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.

Identity Charts

Standards

RI.9-10.1RI.9-10.2SL.9-10.1W.9-10.10

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

Narrative Writing

Plan and write a free verse poem that explores your personal identity.

“My Honest Poem”
Narrative Writing: My Honest Poem Rubric (G9, U1, L5)

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: An 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: An 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

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.

All unit texts
Personal Identity Summative Socratic Seminar (G9, U1)

Standards

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

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.

All unit texts

Standards

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

Performance Task

Brainstorm and outline a personal reflection essay in which students consider how the texts in Unit 1 have been a window into another's identity and/or mirror of their own identity.

All unit texts
Personal Reflection Essay Graphic Organizer (G9, U1, L18)
Unit 1: Personal Reflection Essay Performance Task 2024

Standards

W.9-10.2W.9-10.4

Performance Task

Begin to write a personal reflection essay in which students consider how the texts in Unit 1 have been a window into another's identity and/or mirror of their own identity.

All unit texts
“In 'Turning Red' I finally saw myself reflected in a main character”

Standards

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

Performance Task

Revise a personal reflection essay, incorporating language that draws comparisons or contrasts between unit texts and personal identity.