Declaring Identity: Being Jazz (2020)

Lesson 5
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ELA

Unit 11

6th Grade

Lesson 5 of 28

Objective


Explain how the 20/20 documentary about Jazz develops the reader’s understanding of her memoir.

Readings and Materials


  • Book: Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen by Jazz Jennings  pp. 41 – 46

  • Video: “20:20 My Secret Self Complete Documentary” by ABC  — (0:00–16:25)

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Target Task


Writing Prompt

What information does the reader gain from reading the memoir that someone just watching the documentary would not know? How does the experience of watching the documentary and reading the text provide a more complete picture of Jazz’s life and experience?

Key Questions


  • In Being Jazz, Jazz writes that the point of letting cameras inside their house was to let the audience see “how normal and loving our day-to-day life was” (43). Identify at least three places in the documentary that demonstrate this.
  • What does Jazz’s family hope to accomplish through the interview with Barbara Walters, based on Being Jazz? Identify at least two places in the documentary that demonstrate these goals.
  • Discussion: How do the home videos of Jazz playing with “girl” toys and wearing dresses develop your understanding of who Jazz is? How is the experience of seeing these pictures different from reading the text?

Lesson Guidance


Notes

  • Have students read the Key Questions first and then watch the film with those questions in mind. You may need to pause to have students answer questions or rewatch key parts of the documentary.

Homework

  • Read Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen, pages 49–60.

Standard and Literary Concepts

  • One of the most important skills that students will need in high school and beyond is the ability to draw information from multiple sources in order to develop a more complete understanding of a topic. This applies to multiple texts but also to different forms of media.
  • When students are considering multiple sources on one topic, it can be useful to think:
    • What information does this resource provide me with that the other does not?
    • How does this resource develop my understanding of what I have already read or seen?
    • What connections can I make between these different sources?

Common Core Standards


  • RI.6.7 — Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.
  • RI.6.9 — Compare and contrast one author's presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir written by and a biography on the same person).

Next

Explain how Jazz uses examples and anecdotes to illustrate ideas in her memoir.

Lesson 6
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