The Role of Race and Appearance in Identity

UNIT LOGISTICS

SUBJECT/GRADE 

English Language Arts, Grade 9

DESCRIPTION OF STUDENTS 

• General and honors classes

• Several students between the two classes have ADHD, which appears to interfere with writing

• Racial make-up of classes is super-majority white, which plays into text choices

-

READING FOCUS 
Main text will be Riot, the story of a bi-racial 15-year-old girl caught up in the 1863 New York City draft riot. Additional texts, videos and web resources will examine race and identity today from varied perspectives.

WRITING FOCUS 
We will be working on a variety of text types but with the goal of scaffolding students to challenge their own thinking and be able to argue about an emotional issue using factual evidence and reason. See Assessment below.

NUMBER OF DAYS/WEEKS 

4 weeks; honors class will tackle additional reading material.

USE OF CURRICULUM CYCLE 
 

Stage 1
Build the field by reviewing history of the draft riots via video; have students write for 10 minutes on the topic of being judged for what you look like; play the “Sorting People” game on the companion website for the PBS Series Race: The Power of an Illusion and watch interviews with leading figures in Black Lives Matter protests.  

Stage 2
Read Riot in class and for homework with students writing in their journals about how and why Claire, the main character, changes in her attitudes about the importance of race. As Riot ends, turn to work by and about Eminem and Ta-Nehisi Coates, author who gained notice for arguing the merits of slave reparations. As students, read, watch and listen to texts they will write open responses to questions about how background and early experience inform attitudes and expectations around identity of self and others. Probe about race but also about gender, economic class and body type.

Stage 3
Rather than one final assessment, students will be assessed after each of three stages of the unit. Before each assessment teacher will model the text type and students will write drafts. The text types vary so students are not confined to standard argumentative essays, allowing them to show their understanding in a variety of ways. Whole class discussion reviews a few of the drafts. They are then returned for revision.

Stage 4
Students complete revisions of texts. Students do pair-share peer reviews before students make their final revisions.

UNIT OVERVIEW/ BIG IDEAS 

• Judging people by their outward appearance demeans them, and you.

• Race remains the great divide in American life even though we are far more alike than we are different.

• Studying history can help us see our present reality more clearly.

• Your background and upbringing can have a huge impact on your attitudes and expectations about yourself and others.

• There is often validity in wildly different perspectives on the human condition.

• Walk a mile in the other person’s shoes.

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS (Content) 
 

 Students will…
 

• Understand what a theme is in both fiction and non-fiction text; identify themes and explain how they are developed.

• Compare and contrast the message and development of similar themes across different kinds of texts in both fiction and non-fiction.

• Track character development and understand why that development matters to an author’s message.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS (Content) 

• How does an author use language, setting and structure to leave a lasting impression on the reader?

• How do changes in the way a character acts and thinks advance the plot and theme of a work?

• How do decisions about audience and purpose affect an author’s choices?

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS (Disciplinary Literacy/Skills) 
 

Students will…
 

• Argue with an author’s point of view in a non-fiction piece, citing particular evidence to back up their claim.

• Write a short explanatory essay, with a hook to pull in readers, a clear main idea, supporting evidence and a conclusion that tie main idea to big issues wrestled with in the text or in the “real world” beyond the text.

• Write precisely to convey thinking across multiple kinds of texts.

• Work with a rubric.

• Work in a group to produce and present a text. 

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS (Disciplinary Literacy/Skills) 

• What is good evidence to back up my position? How do I find that evidence?

• What do I need to show to prove that I understand the material we’ve been learning?

• How do I show understanding by means other than a traditional essay? Is that important?

MATERIALS 

• Riot by Walter Myers

• 60 Minutes interview with Eminem on YouTube

• “Eminem: Minstrel, White Negro, or American Hero?” Student paper by Emily Zia

• Chapter 1 of Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, national affairs correspondent of The Atlantic.

• The “Sorting People” game on the companion website for the PBS series Race: The Power of An Illusion

ASSESSMENT AND DIFFERENTIATION 
 

Due End of Week 2
Small groups create a backstory for main characters of Riot based on explicit and implied textual evidence. Each group presents its story and reasoning to the class. Acceptable formats for presentation include software (eg. Powerpoint or prezi), poster board, a Facebook page for the character, an outline put on the board with group members talking to the individual points, or a staged “prequel” scene in which the character’s backstory is presented via video or as a live performance.

Due End of Week 3
Believe/Don’t Believe written exercise: It helped Eminem to be white in the hip-hop world. Argue for and against this statement, citing a minimum of 3 specific examples from the assigned texts or from texts outside the assignment to support the argument. You can do this as an essay or via presentation software or another format agreed to by the teacher in advance.

Due end of Week 4
Letter to His Father: Ta-Neishi Coates’ book is written as a letter to his son. Based on the reading you’ve done, imagine you are his son. Answer your father’s letter. Where do you agree? Where do you think your father has it wrong? Cite at least 3 specific points in the text with which you agree or disagree and explain why using evidence from that text or any of the other material you’ve explored in this unit. You can also bring in texts from outside the unit. But you don’t get to say, “that’s my opinion.” You need facts to back up that opinion.

• Giving all students the best shot possible at showing their learning is among the reasons for the variety of assessments above. A student who doesn’t shine at essay writing can still do well on the final assessment.

In addition, because this unit is taught to an honors and a general ed class there is differentiation not only in this assessment but in other work over the course of the unit.

• Students in the general class have the option of using a graphic organizer to produce their writing.

• More of the texts are read together aloud in the general class than in the honors class./

• Honors class will read more of Coates’ work, which is challenging for 9th graders, than general class.

• More time is spent reviewing assessment directions in the general class.

Finally, students who show trouble “getting started” with writing, whether or not an IEP in place to address a disability, work with teacher, typically by dictating first couple of sentences of any written assessment while teacher transcribes. This support is lessened over course of the unit.

COMMON CORE (Standards this unit addresses) 

Mass. Reading Standards Liteature 1-5

1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn.

2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development.

3. Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop;

4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.

5. Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise

Mass. Reading Standards Informational Text 3-8 

3. Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.

4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone

5. Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text

6. Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.

7. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.

Mass. Content Writing Standards 2-5, 7, 9-10 

2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

3A Demonstrate understanding of the concept of point of view by writing short narratives, poems, essays, speeches, or reflections from one’s own or a particular character’s point of view.

4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.

6. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

7. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

8. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Mass. Content Speaking and Listening Standards 1-4 

1. Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners.

2. Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.

3. Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.

4. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.

Mass. Content Language Standards 1-5 

1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

3. Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases
    

Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.