The Art of Failure (Grades 8-9)

In this unit, students explore why experts and novices fail. Students study the use of narratives and research to develop an understanding of methods authors use to convey complex information to lay audiences. Additionally, students work on building stamina and using methods that proficient readers use when working to understand long, complex texts. Two informational texts 2-3 weeks instruction Explanation writing What is this unit about? In this unit, students read two texts: “Lolo’s No Choke” by Sean Gregory and “The Art of Failure” by Malcolm Gladwell. Both Gregory and Gladwell explore what it means to fail, specifically, the mental processes that lead to failure. They do this by drawing conclusions from narrative stories and by discussing research in cognitive science that looks specifically at what happens in the brain when a person chokes. In “Lolo’s No Choke,” Gregory uses the story of Lolo Jones, an Olympic athlete, as the cornerstone for examining what it means to choke