Unit Topic: Personal identity and race

Grade level: Sixth

Stage 1 Desired Results Content Standard/Established Goals(s):

NCSS Thematic Standard IV: All individuals should know the factors that contribute to who they are; to what they think, feel, and believe; to what they decide and do; to why they are likely to make certain decisions and act in particular ways; and to how they perceive themselves, their abilities, their personality, and the world.

Understanding(s) Students will understand that:

* Our identities are comprised of many things and shaped by internal and external factors * Race is a significant factor in the way we perceive ourselves and others perceive us

Essential Question(s):
* Why is it important to know yourself? *How does others perception of our identity differ from our own, and why? *Why do we categorize people based on superficial characteristics such as skin color?

Student objectives (outcomes): Students will know

Students will be able to

*How to define the terms identity and race * That writing is an effective way to express ones identity *That race is a social construct, not biological *That there are different types of media, but they all convey ideas about identity, including racial identity

* Communicate different parts of their identities in poetry and prose form * Analyze identity traits of characters in fictional text * Engage in self-regulated discussion about identity and race * Compare and contrast the effectiveness of print and visual media forms

Performance Task(s):

Stage 2 Assessment Evidence Other Evidence:

* Participation in class discussions throughout unit * Constructed/journal response to shared readings * Compare/contrast activity of scenes depicted in The Gold Cadillac and The Great

*Writing bio-poem and autobiography, and

written or oral response to peers autobiography * Creating magazine advertisement that conveys a message about identity *Letter to the editor about the role of race today

Debaters

* Identify main idea of Race: The Power of

an Illusion

Learning Activity
Bio-poem Viewing clip from Race: The Power

Stage 3 Learning Plan Objectives/Goals

Poetry can be an effective way of expressing many parts of our identities *Understand that race is not biological *Gather information from a documentary * There are different types of media, but they can express similar things * We have different responses to different types of media Some or many of our ideas about identity may come from the media Synthesize ideas about race and racism today into editorial text Effectively express various aspects of identity in autobiographical form

Formative Assessment
Rough drafts of poems Participation in discussion following the end of the clip Think-aloud activity prior to reading and watching movie clip Checking in with students during individual work Rough drafts of letters to editor Rough drafts of autobiographies

Beginning Culminating

of an Illusion

Constructed response: compare and contrast car breakdown scene in The Gold Cadillac and The Great

Debaters

Looking at messages in magazine ads, and creating own ad Writing letter to the editor about race today Writing autobiographies