Overview

Lesson Procedure

55-65 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction15 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "A friend says the new soccer coach is strict. As proof, he says she made the team run two laps because one player was late. Is that one clue enough to convince you? Write two more clues that would make you believe him, and say what each new clue adds."

   Collect answers and list the clues on the board. Point out that the best new clues show something the first one does not: a rule about phones (a different kind of strictness), a coach who never lets it slide (it happens every time), players who say so (other people agree). A clue like "she made them run laps again" only repeats the first one. Tell students that grade 7 asks for several pieces of evidence for each claim about a text, and that each piece should add something.

2. Direct Instruction15 minutes

   Review four words and teach two new ones, and leave them on the board:

   • Textual evidence: words from the text that back up what you say about it.
   • Cite: show where the evidence comes from. Here, copy the exact words in quotation marks and add the passage and paragraph number, for example (Passage 3, paragraph 2).
   • Explicit: stated directly in the words of the text.
   • Inference: a conclusion the text supports but does not state, reached by joining clues from the text with what you already know.
   • Several pieces of evidence (new): two or more quotations for one claim. Each one should show a different part of the claim, such as a different time, a different person or a different kind of detail.
   • Observation and interpretation (new): an observation is what the writer saw or heard; an interpretation is what the writer thinks it means.

   Introduce the text. Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) was a polar explorer born in Ireland. In 1914 he sailed south on the ship Endurance, planning to cross Antarctica on foot. In January 1915 the ship froze fast in the pack (sea ice made of many floating pieces) of the Weddell Sea and drifted with it for months. South tells the story, partly in Shackleton's own narrative and partly from his diary. Words to know for Passage 1: coffer-dam (a wall built inside the ship to hold back leaking water), pressure-ridges (walls of broken ice pushed up where two ice sheets collide), respite (a short break from something hard), compression (squeezing), cyclonic (from large storm systems), constriction (narrowing), testified (gave proof), intruders (people who do not belong), elementary forces (the forces of nature), puny (small and weak), sledging journey (a trip over the ice pulling sledges) and contingency (something that might happen). Read the passage aloud.

   1Monday, October 25, dawned cloudy and misty, with a minus temperature and a strong south-easterly breeze. All hands were pumping at intervals and assisting the carpenter with the coffer-dam. The leak was being kept under fairly easily, but the outlook was bad. Heavy pressure-ridges were forming in all directions, and though the immediate pressure upon the ship was not severe, I realized that the respite would not be prolonged. The pack within our range of vision was being subjected to enormous compression, such as might be caused by cyclonic winds, opposing ocean currents, or constriction in a channel of some description. The pressure-ridges, massive and threatening, testified to the overwhelming nature of the forces that were at work. Huge blocks of ice, weighing many tons, were lifted into the air and tossed aside as other masses rose beneath them. We were helpless intruders in a strange world, our lives dependent upon the play of grim elementary forces that made a mock of our puny efforts. I scarcely dared hope now that the Endurance would live, and throughout that anxious day I reviewed again the plans made long before for the sledging journey that we must make in the event of our having to take to the ice. We were ready, as far as forethought could make us, for every contingency. Stores, dogs, sledges, and equipment were ready to be moved from the ship at a moment’s notice.

   • Explicit: two pieces, two parts of the claim

     Claim: on October 25 the crew kept the leak under control. Which evidence proves it?

     Result: Two pieces, and each adds something. What the crew did: "All hands were pumping at intervals and assisting the carpenter with the coffer-dam." The result: "The leak was being kept under fairly easily" (both Passage 1, paragraph 1). The first shows the work; the second shows that it succeeded.

   • Explicit: a fact in your own words

     Claim: the ice around the ship was moving with enormous force.

     Result: Students may say it in their own words (the ice threw blocks around as if they weighed nothing) but still cite two places: "Huge blocks of ice, weighing many tons, were lifted into the air and tossed aside" shows the force in action, and the ridges "testified to the overwhelming nature of the forces that were at work" names it.

