Becoming You

Essential Question

What makes us who we are?
What are the benefits and challenges of belonging to multiple identity groups?
What are the benefits and challenges of belonging to multiple identity groups?
Why might people not feel safe to express all their identities?

Texts

Literature

What If There Were No Black People?

In this poem, the speaker explores how our culture would be lacking—in people, in music, in movements, in contributions—without contributions of African Americans.

Sean Mauricette (aka SUBLIMINAL)

Grade Level

3-5 6-8

Subject

History

July 3, 2014

Literature

The Misfits

In this excerpt, the reader meets two characters from The Misfits: Addie, a girl who is exceptionally tall and smart for a middle schooler and Joe, who is creative and feminine in a way that makes his peers nervous.

James Howe

Grade Level

3-5 6-8 9-12

Topic

Gender & Sexual Identity

July 3, 2014

Multimedia

Gend-o-meter

In this video, young people reflect on society's rules for what males and females can and cannot do.

Debra Chasnoff

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

Topic

Gender & Sexual Identity

July 8, 2014

Literature

The Fog Machine

This excerpt focuses on the lives of African American students during Freedom Summer. After reading Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech in class in 1963, students in main character C.J.'s school are asked to share their dreams at an assembly.

Susan Follett

Grade Level

6-8

Subject

Civics

History

Topic

Civil Rights Movement

June 9, 2015

Informational

Hijas Americanas: Beauty, Body Image, and Growing Up Latina

Rosie Molinary describes how she felt as a Latina teenager in the United States, caught between disparate and unrealistic beauty standards.

Rosie Molinary

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

Topic

Gender & Sexual Identity

December 30, 2015

Teaching Strategies

Word Work

Traits Matrix

In this semantic feature analysis strategy, students use a grid to show how vocabulary words relate to one another and to conceptual frameworks (e.g., masculine versus feminine).

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

CCSS

L.6-12.4, L.6-12.5, L.6-12.6

July 19, 2014

Close and Critical Reading

Text Graffiti

This strategy exposes students to multiple short pieces of a text before they read it in its entirety. Students read selected quotes out of context and comment on both the selection and the comments of other students. The activity ends with students reflecting on their reactions to and predictions about the text.

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

CCSS

RL.6-12.1, RI.6-12.1

July 19, 2014

Community Inquiry

Save the Last Word for Me (6-8, 9-12)

A comprehension strategy that builds speaking and listening skills through structured text-based discussion. Students record sentences from a text and then discuss their responses in small groups.

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

CCSS

RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RL.6-12.4, RL.6-12.6, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, RI.6-12.4, RI.6-12.6, SL.6-12.1, SL.6-12.2, SL.6-12.6

July 13, 2014

Student Tasks

Do Something

Community Arts Showcase

Students produce original art that conveys an anti-bias or social justice message then work with school staff to plan a public showcase of their work.

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

July 13, 2014

Do Something

Film Festival

Students review films related to a theme in the central text, then plan, prepare for and host a community film festival.

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

July 13, 2014

Write to the Source

Break It Down

Break it Down asks students to demonstrate their explanatory and descriptive writing skills.

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

CCSS

W.6-12.2, W.6-12.4, W.6-12.9

July 19, 2014

Write to the Source

Problem Solver

Problem Solver asks students to demonstrate their argumentative skills when identifying problems and solutions in writing.

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

CCSS

W.6-12.1, W.6-12.4, W.6-12.9

July 19, 2014

Plan Built By

mswcaudillo

Becoming You

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