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Social Justice/ SEL

By Gedell1121
Grade Level
6-8
private
LEARNING PLAN
Essential Question
  • How can we promote positive change to our ever-changing environment?
Texts
Literature

The Breadwinner

After spending months talking to women in Afghan refugee camps, Deborah Ellis penned this timely novel about life under Taliban rule. Living in Afghanistan with her family, Parvana is a rarity—a girl who can read and experiences life, even for just a few hours, outside the four walls of her home.
by
Deborah Ellis
Grade Level
3-5 6-8
Subject
Civics
Geography
Topic
Gender & Sexual Identity
Social Justice Domain
Justice
July 3, 2014
Literature

The Skin I'm In (Chapter 3)

Maleeka gets made fun of at school about her clothes, her grades, even the color of her skin. In this chapter, she talks about getting teased on a school trip and how even her friend Char was ashamed to be seen with her because of her clothes.
by
Sharon Flake
Grade Level
3-5 6-8
Social Justice Domain
Justice
July 3, 2014
Informational

Facing the School Dropout Dilemma: The interaction of sexual orientation with school dropout rates

The American Psychological Association (APA) published “Facing the School Dropout Dilemma: The interaction of sexual orientation with school dropout rates” on its website in 2012. The APA is widely regarded as the most prominent professional organization for psychologists in the United States.
by
American Psychological Association
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
Topic
Gender & Sexual Identity
Social Justice Domain
Justice Action
July 5, 2014
Informational

Danger on my Doorstep

Linda Schubert recounts the fear that consumed her Jewish family living in Nazi-Germany in the late 1930s. Each family member endured individual stress and anxiety, but each also contributed to the family's greater good of the family.
by
Linda Schubert
Grade Level
6-8
Subject
History
Geography
Topic
Religion
Social Justice Domain
Identity Justice
July 7, 2014
Literature

The Fog Machine

This excerpt focuses on the lives of African American students during Freedom Summer. After reading Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech in class in 1963, students in main character C.J.'s school are asked to share their dreams at an assembly.
by
Susan Follett
Grade Level
6-8
Subject
Civics
History
Topic
Civil Rights Movement
Social Justice Domain
Identity Diversity Justice Action
June 9, 2015
Literature

Becoming Joey

This poem, told by a third-person omniscient narrator, paints a picture of José, an immigrant student who carries the burden of being from the “borderlands.”
by
Paul C. Gorski
Grade Level
6-8
Topic
Class
Social Justice Domain
Diversity Justice
October 29, 2015
Literature

A Slave Auction

Solomon Northup was kidnapped and sold into slavery for 12 years before he was freed. This excerpt from his memoir of those years, Twelve Years A Slave, details a New Orleans slave auction.
by
Solomon Northup
Grade Level
6-8
Subject
History
Economics
Social Justice Domain
Justice
April 27, 2016
Informational

Street Justice

The distrust between the Jewish community and African-American community in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in the 1990s reached an all-time high when a runaway car struck two children.
by
Jim Carnes
Grade Level
6-8
Subject
History
Topic
Religion Immigration
Social Justice Domain
Identity Action
May 22, 2017
Informational

The Power of Language

In this essay, the author identifies vague terminology used by the United States government during World War II to describe their actions toward Japanese Americans and outlines terms that would more appropriately describe the government's actions.
by
Learning for Justice Staff
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
Subject
Civics
History
Social Justice Domain
Diversity Justice
April 28, 2016
Visual

Hunger

In this cartoon, people of all sexes, ages, shapes and sizes are lined up outside the Gospel Mission, waiting for food. A mother in line remarks that they donated to this Mission just last year, inciting the feeling that circumstances can quickly change.
by
David Fitzsimmons
Grade Level
3-5 6-8 9-12
Subject
Economics
Topic
Class
Social Justice Domain
Diversity Justice
July 9, 2014
Informational

Disability Etiquette

In this article, Disability Rights and Resources outlines appropriate behavior, conversational cues, and common courtesies to internalize and enact when spending time with a person with a disability.
by
Disability Rights and Resources
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
Topic
Ability
Social Justice Domain
Diversity Justice
July 2, 2014
Visual

