Using ThinkCERCA's Differentiated Lessons and Instructional Activities with HMH Collections, Grade 12

ThinkCERCA provides a thematic alignment to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Collections for English Language Arts, one of the most commonly used ELA curricula in the United States. The ThinkCERCA aligned sets (Direct Instruction, Applied Reading and Writing, and Additional Reading Practice) support the content that students will be focusing on in the HMH Collections anchor texts, standards, and performance tasks. Additional Direct Instruction resources are provided as an extra support for skills critical for success with the Collection topics and themes.

• Collection 1: Chasing Success
• Collection 2: Gender Roles
• Collection 3: Voices of Protest
• Collection 4: Seeking Justice, Seeking Peace
• Collection 5: Taking Risks
• Collection 6: Finding Ourselves in Nature

Collection 1: Chasing Success

Differentiated Lesson Sets

• School Policy - How can we improve student learning?

Direct Instruction

• What Is CERCA?
• Figurative Language
• Summarizing
• Central Ideas

Collection 2: Gender Roles

Differentiated Lesson Sets

• Women in War - What are the opportunities and challenges of women fighting in combat?

Direct Instruction

• Counterarguments
• Writing Personal Narratives

Collection 3: Voices of Protest

Differentiated Lesson Sets

• Thomas Paine and the Philosophy of Revolutions - How did the writings of Thomas Paine influence both the American and French Revolutions?
• Modern Protest - What is the most effective way to organize a protest?

Direct Instruction

• Evaluating Sound Arguments
• Organizing Your Argument
• Common Ideas Across Texts

Collection 4: Seeking Justice, Seeking Peace

Differentiated Lesson Sets

• Character and Risk - When are tempting rewards worth the risk?
• Through Their Eyes - How do authors use point of view and perspective to affect their readers’ experience of a story?

Direct Instruction

• Central Ideas
• Point of View and Perspective
• Explicit and Inferred Information in Informational Texts

Collection 5: Taking Risks

Differentiated Lesson Sets

• Comparing Traditional Tales - How do world cultures express their values through traditional tales?

Direct Instruction

• Author’s Purpose
• Summarizing

Collection 6: Finding Ourselves in Nature

Differentiated Lesson Sets

• Nature - How do poets see themselves and their humanity reflected in the natural world?
• Human and Animal Interactions - What positive and negative effects do human activities have on endangered animals?

Direct Instruction

• Figurative Language