Chelsea+Holmes

__ **Moving Forward: Embracing Cultural Differences and Combating Injustices** __ "Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it." -Martin Luther King Jr  **__Overview and Goals__** Today more than ever before, our classrooms are a diverse center where all levels of learning take place. Embracing cultural diversity and fighting against injustice should be a central concern for students and teachers alike. Through this four week unit, I hope to have students understand the beauty of diversity, the uniqueness of the numerous cultures that are around the world and in classrooms, and take pride in knowing they are a generation that has the power to fight injustices that so often get little intention. My hope through this unit is for my students to read diverse texts that they can make connections with and write pieces that they are proud of. I want my students to find their strong voices through different forms of writing and grow as readers who question what is right and wrong. Through looking at different times in history where injustice was present and examining where injustice is present today, we will begin to combat these issues. I challenge them to get in touch with their own identities and cultures. Build on other peers cultures, and realize the importance of accepting differences and not trying to change people. I want to raise a group of spirited individuals who want more for their future and fight for justice.

Guided choice is a big philosophy of mine with teaching. I want my students to be able to feel connected to choose their topics and to have a say in learning. I want to learn from my students, and never stop learning. That being said, my students have a lot of freedom in my class to share their opinions. I want their voices to be heard and their opinions to matter.

I have selected a list of books that I feel are relevant to my student’s lives. In a perfect world, I would want every one of my students to read each book but because of the nature of the unit and the time constraints, I want them to form groups that will grow and learn from the book they’ve selected. I want them to use teamwork to grow through the unit as well and learn from one another and challenge one another constantly.

I want my students to feel passionate about changing the world and their surrounding lives. I want them to feel connected to themselves and realize who they are and where they come from and value the differences of the students they are surrounded by in class. I want them to grow as learners and people through this unit. This may seem like a goal that is out of reach, but I believe it’s not.

I want to challenge my students, to challenge me. That being said, this is a loose set of guidelines that I hope to accomplish. I want to be open to my student’s voices and ideas. I challenge myself and others to be open to change. Teaching students to find beauty in differences. Fighting against injustices put on themselves and others and not tolerate a community that grows off of these things. I challenge my students to be heard. To put their foot down and make a difference in the world.

