Lesson 36: Becoming the Apprentice, Finding and Organizing Evidence, Part 1

Display the Performance Task Handout prompt:

• Performance Task: Becoming the Apprentice: How Effort Turns Curiosity into Mastery

  • What You’ll Do:

    • Part 1: Write an explanatory essay tracing a learner's growth from beginner to skilled creator through mentorship and practice. Describe the stages of learning—observing, trying, failing, refining, and creating—using evidence from A Single Shard and at least one additional text on learning, craftsmanship, or mentorship.

    • Part 2: Create a process document outlining the steps of learning a craft, such as pottery, weaving, or another art form.

    • Part 3: Deliver a Gallery of Learning Presentation sharing your essay and process document with an audience, then engage in discussion about your peers' work.

  • Why It Matters: Everyone starts as a beginner. Through your essay, you'll draw on Tree-ear's journey in A Single Shard and a second text to show how mentorship, practice, and failure turn curiosity into skill—and how mistakes are a natural part of that process. Your process document deepens this by asking you to think like a creator: break down a craft and explain it so others can learn it too. In your Gallery of Learning Presentation, you'll share your work, listen to your peers, and practice the discussion skills that help ideas grow.

  • Criteria for Success:

    • Part 1: Explanatory Essay

      • Clear thesis and introduction previewing how mentorship shapes a learner's growth

      • Relevant evidence from A Single Shard and at least one additional text supporting ideas about learning and craftsmanship

      • All stages of learning—observing, trying, failing, refining, and creating—described and connected to mentorship

      • Clear organization (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion) with effective transitions

      • Formal, precise language used consistently

      • Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation

    • Part 2: Process Document

      • Clear title, at least four logical steps, and relevant images

      • Steps presented in sequence using temporal words (e.g., first, next, then, finally)

      • Clear, concise, specific writing that makes the process easy to follow

      • Demonstrates understanding that mistakes, persistence, and reflection are essential to learning and creating

    • Part 3: Gallery of Learning Presentation

      • Presents ideas from the essay and process document in a clear, logical order easy for the audience to follow

      • Speaks loudly and clearly at an appropriate pace and with expression

      • Faces the audience and makes regular eye contact with confident body language

      • Listens actively while others present—does not interrupt, takes turns, and stays engaged throughout

      • Uses thoughtful, respectful language to ask questions and make comments that show understanding of peers' work

Display or hand out copies of the Performance Task Handout to each student, or display one on the board so it is visible to all students.

Explain to students that they will gather and organize evidence to support their explanatory essay about how a learner develops through stages of learning and mentorship.

Turn and Talk

Transition students into partnerships.

Say these Directions: Use the Turn and Talk routine to discuss the following prompts:

• Ask: What questions do you have about the Performance Task Handout?

  • One question I have is how to get started.

• Ask: What are some skills you learned during Unit 2 that might be especially helpful while you work on the Performance Task Handout?

  • finding and integrating evidence; writing body paragraphs; discussing themes; writing about processes; using temporal connectors

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, you will begin working on the Performance Task Handout. You will revisit your Stages of Learning graphic organizer and begin gathering evidence about the stages of learning in A Single Shard to include in your explanatory essay.

Language Study

Say these Directions: Remember that in Lesson 17 you learned about informal and formal language.

• Say: When people speak and write, they use formal or informal language depending on the setting and their purpose.

• Ask: What are some characteristics of formal language?

  • follows the rules of standard English, including using correct grammar; uses few contractions; no slang; uses words with more serious connotations; may have longer, more complex sentences

• Ask: What are some characteristics of informal language?

  • more casual; sounds the way you’d write or speak to friends or family; may use nonstandard English; may use slang and contractions; may use words with less serious connotations; may use shorter, simpler sentences

• Say: You should use and maintain a formal style in the explanatory essay you will write for the Performance Task Handout. One way to do this is to use the third-person point of view. This means avoiding the use of first-person pronouns such as I, me, my, we, us, and our. It also means not using the second-person pronoun you to address your readers directly. Using the third-person point of view makes your writing sound less like a conversation. It also helps you maintain an objective, or unbiased, position.

