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

Understand the definition of personal identity and social identity in order to create an identity map.

Standards

RI.9-10.1RI.9-10.2SL.9-10.1

Analyze how Susan Cain's tone impacts her argument and purpose.

“Introduction”

Standards

RI.9-10.4RI.9-10.5RI.9-10.6

Determine an author's attitude towards introversion or extroversion.

“I'm Nobody! Who are you?”
“Introduction” pp. 1–15

Standards

RI.9-10.2RL.9-10.2RL.9-10.4

Analyze how Rudy Francisco uses specific personal details and figurative language to develop his central idea.

“My Honest Poem”

Standards

L.9-10.5RL.9-10.2RL.9-10.3RL.9-10.4

Writing

Plan and write a free verse poem about visible and invisible aspects of your identity using first-person point of view, vivid details, and figurative language.

Standards

W.9-10.3W.9-10.4W.9-10.5

Analyze how diction establishes and shifts the mood in a poem to convey meaning.

“Counterfactual”

Standards

RL.9-10.2RL.9-10.3RL.9-10.4

Analyze how narrative point of view and story structure shape the reader's understanding of a story's ending.

Fresh Ink: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology pp. 194–209 — Short Story: "Super Human" by Nicola Yoon

Standards

RL.9-10.3RL.9-10.5W.9-10.3

Analyze how the author uses literary devices to convey the boy's complex experience as a child of immigrant parents.

“(citizen)(illegal)”

Standards

L.9-10.5RL.9-10.4RL.9-10.5

Analyze how the motif of dreams communicates an important theme from the story.

How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity pp. 63–72 — Short Story: “Trev” by Jacqueline Woodson

Standards

RL.9-10.2RL.9-10.3RL.9-10.4

Discussion

Engage in a small group hexagonal discussion to make connections between texts read so far in the unit.

“Introduction” — "Introduction"
“I'm Nobody! Who are you?”
“My Honest Poem”
“Counterfactual”
Fresh Ink: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology pp. 194–209 — Short Story: "Super Human" by Nicola Yoon
“(citizen)(illegal)”
How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity pp. 63–72 — Short Story: “Trev” by Jacqueline Woodson

Standards

RI.9-10.1RL.9-10.1SL.9-10.1.aSL.9-10.1.bSL.9-10.1.cSL.9-10.1.dW.9-10.1

Writing

Overview

Write an informative paragraph reflecting on how a unit text is a mirror or a window into one's identity.

Day 1 - Planning

Generate ideas by taking notes on Unit 1 texts, and write an informative topic sentence.

Writing Prompt and Rubric Handout (G9, U1, L11)
Windows and Mirrors Graphic Organizer (G9, U1)
Informative Paragraph Outline (G9, U1, L11)
Topic Sentence Practice Page (G9, U1, L11)

Standards

W.9-10.2.aW.9-10.4W.9-10.5

Day 2 - Outlining

Identify a quotation and an anecdote that effectively support the main idea of a topic sentence.

Informative Paragraph Outline (G9, U1, L11)
MLA Citation Guide (G9)

Standards

W.9-10.2.bW.9-10.9

Day 3 - Drafting

Transform an outline into a coherent paragraph that includes a topic sentence, evidence, explanation, and a last sentence.

Informative Paragraph Outline (G9, U1, L11)
Paragraph Structure Practice Handout (G9, U1, L11)
Paragraph Structure: Highlighted Student Sample (G9, U1, L11)

Standards

W.9-10.2W.9-10.2.f

Analyze how the author uses symbolism to reveal Jack's conflict with his cultural identity.

“The Paper Menagerie”

Standards

RL.9-10.3RL.9-10.4RL.9-10.5

Analyze how an author's choices for narrative point of view and structure develop a text’s theme.

How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity pp. 7–21 — Short Story: “A Word from the Nearly Distant Past” by David Levithan

Standards

RL.9-10.2RL.9-10.5

Analyze how an author uses characterization to reveal a character’s relationship with personal and social identity.

“Borders”

Standards

RL.9-10.2RL.9-10.3RL.9-10.5RL.9-10.6

Analyze how the author uses diction and figurative language to show contrasting perspectives on the speaker's hair.

“Hair”
“Hair”

Standards

L.9-10.5RL.9-10.2RL.9-10.3RL.9-10.4

Identify a speaker's purpose by analyzing the rhetorical choices the speaker makes to achieve that purpose.

“Our fight for disability rights—and why we're not done yet”

Standards

RI.9-10.6SL.9-10.3

Socratic Seminar

Prepare for a Socratic Seminar on overarching questions about Unit 1.

Standards

RI.9-10.1RI.9-10.2RL.9-10.1RL.9-10.2RL.9-10.3W.9-10.1

Assessment

Socratic Seminar

Formulate and share unique arguments about meaning in and across all texts from Unit 1. Support arguments with strong and thorough textual evidence in a summative Socratic Seminar.

Standards

SL.9-10.1.aSL.9-10.1.bSL.9-10.1.cSL.9-10.1.d

Writing

Overview

Write an informative essay reflecting on how unit texts are mirrors and/or windows into one's identity.

Day 1 - Outlining

Develop an informative, specific, and supportable thesis statement and corresponding topic sentences.

Performance Task Prompt and Rubric Handout (G9, U1)
Windows and Mirrors Graphic Organizer (G9, U1)
Writing a Thesis Statement/Topic Sentences Practice Handout (G9, U1, L19)
Informative Essay Outline (G9, U1, L19)

Standards

W.9-10.2.aW.9-10.2.bW.9-10.5

Day 2 - Language Lesson

Outline body paragraphs by selecting evidence that effectively supports the topic sentence, as well as introducing quotations with context punctuated by a colon.