Guidelines for ILA STANDARD 4: DIVERSITY & EQUITY: The

Culturally Responsive Literacy Unit. (CRU)

Basic Elements in the CRU: (There should be at least one summative assessment).

Lesson 1
Theme/Topic: Writing
Grade Level: 7th Grade

Student Learning Outcome (SLO)

 Alignment to Missouri Learning Standards
7.W.2.A
Follow a writing process to produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, style, and voice are appropriate to the task, purpose, and audience; develop writing
with narrative, expository, and argumentative techniques.

a. Narrative: Develop narratives including poems about real or imagined experiences which
establish and maintain a consistent point of view and include clearly identified characters, well-
structured event sequences, narrative techniques, and relevant descriptive details.

 Introduction of Lesson 1
This lesson will be the introduction of how to create an audio autobiography that is supported
with visuals and music. Students will read Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington to
understand what an autobiography is.
Learning Target: SWBAT identify six elements of an autobiography. (Characters, setting,
details, chronological order, point of view, author’s purpose)

 Materials needed: (cited correctly with brief descriptions of how they are
used)
a. Book: Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington – The instructor will read this book to
the class and students will analyze it to find the elements of the autobiography.
b. Butcher paper and markers. – Students will work in teams and they will write their
findings in it.

 Student Activity

Begin by handing out Bell Ringer: Day 1 and having students answer the question: Who are
you and
where do you come from?
-Think-Pair-Share: When everyone is done, students pair up and discuss their answers
(similarities/differences), then share as a class and discuss.
-Ask the question: What is an autobiography? Discuss as a class.
-Teacher will explain and model how one can identify the 6 elements of an autobiography
based on the reading.
-Teacher should have a prepared autobiography Up from Slavery by Booker T.
Washington and read it to the class.
 -Students will identify by groups the elements of the autobiography. They will do it by
groups. There will be 6 groups and each group will be assigned to find one element in the
story. They will explain why they think that element is present in the reading.
-Teacher will need to go around to check understanding.
-When time is over, students will reunite as a whole class and they will discuss their findings.
-Groups will share one by one their findings.
-As every group is sharing their findings, students will take notes of what their classmates
shared.

 Formative Assessment
Students will submit a written explanation of the six elements of autobiography.

 Statement of how this accommodates linguistically and/or culturally

diverse students.
Students will learn from the reading about slavery. Although this is a sensitive topic, students
will learn what other races than white have gone through.

Lesson 2
Theme/Topic: Writing
Grade Level: 7th Grade
Student Learning Outcome
 Alignment to Missouri Learning Standards
7.W.2.A
Follow a writing process to produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, style, and
voice are appropriate to the task, purpose, and audience; develop writing with narrative, expository, and
argumentative techniques.

a. Narrative: Develop narratives including poems about real or imagined experiences which establish and
maintain a consistent point of view and include clearly identified characters, well-structured event
sequences, narrative techniques, and relevant descriptive details.

 Introduction of Lesson 2
Students will start thinking about their own story. For this class, students will start creating a
power point with images and pictures that reflect their own life. For instance, they will choose to
represent their own family and culture with these images by choosing flags, images from their
country or their parents’ countries, favorite places, food, etc. And they can also add pictures like
baby picture, grandparents, house/bedroom, friends, family Picture, family vacation, family pets,
and funny pictures. Students will be free to bring pictures from their families portraying their
memorable moments. Family pictures will be an option and with permission. For every picture,
students will add a caption to it that captures the moment. They won’t need to type long
sentences. They just need to choose specific word for them.
 Materials needed: (cited correctly with brief descriptions of how they are
used)
a. Computers – Since they will be working on power point presentations, students will need
to have their computers.
  Student Activity
Students will start thinking about their story life from the beginning and to their future. They will
need to create a PowerPoint with family pictures and images that represent them accordingly.
The teacher will show a model work. It is suggested to show pictures of herself or himself to the
students so that students know that they are learning from a human and not a teacher. When
teacher finishes her presentation, students will start looking for images and inserting their
pictures into their PowerPoint chronologically. Pictures and images will need to be respectful
and no offensive. They can add funny memes if they want to, but the teacher might not allow
some images if he or she thinks that they are not appropriate. This technique is based on the book
In Pictures and in Words (Chapter 7, technique 8 – Using Scenes as a list). This technique will
help them to have something more concrete when they start writing their autobiography.
 Formative Assessment
Students will submit their PowerPoint to the teacher via Google Classroom. The instructor will
provide feedback if necessary.
 Summative Assessment (if appropriate)
N/A
 Statement of how this accommodates linguistically and/or culturally
diverse students.
Students will bring themselves to the class by showing who they are as people with story. Also,
by bringing themselves into the class, the rest of the students will learn to respect the differences
of other students and their cultures.

Lesson 3
Theme/Topic: Writing
Grade Level: 7th Grade

Student Learning Outcome

 Alignment to Missouri Learning Standards
7.W.2.A
Review, revise, and edit writing with consideration for the task, purpose, and audience.

a. Organization and content: Introduce the topic, maintain a clear focus throughout the text, and
provide a conclusion that follows from the text. Add or delete content to clarify meaning.

