Mr. Skipper dot Com

​​

​

​

First 9 Weeks

​​

Literary Skills

Elements of Fiction

• Flashbacks

• Linear and parallel plot

• Subplots

• Irony

• Inciting incident

• Foreshadowing

• Suspense

• Motivation

• Theme

• Central message

 

Plot Outline

 

Parts of Speech,

Sub/Verb Agreement

Pronoun Agreement

Verb Tenses

Types of Sentences

Short Constructed Responses

Extended Constructed Responses

​​

Readings​

​

When the Waters Rise - non-fiction by Alex Shultz

​

A Kenyan Teen's Discovery  - non-fiction by Nina Gregory

​

Violence in Movies

​

A Poison Tree - a poem by William Blake

​

Additional Projects

​​​​​​

Digital Citizenship: The Four Factors of Fair Use

​

Technology Integration: Spreadsheet tracking STAAR and test results

​

Scholastic Writing Contest

​

​

 

Second 9 Weeks

​​

Literary Skills

prepositions, prepositional phrases

Literary Vocabulary

• Graphic Feature

• Text Structure

• Organizational Pattern

• Author’s Purpose

• Evidence

• Thesis

• Controlling Idea

• Argument

• Claim

• Counterargument

• Informational Text

• Audience

short constructed responses

extended constructed responses

​

Readings

​

​The Tell-Tale Heart - a short story by Edgar Allan Poe.

How do we know when a narrator is reliable? In Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the central mystery about the main character concerns his sanity in the midst of a terrible murder confession. Will he give himself away, or get away with murder?

​

The Landlady - a short story by Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda.

​​​

I, Too - poem by Langston Hughes

​​

Inside Out and Back Again - a selection of poems by Thanhha Lai

How can moving to a new place change one’s sense of self?

​​

Mandatory Volunteer Work for Teenagers

​

Recess for Everyone

​

The Monkey's Paw - short story by W.W. Jacobs

​​

​​

Additional Projects​​​​​

​

Digital Citizenship: Social Media and Digital Footprints

​

Technology Integration:  Decision Flowchart

​

​

​

 

​

​

​​​​

​

​

Unit 3

​

Literary Skills

​

elements of poetry 

​​

​

Readings

​

Abuela Invents the Zero - a short story by Judith Ortiz Cofer

​

My Mother Pieced Quilts - a poem by Teresa Palomo Acosta

​

Monsters are Due on Maple Street - a teleplay by Rod Serling

​

About Cesar (Chavez)

​

​

Additional Projects

​

Digital Citizenship: This Just In

​

Technology Integration:  Video

 

​

​

​

​

​​

​

​

​

4th Nine Weeks

​​

Literary Skills

​

Readings

Lamb to the Slaughter

For Genz, TikTok is the New Search Engine 

Mandatory Military Service in America

​​

The House on Mango Street - a collection of short stories/ vignettes by Sandra Cisneros

​

​

​

​

Additional Projects

​

​​​​Digital Citizenship: Digital Media and Your Brain

​

Technology Integration:  App Smashing​​​

​​

​​

 

 

9th Grade Curriculum

• Animal Farm — George Orwell — Novel/Allegory

• Antigone — Sophocles — Play/Tragedy

• An Obstacle — Charlotte Perkins Gilman — Poem

• The Baseball School for Big-League Dreamers & I Believe in the Also Rans — Cambium/CommonLit — Informational

• Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People — Mahzarin Banaji & Anthony Greenwald — Informational/StudySync

• Borderlands/La Frontera — Gloria Anzaldúa — Literary Nonfiction/Essay

• The Cask of Amontillado — Edgar Allan Poe — Short Story

• The Chaser — John Collier — Short Story

• Confessions — Amy Tan — Short Story

• The Crossover (Informational excerpt) — Kwame Alexander — Informational/StudySync