   • Inference: three clues

     Shackleton never writes "I prepared for the worst." Can a reader infer it?

     Result: Yes, from three clues. His fear: "I scarcely dared hope now that the Endurance would live." His planning: "I reviewed again the plans made long before for the sledging journey." The crew's readiness: supplies "were ready to be moved from the ship at a moment’s notice." He feared the ship was lost, went over the escape plan and had the supplies ready, so he was preparing for the worst while still hoping.

   • Which evidence set is stronger?

     Claim: Shackleton planned ahead. Set A: "We were ready, as far as forethought could make us, for every contingency" and "the plans made long before." Set B: "Heavy pressure-ridges were forming in all directions" and "the outlook was bad."

     Result: Set A is stronger. "Forethought" means thinking ahead, and "plans made long before" shows the planning happened early, so both pieces speak to the claim and each adds a detail. Set B is quoted correctly, but it describes the ice and the danger, not Shackleton's planning, so it does not support this claim.

   Claim, several pieces, explain. Show Diagram 1. Model the three moves with the third example: state the claim; give two or three quotations, each with its paragraph number; then write one or two sentences on what each piece adds and how they fit together. Give students two sentence frames: "The text states that ___ (paragraph __), and it also says ___ (paragraph __)." and "Three details suggest that ___: ___, ___ and ___. Together they show ___."

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Read Passage 2 aloud. It is the entry for the next day, October 26, and it follows Passage 1 directly in the book. Words to know: inspiriting (cheering), timbers (the large wooden beams of the ship), trenail (a wooden peg that holds planks together), serenely (calmly), facets (flat faces, like those of a cut jewel), racked (strained hard), butts of planking (the ends where planks meet), starboard (the right side of a ship), bridge (the raised deck the ship is steered from), titanic (huge), inexorably (in a way that cannot be stopped), floe (a large flat sheet of floating ice), dirge (a sad song for the dead) and concerted (done together).

   1The following day brought bright clear weather, with a blue sky. The sunshine was inspiriting. The roar of pressure could be heard all around us. New ridges were rising, and I could see as the day wore on that the lines of major disturbance were drawing nearer to the ship. The Endurance suffered some strains at intervals. Listening below, I could hear the creaking and groaning of her timbers, the pistol-like cracks that told of the starting of a trenail or plank, and the faint, indefinable whispers of our ship’s distress. Overhead the sun shone serenely; occasional fleecy clouds drifted before the southerly breeze, and the light glinted and sparkled on the million facets of the new pressure-ridges. The day passed slowly. At 7 p.m. very heavy pressure developed, with twisting strains that racked the ship fore and aft. The butts of planking were opened four and five inches on the starboard side, and at the same time we could see from the bridge that the ship was bending like a bow under titanic pressure. Almost like a living creature, she resisted the forces that would crush her; but it was a one-sided battle. Millions of tons of ice pressed inexorably upon the little ship that had dared the challenge of the Antarctic. The Endurance was now leaking badly, and at 9 p.m. I gave the order to lower boats, gear, provisions, and sledges to the floe, and move them to the flat ice a little way from the ship. The working of the ice closed the leaks slightly at midnight, but all hands were pumping all night. A strange occurrence was the sudden appearance of eight emperor penguins from a crack 100 yds. away at the moment when the pressure upon the ship was at its climax. They walked a little way towards us, halted, and after a few ordinary calls proceeded to utter weird cries that sounded like a dirge for the ship. None of us had ever before heard the emperors utter any other than the most simple calls or cries, and the effect of this concerted effort was almost startling.

