This lesson plan includes 3 materials: the slides with guiding discussion questions in the notes, a copy of the NewsELA article in English, and a copy of the NewsELA article in Spanish. This lesson was created in close collaboration with the other 9th grade ELA teacher, Ciara Sing. Students engage in the process of learning about the CROWN Act by close reading an informational text–and looking at an interactive policy map together–and then discussing their ideas before ending with a personal reflection on how their hair connects to their culture and their identity. Students have the opportunity to read in Spanish or English and to annotate and discuss in any/all languages. The content of the lesson supports students in engaging in thinking about how culture and hair are connected, and critically analyzing how policies do or do not support people in cases of hair discrimination.

This lesson plan includes 3 materials, and is a 2-day lesson: the daily slides, the theme analysis paper for day 1 of the jigsaw, and the note-taking page for day 2 of the jigsaw (which also includes the independent free write prompt). The lesson is differentiated by interest–students are grouped into the theme categories that they showed the most interest in during the novel study–and is also differentiated by the difficulty of literary analysis. After groups have presented, students are provided with space to write (in any and all languages) and then discuss cultural connections to the themes presented in the novel. For example, one topic that the book addresses is toxic masculinity, and specifically what this looks like for men of color in the U.S. Students are then prompted to reflect on what expectations of masculinity look like in their culture(s).