Rationale
This unit sets out to address several needs of my students in ways that entice, inform, and excite them, as they are recalcitrant readers and learners. First and foremost, it is a carrot that is needed to bring my students to the place where reading becomes a life-long, enjoyable habit. Pedagogically, it will provide me with opportunities to apply a range of strategies so that my students can comprehend, interpret, analyze, and evaluate selected detective stories drawing on their prior knowledge, their understanding of the text, and their personal interactions with others and the stories that they have read. As a teacher of seventh and eighth grade Language Arts at John S. Martinez School in New Haven, Connecticut, I am charged with the responsibility of ensuring that my students want to be and actually become life long learners. Demographically, my students are predominantly Black and Hispanic. Although my students come to school rich with heritage, they lack world experiences and basic language skills. Many of them are bilingual learners. This unit's design is sequential in nature and is another step in getting them to love reading.
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