WELCOME!
A UNIT OUTLINE FOR 9TH GRADE ENGLISH CLASS
SUMMARY:Welcome to my digital unit on Benjamin Saenz's novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. With the novel as the central focus, but with aide from mostly online supplementary materials, this unit will
focus on how a sense of belonging is created or prevented for individuals within social groups and communities. This focus on belonging aims to introduce 9th grade students to the complex array of notions surrounding inclusion and exclusion, especially for traditionally marginalized peoples of a society. In one of it's main, more obvious, aspects this unit aims to meet California's F.A.I.R. Education Act goals that require the inclusion of Queer (LGBT) history and literature in the
curriculum. Equally as important, however, and extremely enriching as a built in parallel to the Queer narrative, is the unit's aims to teach about
the rich diversity of Chicano experiences . Throughout the lessons the unit will especially explore these groups in terms of community,
family, language processes and how these have a formative and lasting impact on
individual identity. Additionally, from this unit, students will be introduced to the concepts of more general linguistic diversity, and the role it plays in terms of identity expression. This will include a focus on code-meshing by the mixing of languages, such as is characteristic with Spanglish. Through this link with code-meshing, this unit lends itself to address linguicism that is a lingering manifestation of “accepted”
racism (as well as other hate based prejudices such as sexism and homophobia). Overall, the focus of this unit is on the relationship between
shame and belonging for individuals as they exist within overlapping communities with very different expectations.
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BIG IDEAS
"I bet you could sometimes find all the mysteries of the universe in someone's hand." An image of connection (belonging) from the novel.
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These dolls on this section of the Mexican American border illustrate a different kind of connection not directly addressed in the novel; but rather, one that the author had in mind as he was writing as part of the novel's purpose. Students will be challenges to connect how different notions of belonging share similarities.
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STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit students should:
- Be able to explain that even within groups of people, individuals can be very different and have different ideas about what belonging means.
- Have a basic understanding of 20th century queer history.
- Have a basic understanding of the mestizo- “Borderlands” metaphorical concept as it applies to existing within both categorizations inside of an oppositional binary.
- Be able to write an analytically essay concerning the maturation/development of various characters and argue for or against this with textual evidence.
- Be able to write about the themes in the text in relation to character development.
- Be better able to analyze and discuss their own communities, families, friends, etc. They should be able to analyze and evaluate in discussion and both informal and formal writing about who belongs, who does not belong, and why.
- Know how to blog from a chosen character’s perspective in order to better understand characterization and textual evidence and reader assumptions.
- Know how to use an interactive visual argument tool to prioritize the relevance of certain themes surrounding the novel. They will have to justify their claims with reasons and citation from the text as they interact in groups.
- Write about the groups that they belong to ( their own communities, families, ethnicities, races) and explains how their communal experiences are similar and different from those portrayed in Saenz’s novel. Students will have to draw on what they have learned about character development, language use, and theme to find relevant passages of text that they can utilize for comparative analysis with their own lives.
- Use the novel and sources provided through the webercise to synthesize connections for analysis of similarities between Chicano and Queer cultures to evaluate how different groups of people derive identity from language both literary and spoken/conversational. Students can also use these same skills to choose what in relation to the text and it's themes they would like to write about.
CONTENT STANDARDS ADDRESSED
GRADE 9:
READING STANDARDS FOR LITERATURE:
READING STANDARDS FOR LITERATURE:
- RL:1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- RL:2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
- RL:3: Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
- RL:4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
- RL:7: Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).RL
- RL: 9: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare).
- RI:1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- RI:3: Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.
- RI:4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper). (See grade 9–10 Language standards 4–6 for additional expectations.)RI
- RI:7: Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
- W:1: Write arguments
to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid
reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
a. Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the
claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that
establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and
evidence.
b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
- W:2: Write
informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts,
and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection,
organization, and analysis of content.
a. Introduce a topic or thesis statement; organize complex ideas, concepts, and
information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting
(e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful
to aiding comprehension. CA
b. Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
c. Use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
- W:3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
a. Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
c. Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole.
d. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative. - W:6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.