Grade 10: The Danger of a Single Story

Building on the 9th grade’s focus on individual identity development through a variety of texts, 10th grade students will explore their identities, not just as individuals, but as members of different cultural and social groups. The curriculum seeks to expand the idea that by examining multiple perspectives, students can reflect on their own personal experiences to make meaning from texts and deepen their understanding of our shared humanity.

Students will engage with literature through text-based critical and analytical discussions, collaborative multimedia presentations, and opportunities for creative writing and performance. Writing for varied purposes is regularly assigned in order to develop the higher order thinking skills required in building arguments and providing analysis. Students engage in an interactive recursive writing process. 

Learning to write with clarity and power as well as learning to read with insight and discrimination are processes which continue throughout one’s lifetime. They do not, however, continue to grow without nurturing. Using literature as the primary vehicle, this curriculum aims to develop writers who can practice the strategies which will enable them to create clear, powerful expressions of their thoughts and feelings and readers who perceive and appreciate those same strategies in the hands of masterful practitioners from diverse cultures and times.

Essential Questions:

ELA 6-12

Who am I as a reader, as a writer, as a speaker, and as a thinker? 

Why are reading, writing, and storytelling essential components of the human experience?

How does English Language Arts expand our perspective?

English 10

Who controls the narrative and how can exploring multiple perspectives inform our ideas of what is true?

Amidst the pressure to conform, how do we retain our individuality?

How do we  advocate for what is right when challenged by those around us?

How do we know if the progress we make benefits us and the world around us?