   Pairs fill in the evidence chart (Diagram 2) for the claim the ship is losing its fight with the ice, one row at a time. Ask for the exact words first, then share the teacher note:

   1. What he hears. Teacher note: "the pistol-like cracks that told of the starting of a trenail or plank" (Passage 2). It adds sound: the ship's pegs and planks are coming loose, which Shackleton can hear from below deck.
   2. What he sees. Teacher note: "the ship was bending like a bow under titanic pressure." It adds sight: the whole ship is changing shape, not just one plank.
   3. What he orders. Teacher note: "I gave the order to lower boats, gear, provisions, and sledges to the floe." It adds action: the leader himself treats the ship as no longer safe for the supplies.
   4. Your inference. Pairs join the three rows. Teacher note: the ship is being destroyed, and Shackleton knows it. Sound, sight and his own order point the same way, and each comes from a different kind of evidence. Then ask pairs to find a detail that shows the calm weather is not the danger: "Overhead the sun shone serenely" sits right beside "Millions of tons of ice pressed inexorably upon the little ship." The contrast suggests the enemy is the ice, not a storm.
4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Students read Passage 3 on their own: the next day, October 27. Its second paragraph comes from Shackleton's diary, which is why it is in quotation marks. Words to know: lat. and long. (latitude and longitude, the numbers that give a position on the globe), Fahr. (degrees Fahrenheit), compelled (forced), righted (set upright again), centred (British spelling of centered), sentient (able to feel), beset (trapped in the ice), floes (large sheets of floating ice), Paulet Island (a small island near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula), Argentine relief ship (a ship Argentina sent to help an earlier expedition) and the barrier (a wall of ice along the coast).

   1Then came a fateful day—Wednesday, October 27. The position was lat. 69° 5´ S., long. 51° 30´ W. The temperature was –8.5° Fahr., a gentle southerly breeze was blowing and the sun shone in a clear sky.

   2“After long months of ceaseless anxiety and strain, after times when hope beat high and times when the outlook was black indeed, the end of the Endurance has come. But though we have been compelled to abandon the ship, which is crushed beyond all hope of ever being righted, we are alive and well, and we have stores and equipment for the task that lies before us. The task is to reach land with all the members of the Expedition. It is hard to write what I feel. To a sailor his ship is more than a floating home, and in the Endurance I had centred ambitions, hopes, and desires. Now, straining and groaning, her timbers cracking and her wounds gaping, she is slowly giving up her sentient life at the very outset of her career. She is crushed and abandoned after drifting more than 570 miles in a north-westerly direction during the 281 days since she became locked in the ice. The distance from the point where she became beset to the place where she now rests mortally hurt in the grip of the floes is 573 miles, but the total drift through all observed positions has been 1186 miles, and probably we actually covered more than 1500 miles. We are now 346 miles from Paulet Island, the nearest point where there is any possibility of finding food and shelter. A small hut built there by the Swedish expedition in 1902 is filled with stores left by the Argentine relief ship. I know all about those stores, for I purchased them in London on behalf of the Argentine Government when they asked me to equip the relief expedition. The distance to the nearest barrier west of us is about 180 miles, but a party going there would still be about 360 miles from Paulet Island and there would be no means of sustaining life on the barrier. We could not take from here food enough for the whole journey; the weight would be too great.

   On the handout, students (1) state two explicit facts about how far the ship drifted or how far the men are from safety, each with its quotation and paragraph number; (2) write one inference about why Shackleton chooses Paulet Island as the goal, supported by at least three pieces of evidence; (3) find two pieces of evidence that show how Shackleton felt about losing his ship, and explain what the second one adds to the first. The quiz uses Passages 1-3.

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) In one sentence, explain why two different quotations can prove a claim better than one. (2) Write one inference about October 27 and support it with two quotations from Passage 3, each with its paragraph number.

   Teacher note on history and language: South was first published in 1919, and it uses British spellings (neighbourhood, centred, programme) and old abbreviations (yds. for yards, Fahr. for Fahrenheit). The readings stop on the first night on the ice, so students may ask what happened next. The Endurance sank on November 21, 1915, and the plan to march to Paulet Island was given up. The men camped on the drifting ice for months, sailed small boats to Elephant Island in April 1916, and Shackleton and five others then sailed to South Georgia for help. All 28 men of the ship's party survived, and the wreck was found on the floor of the Weddell Sea in 2022. Two cautions for discussion: Shackleton sometimes writes about animals, and even the ship, as if they had human feelings; scientists today are careful not to claim what an animal feels. Later chapters, which are not used here, describe the expedition's dogs being shot when they could no longer be fed; preview this if students read on.