 Introduction of Lesson 3
Students in this class will start working on the first part of their autobiography. Students will
start working on their thoughts of their family. They will need to do an assignment that is about
their families. They will describe their family members. (Appendix 1)

 Materials needed: (cited correctly with brief descriptions of how they are
used)
Assignment “family”. This will help them to start thinking of how to write their autobiography.
 Student Activity
Students will Think-Pair-Share: Ask the EQ: “How has your family influenced your life?”
Students will complete a draft of the “Family” worksheet. (Appendix 1)
When they finish, students will partner up with another student and peer review each other’s
work. Their next work will be to put what they wrote into paragraphs. I will model for them an
example. This will be an example of how I made my “family” paper into paragraphs. After my
presentation, students will start working on their own family story.
Homework: Students will finish the “Family” paragraph and come up with a title for it.
 Formative Assessment
Students will submit their “family assignment”. Teacher will offer feedback and corrections if
necessary.
 Summative Assessment (if appropriate)
N/A
 Statement of how this accommodates linguistically and/or culturally
diverse students.
Students will write and share details of their family. Since, this class has 6 countries represented,
students from different cultures will share their story to others. This is a great activity to create
an atmosphere of respect and inclusion. Since students will share their family assignment to their
peers, they will learn from each other without fear.

Lesson 4
Theme/Topic: Writing
Grade Level: 7th Grade

Student Learning Outcome

 Alignment to Missouri Learning Standards
7.W.2.A
Review, revise, and edit writing with consideration for the task, purpose, and audience.

a. Organization and content: Introduce the topic, maintain a clear focus throughout the text,
and provide a conclusion that follows from the text. Add or delete content to clarify meaning.

 Introduction of Lesson 4
Students will have to work on a new assignment for this class. They will work on the paper
“parent form”. With this paper, students will have all the facts about their birthday and other
details from their parents. “The life story of” (Appendix 2). After they finish this assignment,
students will draft their introduction by using the information from the “The life story of” and
putting it into a paragraph.

 Materials needed: The teacher will provide a paper called: “The life story of”. This
paper will help students to elaborate the facts into paragraph.
 Student Activity
-Students will draft their introduction by using the information from the “The life story of”
and putting it into a paragraph.
 -When they finish, students will partner up with another student and peer review each other’s
work.
-Students will make corrections to their work and create a title for it.
 Formative Assessment
Students will submit their assignment “The life story of” and their first written paragraph.
 Summative Assessment (if appropriate)
N/A
 Statement of how this accommodates linguistically and/or culturally
diverse students.
Students will share their basic information to a partner. This will help students to show
themselves to their classmates in safety way.

Lesson 5
Theme/Topic: Writing
Grade Level: 7th Grade

Student Learning Outcome

 Alignment to Missouri Learning Standards
7.W.2.A
Review, revise, and edit writing with consideration for the task, purpose, and audience.

a. Organization and content: Introduce the topic, maintain a clear focus throughout the text,
and provide a conclusion that follows from the text. Add or delete content to clarify meaning.

 Introduction of Lesson 5
Students will work on the next part of their assignment. They will fill the form called: “Friends”.
This will help them to write into paragraphs about their friends. Students will read an example as
a mentor-text (Gallagher). As a class, we’ll notice how the author moved from his list of ideas
into paragraphs. Student will write their paragraphs based on how the mentor-text did.
 Materials needed:
1. Paper called: “Friends” (Appendix 3). This paper will be about students writing about
their friends. This paper will help them to write this into paragraph.
2. Mentor-text. This will be my own example. I will also have the same “friends” paper.

 Student Activity
For this class, students will be focus on an important task; they will be talking about their
friends. When they finish filling the paper, they will start typing it into paragraphs. After they are
done with “friends” paper and writing into paragraphs, students will pair up and they will show
their work. Students will give feedback to each other. Students will focus on how well the author
moved from the “friends” sheet to paragraphs.
 Formative Assessment
Students will submit both works, their paper called: “friends” and their
paragraph of it.
 Summative Assessment (if appropriate)
N/A
 Statement of how this accommodates linguistically and/or culturally
diverse students.
Students will have a mentor text to follow the process of writing. Also, they will bring more
themselves to the class.

Lesson 6
Theme/Topic: Writing
Grade Level: 7th Grade

Student Learning Outcome

 Alignment to Missouri Learning Standards
7.W.2.A
Review, revise, and edit writing with consideration for the task, purpose, and audience.

a. Organization and content: Introduce the topic, maintain a clear focus throughout the text,
and provide a conclusion that follows from the text. Add or delete content to clarify meaning.

