Lesson 16: Braiding Sweetgrass, “Burning Cascade Head,” Explanatory Writing Part 2

Think-Pair-Share

Instruct students to take out their Homework Journals and copies of Braiding Sweetgrass.

Lesson 15 Homework: Students were instructed to read “Burning Cascade Head” in Braiding Sweetgrass (pp. 209–219) and take notes in their Journal on the following prompt: Annotate one or two moments where Kimmerer describes something people give to or do for the land (not just what they take from it).

Instruct students to Think-Pair-Share with a partner about the following displayed question.

Say These Directions: Review your annotations where Kimmerer describes something people give to or do for the land. Then, engage in a Think-Pair-Share with a partner about the following question.

Display the following question:

• How does the “Salmon Ceremony” show people living in a respectful and reciprocal relationship with the land?

  • The ceremony shows respect and reciprocity through actions that honor the salmon rather than just taking them. For example, the people “burn[ing] the headland” as “a beacon to bring their kin home,” helping guide the salmon back safely (p. 210). They also follow the teaching to “take only what you need and let the rest go by, and the fish will last forever,” which prevents overfishing (p. 211). After the ceremony, “the salmon bones are placed back in the river… so that their spirits might follow the others,” showing gratitude and respect for the salmon (p. 211). These actions show a relationship based on care and responsibility to the salmon instead of only seeing them as food.

Provide time for students to discuss. Circulate to ensure students reference specific moments from the text.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, you will practice using the ACE Strategy to write an informational response about Braiding Sweetgrass. Before you write, you will review active and passive voice so you can make intentional choices about what your sentences emphasize in your response.

Language Study: Active and Passive Voice

Students will understand the difference between active and passive voice using model sentences from “Burning Cascade Head” in Braiding Sweetgrass.

Model:

• Say These Directions: We’re learning more about active and passive voice today. Remember, we also examined active vs. passive voice in Animal Farm in Unit 2. The active voice shows who is doing the action. Passive voice shows what is receiving the action. Writers choose between them based on what they want readers to notice. Let’s look at examples from the text written in both voices.

Display each sentence and read it aloud. After each one, pause to identify whether it is active or passive and explain what the sentence emphasizes to the reader.

• Active Voice: They are burning the headland.

  • Say: This sentence is in active voice because it describes how the subjects (they) are doing a verb (burning). In this case, they are doing the verb to an object (the headland). If this sentence were written in passive voice, it would look like this.

• Passive Voice: The headland is being burned.

  • Say: This is in passive voice because it describes an object (the headland) having a verb done to it (being burned). The subject (whoever is doing the burning) is not mentioned.

Guided Practice: Present another sentence from the text written in active voice for students and ask them how you would convert it to passive voice.

1. Say These Directions: Now let’s look at another example of a sentence in active voice from the text and figure out how we could convert it to passive voice.

2. An elder counsels the young one with a spear.

• The young one with a spear is counseled by an elder.

Independent Practice: Instruct students to practice converting more sentences from the text from active to passive voice with a partner.

• Say These Directions: Work with your partner to choose one or two sentences from the chapter that are written in active voice and convert them to passive voice.

  • (Student responses may vary.) Original active voice sentence: “Salmon fed everyone (p. 222).” Passive voice version: “Everyone was fed by salmon.”

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, you will apply active and passive voice when using the ACE Strategy to draft an informational response about Braiding Sweetgrass.

Part A: Gathering Evidence in “Burning Cascade Head” (RI.8.1, W.8.2.b, W.8.2.d, W.8.9.b) (10 minutes)

Students discuss key ideas from the chapter “Burning Cascade Head” before using the ACE Strategy to write an analytical response.

Instruct students to reread the section “Ceremony” on pp. 214–215, and draw on their notes from the rest of the chapter as needed, starting with the paragraph “It is an odd dichotomy we have set for ourselves . . .” and ending with the sentence “Ceremony focuses attention so that attention becomes intention,” focusing on what the burning does to the land and how it reflects a reciprocal relationship.

