesis of its intention: the unidentified writer declares procrastination to be his or her norm and then reorders the

usual research process so that fellow procrastinators can start the paper the night before deadline and finish it in just over ten hours

(231). The authors continue by sharing how research has become pointless to students.

Considering my schools purpose for Senior English is research and textual evidence, I must find a way to validate quote-based,

research writing for my classroom. The stories of Howard and Jamieson have become too common, and I want to create a way to

break this habit at the start of the school year. Additionally, I hope to use this assignment to teach students the value of writing and

revising drafts over time. Students finishing this unit should be able to locate resources and incorporate quote-based evidence into an

essay, and students will learn the value of using process writing as part of research.
Context:

To clarify, research at this point in my students academic careers is defined as gathering and planning an essay using direct

quotes from texts read in class. As the semester and school year moves on, students will learn how to use databases to write a more

standard research assignment. To accomplish this introductory goal, I have created a mini-research paper which will break apart

students research process over a period of weeks before the writing begins. Although the assignment includes topic brainstorming,

thesis development and revision, outside readings, quote integration, quote outline writing, rough draft development, required

semicolon implementation, peer review, and final draft submission in both online and hard copy formats, this Writing Assignment

Design will focus on the quote integration and thesis development components. I believe both of these elements should be taught in

tandem, because quote gathering becomes worthless without a strong thesis to give writing purpose and direction. This research

period will encompass four full weeks; however, the majority of the process writing will take place in the first three. Students will

have chosen a topic, developed and revised a thesis, and gathered quotes before official drafting begins. Students will complete rough

drafts and peer-reviews later on in the process to allow for revisions necessary reflection before submitting a final draft. The intended

audience for this assignment is one-hundred senior English students who follow the traditional calendar and have little to no

experience in essay writing outside of the traditional ACT/SAT format. Computer access for many is limited to none outside of built-

in class time in a computer lab. Their concept of an essay does not bring in outside sources and its arguments rarely transcend the

logical, mundane reasoning of the mind. By the end of the unit, students will have developed confidence in research which should

carry over to much larger projects. The setting for this assignment will be almost exclusively in the classroom because all students

will use the same given sources for eighty percent of their research. The final twenty percent will allow students to branch out via

EBSCOhost and other chosen mythology stories. This differentiates the unit for students with more background in research because it
allows them to use outside articles as support, but also helps the newer student by giving them freedom of choice to incorporate stories

from other mythological texts as a companion piece.

Goals/Objectives/Standards:

Key: ^ = developed standard for research paper

* = focused standard for WAD

NC State Standards:
*RL.9-10.1 textual *W.9-10.1 write ^SL.9-10.1class ^L.9-
evidence arguments discussions 10.1grammar
^RL.9-10.2 themes W.9-10.2 write ^SL.9-10.2 ^L.9-10.2
and obj. sum. info. texts diverse media conventions
^RL.9-10.3 complex ^W.9-10.3 write SL.9-10.3 L.9-10.3 style
characters narratives speakers POV
^RL.9-10.4 word ^W.9- SL.9-10.4 ^L.9-10.4
meanings/diction 10.4produce presentations context clues
clear writing
^RL.9-10.5 text ^W.9-10.5 ^SL.9-10.5 use L.9-10.5 fig.
structure revise and edit digital media language
^RL.9-10.6 point of ^W.9-10.6 write SL.9-10.6 adapt L.9-10.6 grow
view/perspective w technology speech vocab.
RL.9-10.7 subj. by *W.9-10.7
two mediums research projects
RL.9-10.8 (none for *W.9-10.8
lit.) research process
^RL.9-10.9 *W.9-10.9
transforms source evidence for
material analysis
^RL.9-10.10 read *W.9-10.10
variety of texts write often
Personal Goals for quote integration/process period:
- Students will apply how to effectively cite outside sources for research writing
- Students will gather quotes over time to allow more reflection and planning into the writing process
- Students will develop and revise their topic and argument over a four-week period
- Students will analyze texts with individual purpose beyond classroom knowledge

Actual Assignment Design:

Paper Component

Formatting and Style: 1,500 words (not including Works Cited Page), typed, double-spaced, 12-point font. MLA Format is required
for page layouts, in-text citations, and Works Cited page. Note: the total word count must be written at the end of this document to
receive credit.

Sources: You must use the story of Beowulf/other mythological texts read in class and at least 2 secondary sources from either books,
periodical articles, interviews, or scholarly online texts (.edu or .gov sources only).

