Lesson 1 Assessments

Formative Assessment: Written​: K-W-L Chart: Introduction to ​The Grapes of Wrath

What are some things that you know about economic disasters and natural disasters in the U.S.: the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl,
hurricanes (like Maria, Irma Harvey, Katrina, etc)?

Assess what you know about a particular topic before and after you have engaged with it. Fill in the columns below with what you ​K​now
about the topic, what you ​W​ant to know, and what you have ​L​earned.

What do you ​K​now about the topic? (K) What do you ​W​ant to know? (W) What did you ​L​earn? (L)

I have observed… I wonder why… I discovered that…

I realized that…

Jennings 1
 Formative Assessment​: Anticipation Guide for​ The Grapes of Wrath

Step 1:​ Think about each statement first. Then respond to each one by circling the corresponding number of whether you strongly disagree (1-2), strongly
agree (8-9), disagree (3-4), agree (6-7), or are undecided (5).

Before Reading After Reading

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 In a time of economic depression and uncertainty, taking 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

care of the larger group allows everyone to thrive.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 In times of terrible catastrophe, only the fittest organisms 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

will survive; this is a good result.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 Mere survival is not what is meant by the American dream. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 Individualism is not a useful adaptation in a time of 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

scarcity.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 In American culture, strength of character and hard work 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

are linked to material success.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 People can adapt to almost any change in environment or 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

circumstances.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 Even if a dream is impossible to achieve, you should still 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

pursue it.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 Life is such a powerful force that it can persist no matter 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9
the conditions.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree

Step 2:​ Next, choose one statement that you have a strong reaction to or opinion about and do a quick write (on the back side of this page) explaining
your claim, or position (why).
Ex: I strongly agree that _______________________________ because ____________________________________________. For example, …

Jennings 2
 Lesson 2 Assessments

Formative Assessment: Verbal​: F

​ ollow-up questions for the whole-class discussion continuing the Anticipation Guide from Lesson 1:
Thumbs Up (agree)? Thumbs Down (disagree)? (after doing a Think, Pair, Share)

1. How many people agreed with this statement (thumbs up)? How many people disagreed with this statement (thumbs down)?

2. What are some of the reasons you put your thumb up (agree) / put your thumb down (disagree)? -What are some of the things this
statement means to you?

3. Does anyone want to add on to [Student First Name’s] opinion or explanation?

4. Or does anyone have a justification that takes the statement or the discussion so far in a slightly different direction?

5. Can you think back to what we learned about the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression? Does that change your opinion on this
statement?

Jennings 3
 Text-Dependent Questions: T
​ he Grapes of Wrath​: Chapters 1-2

Formative Assessment: Verbal and written​: With your elbow partner, answer the questions below by going back into Chapters 1-2 to find
textual evidence (words, phrases, quotes) for each answer.

Chapter 1

1. How is nature (the sun, wind, rain) described in Chapter 1? List words, phrases, images, and colors from the text.

For questions 2 and 3, decide whether you think each statement is true or false. Circle “T” for True or “F” for False. Using complete
sentences, provide at least one example and a page number from the text that supports your answer.

2. Nature (the sun, the wind, the rain) is described as a force that hurts the people: T or F? Explain your reasoning with evidence from
the text to support your answer.

3. Nature intends to be harsh: T or F? Explain your reasoning with evidence from the text to support your answer.

4. What do you notice about the people? How are they described? List words, phrases, and images from the text.

Jennings 4
Chapter 2

1. Look back at the description of the man who crosses the highway. How is he dressed? What do his new clothes suggest? Explain
your reasoning with evidence from the text to support your answer.

2. What do you know about Tom Joad so far? What is his background?

3. How does the truck driver feel about Tom? Explain your reasoning with evidence from the text. What are some of the words that let
you know?

4. What does the truck driver want to do? What is his dream? Explain your reasoning using evidence from the text to support your
answer.

5. Does Tom Joad have the same dream as the truck driver? If not, what is h
​ is​ dream? Explain your reasoning using evidence from the
text to support your answer.

6. What do we learn about Tom Joad by the end of the chapter? Explain your answer using evidence from the text.

Jennings 5
 Lesson 3 Assessments

Formative verbal assessment​: Google Slides Questions: Recap from last week’s lesson, Lesson 2, on Chapter 2: T
​ he Grapes of Wrath
More textual reference practice

Driving Question: From what you know about the harsh environment of Oklahoma in Chapter 1 and what you remember of Tom Joad in
Chapter 2, how do you feel about Tom Joad? Does he persevere in spite of challenging conditions?
1. T or F: Tom Joad is the kind of guy you would give a ride to.
2. T or F: “Outlaw” would be a good word to describe Tom Joad.
3. T or F: Tom Joad would agree with this statement: “I should accept the things I cannot change.”
4. T or F: At the end of the ride, Tom has the upper hand on the truck driver.

Formative verbal assessment​: Guided Questions: Think, Pair, Share and Whole Class Discussion Questions:
The land turtle in Chapter Three

1. What do you think the dominant image is?

2. What picture do you get in your mind? How does it remind you of the environment in Ch 1?
3. What is nature being compared to? How do you know?
a. Can you think back to the metaphor we talked about in ​Gatsby​ about Daisy: “her voice was full of money”?
4. What do you think that means, then, about the turtle?
5. What is the turtle being compared to, and what does that mean?
6. Can you relate to the turtle’s experience here? Why?
7. How does his experience remind you of Tom Joad’s in Ch 2?
8. What do you think “line of march” suggests about the turtle?
9. Is there anything else that is different about the turtle’s description?
10. What does planting a seed suggest about the turtle?
11. What is still the same about the turtle’s character? How do you know?
12. Why does the turtle survive?

