Non-Fiction/Performance Tasks Part II

In our last meeting with the Social Studies department, many of our CC Reads were shared. They were excited about the findings and especially the connection to the performance tasks. Since then, we have come across some more we would like to include in our Non-fiction/Performance Tasks:
Allen, Thomas B. George Washington, Spymaster: How America Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War. An outstanding book about how spies and secret agents played an important role in the Revolutionary War. (Look for the coded messages along the spine.)
Math & science tie-ins: Codes, ciphers, and recipes for tools like invisible ink offer puzzles and experiments to use across the curriculum.

Armstrong, Jennifer. Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance. The 1914 Antarctic expedition when the loss of their ship sent Shackleton and his men on a perilous journey across ice and stormy seas to reach inhabited land.
Performance Task 6.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as through inference Have student identify the key ideas of this survival story in terms of information presented but also the sub-text about courage.

Armstrong, Jennifer. Photo by Brady: A Picture of the Civil War. Biography of photographer Mathew B. Brady, best known for his photographs of the Civil War.
Performance task 9-10.2 Determine central idea and its development over course of text Armstrong contends that photographs influenced public perception of this war and war in general. Summarize and trace her idea and the details she provides.

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler's Shadow. Nearly half of Germans age 10-18 got involved in Hitler’s Youth movement. Their stories and those of teens who rebelled told through a gripping narrative and the words of those involved.
Performance task 8.3 Analyze how text makes connections/distinctions among individuals (through comparisons, etc.) Bartoletti distinguishes among youth who questioned Hitler’s teaching and those who didn’t. Consider how she compares them.

Burns, Loree Griffin. Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion. About a scientist who tracks trash, including rubber ducks and hockey gloves, in the ocean.
Performance task 9-10.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of the text’s explicit and implicit content Burns contends that the problem of trash in the oceans is larger than generally recognized, which she presents through the work of a scientist. Summarize content and cite explicit and implied evidence.

Crowe, Chris. Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case. The brutal killing and its aftermath of a 14-year-old Chicago boy in Mississippi in 1955.
Fiction tie-in: Compare with Crowe’s fiction version, Mississippi Trial, 1955.

Greenberg, Jan, and Sandra Jordan. Vincent Van Gogh: Portrait of an Artist. A highly readable biography that draws heavily on the artist’s correspondence.
Web tie-ins
1. www.vangoghletters.com Students can further explore letters written by and to Van Gogh at a website of Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum.
2. www.vangoghmuseum.nl Students can look at the many paintings of Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, organized both alphabetically and by category, presented with useful notes.

Hill, Laban. Harlem Stomp! A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance.
Performance task RI 9-10.3 Analyze how the author unfolds a series of ideas or events Have students analyze Hill’s choices in how he organized this history, which begins with a chronological structure but then switches to chapters 6-9 that cover the same time period.

Murphy, Jim. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. An excellent account of how yellow fever swept Philadelphia in 1793.
Fiction tie-ins Pair this with Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson or Path of the Pale Horse by Paul Fleischman (out of print), both excellent novels about the yellow fever epidemic, set in Philadelphia.

Schlosser, Eric and Charles Wilson. Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food. A behind-the-scenes look at the fast food industry, beautifully adapted from Fast Food Nation, with added material about teens.
Performance task RI 9-10.7 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text Schlosser makes strong arguments on several aspects of fast food. Have students choose one of the arguments and assess “whether the reasoning is valid.” Have them try to identify “false statements and fallacious reasoning,” presenting their own counterarguments on this topic of high interest to teens. A debate format would suit this assignment well.

Stone, Tanya Lee. Almost Astronauts: The True Story of The "Mercury 13" Women. The story of thirteen women who qualified to be astronauts except for one requirement: that they had been test pilots, which women weren’t allowed to do. The grim story of how they were shut out.
Performance task: RI 6.6 Determining author’s point of view Stone is sympathetic to the Mercury 13 women. Have students find evidence in the text that reveals her viewpoint, such as her language in describing the women and their personalities.

Thimmesh, Catherine and Melissa Sweet. Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women. How women have responded to situations confronting them in daily life by inventing such items as correction fluid, space helmets, and disposable diapers.
Performance task 6.2 Determine central idea and how it is conveyed Thimmesh contends invented useful items based on their needs. Summarize the text and give details without adding opinion.

Walker, Sally M. Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley. The excavation a civil war submarine near Charleston, S.C., in 1995.
Performance task 7.5 Analyze structure including major sections Walker alternates discussion of the modern day excavation of the Hunley with how it was built and used during the Civil War. Analyze how alternating the information contributes to the whole and the development of ideas.