Reading & Writing:
Students will use reading and writing from diverse perspectives, cultures, and genres to understand the world around them, find joy in reading and writing for leisure, make positive change in their communities, and fight injustice.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros: A novel structured as a series of vignettes. It tells the story of Esperanza, a 12-year-old Chicana girl growing up in the Hispanic quarter of Chicago. While reading this novel many conversations about womanhood, freedom, and gender roles arouse in the classroom. I used Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” and Lucille Clifton’s “Homage to my Hips” as secondary texts to further engage in these conversations.
Refugee by Alan Gratz tells the story of three refugees from three different eras: Nazi Germany, 1990s Cuba, and modern Syria. The language in this text was challenging for some of my students, especially those who were English language learners. To help students visualize what was going on in the novel, I introduced recent documentaries and films that portrayed various perspectives of life as a refugee. I also introduced students to Brian Bilston’s poem “Refugee”.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo tells the story of fifteen-year-old Xiomara, who goes by X, as she works through the tension and conflict in her family by writing poetry. I was truly amazed by my student’s interest in this text and planned on taking full advantage of such a unique opportunity. As I worked to encourage students to write and share their stories, I shared some of my own writing with them. We also looked at poetry from all kinds of authors so that all students could read something they cared about and enjoyed.
Emotional Intelligence
Students will engage in respectful classroom discussions on diverse and relevant subjects to build empathy towards themselves and others.
Making Connections & Authentic Expression
Students will make connections between the texts we engage with and their lived experiences to build reading and writing stamina, and strengthen reading comprehension. Students will express themselves and their knowledge in a variety of forms, mediums, and languages. 
