So much great work has been happening in 7th and 8th grade Humanities since we last posted! Our Identity Book Clubs continue to meet daily, discussing the events in their novels, the identities of the main characters, and any other topics of interest that come up. Some groups have already finished their first novel and have chosen to move on to another novel as well. We are so excited that students have found these stories meaningful and engaging, and it is wonderful to see them going above and beyond the original plan and expectations!
Part of the challenge in our book clubs has been learning about discussion skills that keep conversations on track and moving forward. We have practiced specific cues that can be used to clarify, agree, disagree, or make connections when participating in a discussion, and we are trying to incorporate those cues in our book club discussions. One of the ways that we have assessed our growth with these skills is by recording audio of book club meetings, |
listening back to them, and then picking out specific strengths and challenges for our groups and ourselves as individual contributors. It's hard stuff, and some of us are really struggling, but we'll keep practicing it throughout the year. We'll even have another round of book clubs later in the year, which will give us a great chance to compare and share our growth!
In addition to book clubs, we have also been learning more about how exploring individuals' identities helps us better understand their life experiences. We completed a mini-project that dug deeply into the identities of the main characters in our book clubs. Some of us chose to do this visually, sketching the character along with symbols, objects, words, quotes, and other items that connect to the character's traits, identity markers, and relationships. Others chose to focus on the language used in the novels and found quotes to support their written descriptions of their main character. With either choice, it was necessary to think carefully about how we view these characters, what we know about them as individuals, and how their identities impact their journeys through life.
We also explored the dangers that exist when we are only exposed to stories that reflect some identities but not others. In the TED Talk "The Danger of a Single Story," we learned about how people who do not read characters who look like them or have similar life experiences to them often feel that their experience is wrong or unimportant. In order to make sure that all identities are represented and appreciated, we must make sure that we read diverse books (as well as watching diverse tv shows and movies) so that we can see ourselves in the media as well as seeing those who are uniquely different than us.
the Beholder." In it, a woman undergoes treatment to change her appearance in order to better fit societal expectations about what is "normal." In typical Twilight Zone fashion, the ending presents a twist that made us reevaluate what "normal" actually means, and how our expectations and judgements are often inaccurate and unfair to those who are different from us. The episode prompted some very interesting conversations, and the students expressed that they would love to watch another episode of the show later in the year. Luckily, Mr. C and Miss G are big fans and already have plans in the works to make that happen!
The end of the past week was spent making connections between the concept of "a single story" and the people who write the stories in our lives. We completed an "Author Study" in which we researched information about the identities of our book club novels' authors. Then, we expanded our research to include the authors on Time magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Young Adult Novels of all-time. In small groups, we split up the list and looked at the authors' genders, races, and nationalities. The results were intriguing! We compiled the data on chart paper and then after finding totals, we created graphs to represent the diversity, or lack thereof, in these authors. Our findings were sadly predictable: mostly white American men. However, there were a few surprises, and a lot of thoughtful discussions, that came out of the process.
As we wrap up our unit next week, we will be looking at how the people around us have an impact on our lives, and how we have an impact on theirs, by examining a concept called "Social Influencers." We will look forward to sharing the outcomes of that work in our next 7/8 blog post!
Thanks to Ann Braden, Rodman Philbrick, Jeff Garvin, Gary D. Schmidt, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Time Magazine for this week's lesson ideas and resources. We encourage you to click on their names to explore their work.