CommonLit 360 Secondary Classrooms Announcing New CommonLit 360 Units for Grades 9 and 10

CommonLit 360 is a comprehensive, full-year ELA curriculum for grades 6-12 designed to support student growth in reading, writing, and speaking and listening skills. Our curriculum provides teachers with researched-based instructional materials designed by literacy experts, many of whom are former teachers. We believe that students learn best when they are engaged in meaningful, relevant, and challenging work. Every 360 unit equips educators with all the materials needed to provide this learning experience.

Explore the latest addition to CommonLit 360: new and updated Edition 2.0 Unit 2s for 9th and 10th grades!

As with all CommonLit 360 units, these new units give teachers everything they need for engaging and effective standards-aligned instruction. In addition to integrated reading and writing lessons centered around an essential question and leading to a topical Culminating Task, all units also feature a variety of lessons and activities that help students master academic vocabulary terms and improve discussion skills.

Additionally, schools and districts can unlock two Unit Skills Assessments for each of these units with a School Essentials PRO Plus partnership. These assessments provide teachers with formative insights into how well their students understand and apply unit skills.

9th Grade Unit 2, Edition 2.0 is now available

In 9th grade Unit 2 of CommonLit 360 Edition 2.0, students will read George Orwell’s allegorical novel Animal Farm over 6-9 weeks and explore connections between historical and literary events that serve as warnings for readers. This novel was previously taught in Unit 3 of CommonLit 360 Edition 1.0, but has been shifted earlier in the year with an updated culminating task, a new narrative writing arc, new paired texts, and a new essential question: What makes a person vulnerable to manipulation? What conditions enable corruption?

Students will love engaging with this classic, fast-paced novel with a hidden deeper meaning. It will prompt them to think critically about the characteristics that make someone vulnerable to manipulation and the conditions that enable corruption in government systems. The Culminating Task for this unit allows students to express their understanding of the novel’s themes by writing an essay explaining how Orwell crafts an effective warning in Animal Farm.

Additionally, this unit contributes to the new year-long exploration of the theme Civic Responsibility. As 9th graders explore this theme in each 360 unit, we encourage students to think about themselves as having both rights and duties in our society. Students will consider questions like: What is my role in society? What is the best way to structure a government? Who is responsible for the way society functions and develops? The texts in these units provide complex viewpoints on how our government and society function and whom they serve.

10th Grade Unit 2, Edition 2.0 is now available

In 10th grade Unit 2 of CommonLit 360 Edition 2.0, students will read Ray Bradbury’s classic science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451. Over 6-9 weeks, students will consider how Bradbury delivers social commentary on important topics such as human overdependence on technology and the dangers of knowledge suppression. They’ll work to answer the unit’s essential question: What does science fiction teach us about ourselves and our world?

Students will love exploring relevant themes related to advancing technology and censorship, critically thinking about how fictional worlds with advanced AI or alliances could mirror our own, and diving into their own selected texts chosen from a diverse set of science fiction stories. The Culminating Task for this unit challenges students to develop a presentation that explains how the author of their choice text uses the genre of science fiction to deliver social commentary. As students create their presentations, they will learn to strategically incorporate text and media into visual presentations and to adapt their speaker notes based on a peer review.

Additionally, this unit contributes to the new year-long exploration of the theme Finding Your Voice. As 10th graders explore this theme in each 360 unit, they’ll encounter texts featuring people facing an inflection point and deciding who they want to be. This includes examples of characters who become stronger and braver through their failures. The units in 10th grade feature texts across a wide variety of genres, preparing students for whatever they may encounter on state tests.

9th Grade Unit 3, Edition 2.0 is now available

In 9th grade Unit 3 of CommonLit 360 Edition 2.0, students will analyze historical and contemporary speeches to consider how speakers use rhetorical techniques and intentional delivery to motivate and persuade audiences. Over 5-7 weeks, students will explore great speakers, from Abraham Lincoln to youth activists today, and discover how powerful language can inspire action. They’ll work to answer the unit’s essential question: how can speakers use rhetoric to inspire civic engagement?

Students will love this unit because it empowers them to speak passionately about a change they wish to see. Specifically, the Culminating Task for this unit has students write and deliver a speech inspiring a change that would make their school or local community better.

Additionally, students engage with the year-long theme of Civic Responsibility as they study effective speeches from both history and today that focus on inspiring civic engagement. They then write their own speeches persuading others to take action to improve their own community.

10th Grade Unit 3, Edition 2.0 is now available

In 10th grade Unit 3 of CommonLit 360 Edition 2.0, students will read Lorraine Hansberry’s classic drama A Raisin in the Sun. Over 6-9 weeks, students will work to answer the unit’s essential question: What happens when dreams conflict with the demands of everyday life?