• Dusting — Julia Alvarez — Poem

• The Gifts of Imperfection — Brené Brown — Argumentative/Informational

• The Harlem (poem) — Langston Hughes — Poem

• Harrison Bergeron — Kurt Vonnegut — Short Story

• High Court Reviews Insanity Defense Case — CommonLit — Informational

• How You See Yourself — CommonLit — Informational

• If— — Rudyard Kipling — Poem

• It Is Raining on the House of Anne Frank — Linda Pastan — Poem

• It’s No One’s Fault When It’s Everyone’s Fault — CommonLit — Informational

• The Journey — Mary Oliver — Poem

• John F. Kennedy Speech (excerpt) — John F. Kennedy — Argumentative Speech

• The Lady or the Tiger? — Frank R. Stockton — Short Story

• Lord of the Flies — William Golding — Novel

• Love in a Headscarf (excerpt) — Shelina Zahra Janmohamed — Literary Nonfiction/StudySync

• The Most Dangerous Game — Richard Connell — Short Story

• The Negro Speaks of Rivers — Langston Hughes — Poem

• The Necklace — Guy de Maupassant — Short Story

• Night (excerpt) — Elie Wiesel — Memoir

• Ode to a Selfie — Marcus Wicker — Poem

• Outliers (excerpt) — Malcolm Gladwell — Informational/StudySync

• Rights to the Streets of Memphis — Richard Wright — Short Story/Autobiographical

• Romiette and Julio — Sharon M. Draper — Novel

• The Scarlet Ibis — James Hurst — Short Story

• Scythe (excerpt) — Neal Shusterman — Novel Excerpt/StudySync

• The Sniper — Liam O’Flaherty — Short Story

• The Sound of Thunder — Ray Bradbury — Short Story

• Strange Fruit — Abel Meeropol — Poem

• Twelve Angry Men — Reginald Rose — Play

• We Wear the Mask — Paul Laurence Dunbar — Poem

• What’s Going On (essay) — Cary O’Dell — Essay

• Why I Lied About Knowing Karate — CommonLit/StudySync — Informational/Personal Essay

• Why Kids Bully: Because They’re Popular — CommonLit — Informational

​

​

optional

 

The Lottery - a short story by Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson’s short story caused a sensation when it was first published. How could a tale about a tradition in an ordinary American town create such powerful interest?

​

The Lady or the Tiger - a short story by Frank Stockton

Frank Stockton, an engraver by trade, was said to have been influenced at an early age by the royalty and mythical creatures in fairy tales, as well as by a fourteen-year-old servant girl who amused him by reading blood-curdling stories aloud in his kitchen. Both influences are evident in "The Lady, or the Tiger", the most famous of all his works. The ambiguity of the story is the likely reason its popularity persists.

​​

Sorry, Wrong Number - a play by Louise Fletcher

What happens when a woman hears a phone conversation she wasn’t meant to hear? In this excerpt from the first scene of Act I of Lucille Fletcher’s play Sorry, Wrong Number, the playwright develops the suspenseful plot through the use of a party line, or a shared telephone line in the days when operators used manual switchboards to connect one caller to another.

 

A Meme is Not Just a Meme (CommonLit): Thomas Pool's article "A Meme is Not Just a Meme" draws a comparison between modern memes and the succinct communication found in art from caves, emphasizing their similar capacity to communicate complex ideas.​

Priscilla and the Wimps - a short story by Richard Peck 

​

Parallel Journeys - non-fiction by Eleanor Ayer

​

Who's the Real Hero? (non-fiction): Does a hero need to have special qualities? If so, what are they? Here, two writers with very different opinions face off over the definition and qualifications of heroism.

​

Slam, Dunk, Hook - a poem by Yusef Komunyakaa

Ode to the Selfie - a poem by Megan Falley

How can the significance of the selfie convey a positive message about its effects?

​

​

Speech to the Ohio Women's Conference: Ain't I a Woman - speech by Sojourner Truth

​

Gaming Communities - non-fiction by Joshua Vink

​

Mandatory Volunteer Work for Teenagers

​

​