Jennings 6
 Formative Written Assessment​: Double-Entry Journal: T
​ he Grapes of Wrath​: Chapter 3: The turtle

What do you observe? What might that mean?

As you engage with Chapter 3, select a few phrases that you find meaningful or interesting about the turtle. Write each phrase in the first
column below, then write your reaction (a comment, question, connection made, or analysis) to each quote in the second column.

Chapter 3: The turtle

THE CONCRETE HIGHWAY​ was edged with a mat of tangled, broken, dry grass, and the grass heads were heavy with oat beards to catch
on a dog's coat, and foxtails to tangle in a horse's fetlocks, and clover burrs to fasten in sheep's wool; sleeping life waiting to be spread and
dispersed, every seed armed with an appliance of dispersal, twisting darts and parachutes for the wind, little spears and balls of tiny thorns,
and all waiting for animals and for the wind, for a man's trouser cuff or the hem of a woman's skirt, all passive but armed with appliances of
activity, still, but each possessed of the anlage of movement.

Quotes from the Text:​ What do I observe? My Thoughts:​ What might that mean?
(images, phrases, metaphors) (comments, questions, connections)

Jennings 7
 The sun lay on the grass and warmed it, and in the shade under the grass the insects moved, ants and ant lions to set traps for them,
grasshoppers to jump into the air and flick their yellow wings for a second, sow bugs like little armadillos, plodding restlessly on many
tender feet. And over the grass at the roadside a land turtle crawled, turning aside for nothing, dragging his high-domed shell over the grass:
His hard legs and yellow-nailed feet threshed slowly through the grass, not really walking, but boosting and dragging his shell along. The
barley beards slid off his shell, and the clover burrs fell on him and rolled to the ground. His horny beak was partly open, and his fierce,
humorous eyes, under brows like fingernails, stared straight ahead. He came over the grass leaving a beaten trail behind him, and the hill,
which was the highway embankment, reared up ahead of him. For a moment he stopped, his head held high. He blinked and looked up and
down.

Quotes from the Text: ​What do I observe? My Thoughts: ​What might that mean?
(images, phrases, metaphors) (comments, questions, connections)

Jennings 8
 At last he started to climb the embankment. Front clawed feet reached forward but did not touch. The hind feet kicked his shell
along, and it scraped on the grass, and on the gravel. As the embankment grew steeper and steeper, the more frantic were the efforts of the
land turtle. Pushing hind legs strained and slipped, boosting the shell along, and the horny head protruded as far as the neck could stretch.
Little by little the shell slid up the embankment until at last a parapet cut straight across its line of march, the shoulder of the road, a
concrete wall four inches high. As though they worked independently the hind legs pushed the shell against the wall. The head upraised and
peered over the wall to the broad smooth plain of cement. Now the hands, braced on top of the wall, strained and lifted, and the shell came
slowly up and rested its front end on the wall.

Quotes from the Text: ​What do I observe? My Thoughts: ​What might that mean?
(images, phrases, metaphors) (comments, questions, connections)

Jennings 9
 For a moment the turtle rested. A red ant ran into the shell, into the soft skin inside the shell, and suddenly head and legs snapped
in, and the armored tail clamped in sideways. The red ant was crushed between body and legs. And one head of wild oats was clamped into
the shell by a front leg. For a long moment the turtle lay still, and then the neck crept out and the old humorous frowning eyes looked about
and the legs and tail came out. The back legs went to work, straining like elephant legs, and the shell tipped to an angle so that the front legs
could not reach the level cement plain. But higher and higher the hind legs boosted it, until at last the center of balance was reached, the
front tipped down, the front legs scratched at the pavement, and it was up. But the head of wild oats was held by its stem around the front
legs.

Quotes from the Text: ​What do I observe? My Thoughts: ​What might that mean?
(images, phrases, metaphors) (comments, questions, connections)

Jennings 10
 Now the going was easy, and all the legs worked, and the shell boosted along, waggling from side to side. A sedan driven by a
forty-year-old woman approached. She saw the turtle and swung to the right, off the highway, the wheels screamed and a cloud of dust
boiled up. Two wheels lifted for a moment and then settled. The car skidded back onto the road, and went on, but more slowly. The turtle
had jerked into its shell, but now it hurried on, for the highway was burning hot.

And now a light truck approached, and as it came near, the driver saw the turtle and swerved to hit it. His front wheel struck the
edge of the shell, flipped the turtle like a tiddly-wink, spun it like a coin, and rolled it off the highway. The truck went back to its course
along the right side. Lying on its back, the turtle was tight in its shell for a long time. But at last its legs waved in the air, reaching for
something to pull it over. Its front foot caught a piece of quartz and little by little the shell pulled over and flopped upright. The wild oat
head fell out and three of the spearhead seeds stuck in the ground. And as the turtle crawled on down the embankment, its shell dragged dirt
over the seeds. The turtle entered a dust road and jerked itself along, drawing a wavy shallow trench in the dust with its shell. The old
humorous eyes looked ahead, and the horny beak opened a little. His yellow toe nails slipped a fraction in the dust.

Quotes from the Text: ​What do I observe? My Thoughts: ​What might that mean?
(images, phrases, metaphors) (comments, questions, connections)

Jennings 11