Say These Directions: Reread the section “Ceremony” on pp. 214–215. Focus specifically on how the author describes what the burning does to the land and how it reflects a reciprocal relationship.

After students have reread, introduce the idea of a controlled burn as a strategy in restoring land.

• Say: In this chapter, Kimmerer describes ritual burning and ceremonial fires practiced by Indigenous communities as part of a reciprocal relationship with the land. These fires strengthened relationships among people, the land, and other living beings, and they also shaped the landscape by creating habitats for many species. Today, scientists sometimes use the term controlled burn to describe carefully managed fires that restore and support healthy ecosystems, but Kimmerer shows that these practices are rooted in long-standing cultural knowledge and relationships with the land.

Tell students that during this lesson, they are going to respond to the following writing prompt:

• Ask: In the chapter "Burning Cascade Head," how does Kimmerer demonstrate that human action or “loving land” can sometimes restore balance to an ecosystem? (p. 214)

Say These Directions: Similar to the RACE Strategy we learned in Unit 8.1, we are going to learn the ACE Strategy to organize and draft a response to this question. The first step we are going to take is to think about one action or a way that “loving land” restored balance to an ecosystem, so that we can start gathering evidence.

Display the ACE Strategy.

• A = Answer the Question

• C = Cite Evidence

• E= Explain

• Ask: How is this strategy similar to or different from the RACE writing strategy we practiced in Unit 8.1?

  • It’s similar in that in the RACE strategy, we have to answer the question, cite evidence, and explain the evidence. It’s different in that we don’t have to restate the question using the ACE Strategy.

Model for students how to answer the question.

• Say: One action or way that “loving the land” restored balance to an ecosystem was in the “Salmon Ceremony” when there was the “ritual burning of the headland” (pp. 214–215). Now that I know what my answer is for the question, I want to gather evidence from the text to support my answer.

Display a table on the board or on chart paper to record students’ thoughts for this next part of the activity. Lead a whole-class discussion on the following questions and record students’ responses.

• Ask: What evidence from the chapter shows how the ceremonial burning affects the ecosystem at Cascade Head?

Facilitate a brief discussion with the following prompts:

• What is a controlled burn?

• Why does Kimmerer say it's necessary?

• What language shows it's responsible, not destructive?

Confirm student responses. Chart several pieces of evidence on the board or chart.

• Say: I also want to choose precise words as I gather evidence and prepare to write an explanation about the topic. Instead of just saying the fire was good, I can say the controlled burn supported restoration and biodiversity.

Have students review the following table for how to use vocabulary from Braiding Sweetgrass to support their written explanation.

• Ask: Which vocabulary best matches what Kimmerer describes the burning doing to the land, and why?

  • The most precise word is restoration because Kimmerer explains that burning brings back healthy conditions in the meadow. The fire is not random destruction. It helps create habitat for fire-dependent species and supports ecological balance.

• Say: Some of this evidence shows how burning restores the land, and some shows how people act with care and responsibility. Both help explain why this kind of intervention is necessary. As you gather evidence, think about how each example shows respect, responsibility, or balance in the relationship between people and the land.

Explain to students that they will now take this evidence and use it to write their response by explaining how their evidence supports their answer. Have students keep this evidence as they transition into the next part of the lesson because they can potentially use it to write a response if they want to focus on the ceremonial burning.

Part B: Practice Using the ACE Strategy (W.8.2.a-b, W.8.2.d, W.8.4, W.8.9.b, L.8.1.b) (20 minutes)

Students practice using the ACE Strategy to write a response about the text.

Display the following prompt to use as a guide for the model. Remind students that this is not the writing prompt they will respond to, but is a model to demonstrate the ACE Strategy.

• According to "Burning Cascade Head," how does a controlled burn demonstrate that humans must sometimes intervene to restore balance?

