This unit was based on understanding adolescence as a construct, and explored common, limiting generalizations often assigned to teenagers. The unit started with a reading of the foundational text of the unit, Nancy Lesko’s Act Your Age! A Cultural Construction of Adolescence that outlined 4 major stereotypes which we would use to guide us throughout the unit. We then spent time exploring how these stereotypes appear in TV/film, in literature, and in current events/the news. The final assessment of the unit was a synthesis essay that asked students to pick a common stereotype about adolescence and discuss how it is either subverted or enforced in the different sects of society that we studied in class.
Big Ideas/Essential Questions
-What stereotypes are commonly associated with teenagers?
-What are possible consequences of long-term enforcement of stereotypes about teenagers?
Text Set
–Act Your Age! A Cultural Construction of Adolescence by Nancy Lesko
–Me Moth by Amber McBride
–Chlorine Sky by Mahogany L. Browne
–Solo by Kwame Alexander
–Punching the Air by Ibi Ziboi and Yusef Salaam
– “Parents Claim They Have the Right to Shape Their Kids’ School Curriculum. They Don’t.” by Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire
– “Hundreds of Florida Students Stage Walkout to Protest ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill” by Rachel Scully
– “Florida Legislature’s Attack on Public School Education” by Fabiola Santiago
-“Parents’ Bill of Rights Is Needed to Combat Left’s Indoctrination of Students” by Josh Hawley