Crazy Versus Eccentric

In this ironic cartoon, the same man is depicted twice—once with tattered clothing and unkept body hair as a poor man and a second time in a suit with a clean-cut image as a rich man. As a poor man, he's regarded as crazy, but as a rich man, he's eccentric.
by
Andy Singer
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
Topic
Class
Social Justice Domain
Justice
July 2, 2014
Teaching Strategies
Word Work

Meaning-Making Paragraphs

Students learn the meaning of vocabulary words by writing the word in multiple ways. Students write guided paragraphs about words from the central text then share their writing with peers.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
L.6-12.5, L.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Word Work

Traits Matrix

In this semantic feature analysis strategy, students use a grid to show how vocabulary words relate to one another and to conceptual frameworks (e.g., masculine versus feminine).
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
L.6-12.4, L.6-12.5, L.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Word Work

Vocabulary Frames

Students use this tool to identify a word’s meaning, its parts and its opposite. After organizing the information on an illustrated flashcard, students practice using the word in a sentence.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
L.6-12.4, L.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Word Work

Vocabulary Prediction Chart

Students predict the meanings of vocabulary words before reading and confirm the accuracy of their predictions during and after reading. Students identify context clues from the text and revise their definitions accordingly.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
L.6-12.4, L.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Word Work

Vocabulary Rounds

This contextual redefinition strategy encourages students to use the structure and context of words to predict their meanings. Students arrive at the definition through exposure to increasingly rich clues.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
L.6-12.4, L.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Word Work

Vocabulary Tableaux

A tableau is a representation of a scene or picture by people posing silently without moving. In a vocabulary tableau, a group of students use their bodies to create a frozen picture of a vocabulary word.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
L.6-12.4, L.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Word Work

Word Wall

A word wall is an organized display of vocabulary words drawn from the texts students are reading.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
L.6-12.4, L.6-12.5, L.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Word Work

Word Wheel

Students use a concept map to organize their vocabulary learning. This tool requires students to define words, find examples, draw on prior knowledge and connect related concepts.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
L.6-12.4, L.6-12.5, L.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Challenge the Text

Challenge the Text helps students ask and answer their own text-dependent questions by taking multiple perspectives and uncovering assumptions and biases within the text.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RL.6-12.3, RL.6-12.6, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, RI.6-12.3, RI.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Reading Against the Grain

In reading against the grain students analyze the dominant reading of a text and engage in alternative or "resistant" readings. Resistant readings scrutinize the beliefs and attitudes that typically go unexamined in a text, drawing attention to the gaps, silences and contradictions.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RL.6-12.6, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, RI.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Shared Reading

Shared reading combines aspects of guided reading and read-aloud strategies. During shared reading, a teacher or proficient student reads the text aloud, pausing at pre-selected moments to discuss content and analyze the text. This strategy facilitates close reading of a complex text in small or whole group settings.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RI.6-12.1
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Text Graffiti

This strategy exposes students to multiple short pieces of a text before they read it in its entirety. Students read selected quotes out of context and comment on both the selection and the comments of other students. The activity ends with students reflecting on their reactions to and predictions about the text.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RI.6-12.1
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Text-Dependent Questions

Readers must refer back to the central text to answer text-dependent questions and provide evidence from the reading to support their answers. Students provide accurate, relevant and complete evidence. To do this well, students will often need to re-read the text several times. This approach privileges the text over prior knowledge, personal experience and pre-reading activities.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RL.6-12.4, RL.6-12.5, RL.6-12.6, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, RI.6-12.3, RI.6-12.4, RI.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Thinking Notes

Thinking notes are text annotations (highlights, underlines or symbols made on the text or in the margins) that document student thinking during reading. Depending on how you structure the task, these notes can indicate agreement, objection, confusion or other relevant reactions to the text.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Window or Mirror?