Topic Choice Due: October 18th Rough Thesis Due: October 25th

OUTLINE Due Date: November 2nd (Wednesday)

ROUGH DRAFT Due Date: November 3rd (Friday)

Minimum Requirements: Two pages not including Works Cited Page. This needs to be accessible from LAB C.

FINAL DRAFT Due Date: SUNDAY NOVEMBER 5th at 11:59 PM via email to kulhanj@gcsnc.com. Students must also bring a
printed hard copy to class on Monday November 6th as part of the submission process.

Grading Policy: 1 test grade. Each segment of the analysis paper will be evaluated for completeness, compliance with format, and
writing skill.

Segments: Quote Outline with at least 10 quotes and min. of two outside sources (10 percent of total grade)
Rough Draft with peer review process (10 percent of total grade)
Final Draft (80 percent of total grade)
Presentation Component

In addition to turning in your paper, you are responsible for sharing your research in a 15 minute Socratic Seminar on your topic.
Seminars will begin on November 9th and conclude on November 10th.

Needed Content: - Why researcher chose particular topic

- Evidence to support topic and your corresponding analysis
- List Counterclaims to your particular stance and how you refuted them
- Most difficult aspect of conducting research on this topic
- Call to Action/relevance to society today

Grading Policy: 1 quiz grade for discussion in seminar

Topic Choices:
1. The Commonality in Storytelling: Many pieces of literature provide timeless messages that can be applicable to all people.
Analyze the plot points, characters, and themes of Beowulf and how they make connections to other myths and legends.
2. A Microscope on Culture: Stories continue to have reoccurring themes and values and authors often create characters that
embody the values and morals of a particular culture. Reflect on the values and themes in Beowulf and other ancient cultural
myths to explain how those myths reveal the character and values of that society.
3. An Assimilation of Beliefs: As you know, Beowulf blends both pagan elements from its setting in 6th century Scandinavia
with Christian elements from the 11th century when it was finally written down and preserved. Describe these various
religious elements in Beowulf and other stories and discuss their importance to fully understand these epic tales.
4. The Relevance of Mythology: Develop an argument analyzing how myths such as Beowulf are still relevant to society today?
In doing so, writers should focus on cultural, thematic, and storytelling concepts from ancient cultures and explain their
application today.

Skills-based expectations in writing:

Semicolon use: students must use semicolons effectively at least twice in this paper. Highlight each complete sentence that
uses a semicolon on the final draft.
Variety of transitions: Rather than just saying, the author states, use other transitional words when introducing quotes, such
as writes, argues and maintains.
 Parenthetical use: Every time a quote is used or you paraphrase another work, include a (author #) which contains the
authors last name and page number. If there is no page number or it is only one page, leave the page number blank. Ex.
(Raffel 17).
Introduction and Conclusion Use: Each essay should begin with a hook to increase engagement and end with a conclusion
that gives application, a call to action, or lasting value.
Quote Integration: Students must research and include at least 10 quotes from Beowulf and other outside sources to shed light
on their topic. These quotes will be compiled on a separate quote-integration sheet and will be gathered over the course of this
unit. Refer to due dates on our calendar to know when I will be checking your progress. I will assess your quotes for
congruency and relevance on your quote outline.
o Note: Since the primary text we read is Beowulf, you should use it when crafting your essays argument. Do not just
pull from other myths.

ENGL 12 Curriculum Map Unit 2: A Mythological, Cultural Foundation

Summative Assessments
1-C Quarter 1 Exam 12%
1-D Classwork Grade 12%
2-A Cultural Foundation Essay 12%
Core Instructional Materials
Shorter Texts
Beowulf Excerpts
Grendel Excerpts
Nordic Gods and Heroes Excerpts
Eaters of the Dead Excerpt
Other
Multiple online articles
Quote Integration Sheet
MLA Citation Sheet
Avoiding Sentence Errors Sheet
Misc. stories from various cultures
Formative Assessments Non-Negotiable Skills
Quizzes 4% apiece Citing evidence (interpret/explain) to support main
1 Beowulf / Eaters Quiz idea and theme.
Socratic on Researched Myth Development of evidence
Socratic on Culture Paper Determine Main Idea/theme
Grendel Day Analyze Development of reading
Understand the meaning of words
Homework 3% apiece Analyze structure and style; Respond to questions
Journal Check (counts as 2) Grammar, usage, punctuation, spelling
Beowulf Boast Contest
Organization; Plan, revise, edit writings
Eaters of the Dead MLA Qs
Primary Common Core Standards Used
12.RL.1 Textual Evidence
12.RL.2 Themes and Objective Summary
12.RL.3 Complex Characters and Setting
12.RL.4 and 5 Word Meaning/Diction and Text Structure
12.RL.6 Point of View/Perspective
12.RL.7 Analyze multiple interpretations of text
12.W.1 Write Arguments/Research papers using evidence
12.W.10 Write routinely over extended time frames
12.RI.1 Cite Evidence from nonfiction sources
12.SL.1&6 Class Discussion / adapt speech for dif. contexts
12.L.3a Apply knowledge of language; vary syntax
12.L.4 Determine meaning of unknown and confusing words
 Curriculum Map Q1 B Bold Words are Due Dates and test dates!
4 Oct 5 Oct 6 Oct

