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Curriculum as Inquiry Project: What is identity?

Piper Pugh

EDUC 533: Forming and Reforming the Elementary Literacy Curriculum

Graduate School of Education

University of Pennsylvania

Professor H. Gerald Campano

June 30, 2021

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Curriculum as Inquiry

Essential Question: What is identity?

Context

This curriculum is set in an imagined fifth grade classroom in South Central Los

Angeles. This curriculum is grounded in and built around Los Angeles, as this is the

place that I associate with home--my own home, and the home of nearly all my former

students. In particular, the curriculum is centered in the neighborhood of South Central,

where I lived for four years during college and where I worked in several 3rd to 8th

classrooms as a teaching assistant and English/Creative Writing seminar instructor. In

these capacities, I was able to witness the bold and innovative ways that students in

these classrooms were already grappling with the question: What is identity?--in part,

how they were conceptualizing, negotiating, renegotiating, and depicting their

multicultural, transnational, and intersectional identities multimodally. I have decided to

situate my curriculum in the context that inspired its content.

Because of my familiarity with the city, I feel more able to leverage Los Angeles’s

geography and history in our classroom inquiry. Because of my experience with the

city’s students, I know them to be decisively “cosmopolitan intellectuals” (Campano &

Ghiso 2010), dynamic, diverse, multiliterate, transnational, and multilingual students,

who are each uniquely able to leverage their wealths of “personal ‘knowing’” (Traill

1993) in our inquiry into identity. Of the 16 fifth grade students in my imagined

classroom, many are emergent bilingual and multilingual students, the majority of whom

are emergent Spanish speakers.

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During the course of our unit, students will participate in lessons during their

morning ELA block. The block is 100 minutes long, broken up into two 50-minute

sections, separated by a 15-minute break.

Story of the Question

In late 2020, I began to read Rita Dove’s anthology of 20th century American

poetry. In describing the motivations and musings of American poets writing during this

period, Dove writes that many, specifically women, people of color, and those

historically silenced because of one or more facets of their identity, came to believe “that

every person contains a story, that, if told well, would resonate within us no matter how

strange or unfamiliar the circumstances” (Dove 2016). As an educator who believes

emphatically in the power of creative writing and personal expression, I was struck.

Then, in the context of Dove’s impeccably curated anthology, one that disrupts what

many might have defined as quintessential “20th Century American Poetry,” this line’s

influence grew bigger. For these writers, poetry was not just an artform, but what Gloria

Ladson-Billings calls a “crucial tool” of “liberation, empowerment, and self-determinism”

(2016).

As a teacher, I know that my students already have incredible stories born of

incredible knowledge that arises at the intersection of their identities and lived

experiences. I also know many students are not empowered to, and are in fact

dissuaded and punished for, incorporating their whole selves into the classroom. I chose

to explore identity, specifically intersectional ones, in my curriculum because I wanted to

meaningfully and intentionally create a space (through texts, activities, and discussions)
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that values, respects, and acknowledges the ways in which it is enriched and made

stronger by students’ stories, identities, and knowledge.

In selecting a topic as expansive as identity, I wondered how I might achieve

breadth in the curriculum without compromising the lessons’ depth. I struggled with how

to take an idea so large that we spend lifetimes pondering it, and adapt it into something

that fits in one fifth grade classroom, and in three short weeks.

Therefore, in developing my curriculum, I began to refer to it as both an inquiry

into identity, and as an inquiry into the inquiry of identity. By recognizing that inquiry into

who we are is a constant and infinite process, this curriculum hopes to guide students in

how to ask meaningful and critical questions about how we define, acquire, negotiate,

express, and feel empowered by the many aspects of our identities. By participating in

this inquiry in tandem with classmates, I hope to help create a space where students

can consider how to learn about others, to identify and address problematic

assumptions, and to value the complexity within and amongst our unique identities.

