KAKhaemenes AcademyEnglish 9 · Unit 1
High SchoolLanguage Arts

Term I · Weeks 1–3

Unit 01

Foundations of Scholarly Reading & Writing

Establish annotation, inference, paragraph architecture, grammar control, academic integrity, and productive revision habits.

Begin Week 1Unit OverviewAssessments

Essential Question

How do careful readers turn observations into defensible ideas?

Text and Source Family

Original course texts, short public-domain essays, selected speeches, and teacher-approved informational passages.

Learning Priorities

  • Read closely and cite precise textual evidence.
  • Write through planning, drafting, feedback, revision, editing, and reflection.
  • Use language conventions and vocabulary as tools for meaning and style.
  • Discuss, present, listen, question, and respond with intellectual fairness.
  • Preserve major work in the Grade 9 portfolio.

Unit 1 required reading · The First Annotation

Original Khaemenes Academy passage for Grade 9; available offline.

Sela read the notice once and thought she understood it. On a second reading she circled the words 'some routes' and asked whether the notice referred to every street. The difference between 'some' and 'all' changed the claim she was willing to make.

Her notebook separated the printed words from her interpretation. She could quote the notice, explain a possibility, and identify what the passage did not say.

Focus: Close reading. Read twice. Underline two specific details, explain how they support or complicate an interpretation, and write an evidence-based paragraph relevant to this unit's focus. Keep the paragraph in your existing portfolio; revisit it during Weeks 1–3.

Unit reading-response assessment · 100 points

After completing the unit reading, submit a response in the existing portfolio. Your teacher can use this rubric for feedback; this page does not automatically change your grade or mastery status.

Reading response scoring guide
CriterionPointsWhat strong work demonstrates
Comprehension20Accurately explains the text without inventing details.
Textual evidence25Uses specific, accurately contextualized quotations or details.
Interpretation25Explains how evidence supports a nuanced interpretation and acknowledges uncertainty.
Writing clarity15Organizes claims and reasoning in clear, precise language.
Revision15Demonstrates a meaningful change after review and explains why it improves the work.

Process: Read and annotate → draft → check quotations → seek feedback → revise → preserve both drafts. If a reading is a brief instructional microtext, also complete the course's longer assigned literature; the microtext does not replace it.

Three-Week Sequence

Read, analyze, compose, and demonstrate.

Week 01

Diagnostic Reading & Writer Identity

What do my present reading and writing habits reveal?

sentence boundaries and paragraph unity
Open Week
Week 02

Close Reading, Claims & Evidence

How does a reader move from detail to inference?

subjects, predicates, phrases, and clauses
Open Week
Week 03

Revision, Style & Academic Integrity

What changes make writing clearer, stronger, and more trustworthy?

fragments, run-ons, comma splices, coordination
Open Week

Performance Evidence

Evidence-based analytical paragraph, revised diagnostic essay, and language conventions check.

Students submit planning, one meaningful draft, feedback or conference notes, the finished product, and a short reflection explaining the strongest revision.

Add to PortfolioOpen RubricsDraft in PROSE

Standards Emphasis

Measured through authentic work.

  • RL.9-10.1–2
  • RI.9-10.1–2
  • W.9-10.4–5
  • L.9-10.1–2
  • SL.9-10.1