   For homework: students read Passage 4, printed below. It comes from later on October 27, after the men had pitched their tents on the ice and then moved the camp to a bigger floe when the first one began to split. Words to know: mustered (gathered), morale (the spirit or confidence of a group), blubber-stove (a stove that burned seal fat), watch (a person or group that stays awake on guard), looming (seeming about to happen), contingencies (things that might happen), strenuous (very hard) and programme (British spelling of program, a plan). The last sentence means that a person must set a new goal as soon as the old one is lost.

   1“To-night the temperature has dropped to –16° Fahr., and most of the men are cold and uncomfortable. After the tents had been pitched I mustered all hands and explained the position to them briefly and, I hope, clearly. I have told them the distance to the Barrier and the distance to Paulet Island, and have stated that I propose to try to march with equipment across the ice in the direction of Paulet Island. I thanked the men for the steadiness and good morale they have shown in these trying circumstances, and told them I had no doubt that, provided they continued to work their utmost and to trust me, we will all reach safety in the end. Then we had supper, which the cook had prepared at the big blubber-stove, and after a watch had been set all hands except the watch turned in.” For myself, I could not sleep. The destruction and abandonment of the ship was no sudden shock. The disaster had been looming ahead for many months, and I had studied my plans for all contingencies a hundred times. But the thoughts that came to me as I walked up and down in the darkness were not particularly cheerful. The task now was to secure the safety of the party, and to that I must bend my energies and mental power and apply every bit of knowledge that experience of the Antarctic had given me. The task was likely to be long and strenuous, and an ordered mind and a clear programme were essential if we were to come through without loss of life. A man must shape himself to a new mark directly the old one goes to ground.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A student claims that a town's new bike lanes made its streets safer. Which support shows several pieces of evidence that each add something new?

   AThe article's line "Crashes fell" (paragraph 2), then the same line quoted again from the article's last paragraph B"Crashes fell by a third" (paragraph 2), "injuries dropped" (paragraph 3) and "parents now let children ride" (paragraph 5) C"The lanes are painted green" (paragraph 1) and "the project cost two million dollars" (paragraph 4) DThe student's own view, "I think the lanes are great," and "my cousin rides to work on them every day"

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A climber's diary says: "We turned back 200 feet below the summit. Two of us had frostbitten fingers, and storm clouds were building." Which statement is an inference, not an explicit detail?

   AThe climbers turned back 200 feet below the summit that day. BTwo of the climbers had frostbitten fingers that day. CThe climbers judged the danger worse than missing the top. DStorm clouds were building when the climbers turned back.

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to Passage 2, at what time did Shackleton order the boats and supplies lowered to the floe?

   AAt 7 p.m., when the heavy pressure began BAt midnight, when the leaks closed slightly CAt 9 p.m., when the ship was leaking badly DAt dawn, before the sunshine returned

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to Passage 2, how many emperor penguins appeared, and where did they come from?

   AEight penguins, from a crack about 100 yards away BEight penguins, from the open sea beside the ship CAbout a hundred penguins, from a crack in the ice DThree penguins, from the pressure-ridges nearby

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Shackleton writes that the penguins' cries "sounded like a dirge for the ship" (Passage 2). Which statement does the text support as an observation, not an interpretation?

   AThe penguins were mourning the loss of the ship. BThe penguins were warning the men to leave the ship. CThe penguins' cries meant the ship would sink that night. DThe penguins made cries the men had never heard before.

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Shackleton writes, "Almost like a living creature, she resisted the forces that would crush her" (Passage 2). Which other detail in Passage 2 also describes the ship as if it were alive?

   A"New ridges were rising" B"the faint, indefinable whispers of our ship’s distress" C"The day passed slowly" D"occasional fleecy clouds drifted before the southerly breeze"

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which statement is stated explicitly in Passage 2, not inferred?