Unit Reflection Edith Hamilton Intro LAB to research myth

Storytelling PP Thor and Loki Myth
Heros Concept Map Assign myth
HW: Map and Ham. J6
9 Oct 10 Oct 11 Oct 12 Oct 13 Oct

Socratic 2 Riddle Due PSAT Day Paper Introduction Villain Archetype

Riddle Quest Seniors Off-Campus Beowulf Reading 1 Day
NO SCHOOL!!! Two Quotes Homecoming
16 Oct 17 Oct 18 Oct 19 Oct 20 Oct

Beowulf Boast Activity Boast Due Topic Choice Due Q1 Exam Beowulf Reading 2
Kennings, Alliteration Beowulf Boast Online proposal Four Quotes
J7 Bracket Format Q1 Exam Prep Journal Due J7
Tombs!
23 Oct 24 Oct 25 Oct 26 Oct 27 Oct

Eaters of the Dead MLA Eaters Qs Due Grendel Retelling Goat Reading GRENDEL DAY
Beowulf Reading 3 Grendel Work Day
Thesis Due Online End of Grading Period
Beowulf Eaters Quiz
6 Quotes
30 Oct 31 Oct 1 Nov 2 Nov 3 Nov

NO SCHOOL!!! Armor is Iron Essay Outline Outline Due Rough Draft 2 pages
Last Year Example 8 Quotes minimum Due
LAB LAB Peer Review
MLA Teach
6 Nov 7 Nov 8 Nov 9 Nov 10 Nov

Socratic 3 SRP Intro Intro to Literary Literary Criticisms Veterans Day

Summative Topic Brainstorm Criticisms No School
Assessment 2-A Due MLA Review
Cultural Essay Research 6 Steps Q2 Blog 1
Textual Evidence Sheet: Students will receive this in the first week and I will periodically check this throughout the unit. Students
have received a calendar which includes due dates for x number of quotes.

Textual Evidence (quote or paraphrase used) Name of Article or piece of How could it answer a prompt?
literature quote comes from (why did you choose it?)

insert quote here How to write good papers pg.
23 or paragraph 2
Well this one doesnt because it is an example.
Consider using this section to categorize quotes into
topic sections. I ALWAYS organize quotes into
categories before writing to help with organization
and to see where I am going.

Dr. Hartman, this document includes space for 15 quotes. To

save space, I have just included five rows.
 Assessment Tool/Plan:
Standard 4Distinguished/Highly Effective 3 Proficient/Effective 2 Basic/Needs Improvement 1 Unsatisfactory/Ineffective
1) 11-12.RL2 Analyze themes and main ideas of a Text and develop an argument from them
Identification / Expertly identifies themes of Competently identifies themes of texts Inadequately identifies themes of Insufficiently identifies themes of
Introduction / texts and how they relate to and how they relate to one another. texts and how they relate to one texts and how they relate to one
Thesis one another. another. another.

Application/ Expertly makes realistic Competently makes realistic Inadequately makes realistic Insufficiently makes realistic
Conclusion/ applications of the identified applications of the identified themes of applications of the identified themes applications of the identified
___/20 Value themes of the texts. the texts. of the texts. themes of the texts.

2) 11-12.W.1c-f Write arguments to Support Claims

Transitions Expertly incorporates Competently incorporates transitions Inadequately incorporates Insufficiently incorporates
transitions to link the major to link the major sections of the text. transitions to link the major sections transitions to link the major
sections of the text. of the text. sections of the text.
Language and Expertly uses precise language Competently uses precise language Inadequately uses precise language Insufficiently uses precise language
Style and domain specific and domain specific vocabulary. and domain specific vocabulary. and domain specific vocabulary.
___/20 vocabulary.

3) 11-12.W.1a-b Write arguments to Support Claims

Development Expertly develops claims fairly Competently develops claims fairly and Inadequately develops claims fairly Insufficiently develops claims fairly
and thoroughly. thoroughly and thoroughly and thoroughly

Organization Expertly organizes claims into Competently organized claims into a Inadequately organized claims into a Insufficiently organizes claims into
___/20
a unified argument. unified argument. unified argument. a unified argument.