 Introduction of Lesson 6
This class students will put everything together. Everything that they did the last 5 days will be
put into one narrative. They will finish their first draft. Students will put everything into one
work. They will keep the same narrative style as they did during the last 5 days.
Materials needed: (cited correctly with brief descriptions of how they are used)
1. Computer: Students will type in their computers their autobiography. Students will
share their file with me via Google Documents.
 Student Activity
Students will start working in their big project this class. They will put everything into one story.
Students will be reminded that they should use everything that they did before and they will also
need to put everything in order as they have their pictures in their Power Point presentations.
Students will volunteer to share their stories to the class so that they can get feedback. Students
will be encouraged to be respectful and kind when providing feedback. We will have a maximum
of 5 volunteers.
 Formative Assessment
Students will submit their first draft.
 Summative Assessment (if appropriate)
N/A
 Statement of how this accommodates linguistically and/or culturally
diverse students.
Student have been working on how to put information into paragraphs, so this lesson will
reinforce their skills.

Lesson 7
Theme/Topic: Writing
Grade Level: 7th Grade
Alignment to Missouri Learning Standards
7.W.2.A
Review, revise, and edit writing with consideration for the task, purpose, and audience.

a. Organization and content: Introduce the topic, maintain a clear focus throughout the text,
and provide a conclusion that follows from the text. Add or delete content to clarify
meaning.
7.W.2.A
Follow a writing process to produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, style, and voice are appropriate to the task, purpose, and audience; develop
writing with narrative, expository, and argumentative techniques.

a. Narrative: Develop narratives including poems about real or imagined experiences which
establish and maintain a consistent point of view and include clearly identified characters,
well-structured event sequences, narrative techniques, and relevant descriptive details.

 Introduction of Lesson 7
Students will do a revision of their first draft and they will evaluate what changes they will need
to do. The instructor will provide a model of how one should review their work.
Materials needed: (cited correctly with brief descriptions of how they are used)
2. Computer: Students will type in their computers their autobiography. Students will
share their file with me via Google Documents.
 Student Activity
For this lesson, I will show them a model of revision. Student will read two different drafts and
they will provide their thoughts to the class. Volunteers will need to share two differences from
both drafts. I will correct them or add more information if necessary. As volunteers share their
ideas, students will take notes so that they can have ideas of how to revise a draft. When we
finish working on the revision of the model. Students will start working on their autobiography.
Before class is over, students will pair up and they will revise each other work. Students will
provide feedback to each other.
 Formative Assessment
Students will submit a second draft. Also, they will need to justify their changes by explaining it
at the bottom of the page.
 Summative Assessment (if appropriate)
N/A
 Statement of how this accommodates linguistically and/or culturally
diverse students.
Students will be sharing their second draft to each other. Students will be providing feedback to
each other respectfully.
Lesson 8
Theme/Topic: Writing
Grade Level: 7th Grade

Alignment to Missouri Learning Standards

7.PP.2.A
General Music Classes: Create and notate a rhythmic and/or melodic ostinati accompaniment
within teacher’s specified guideline

 Introduction of Lesson 8
In this lesson, students will record their voice in a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) by reading
their autobiography and they will make background music to their autobiography. Their music
should portray emotions and feelings according their autobiography and pictures.
Materials needed: (cited correctly with brief descriptions of how they are used)
3. Computer: Students will record their voice into a DAW.
 Student Activity
For this lesson, students will record their voices into a DAW. This will be made in the recording
spot. They will do it one by one. As they record their voices, students will make their music for
their autobiography. At the end of the class, they should have enough music for their
autobiography.

Formative Assessment
 N/A
 Summative Assessment (if appropriate)
Students will submit their work entirely (Written work, Power Point Presentation, Music
Background and recorded voice)
 Statement of how this accommodates linguistically and/or culturally
diverse students.
Students will make music supporting their autobiography and their pictures. Music will help
students to describe themselves abstractly.

Lesson 9
Theme/Topic: Writing
Grade Level: 7th Grade

Lesson:

Students will do presentation in the hall. We will invite students and teachers to listen students’
autobiographies.

 Summative Assessment:
Students will submit their entire work (Written work, Power Point Presentation, Music
Background and recorded voice)
Appendix 1
Appendix 2

The Life Story of...

___________________________________________________________________________________

Today's Date_____________________

First Name ___________________________________________________

Middle Name _________________________________________________

Last Name ___________________________________________________

Maiden Name (if applicable) _____________________________________

I was born on __________________________(date) in the town/city of

_______________________________________________________________ (location including hospital if

known)

I was born at _________ am/pm on a _____________ (day of week) LINK

My Birth Weight: _______________ My Birth Length: ____________________

My Current address: _________________________________________________________________

My Father Is: _______________________________________________________________________

My Mother Is: ______________________________________________________________________

Complications at Birth?: ______________________________________________________________

Had I been born the opposite sex, my parents were going to name me ___________________________

My nationality is ____________________ and my ethnic background is ________________________

I was born number ________ of ________ children

I have ________ brother(s) & ________ sister(s) ________ step-brothers _______ step-sisters

My natural hair color is _____________________ My eyes are ________________________ in color

My adult height is _____________ and my weight has ranged between ___________ and _________

I wear glasses for READING EVERYDAY I'VE NEVER WORN GLASSES

Copyright FamilyHistoryProducts.com Learn more about full 264 page autobiography template here!
Appendix 3