Explore what a year looks like in a 10th grade CommonLit 360 classroom
Tenth graders engage with the year-long theme of Finding Your Voice through characters who face moral dilemmas and reveal that, while courage can be hard to find, regret can be incredibly painful. Students read about individuals who become stronger and braver through their struggles while examining how people express their beliefs and influence the world around them. The units feature a variety of text genres and rigorous writing tasks, preparing students for state testing and the increasing academic demands of upper high school. Throughout the year, students will read texts from renowned authors, like Ray Bradbury, Lorraine Hansberry, and Socrates.
CommonLit 360 is designed as a full-year secondary English Language Arts curriculum, created with adolescents in mind. It is built to help teachers feel confident that they are covering skills across all domains of ELA—reading, writing, speaking and listening—through grade-level units, meaningful culminating tasks, and lessons that intentionally build toward those outcomes. The curriculum uses a backwards planning approach, beginning with essential questions, thoughtful text selection, and rigorous culminating tasks so that instruction remains coherent and purposeful throughout the year.
What makes 10th grade CommonLit 360 stand out
In 10th grade, CommonLit 360 challenges students to analyze how individuals find and express their voices in moments of conflict, injustice, and social change. Students read novels, drama, speeches, and informational texts while strengthening their ability to analyze complex ideas, evaluate evidence, and communicate their perspectives clearly. Teachers benefit from a curriculum that builds skills intentionally across the year while helping students engage with meaningful questions about coming of age, justice, and civic responsibility.
You can check out the full Scope and Sequence for CommonLit 360. Below is a look at the six units that shape the year for 10th grade.
Unit 1: Coming of Age
In this unit, students explore what it means to come of age from multiple viewpoints. Through a collection of short stories and poems, students analyze how authors portray the transition from childhood to adulthood and the experiences that shape identity. Students examine how characters grow through challenges and reflect on how coming-of-age experiences influence both teens and adults.
Unit 2: Fahrenheit 451
In this novel unit, students examine how science fiction can be used to convey social commentary through the study of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. As they analyze the novel and related texts, students explore how fictional settings reflect real societal concerns. Students consider how the author uses the genre of science fiction to critique censorship, technology, and the role of knowledge in society.
Unit 3: A Raisin in the Sun
In this drama unit, students read Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and analyze how the playwright uses character interactions, dialogue, and setting to explore themes of dreams, identity, and opportunity. Students consider how the Younger family’s aspirations reflect larger social and economic realities, and they explore how the play continues to resonate with modern audiences.
Unit 4: Voting Rights — Then and Now
In this research-focused unit, students explore the history of voting rights in the United States by analyzing key historical documents, speeches, and events that shaped access to the ballot. Students examine how voting rights have evolved over time and create a timeline of major milestones and legislation. For the Culminating Task, students research current voter registration and election laws in their state and create a digital presentation explaining how people can participate in elections.
Unit 5: Things Fall Apart
In this novel unit, students read Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and explore how cultural traditions, colonialism, and social change shape individuals and communities. Students analyze the experiences of Okonkwo and the Igbo community while examining themes related to cultural identity, tradition, and transformation.
Unit 6: Schools, Free Speech, and Social Media
The year concludes with an argument unit that explores the complex relationship between schools, student expression, and digital communication. Students analyze texts about free speech rights and the role of social media in modern discourse. Through research and debate, students evaluate multiple perspectives and develop their own evidence-based arguments.
Tenth grade is an important step in students’ high school literacy journey. With CommonLit 360, students engage with texts and ideas that challenge them to think critically, develop their voices, and communicate their perspectives with confidence.
Curious about what other grade-level scope & sequences include? Check out our other CommonLit 360 Overview Blogs: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 11th Grade, & 12th Grade.
Using CommonLit 360 as your shared curriculum
Our goal at CommonLit isn’t just to provide great unit materials. It’s to ensure schools have the structure, insight, and support needed to make those materials truly work for students.
That’s where School Essentials PRO Plus—and our team of CommonLit 360 experts—come in.
School Essentials PRO Plus supports the school and district-level rollout of the CommonLit 360 curriculum with the additional assessments, professional learning, and ongoing support.
What comes with School Essentials PRO Plus?
Professional Development
Through curriculum-based learning experiences, CommonLit Professional Development enhances teachers’ skills, knowledge and confidence to meet their students’ needs. Includes:
- Up to four 45-60 minute virtual professional development sessions for your team
- Unlimited access to CommonLit’s professional development webinars, exclusively for schools and districts with School Essentials PRO Plus
- Access to unit-specific internalization modules and planning resources for every unit in CommonLit 360
- Access to dozens of self-paced modules via CommonLit’s Professional Development Portal
- Option to purchase On-Site Professional Development
CommonLit 360 Curriculum Implementation Support
A CommonLit partnership includes a dedicated CommonLit account manager who provides:
- A kickoff meeting and mid-year curriculum implementation check-in with CommonLit experts
- Live facilitation of leader trainings (titled Building Your CommonLit 360 Leader Toolkit sessions)
- Ongoing support from CommonLit 360 experts to ensure your school’s implementation of CommonLit 360 is a success
Data & Assessments
This package includes Unit Skills Assessments for CommonLit 360, which provide teachers with additional insight into student learning throughout each unit. There are two assessments per unit, and they measure students’ comprehension of cold-read texts while helping teachers monitor progress toward grade-level skills.
Integrations
CommonLit 360 seamlessly fits into a school’s toolkit by integrating directly with Google Classroom, Clever, Canvas, and ClassLink.
