It's been six years since I've taught freshmen and this time, there is curriculum that I can work with rather than make it up on my own. In alignment with what they're learning in their social studies classes, the 9th grade ELA curriculum focuses on the Civil Rights Movement focusing primarily on John Lewis and Dr. King. 

While I find that our students typically receive the same information or honor the same figures within the movement, I wanted to find ways to make the movement engaging and meaningful. 

I was very eager that our first novel of the year was a graphic novel because I thought it was a great way to engage my kiddos considering how many of them read manga or watch anime. I wish we were allowed to teach the rest of the series!

I would say the only con with teaching a graphic novel is that it will go by very quickly and so mapping out the first unit needed to be intentional.

Observation Questions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sGELbGl0tk5WMHcnNHmL6kei8WUldB91tFazBPqtZp0/edit?usp=sharing

How can music inspire change?

Wanting to give my students a break from analyzing in their notebook, I had my students analyze the song, lyrics and music video using the Four Lenses but on chart paper that they can design and decorate. It took about two days for the posters to be ready and in the third class session, they presented their analysis to the class. 

Ms. Parks is known for her historic decision to remain seated and then to question the police as to why she should have to get up in the first place. Ms. Parks was the face of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, but that’s where her legacy abruptly ended (or so we’ve been told). 

Guide: 

I hate to admit it, but teaching it this year was the first time I had ever read the letter and wow! Talk about powerful! Because this piece is quite long and it's dense, I wanted to make sure I paced it in a way that was not too overwhelming so they would lose stamina or disengage entirely.

It took us seven days to get through the text and though it was challenging, I could see my students able to recognize the rhetorical strategies and articulate its effectiveness in his writing. 

To help them stay organized and on top of their analysis, I gave students this packet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SevC7hARhx4KlRzcR1cwWVgvcwBVJHWwuv0lCV_TCxk/edit?usp=sharing

The main novel for the semester is The Hunger Games but I wanted to focus on real-life events that required courage. 

I myself was not super familiar with Hurricane Katrina because I was about 10 when it occurred but now that I'm an adult and able to comprehend how the local, state and federal leadership failed an entire city, I felt that it was important to highlight the local heroes who had to step up to protect themselves, their families and communities.

Just in case students weren't familiar with Hurricane Katrina and the fatal choices of leadership, I asked my students to take 3-2-1 Notes: 

• 3 things you have learned 

• 2 things you find interesting

• 1 question you still have

Working as table groups, they were randomly assigned a neighborhood to narrow down their spotlight research. They then selected someone from their district and record the following:

• Summary of your hero with this information: 

• Name, age, role in community/occupation, their role during the hurricane and why YOU think they should be celebrated.

Synopsis: An emotional journey into the hearts and souls of Hurricane Katrina's survivors, THE KATRINA PROJECT: Hell and High Water is based on actual interviews, collected stories, and found texts, providing a voice for the greatest natural disaster in our country's recorded history. The play follows a diverse group of characters as they reflect on and experience the devastation, heartbreak, anger, and, ultimately, hope of the thousands affected by the Category 5 storm.

 I didn't plan on teaching a play for this semester, but I wanted to give my students something different and though this play was quick, I thought it had a lot of opportunities for students to analyze the script and apply a critical lens to the leadership failure that left thousands of people stranded and without hope.

Once we read and analyzed the play, each class hosted their own production of the play (somehow I forgot to take pictures--still annoyed to this day) but there were three categories they could choose from: actors, set design/effects, and props.

We weren't able to use the stge so we tried our best to transform the classroom as best as we could. 

Documentary Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gc3UbO3Yi0qvVvcVpdpnRRuKPD8q4io5LSxgb2Cl1P8/edit?usp=sharing

I tend to ignore the textbook because I'm a tad self-righteous but I thought that this short story was worthy of teaching as a good precursor to starting The Hunger Games.