4) 11-12.RL.1 Cite strong textual evidence

Evidence Identifies strong and thorough Identifies textual evidence related to Identifies textual evidence unrelated Little or no textual evidence
textual evidence thesis to thesis
Inference Draws insightful inferences Draws specific yet simple inferences Draws unspecific, simple inferences Little or no inferences support
from the text to support from the text to support textual which may not support textual textual analysis
textual analysis analysis analysis
___/30 Quote Prep Consistently gathered quotes Gathered quotes most of the time. Gathered quotes over time. Occasionally had quotes prepared
over time. Took formative Usually took formative work seriously Sometimes took formative work and sometimes took formative
work seriously seriously. work seriously (or not at all)
5) 11-12.L.1/L.2 Demonstrate Command of English Conventions

Grammar and Expertly demonstrates Competently demonstrates command of Inadequately demonstrates Insufficiently demonstrates
Conventions command of the conventions the conventions of grammar and its command of the conventions of command of the conventions of
of grammar and its usage. usage grammar and its usage. grammar and its usage
___/10

_____/100 = Total Score Comments:

Assigning the WAD (Process Work descriptions and Google Drive Link to student work and teacher feedback:
Teaching Quote Use: I spent a class period teaching in-text citations and quote integration strategies. Students journaled/took pictures
of notes on the board. We practiced the following strategies on a sample reading from class (these are in their most basic form.
Students wrote 3-10 variations of each:
direct quotes Raffel states, quote (17).
flowing transition quotes Beowulf acted as quote (Raffel 17).
colon quotes Beowulf was motived by the following when he fought Grendel: quote (Raffel 17).
paraphrase Beowulf simply wanted personal fame and was not as motivated to actually help people (Raffel 17).
Students completed First Contact Questions as outside application. Students had to incorporate a variety of quote strategies in their
answers. We completed question one as a class. I submitted the blank assignment sheet to the WAD folder in Google Drive and
one with student answers for number one in the Student Work folder within WAD.
Gathering Quotes: Five times that over the unit, I checked students Textual Evidence Sheets at the start of class. These days were
posted for the students on day one of the unit. Each time I made a check, students were to have two more quotes with explanations on
their sheets. I have attached five completed examples (several with comments) to Student Work. As we read works and annotated
texts, students pointed out lines and examples that gave support to one of the essay topics (this helped my lower-level classes in
particular because they were literally able to work as a class to gather their quotes. Several times during the unit, students split into
small groups to discuss possible evidence to support the various topics.
In hindsight, I should have collected the quote gathering sheets to give greater feedback than a completion-based check, but I did not
want to take quote sheets from students who needed to keep adding to them. I also wanted students to have the choice to take this part
of process writing as a learning experience. If the student wrote random quotes to get the check, they would have to start over to
find enough evidence for their paper later. I was very open with this too my students, and several students did speak to me after
submitting their final draft to say they will take this process MUCH more seriously next time because they now realize how much time
they could have saved from the start. I am formulating a reflection to get a more accurate number on how many students used the
quotes they initially wrote down.
Developing a Thesis (midway through class readings): I wrote a super generic thesis on the whiteboard. Students commented on its
strengths and weaknesses first. After passing out the Thesis Workshop sheet, I had students write their current thesis at the top.
After, I described each of the four ways to strengthen their working thesis. Each time I introduced a strategy, I modified the basic
thesis on the whiteboard. Once students implemented the fours tactics, students wrote a revised thesis at the bottom of their page.
Students should have been submitted this final sentence to Schoology. I have attached four examples of thesis of varying strengths
with my comments to a PowerPoint in Student Work.

Student Samples/Assessment Feedback: I have attached documents and student work to a Google Drive file under the below link. I
gave process-based comments to the thesis submissions and several of the textual evidence sheets. Each was graded as a completion
credit. To make grading easier for me, I give all students a 100/100 test grade called classwork at the start of each quarter.
Completing smaller assignments such as quote checks or thesis submissions makes up 5% of that score. If a student completes the
check, they maintain their current score. If they do not do the assignment right or at all, I deduct up to 5 points from that test grade.
Each quote gathering check and thesis submission went into this score. Larger assignments, papers, and quizzes go into more heavily
weighted categories.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tDDVE-LYq7-GEk0zXJ1tYiaEoYtcK8bW?usp=sharing

There is a folder within a folder, so please let me know if the second is locked. Thanks!