__**Week Two**__ > > __**Week Three:**__ I believe writing should be in constant revision. That being said, I want to encourage my students to keep editing, keep asking questions, and never label a piece of work as done, until they feel proud of it. I will not mark up my students work and assign letter grades to written assignments, rather read them for their content and the message they are trying to convey. I believe in the importance of sharing work with other people and hearing their advice and responses to them. This is why I have many read-arounds during this unit to promote listening, learning, and spreading of ideas. Not assigning letter grades does not mean my expectations are low. My expectations are high for every one of my students and I believe they all have the potential to amaze themselves and others. 2.Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas. 4.Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. 6.Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. 7.Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words. 2. Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
 * __Objectives__**
 * Students will gain a realization of different cultures
 * Students will experiment with understanding issues from different perspectives
 * Students will explore their personal culture and gain a deeper understanding of who they are
 * Students will work in groups
 * Students will write in at least 5 different writing genres throughout the unit
 * Students will write everyday
 * Students will experiment with different forms of technology
 * Students will examine different times in our history that people were treated with injustice
 * __Book Choices__**
 * //Monster// by Walter Dean Myers
 * //Persepolis// by Marjane Satrapi
 * //The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian// by Sherman Alexi
 * //The House on Mango Street// by Sandra Cisneros
 * __Major Writing Assignments__**
 * I Was Raised poem
 * Memoir Assignment
 * Pen Pal Letters
 * Photovoice Project
 * “I Have A Dream” Speech
 * Interior Monologue Project
 * Group Multigenre Project
 * Hip Hop Project
 * __Important Resources__**
 * [| "Ghetto Life 101]
 * [|Andrew Jackson's speech on Indian removal]
 * Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" (scroll down)
 * Jim Crow Law Photographs (scroll down)
 * [|"Crash"]
 * Brave New Voices Slam Poetry
 * Pen Pal Resources
 * [|The Zinn Education Project]
 * Book Group Rubric and Outline
 * "Culture" Slam poetry (scroll down)
 * [[file:CRASH Movie Permission Slip.docx]]
 * __Weekly Breakdown__**
 * __Week One:__**
 * =====**Monday:**=====
 * Introduce the unit plan and breakdown the next four weeks. Hand out writing journals.
 * The importance of embracing cultural diversity and fighting for justice to create a better world.
 * Free write- What is your culture? What makes you, you? Where did you come from?
 * Understanding the difference between [|race] and [|culture]
 * Group work making a venn diagram of the similarities and differences of race and culture.
 * I Was Raised by poem
 * Read around
 * Realizing who you are as a person and what your personal culture is, is incredibly important in empathizing and understanding other cultures and differences among people. This activity is a chance to break down what makes you, you and learn the diverse pool of students in class.
 * Introduce book choices and come to class tomorrow with your top three choices.
 * =====**Tuesday:**=====
 * Introduce the idea of a book group and how they work. The different roles of each member and how to have meaningful conversations.
 * Making personal connections, thought provoking quotes, character development, questions, etc.
 * Form book groups and have each group create their reading schedule and goals to be approved by teacher and turned in at the end of class.
 * In groups, come up with definitions of injustice, justice, and racism. Where do you see these take place? What forms do they come in? From who?
 * Freewrite
 * Group discussion and introduction of memoir writing.
 * Memoir Assignment
 * Minilesson- what makes a good memoir? Important things to include. Choosing details.
 * =====**Wednesday:**=====
 * Meet with book groups and discuss the first bit of reading. How do the characters lives differ from yours?
 * Introduce Pen Pal unit ( will take place longer than four weeks when appropriate)
 * Understanding where their Pen Pals come from. A look at African countries and cultures.
 * Brainstorm different topics that could be included in letters.
 * What qualities do letter’s have?
 * Have students compose their first letters
 * Time to finish writing their memoirs that were started yesterday, peer conferences and teacher conferences.
 * =====**Thursday:**=====
 * Introduce [| "Ghetto Life 101"]
 * [|Listen to broadcast]
 * Have students take notes while listening about the culture that LeAlan and Llyod grew up in, the hardships, the fears, the strength.
 * Understanding the realities of living in different cultures that are close to home. The home culture is a branch of cultures that make us who we are.
 * Freewrite
 * Some prompts if students ask for them:
 * How did hearing their story make you feel?
 * Put yourself in LeAlan and Llyod’s shoes, write from their perspective growing up.
 * What are you thankful for having growing up?
 * What are the conflicts that got in your way? Hardships?
 * Where did you grow up? How did it transform you?
 * Introduce Photovoice project
 * Give students time in class to begin to brainstorm pictures of topics they want to include in their story.
 * =====**Friday:**=====
 * Meet with book groups
 * Freewrite
 * Memoir project due- read around.
 * =====**Monday:**=====
 * Watch Martin Luther King Jr’s, “I Have A Dream” speech
 * media type="youtube" key="V57lotnKGF8" height="315" width="420"
 * Examine injustices during the civil rights movement.
 * Examine pictures of Jim Crow Laws in groups, and discuss the power of photography.
 * [[image:0_0_355_451.jpg]][[image:004-civilrights.jpg width="410" height="243"]]
 * Have students write their own “I Have A Dream” speech, about an issue that they feel strongly about and that still needs to be changed.
 * Read around of I have a dream speech.
 * =====**Tuesday:**=====
 * Watch Brave New Voices
 * media type="youtube" key="LXGF18Sr2gQ" height="314" width="420"
 * media type="youtube" key="cvjxqy1dHU4" height="250" width="447"
 * (Begin at 1:30)
 * media type="youtube" key="UDrabyySvEY" height="251" width="448"
 * media type="youtube" key="TZXgTpBUVHY" height="251" width="448"
 * Have you ever experienced someone trying to change you? Someone trying to take away your language, change the way you speak, change the way you dress? Change who you love? How does that make you feel?
 * Freewrite about this topic and discuss as a class.
 * =====**Wednesday:**=====
 * Book group work
 * [|Read Andrew Jackson's speech on Indian removal]
 * How do we combat these issues of injustice?
 * Write from the perspective of a Native American being removed from their land at this point of history.
 * =====**Thursday:**=====
 * Freewrite
 * Present Photvoice projects to class.
 * =====**Friday:**=====
 * Freewrite
 * Book Group Meeting
 * Book Group Meeting
 * =====**Monday:**=====
 * Send home parental consent form to watch the movie "Crash"
 * [[file:CRASH Movie Permission Slip.docx]]
 * Book group meeting. Books should be finished. Introduce Interior Monologue Project:
 * Group work and introduction of group project: combating issues of injustice in book selections.
 * Group Multigenre Project
 * =====**Tuesday:**=====
 * Group work.
 * =====**Wednesday:**=====
 * Group work.
 * =====**Thursday:**=====
 * Group presentations
 * Individual in class work time on interior monologues.
 * =====**Friday:**=====
 * Write second letter to pen pal
 * Interior monologues due
 * Read around and share with class
 * __Week Four__**
 * =====**Monday:**=====
 * Watch the movie [|"Crash"]
 * Have students take notes in their journals. Take note of injustice, justice, racism, stereotypes, make connections, quotations, etc.
 * =====**Tuesday:**=====
 * Continue viewing "Crash"
 * have students continue taking notes in their journals.
 * =====**Wednesday:**=====
 * "It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this mental and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each toeher, just so we feel something."
 * Freewrite about this question and your reaction after viewing the movie. Have you ever experienced any other the injustices portrayed in the movie?
 * Choose a character from the film and connect it to this quotation. In the form of a poem, memoir, dialogue. Get creative.
 * =====**Thursday:**=====
 * Music and popular culture- the power of lyrics and words. How does music and popular culture help fight for justice, how does it set us back? Examining music from past and present that has an effect.
 * The power of language. Does using derogatory language in songs help to prove points or set us back? When is it/is it ever acceptable?
 * Anthony: "No, you want to listen to the music of the oppressor, you go right ahead.
 * Peter: "How in the latency of your mind is hip-hip the music of the oppressor?
 * Listen to hip hop, examine the lyrics. Have students as homework choose a hip hop song of their choice (must be appropriate for in class sharing) and write a reflection on it. Justify why it's not the "music of the oppressor," or if you feel as though it is, prove why you think this.
 * media type="youtube" key="FjAMHQ3dLDk" height="315" width="420"
 * =====**Friday:**=====
 * Share music choices and justifications.
 * __Philosophy on Grading__**
 * __Common Core Standards:__**

**Contact Information:****Chelsea Holmes- Email me**