It's been three years since I taught this unit and I'm very excited to jump back into it. Though the district advised us to skip it, I thought it would be a lot of fun to start the year off with a "spooky" unit. 

While I used some of the textbook for this unit, I improvised with some film features as it's always a good time to watch kids jump in surprise during a spooky movie. Finding a PG-13 scary movie is tough but we figured it out!

Before starting Fahrenheit 451, I challenged my students to explore the current hysteria of banned books. They were randomly assigned one of the many banned books and do some research on the text and its controversies. They then had to write a proposal on whether the Wiley School District should keep the book on its shelves or amend its accessibility in the district. 

Majority of the proposals were advocating to save the books while only a select few were amended to keep in public libraries. 

You are to select a work worthy of being preserved and to complete all necessary components of the assignment, involving research, and design, and sharing with others. 

Shoutout to Write Here Write Now on TPT

Back to my favorite unit! I had big plans for this semester and some things just didn't come to fruition but I still wanted to plan for a great spring semester!

One thing I wanted to try last year was a Mock Trial so thanks to TeachersPayTeachers for giving me a good place to start. To get them in the mindset of being a juror before 12 Angry Men, they were divided into separate juries of 7 or 9 (depending on the class size). They were all analyzing the same case but it was fun to see how drastically different their examinations of the case was!

Deliberation Process:

1. Initial Vote

2. Discussion #1

3. Secret Vote

4. Discussion #2

5. Final Verdict

I love a good play! Since I taught this last year, I knew where I wanted to improve this time around. I feel like my kiddos and I had a good time trying to navigate the characters' motivations and logical reasoning. As always, most of my kiddos determined that the boy was innocent, though there were some haters. 

Like in 12 Angry Men, we explored how there is always the potentiality for inaccuracy in our criminal justice system. Sometimes it's an honest mistake. Sometimes it's intentional and with malice. Sometimes our brains trick us to believe that it's true.

We're back again with our unit novel If Beale Street Could Talk! This is my third year in a row teaching it and not going to lie, I'm getting tired. Next year, I'd like to try a different novel but I continued with my Observation Questions with a few new edits and rather than an essay, we created Podcasts!

Observation Questions (Novel): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Um6p0LENUgRymOYaIwZtcGjcEh5Q21Z_rzlB8e0usGw/edit?usp=sharing

Film Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R4eAdDlL9RSvivf6j1QOOeP4iLbSqbyjlAjReb8ko_E/edit?usp=sharing

Like an episode of 60 Minutes or the Innocence Project Podcast, students acted as a reporter who is following up or investigating Fonny’s case. They chose up to 4 characters from the novel to interview as if the case is active (in real time) or if you are following up on the case after its conclusion. As a team, they get to decide whether Fonny is free, still in jail waiting for his trial, or sentenced and in prison. 

Day 1 Tasks: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19sTM3RzhWTXlhx6uZqKAzE8ozgeew2owREJKXZGFJUQ/edit?usp=sharing

Sample Script: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LMTqbs5FYb2adUnMEqiutb1wGb3oDBxCLbvKiPsUkow/edit?usp=sharing