SpringBoard ELA 9: Unit 1: Coming of Age - 1:1 Previewing the Unit ACTIVITY
A Complete, Student-Centered Lesson that promotes student buy-in & movement
 
Instead of reading two pages of the SpringBoard textbook and calling it a day, kick off your Coming of Age unit with an engaging, fully planned lesson that gets students moving, collaborating, and thinking critically (while creating genuine buy-in for the unit).
 
This resource is designed for high school ELA 9 teachers who want a low-prep, high-impact start to the unit that previews key concepts, sparks debate, and introduces the essential skill of making strong claims (all while building the foundation for the CER [Claim-Evidence-Reasoning] paragraph structure).
 
What’s Included:
 
Debatable Statements: 10 print-ready prompts about coming-of-age topics for students to analyze, debate, and respond to in small groups.
Synthesis Worksheet: Guides students in reflecting on group responses, evaluating arguments, and identifying the strongest claim from their peers.
Mini Lesson on Strong Claims: Built into the slides to help students craft stronger, more thoughtful responses during the station rotation.
Complete Lesson Slides: Teacher-facing facilitation slides with timers, sentence frames, and discussion stems (ready to present with zero prep).
How It Works
 
Preparation:
Print the "Agree or Disagree" statements for your table groups.
Add sticky notes to each statement (1 per student in said group).
Print one Synthesis Worksheet per group for the final activity.
Activity Directions:
Students rotate between table groups, debating each statement and anonymously recording their claim and reasoning.
After all rotations, students return to their original statement, read peer responses, and synthesize the ideas using the worksheet.
Each group selects the strongest claim to share with the class.
Wrap-Up Discussion:
Connect the statements to the Coming of Age theme using the Theme Formula: Theme = Topic + Universal Message.
Facilitate a class discussion to identify big ideas students will explore throughout the unit.
Why You’ll Love This Resource:
 
Low Prep, High Engagement: Just print, grab sticky notes, and present the slides.
Previews the Unit in a Memorable Way: Goes beyond reading the textbook to actively engage students in the big ideas.
Supports Writing Skills: Sets students up for success with CER paragraphs and strong claim writing from day one.
Student-Centered: Encourages movement, collaboration, and higher-level thinking.
Flexible Timing: Perfect for a 90–100 minute block or can be split across two 50-minute class periods.
This lesson will help your students understand the core theme of Coming of Age while developing the analytical and writing skills they’ll need for success in the unit’s culminating literary analysis essay.
 
BONUS: Do-Now SEL activity, Brain Break with SEL would-you-rather question, Agenda slide, Mini-lesson on claim writing, AND mini-theme review!
 
NOTE: Most of the text on each slide is editable for customization, however, titles and slide designs are not editable.