• Say: I am going to respond to this prompt using the ACE Strategy. As I write, I will think about how my evidence shows that human action can restore balance. I am also going to choose precise and specific vocabulary from the text so my explanation clearly informs the reader about the topic.

Model responding briefly to the prompt using the ACE Strategy. Write your responses on the board or chart paper and say them aloud as you write.

• Answer: In 'Burning Cascade Head,' Kimmerer shows that controlled burns demonstrate responsible human intervention to restore balance in ecosystems.

• Cite: She explains that “burning created the headland meadows that are home to fire-dependent species that occur nowhere else on earth,” demonstrating that fire plays a necessary role in maintaining biodiversity in the ecosystem (p. 215).

• Explain: This evidence shows that sometimes doing nothing is more harmful than taking purposeful action or participating in a “ceremony” that “focuses attention so that attention becomes intention.” By intervening with fire, human beings reconnect with the land, the salmon, and also create “biodiversity” among the headland meadows (p. 214-215).

• Say: As I draft, I can choose active or passive voice on purpose. If I want my reader to notice who takes action, I use the active voice. If I want my reader to notice what was changed, I can use passive voice. Both types of verb voice are correct, but they do different jobs. In my ACE response, I might use the active voice in my answer or explanation to stress human action and responsibility.

Display the example for students.

• Active voice: People removed the dikes and dams to restore the estuary.

• Passive voice: The estuary was restored when the dikes and dams were removed.

• Say: Notice how the active sentence emphasizes the people doing the action, while the passive sentence emphasizes the estuary receiving the action. When you write, make at least one intentional choice about verb voice so your writing highlights what matters most in your idea.

Have students practice using the ACE Strategy by writing a brief response to the prompt.

Say These Directions: Use the ACE Strategy to write your own response to the prompt. Your response must include all three elements of the strategy: answer, cite, and explain. Use at least two vocabulary words from the chapter so your explanation is precise. Also, make one intentional verb choice in your response.

• In the chapter "Burning Cascade Head," how does Kimmerer demonstrate that human action or “loving the land” can sometimes restore balance to an ecosystem? (p. 214)

  • Kimmerer demonstrates that human action can restore balance to the ecosystem by using examples like restoring estuaries by tearing down “dikes and dams” to restore the natural tidal waters (p. 217). Cite: Kimmerer describes taking down the “human structures” to restore the estuary into a “salt marsh” so that, “[t]oday, the natural curvaceous flow of the river has been restored.” (p. 218) Explain: This example shows that even though human intervention destroyed the ecosystem in the first place, more intentional human action that is rooted in “reciprocity” can help restore it (p. 218).

Lesson 16 Writing Rubric: ACE Paragraph — “Burning Cascade Head”

Writing prompt: Use the ACE Strategy to write a brief explanatory response about the role of reciprocity or ecological balance in “Burning Cascade Head.” Answer the prompt, cite specific evidence, and explain what the evidence reveals about the relationship between humans and the natural world.

Transition students into reflecting on their learning from the lesson by completing a Quick Write response.

Quick Write

Say these Directions: Complete a Quick Write to reflect on the ACE writing strategy by answering these questions:

Display the following questions.

• Which part of using the ACE Strategy felt easiest today? (Answer, Cite, or Explain)? Which part felt hardest?

  • Answer was the easiest because I felt like I remembered the chapter well enough to just think of the answer. Explain was the hardest because I knew the quote I cited supported my answer, but I wasn’t sure how to explain how.

Provide time for students to write. Circulate to identify which parts of the ACE Strategy students are finding most challenging.

Instruct students to read “Putting Down Roots” in Braiding Sweetgrass (pp. 221–234) and take notes in their Journal on the following prompt:

• As you read, annotate the text for the following:

  • Identify 1-2 moments where Kimmerer describes feeling connected or "rooted" to a place. Think about how these moments shape her sense of belonging.