9th Grade ELA Project-Based Learning

4th Nine Weeks English Project
S – What is the Situation?
David Pelzer (Author of A Child Called It) is creating a charitable organization to help build awareness and prevent Child Abuse in America.
C – What is the Challenge?
David has hired you as a part of his charitable organization team to create a campaign to raise money and awareness on this issue.
R – What Role(s) does the student assume?
Non-profit organization team member
A – Who is the Audience?
Large companies and other citizen groups that will be considering donating to your charitable organization.
P – What is the Product or Performance?
-Pages (You will use the storyboard template to summarize David Pelzer’s life and use textual evidence to support your summary.)
-Keynote (charitable organization campaign presentation)

Course of Study Standards:
10. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text
17. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning
20 a. Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence
21 a. Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting, graphic, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension
21 b. Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic
25. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically
26. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation
35. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate
Outcomes: The students will summarize the life of author, David Pelzer, as recorded in A Child Called It. The students will create a persuasive argument for people to donate to an anti-child abuse charity. The students will formally present their persuasive presentations.
Essential Question: Why is it important to cite text evidence when making an argument? How can I decide if an author’s reasoning is valid? What is the most effective way to build a persuasive argument? How can I use technology to enhance the presentation of my point of view? Why is formal speech important in certain situations?
Unit Questions: How does charity work benefit all of our society? Should and how can people help those less fortunate than themselves?

Content Questions: (Align with content standards and learning objectives and support the Essential and Unit Questions): What were the main events in David Pelzer’s life? What are key components for charitable organizations’ advertising? What persuasive techniques should be used in a presentation-format argument? What special technological tools can enhance a persuasive presentation? How can I formally present my argument in a professional way?