Expectations and Identity

UNIT LOGISTICS

SUBJECT/GRADE 

English Language Arts, Grade 9

DESCRIPTIONS OF STUDENTS 

• General and honors classes

• 5 students between the two classes have IEPs, all of them for ADHD, typically with some other diagnosis

• Two additional students with difficulties that could lead to IEPs

• ADHD appears to interfere with writing for three students

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READING FOCUS 
Main texts are excerpts of Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, and Persepolis, supplemented by short stories and non-fiction on the discovery of identity. The focus will be on the expectations that culture, place, family and peers place on us as we strive to form our identities as individuals. Students will also explore the concept of visual literacy as we examine the use of pictures and other graphic elements in both of the main texts.

WRITING FOCUS 
We will be working up to a culminating reflection on individual identity. Students will write a series of short reflections linked to the texts’ themes and characters and then a three-paragraph essay at the end of the unit about themselves. Students will also do a short research project to provide background knowledge for Persepolis.

NUMBER OF DAYS/WEEKS 

3 weeks for honors class; due to time constraints 2 weeks for general class, which will deal only with the main texts.

USE OF CURRICULUM CYCLE 
 

Stage 1
Build the field via Full-class discussion on expectations and how they shape our identities before starting Indian; Review of hand-out on tricks of illustrators/graphic artists to convey meaning A short group research project on Iran to provide context for Persepolis;

Stage 2
Read texts in class and for homework with students annotating on expectations and identity and visual cues. Students begin to do two- to three-sentence responses to prompts on these ideas, based in the texts.

Stage 3
Teacher models a 1-2 paragraph essay in which students respond to a quote on identity from Part-Time Indian. Students write for half a class. Whole class discussion reviews a few of the essays for fealty to the prompt and strength of observations.

Students then work in small groups on development of identity in Part-Time Indian and Persepolis, using a graphic organizer to produce text tables that will help them understand what is expected of them in culminating essay.

Stages 4-5
After Part-Time Indian and Persepolis students will respond to a prompt asking them to explain how expectations of society, family and peers have influenced their own identities and will make connections between one of the texts and their own lives. Rubric is similar to one developed for making thematic connections between works used in last unit. Teacher and peers review this essay and provide one focus area of correction for a revision. 

After several days on poetry that explores identity students will have option of writing a compare/contrast essay of two poems or can write their own poem.

UNIT GOALS AND STANDARDS 
 

These Are the Big Questions You’ll Wrestle With…
 

• How do the expectations of your culture, your family and your peers affect your personal identity in both positive and negative ways?

• What do you have in common with young people from different cultures when it comes to forging your identity?
   

You’ll understand that…
 

• Recognizing the expectations others have placed upon you and deciding how you will meet or reject those expectations is a huge part of growing up.

• Trauma can have a profoundly limiting impact on our identities; we have to liberate ourselves from those restrictions as best we can.

• We have more in common with people outside our communities than we might imagine. The search for identity is a human quest.

• Literacy is about much more than reading words. Interpreting non-verbal visual information is often just as important and sometimes more so than interpreting written language.

• Fiction can provide a powerful way for us to learn about ourselves.

You’ll Know how to…
 

• Write reflectively about your development as an individual in prose and verse

• Make comparisons between your development and those of an important character in a work of fiction

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

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

• Work with a rubric to guide you in an assessment.

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

• Use the Internet for research effectively.

MATERIALS 

• Excerpts from Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Persepolis

• Alexie’s short-story “A Drug Called Tradition”

• Local Spokane TV interview with Alexie (his hometown)

• Youtube interview with Marjane Satrapi

• Excerpts from BBC series on the Iranian revolution

• ReadWriteThink webquest on Iranian society

• ReadWriteThink worksheet on graphic novelists’ technique

ASSESSMENTS AND DIFFERENTATION 

Students will produce work for assessment at the conclusion of each text rather than producing a cumulative assessment at the end of the unit, though the assignments toward the end of the unit will be weighted more heavily. At the end of Part-Time Indian students will deconstruct a model of a short essay in which they will be asked to respond to a quotation from the book as it relates to their own lives. They will then write such an essay. The grading here will be more on effort and completion than success as a piece of writing. Assessment is largely formative and will guide adjustments needed for rest of unit.

In a similarly formative vein, students will do background research in small groups on Iran for our week on using a list of websites and topics previewed by the instructor. Groups will be responsible for creating a slide that can be shared with the class on the topic they have been assigned. This previews the larger research project the students will do as part of their shop portfolios.

After Persepolis students will respond to a prompt asking them to explain how expectations of society, family and peers have influenced their own identities and will make connections between one of the texts and their own lives. Rubric is similar to one developed for making thematic connections between works used in last unit. Teacher and peers review this essay and provide one focus area of correction for a revision. 

   After two days on poetry that explores identity students will have option of writing a compare/contrast essay of two poems or can write their own poem. 

• A student who doesn’t shine at essay writing can still show understanding of material via a poem.

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 book is read together aloud in the general class than in the honors 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./CCR Reading Standards Literature 1-6 

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;

4-5. 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.

6.  Analyze a point of view from outside the mainstream U.S.

Mass./CCR Writing Standards 2-8 

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. 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.  Use technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

7.  Conduct short research project to answer a question or solve a problem. 

8.  Gather relevant information from authoritative print and digital sources.

Mass. /CCR Speaking and Listening Standards 1-3 

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

2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats

3. 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. /CCR Language Standards 1-3,5 

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.
    

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