Facing Prejudice: All American Boys

Lesson 8
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ELA

Unit 1

8th Grade

Lesson 8 of 27

Objective


Analyze how Smith uses figurative language in his TED Talk to develop and support his central idea.

Readings and Materials


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Target Task


Discussion & Writing Prompt

What is Smith's central idea about the way his parents raised him? What does he understand now that he did not understand when he was a child? Cite at least two specific pieces of evidence from the text to support your answer.

Sample Response

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Key Questions


Key Questions

  • Why does Smith include his conversation with his father about playing with Super Soakers? How does the figurative language in the following line support his point?

    "I know now how scared he must have been, how easily I could have fallen into the empty of the night, that some man would mistake this water for a good reason to wash all of this away." (para. 7, 2:51)

  • How does Smith use figurative language to develop his central idea in the following sentence?

    "My parents raised me and my siblings in an armor of advice, an ocean of alarm bells so someone wouldn't steal the breath from our lungs, so that they wouldn't make a memory of this skin." (para. 8, 3:04)

  • What idea is Smith trying to convey in the sentence below? How does the metaphor in the sentence develop this idea?

    "All of my black friends were raised with the same message, the talk given to us when we became old enough to be mistaken for a nail ready to be hammered to the ground, when people made our melanin synonymous with something to be feared." (para. 9, 3:31)

Exit Ticket

Assess student understanding and monitor progress toward this lesson's objective with an Exit Ticket.

Vocabulary


Literary Terms

figurative language

language that goes beyond the literal meaning of words and phrases and is used with the intention of creating an image, feeling, or deeper understanding for the reader

metaphor

the comparison of two unlike things in order to provide the reader with a deeper understanding of one of those things

connotation

the social, cultural, and emotional associations words have, beyond the dictionary definition

Text-based

ubiquitous

adj.

everywhere; extremely common (para. 6, 1:56)

synonymous

adj.

the same as, equivalent to (para. 9, 3:31)

Homework


To ensure that students are prepared for the next lesson, have students complete the following reading for homework. Use guidance from the next lesson to identify any additional language or background support students may need while independently engaging with the text.

  • Book: All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely  pp. 61 – 93

While reading, answer the following questions.

  • What does Quinn's mother discover that he has done? Why is she upset with him?

  • Who is Jill? 

  • What happens at Mother's Pizza that upsets Quinn?

  • What does Spoony show Rashad on TV?

  • How does Rashad's father react?

Notes for Teachers

Tonight's reading contains profanity.

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Common Core Standards


  • RI.8.2 — Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
  • RI.8.4 — Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

Supporting Standards

L.8.5.b
L.8.5.c
RI.8.1
RI.8.5
RI.8.7
RI.8.10
SL.8.2
SL.8.3
SL.8.6
W.8.4
W.8.9.b
W.8.10

Next

Analyze how the authors of All American Boys develop the narrator's point of view and emotions.

Lesson 9
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