icon/ela/white

English Language Arts

9th Grade

Course Summary


In 9th grade, students explore the theme of personal identity. Through careful study of classic and contemporary texts, students will consider how factors like race and gender as well as the social and political context of characters’ lives impact who they are, how they experience the world, and how they use their voices to effect change for themselves and others.

Unlock the Power of Fishtank Plus
Discover additional resources and features to make your lesson prep simpler and stronger.

Units


Unit 1

20 Lessons

Me, Myself, and I: Examining Personal Identity in Short Texts

Students explore the factors that contribute to and impact one’s personal identity through their reading of short stories, poems, and nonfiction.

Unit 2

25 Lessons

You Laugh But It’s True: Humor and Institutional Racism in Born a Crime

Students explore how Trevor Noah leverages elements of fiction such as characterization, figurative language, and tone to develop his complex argument about institutional racism and its impact on identity development.

Unit 3

30 Lessons

Power, Justice, and Culpability: Of Mice and Men and The Central Park Five

In this unit, students read John Steinbeck's classic novella, Of Mice and Men, and the 2011 nonfiction text, The Central Park Five by Sarah Burns. 

Unit 4

20 Lessons

Coming of Age and Patriarchy in Dominicana

Students examine what it means to come of age and be disenfranchised as a female undocumented immigrant in a community plagued by machismo culture.

Unit 5

20 Lessons

Comedy, Taming, and Desirability in The Taming of the Shrew

Through their reading of Shakespeare's play and supplemental texts, students examine the thematic idea of desirability and its relationship to societal messages generated by contemporary phobias and ideologies.

Can't find the unit you're looking for?
Visit our archives to find units that we've retired from our core curriculum.