Project the non-example paragraph.

• We read in A Single Shard about the ways that apprenticeship and the stages of learning are connected. Tree-ear learns about pottery by observing Min. I also read the ways that Tree-ear learns by trying and failing, then trying again as he repeatedly refines clay to the correct consistency for Min to use in his pottery and celadon glaze. From this, you can see just some of the ways that apprenticeship and the stages of learning are related.

• Ask: Is this formal or informal writing? How can you tell?

  • This is informal writing. It uses pronouns such as I and you. It is written in the first person and not the third person.

Model how to rewrite the non-example paragraph using the third-person point of view.

• Ask: How can we rewrite this paragraph so that it uses formal, third-person language?

  • The novel A Single Shard shows how apprenticeship and the stages of learning are connected. Tree-ear learns about pottery by observing Min. The novel also illustrates the ways that Tree-ear learns by trying and failing, then trying again as he repeatedly refines clay to the correct consistency for Min to use in his pottery and celadon glaze. From this, readers can see just some of the ways that apprenticeship and the stages of learning are related.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Over the next few days, you will begin drafting your explanatory essays. As you write, use and maintain a formal style by writing from a third-person point of view.

Part A: Gathering Evidence from A Single Shard (W.6.5, W.6.9) (20 minutes)

Have students take out the Stages of Learning graphic organizers that they have been working on throughout the unit, as well as any other notes or annotations they have made about the stages of learning during Unit 2. Distribute two copies of the 3 Column Chart graphic organizer to each student. They will combine these two graphic organizers into one larger chart.

• Say: Work with a partner to compare your Stages of Learning graphic organizers and any notes or annotations you have made about the stages of learning—observing, trying, failing, refining, and creating—during Unit 2. Use these sources to explain how each stage of learning is portrayed in A Single Shard. Gather at least one piece of evidence for each stage of learning shown in the novel. Record your responses and summarize your findings by creating the Gathering Evidence graphic organizer.

Invite three or four pairs to share their responses with the class. Note that students will continue using this graphic organizer in Lesson 37.

Part B: Reviewing Text Sets (W.6.5, W.6.9) (10 minutes)

Briefly review with students the various texts and media they have engaged with throughout the unit.

• Short video about Goryeo celadon pottery

• Short video about boot-making apprenticeships

• “The Youngsters Keeping Traditional Trades Alive” (BBC short article)

• "Hands That Remember: Artists Who Make Things by Hand"

• “The Craftsman” (Marcus B. Christian) “Craftsmen” (V. Sackville-West)

Note: Students may draw on notes and texts from earlier lessons in the unit when selecting sources. If needed, teachers may provide or approve additional relevant sources that connect to mentorship, craftsmanship, or stages of learning.

Say these Directions: Review the texts and media from the unit. Think about the main idea of each source and how it connects to A Single Shard, the stages of learning, and mentorship. Then identify which source might be most useful for your explanatory essay.

Record and display student responses. Keep responses posted through the start of Lesson 37.

Quick Write

Say these Directions: Respond to the Quick Write prompt in one or two sentences.

• Ask: Which source do you think will be the strongest or most helpful to use when writing your explanatory essay? What makes you say that?

  • I think the article "Hands That Remember: Artists Who Make Things by Hand" will be the most helpful. It includes detailed examples of multiple artists who learned their crafts through observation and practice, which connects directly to the stages of learning we studied in A Single Shard.

Students read their independent reading book for 20 minutes and complete a reading log entry.

Read your independent reading book for 20 minutes. In your reading log, record the date and pages you read, write 1–2 sentences about what happened or what you learned, and respond to this week’s prompt using evidence from the text.