   AThe men were too frightened to sleep that night. BThe pressure on the ship was worst at noon that day. CThe planking opened four and five inches on the starboard side. DThe moving ice had closed every one of the leaks by midnight that night.

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In Passage 1, the pack was being squeezed as if by "cyclonic winds, opposing ocean currents, or constriction in a channel of some description." What can a reader infer from this sentence?

   AHe names three possible causes, so he was not sure what caused it. BShackleton proves that ocean currents alone were squeezing the pack. CShackleton blames the carpenter for steering the ship into a channel. DShackleton says a cyclone had struck the ship the night before.

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to Passage 3, for how many days had the Endurance been locked in the ice?

   A570 days B346 days C1186 days D281 days

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    According to Passage 3, paragraph 1, what was the weather like on October 27?

    AA strong gale and heavy snow from the west BA gentle southerly breeze and a clear sky CThick fog, low cloud and snow all day DA thaw that made the decks dripping wet

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Shackleton writes that the hut on Paulet Island holds stores and adds, "I know all about those stores, for I purchased them in London" (Passage 3, paragraph 2). Why does he include this detail?

    ATo show that he is sure the food is there BTo show that he plans to sail back to London CTo complain that the stores cost too much money DTo explain why the Swedish team built the hut

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which pair of details from Passage 3, paragraph 2 together explains why Shackleton does not plan to head for the barrier?

    AThe barrier is "about 180 miles" away, and the men "are alive and well" after leaving the crushed ship BA hut on Paulet Island is "filled with stores," and the ship had drifted "more than 570 miles" in the ice CThe party "would still be about 360 miles from Paulet Island," and there would be "no means of sustaining life on the barrier" DThe ship is "crushed beyond all hope of ever being righted," and "It is hard to write what I feel"

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which piece of evidence from Passage 3 best supports the inference that losing the ship was a personal loss for Shackleton, not only a practical problem?

    A"in the Endurance I had centred ambitions, hopes, and desires" B"The position was lat. 69° 5´ S., long. 51° 30´ W." C"We could not take from here food enough for the whole journey; the weight would be too great" D"we have stores and equipment for the task that lies before us"

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    According to Passage 3, paragraph 2, who built the hut on Paulet Island, and when?

    AThe crew of the Argentine relief ship, in 1914 BShackleton's own men on an earlier trip, in 1902 CThe Swedish expedition, in the year 1914 DThe Swedish expedition, in the year 1902

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Passage 3 says the ship is 573 miles from where it became beset, but its "total drift through all observed positions has been 1186 miles." What can a reader infer?

    AThe ship sailed all 1186 miles under the power of its own steam engine. BThe ice carried the ship back and forth, not in a straight line. CShackleton added the numbers wrong in his diary. DThe ship drifted south toward the Pole the whole time.

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Shackleton writes that "The working of the ice closed the leaks slightly at midnight, but all hands were pumping all night" (Passage 2). What can you infer about how serious the leaks were? Support your inference with this quotation and one more piece of evidence from Passage 2, and say what the second piece adds.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Right after "the end of the Endurance has come," Shackleton writes "we are alive and well" (Passage 3, paragraph 2). What can you infer about how he wanted to face the loss? Support your inference with two more pieces of evidence from paragraph 2.

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18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    The damage to the Endurance grew worse from October 25 to October 27. Support this claim with one piece of evidence from each of Passages 1, 2 and 3, and say what each piece shows about that day.

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19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Claim: on October 25 the danger to the ship seemed to be growing, even though the leak was under control. Set A: "The pressure-ridges, massive and threatening" and "I realized that the respite would not be prolonged." Set B: "a strong south-easterly breeze" and "Monday, October 25, dawned cloudy and misty." Which set supports the claim, and what does each of its two pieces add?

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20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    A classmate writes: "By October 27 the crew had run out of food. The text says, 'We could not take from here food enough for the whole journey; the weight would be too great' (Passage 3, paragraph 2)." Explain what is wrong with this use of evidence, and give one piece of evidence that points the other way.

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These standards connect to RI.7.1: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.