Lessons & Units

America Street 6th Grade Unit

America Street

America Street

Fountas and Pinnell
R
Lexile
870L
Genre
Short Stories
Concepts Taught
Character, Compare and Contrast, Genre, Plot, Point of View, Sequence

Lessons

Genre Lesson Short Story Examine the depth and breadth of a short story.
Lesson 1 What’s the Point of View? Identify the point of view in multiple short stories, including first-person, third-person objective, third-person limited, and third-person omniscient points of view.
Lesson 2 Interpreting Perspective Interpret how a character’s perspective is influenced by his or her cultural background.
Lesson 3 Multiple Perspectives Compare and contrast multiple perspectives in a collection of short stories.
Lesson 4 Using Plot Elements to Retell a Story Retell a short story’s plot using the plot elements.

Build Background Knowledge

Many of your students may already be familiar with immigration to the United States. Build background knowledge for this unit by introducing your students to the concept of a melting pot in American culture and the challenges faced by immigrants to "assimilate" (or blend in) with the rest of the population. In 1908, an English playwright wrote that "America is . . . the great melting pot where all the races of Europe are melting and reforming." Today, the people of America stretch beyond European immigrants. The U.S. has immigrants from all over the world who come to the country for different reasons. The melting pot is a metaphor for different cultures blending into one culture, but many people from other heritages want to hold on to their past cultural traditions. Some people prefer the idea of a "salad bowl" to describe America—many different kinds of people tossed together, but they retain their original shape.

Teacher and Student Materials

Pacing Guide

Pacing Guide for America Street

Day 1

Genre Lesson

Complete the Genre Lesson Independent Practice in the Student Packet

Day 2

Begin reading “The Wrong Lunch Line,” “No Guitar Blues,” “The White Umbrella,” and “Hamadi”

Begin the Worksheets in the Student Packet

Day 3

Finish reading “The Wrong Lunch Line,” “No Guitar Blues,” “The White Umbrella,” and “Hamadi”

Complete the Worksheets in the Student Packet

Day 4

Begin Lesson 1

Day 6

Lesson 1 (continued)

Complete the Independent Practice for Lesson 1 in the Student Packet

Day 6

Begin reading “La Ciramella,” “The Journey,” and “The Circuit”

Begin the Worksheets in the Student Packet

Day 7

Finish reading “La Ciramella,” “The Journey,” and “The Circuit”

Complete the Worksheets in the Student Packet

Day 8

Begin Lesson 2

Day 9

Lesson 2 (continued)

Complete the Independent Practice for Lesson 2 in the Student Packet

Day 10

Begin reading “Thank You, M’am,” “The All-American Slurp,” and “The Loudest Voice”

Begin the Worksheets in the Student Packet

Day 11

Finish reading “Thank You, M’am,” “The All-American Slurp,” and “The Loudest Voice”

Complete the Worksheets in the Student Packet

Day 12

Begin Lesson 3

Day 13

Lesson 3 (continued)

Complete the Independent Practice for Lesson 3 in the Student Packet

Day 14

Begin reading “Business at Eleven,” “Raymond’s Run,” “President Cleveland, Where Are You?,” and “Sixth Grade”

Begin the Worksheets in the Student Packet

Day 15

Finish reading “Business at Eleven,” “Raymond’s Run,” “President Cleveland, Where Are You?,” and “Sixth Grade”

Complete the Worksheets in the Student Packet

Day 16

Begin Lesson 4

Day 17

Lesson 4 (continued)

Complete the Independent Practice for Lesson 4 in the Student Packet

Day 18

Review for the Unit Assessment

Day 19

Unit Assessment

 

User Comments

Thank you! Love it:)

Submitted by Selena2004_2562516 on 1/19/17

I am very thankful to you to share this knowledge with others. These short stories will help me to improve my English and get good marks in my exams.

Submitted by Randhawa_us_2162653 on 10/6/16

Great Book for 9 yearolds

Submitted by haruunrocks_2235900 on 9/9/16

Great lesson-I will be passing this information on to my teachers.

Submitted by dkdaniel_1621906 on 10/12/15

This is a great Lesson! I am excited about using this lesson with my students, and I look forward to using the others.

Submitted by kbolt_1028918 on 10/24/14

This is a great unit. I recently started teaching Multicultural Literature and I was looking for short stories to teach the elective. I came across the American Street analogy; however, I struggled with developing a unit for it. I am so ecstatic that this unit provided tons of ideas on how to utilize this analogy. Thanks!

Submitted by Alisha on 3/4/14