IJefferies


 * Race and sexuality, it’s your turn to choose **


 * === Ivory T. Jefferies === ||
 * === ** Diverse Text set for 11th grade students exploring issues on race and sexuality in and out of the Classroom ** === ||
 * **Context for using the text set**: The content of this lesson plan will provide students with materials that will be used as tools to help activate prior knowledge and validate concepts based around perspectives. The classes of students are very diverse so many resources like audio, video, interactive websites, articles, books, and poems have been made available so that knowledge can be learned effectively through these many examples. The lesson plan will also aid students in the retrieval and comprehension of further knowledge that can be gained with the help of available resources and teacher assistance. These references will be used by me, in effort to help prepare for this lesson to be able to better assist my students and help me become a more successful educator. 11th grade students are very social so the texts and resources chosen are very interactive and engaging to keep focus on the topic at task and keep students interested. ||
 * ** Text #1: **

**Citation:** Field, D. (2009) //A Historical guide to James Baldwin//. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press

**Text Summary:** Baldwin’s biography provides insight into his life as a Homosexual African American Male, who struggled to fully accept and understand his identity first in his community than as a part of society. There are realizations and text-to-world connections that are made to focus on specific circumstances and choices, made by him and others, that altered the outcome of his educational and career path.

**Rationale:** This is an introductory lesson for students since it’s the beginning of the school semester. Upon the first week of school students will be asked to attend a scheduled forum, after school, and hear stories from “victims” who were bullied in their high school careers because of their sexual, racial, and physical appearances and identities. They will then be instructed to go home and find something online, anything about what they learned after the listening, and provide me with a detailed one page reflection that will show me what they have learned and/or understand. The proper citations also have to be provided so we can refer back to it at a later point in the semester as a reflection checkpoint. Thus, leading into the introduction of James Baldwin who shared the same story but turned his nightmare into success.

** Use of text: ** There are 25 students in this class who are all on different reading and comprehension levels. From provided research and assignments from the previous year’s grades and assessments seems to look like 50 percent of the class is reading at a seventh- eighth grade level, 25 percent of the class reading at a ninth to tenth grade reading level, and the remaining students who are meeting expectations of eleventh grade reading levels. This section falls in the beginning of our unit of study but it is does not end there. Throughout the lesson will we refer back to certain checkpoints or bookmarks that I have placed in designated places, to model KWL understanding, referring back to what we did not know, what we learned and know now that we didn’t before, and understanding how we got to this point as a class.

**Attachment:** Not attached, students have textbook present for review so I did not include it here.

**Text #2:**

**Citation:** Ray, A. (2010) //Racism- A game of colour.// Paris, France

**Text Summary:** Ray’s poem explores different interpretations of what colours/colors are and can be. The poem suggests patterns between colours and people, perceptions and also misunderstandings. It is a metaphoric poem that encourages students to engage in deep thought and consider the undetermined.

**Rationale:** This will be an incorporation or bookmark that I spoke about, a necessary brain teaser that will refer back to our introductory lesson on race and sexuality. Requiring students to think back, think aloud, and think ahead. Students will be instructed to respond to this poem in a classroom audio blog and discuss their responses within their given groups of four. Students will then self-examine and re- evaluate their stances on this topic by a provided set of three questions. They will question opinion, fact, and stance on how race and sexuality in the classroom setting can be harmful/hurtful and what they can do to prevent/encourage it.

**Use of text:** Students will learn how to make references and connections to help build understanding of an everyday issue, possibly in their own environment, and find justification in their decisions. Students will be tested with difficult vocabulary and will use their pocket dictionaries to help them find the definitions needed.

**Attachment:** Please see the following link to view poem and pdf [| http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/amit-ray/racism-a-game-of-colour/]

** Text #3: **

**Citation:** Nguyen, D. (2010) //It gets better: Obama speaks out against gay bullying.// Waterloo, ON, Canada: Digital Journal Press. Retrieved October 20th, 2010.

**Text Summary:** President Obama responds to the nation, providing us with insight, resources, and options about seeking help from getting bullied and getting help because you’re the bully. He expresses sympathy, his and our obligations to avoid things of this sort, and ways and effortful strides that we can take to grow as equals.

**Rationale:** This will be a time where students can allow their minds to explore, navigate, and imagine about examples of bullying, both due to homosexuality and race or not, and relate to it and find ways that they can be effective participants of their community and avoid bullies and bullying.

**Use of text:** This will be a quick read in class to further gaining knowledge on the topic. Students will read to themselves quietly while marking up the text and then we will group together as a class to discuss our findings.

**Attachment:** Please see the following attached sheet entitled Obama article

** Text # 4: **

**Citation:** Nguyen, D. (2010) //It gets better: Obama speaks out against gay bullying.// Waterloo, ON, Canada: Digital Journal Press. Retrieved October 20th, 2010.

**Text Summary:** President Obama responds to an increase in suicides and murders of children/adults of homosexuality and hate crimes. His message explains that of hope and change, explaining the multiple possibilities and other options that we can do with our time.