Students will love exploring how environments can impact perspectives, using digital media to enhance understanding of key scenes, and reflecting on their own community through guided research. The Culminating Task for this unit challenges students to conduct quick and focused independent research in order to support a specific position in an argumentative letter. Students must consider their specific audience’s interests when choosing what events from the play to highlight in their letter and determine which source from their research will be most useful to reference.

Additionally, students engage with the year-long theme of Finding your Voice as they analyze how complex characters like Walter, Ruth, and Beneatha find their voice throughout the course of the play. They’ll also experience the power of Hasnberry’s voice by listening to original audio of an interview in which she discusses her motives for writing the play.

9th Grade Unit 4, Edition 2.0 is now available

In 9th grade Unit 4 of CommonLit 360 Edition 2.0, students will explore the role of investigative journalism in society by analyzing multiple informational texts. Over 5-7 weeks, they’ll work to answer the unit’s essential question: What is the role of investigative journalism in society?

Students will love exploring the evolution and impact of investigative journalism by analyzing historical and modern-day examples. Along the way, they’ll evaluate source credibility, learn to avoid misinformation, and present ideas to their peers using multimedia. The Culminating Task for this unit challenges students to conduct research on a time when investigative journalism influenced society or caused change, and create a presentation for their class.

Additionally, students will engage with the year-long theme of Civic Responsibility as they build on Unit 2’s themes of resisting tyranny by informing oneself. They’ll learn about the history of investigative journalism in the US and the crucial role a free press plays in a democratic society.

10th Grade Unit 4, Edition 2.0 is now available

In 10th grade Unit 4 of CommonLit 360 Edition 2.0, students will explore the history of voting rights in the United States by engaging with seminal U.S. documents, analyzing influential speeches, and reading about key moments in history. Over 5-7 weeks, they’ll work to answer the unit’s essential question: What role does voting play in a democracy?

Students will love interacting with a variety of media such as film, audio, images, and primary sources to deepen their understanding of voting rights, and using a digital media of their choice to produce their own presentations. The Culminating Task for this unit challenges students to research their state’s voting laws and develop presentations that teach their peers how to register and vote.

Additionally, students will engage with the year-long theme of Finding Your Voice as they consider how exercising one’s right to vote creates a stronger democracy.

9th Grade Unit 5, Edition 2.0 is now available

In 9th grade Unit 5 of CommonLit 360 Edition 2.0, students will read Sophocles’ classic drama Antigone. Over 5-7 weeks, students will analyze the interactions between complex characters and how themes are developed and refined through specific details in the text. Students will work to answer the unit’s essential question: What happens when civic duties conflict with personal values?

Students will love exploring timeless topics such as the role of civil disobedience in society, personal versus civic duties, and conflicts between family and law through multimedia sources and a combination of classic and contemporary texts. The Culminating Task for this unit challenges students to use Antigone and a real world example from independent research to argue whether or not civil disobedience is worth the risk. They will learn to rebut counterclaims, narrow their searches to support their argument, strengthen their reasoning to support their claims, and include an epiphany in their conclusion.

Additionally, students engage with the year-long theme of Civic Responsibility as they explore how Antigone stands against what she perceives as injustice and tyranny. They’ll consider the role civil disobedience plays in civic engagement and society.

10th Grade Unit 5, Edition 2.0 is now available

In 10th grade Unit 5 of CommonLit 360 Edition 2.0, students will read Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. Over 5-7 weeks, students will analyze how point of view affects a story’s influence and examine how pride and fear can lead to isolation. Students will work to answer the unit’s essential question: Who decides how a people’s story is told?

Students will love exploring Igbo culture from the Igbo perspective and will assess the profound devastation of colonization through a Related Media Exploration analyzing maps and video clips. The Culminating Task for this unit challenges students to elucidate Achebe’s point of view about Igbo culture or history in a literary analysis essay.

Additionally, students engage with the year-long theme Finding your Voice through Chinua Achebe asserting the right of his people, the Igbo, to tell their own story, free from the biases and political motivations of colonizing powers. An interview with Achebe is included in the unit to help students understand his motivation for writing this story and his belief that storytelling is power.

Guiding principles of instruction

When the literacy experts at CommonLit create 360 units, they have a number of guiding principles. These include:

• Students can and should engage with rigorous grade-level content with appropriate support in place.
• Teachers drive student outcomes and create meaningful and engaging learning experiences. 
• Deep engagement fosters deep learning and occurs when students have content that matters to them.
• Learning is a social process with students acquiring knowledge and skills through social interactions, collaboration, and observation.

Each CommonLit 360 unit centers these principles and features integrated reading and writing lessons that are appropriately rigorous to provide teachers with a core curriculum that is structured (not scripted).

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