This task helps students consider if the text is a window or a mirror through practicing literacy skills and using technology.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RL.6-12.3, RL.6-12.7, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, RI.6-12.3, RI.6-12.7
April 18, 2016
Community Inquiry

Critical Listening Guide

A guide to help students interpret, analyze and evaluate information encountered in a variety of media formats. Use this guide with the spoken and performed texts included in the Perspectives anthology.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RL.6-12.4, RL.6-12.6, RL.6-12.7, RL.6-12.8, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, RI.6-12.4, RI.6-12.6, RI.6-12.7, RI.6-12.8, SL.6-12.1, SL.6-12.2, SL.6-12.3
July 13, 2014
Community Inquiry

Four Perspectives

A strategy to introduce the anti-bias framework into group discussion and textual analysis. Students respond to and pose questions from the four anti-bias domains: identity, diversity, justice and action.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RI.6-12.1, SL.6-12.1, SL.6-12.4, SL.6-12.6
July 13, 2014
Community Inquiry

Save the Last Word for Me (6-8, 9-12)

A comprehension strategy that builds speaking and listening skills through structured text-based discussion. Students record sentences from a text and then discuss their responses in small groups.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RL.6-12.4, RL.6-12.6, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, RI.6-12.4, RI.6-12.6, SL.6-12.1, SL.6-12.2, SL.6-12.6
July 13, 2014
Community Inquiry

Say Something

A comprehension strategy during which student take turns reading aloud to each other, stopping occasionally to comment on the text.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, SL.6-12.1, SL.6-12.2, SL.6-12.6
July 13, 2014
Community Inquiry

Socratic Seminar

A structured discussion in which students examine issues and respond to open-ended questions about a text. Students use dialogue rather than debate to communicate with each other.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RI.6-12.1, SL.6-12.1, SL.6-12.3, SL.6-12.4, SL.6-12.6
July 13, 2014
Community Inquiry

Text Talk Time (6-8, 9-12)

A whole class discussion structured to facilitate rich dialogue, active listening and use of textual evidence.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RL.6-12.4, RL.6-12.5, R.L.6-12.6, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, RI.6-12.4, RI.6-12.5, RI.6-12.6, SL.6-12.1, SL.6-12.3, SL.6-12.6
July 13, 2014
Community Inquiry

Text-based Fishbowl

A strategy for organizing medium- to large-group discussions. Students are separated into an inner and outer circle. In the inner circle, or fishbowl, students have a text-based discussion; students in the outer circle listen to the discussion and take notes.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.3, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.3, SL.6-12.1, SL.6-12.6
July 13, 2014
Community Inquiry

What Would They Say

A discussion strategy that asks students to infer how a particular author or character from a text would respond to questions and scenarios. Students must defend their conclusions using evidence from the text.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RI.6-12.1, SL.6-12.1, SL.6-12.3, SL.6-12.4, SL.6-12.6
July 13, 2014
Student Tasks
Do Something

Be the Change...

Students identify and investigate a community problem and propose a solution. They then plan and implement action directed at solving the problem.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
July 13, 2014
Do Something

My Voice, My Voter’s Guide

Estimated time Two to three weeks Why? One of the ways young students become invested in the democratic process is by become empowered advocates for civic participation in their local communities. When younger students
Grade Level
3-5 6-8 9-12
Subject
Civics
August 30, 2018
Do Something

Spotlight on Change Agents

Students investigate, interview and profile a person working for equity and social change. The person can work on the local, national or international level, with an organization or as an individual. The compiled profiles will form a resource for other students in the future.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Tweeting for Change

Students organize and facilitate a live Twitter chat to raise awareness of an anti-bias theme or social justice issue and to encourage change related to this issue.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
February 25, 2016
Do Something

Voting in Your Town

Students use online resources to analyze current voter registration and turnout rates in their state and local community. They also explore potential roadblocks to the voting process (e.g., felon disenfranchisement and voter fraud).
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
October 3, 2016
Write to the Source

Break It Down

Break it Down asks students to demonstrate their explanatory and descriptive writing skills.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
W.6-12.2, W.6-12.4, W.6-12.9
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

Problem Solver

Problem Solver asks students to demonstrate their argumentative skills when identifying problems and solutions in writing.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
W.6-12.1, W.6-12.4, W.6-12.9
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

So What?

So What? asks students to demonstrate their explanatory and informative skills when writing to gain the understanding of others.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
W.6-12.2, W.6-12.4, W.6-12.9
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

Where I Stand

Where I Stand asks students to demonstrate their argumentative and analytical writing skills.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
W.6-12.1, W.6-12.4, W.6-12.9
July 19, 2014
Plan Built By
Gedell1121

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