**Rationale:** Students will be instructed to watch this movie at home alone with a sibling or relative and then in another household with a friend to see the different reactions that each set of people reveal and figure out what of those trigger or initial reactions did to their feeling and train of thought on the message Obama gave. This will help with Text- to- self and text- to- world connections. Figuring out how they feel and how their feeling can changed when influenced, pressured, uncomfortable or unfamiliar.

**Use of text:** This will be a cool down exercise to much discussion on race and homosexuality, giving them the ability to explore and find an identity while trying to deliver my message. Students will refer back to their KWL models periodically and reflect through daily required journals of five sentences in length. Each day they will state what they did or learned differently.

**Attachment:** Please refer to the following links and views videos one and two, site will direct you to YouTube []

** Text #5: **

**Citation:** Towle, A. (2007) //Pro-gay Jesus billboards go over well in Indiana.// Indiana, IN: Indianapolis Star. Retrieved October 20th, 2010.

**Text Summary:** Pictures provides us with a love- hate scenario, where God is portrayed as accepting but the creations or his citizens not so accepting after tagging and deciphering the provided message on the billboard.

**Rationale:** Students will search the web and find a counter image that has not been defaced or deciphered that can show meaning, understanding or comfort in being racial and/ or, not together, homosexual.

**Use of text:** The image search will keep students engaged and continuously thinking, their image retrieved will also invite students and create a sense of open mindedness so understanding can be accomplished.

**Attachments:** Please refer to the following link below []

** Text #6: **

**Citation:** Bazemore, J. (2010). //Antiabortion activists’ billboard suggests racial// //conspiracy.// Los Angeles, CA: Associated Press LA Times. Retrieved October 20th, 2010  []

**Text Summary:** Image is in relationship to abortion campaign, students will be instructed to exclude that thought from their analysis of why else the image is  offending and discriminative. Image of Africa American baby with offensive message.

**Rationale:** Students will use the reference to text number five to figure out the message the billboards provided its viewers with besides the one that is posted.

**Attachment:** Not attached, link provided above

** Text # 7: **

**Citation:** Knowles, B. (2010). “//If I were a boy”.// Columbia: Sony Music Entertainment []. Retrieved October 22nd, 2010.

**Text Summary:** Beyoncé sings about gender roles trading and circumstances becoming very different.

**Rationale:** Students will listen to Beyoncé’s song and make their own limerick poem about one of the two topics, race and/or homosexuality, and can be creative with it singing it as a song, posting it online within a slideshow, rapping, etc., whatever they choose. This will be a time for students to have fun and be creative with interactively learning.

**Attachment:** Not attached, link provided above

** Text #8: **

**Citation:** (2010) Nickelodeon’s //Quizilla.// San Diego, CA: Viacom International Inc.  []

**Text Summary:** You can choose any sort of game, quiz, or trivial pursuit offered by Nickelodeon for its teens to help you individualize your perception and test you to  figure out how you learn and perceive things.

**Rationale:** Students will be able to explore each available link on the page to help get a better understanding of race and homosexuality whether it be in the humorous form, physical form, or verbalized.

**Attachment:** Not attached, link provided above

** Text # 9: **

** Citation: [] **. Retrieved October 24h, 2010

**Text Summary:** Students have the ability to choose from various interactive web games, puzzles, and short stories. Activities can be done from home or in school and is age friendly and appropriate to do with siblings and parents.

**Rationale:** Student will be able to give and get advice while in and out of school when referring to this website, the ability to interactive online gives student ownership and empowerment over their choices which encourages and influences discussion during class.

**Attachment:** Not attached, link provided above

** Text # 10: **

**Citation:** Effort, C. (2010). //Def professor Africana studies.// An Francisco, CA: San Francisco State University. Retrieved October 24th, 2010 [] []

**Text Summary:** Professor Fischer providers newcomers with much information on what references you can make and resource you can use. Has many links that lead to other linked but all relate to one another and examples of how we can better ourselves as teachers while assisting students at the same time.

**Rationale:** This lecture example and references that specify individual topics like those of race and homosexuality will help me provides students with the most detailed and up to date information. ||
 * ** Using these texts together in the classroom: **

The lesson will begin by using the text and online resources. All articles and photos will serves as secondary references. The pictures will be used and questions will be asked if necessary to allow the students to lead the discussion and teach peer- to –peer. I will assess the students’ knowledge of the topic of race and homosexuality first by doing designated brain teasers that will activate prior knowledge website. This will develop background knowledge for the students before we begin with the readings and online searching. After the text books and readings, videos, interactive websites, students will have the opportunity through frequent group to be able to frontload and lead discussion on their own. ** Standards: ** **Core Standard #4:** Delineate the main ideas or themes in the text and the details those elaborate and support them. **Core Standard #17:** Apply knowledge and understanding gained through reading and comprehension. **Learning Objectives:** At the end of the unit students will be able to explain reasoning and support their decisions behind race and sexuality, transforming them from peer to- peer coaches and now into educators. Students will also be able to use the information they have learned and connect their knowledge to real world problems and be able to support their affirmatives to problems with knowledge they have learned in this unit. ||