While I want to provide students with concrete language and vocabulary to

discuss identity, for instance the dictionary definitions of race, ethnicity, and other

identity markers, I want to maintain space for critical evaluation, creativity, and

negotiation. I want students to feel empowered to imagine and reimagine their own

definitions, informed by their unique “personal ‘knowing’” (Traill 1993), interaction with

diverse and culturally responsive texts, interaction with each other, and through

activities that encourage student innovation and collaboration. I do not want the lessons’

focus to be explaining identity to students and solidifying knowledge in a subject. I will

engage in “apprenticing students into a learning community rather than teaching them
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isolated and unrelated but of knowledge” (Ladson-Billings 2016). I want the curriculum

to create space for students to wonder, ask questions, make connections, and continue

to add to, adjust, and reimagine their ideas, working definitions, and personal lenses on

identity.

Over the course of this inquiry, students will produce a body of multimodal texts,

such as self-portraits and poems. These activities intend to create space for students to

explore their identities, consider the factors that influence identity formation, and to

conceptualize how their identities intersect and interact. More importantly, I hope that

these activities will help students to feel empowered in their identities, pride in their

unique knowledge, and confidence in their ability to define themselves and tell their own

stories.

Emergent Philosophy:

My teaching philosophy is grounded in the belief that each student comes to the

classroom with their own “personal ‘knowing,’ their own dispositions and a treasure of

experiences, interests, strengths, and potential on which learning and teaching in school

should be founded” (Traill 1993). “Personal ‘knowing’” is not something that should be

incorporated or considered when creating curriculum, building text sets, or dreaming up

activities. “Personal ‘knowing,’” as Traill asserts, should be what learning and teaching

are founded upon. I believe in understanding students as “flexible, multiliterate” (Siegel

2008) people, as “cosmopolitan individuals” Campano & Ghiso 2010), and they deserve

a curriculum that reflects these realities.

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As a teacher, I therefore believe that it is my responsibility to respond to students’

exceptional breadth and knowledge by “founding” our classroom’s teaching and learning

in “culturally relevant pedagogy” that recognizes students’ multiplicities and multiliterate

selves (Ladson-Billings 2016). I believe in selecting texts that act as mirrors for my

students and facilitating activities that encourage exploration of students’ multifaceted

and intersectional identities. Students must feel as though they can bring their whole

selves into the classroom, and it is my responsibility as an educator to facilitate an

environment that allows this. This “pedagogy of multiliteracies” serves many purposes,

such as “better [preparing] students for citizenship in a globalized world;” however these

practices are also crucial in establishing something vastly more important: “mattering”

(2019). Students must be in a classroom environment that never denies the extent to

which they matter, and my choices in text and activities center upon ensuring that

students know their identities and voices matter unequivocally, in and outside the

classroom.

Therefore, I believe reading appropriate “texts” and participating in creative

expression should be daily practices in the classroom. I believe that reading “texts” is

not limited to written or print material; it includes walking through galleries of paintings

and quiltwork; it includes the artifacts that students enter in the classroom and extract

unique meaning from. Creative expression is not limited to writing for purpose; it

includes oral storytelling and discussion, movement, drawing, poetry, and collage. It is a

vital part of my teaching philosophy that students must both be exposed to and

empowered to create multimodal texts in the classroom.

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In building my text set, my intention was to gather a group of materials that was

rich and diverse in modality, subject matter, and representation. My “texts” include

written material, such as picture books, in addition to other mediums of literacy, such as

painting, quilting, video, and photography. My definition of “text” also extends to the

work created by students in class and to the items they enter into our communal

curriculum. Therefore, within the Text Set category, I have created a subcategory called

Texts in Motion--a title inspired by the article “Literacy in Motion” (Siegel 2008). The

Texts in Motion will include the emergent texts that will be built in class and the ones

that student-curators will introduce as part of lesson plans or as they make unexpected

connections to their own “personal ‘knowing’” (Traill 1993). It is important for me to

include these Texts in Motion as part of my Text Set to validate that the artifacts

students bring, the art they create, and the pieces they write hold valid and vital

knowledge that is not simply a byproduct of the curriculum, but an immovable piece of it.

Ghiso (2011) considers that “children’s texts and interactions with texts are

typically treated as neutral, resulting in a lack of engagement with the content of their

pieces as historically and socially situated.” Therefore, after honoring students’ personal

and familial histories, I will supplement their own rich personal knowledge with broader

social/political context that might also speak to their experience. I think here of “We

Want to Do More Than Survive,” in which Dr. Bettina Love (2017) considers the feelings

of irrelevancy caused by a school curriculum that had “no connection to [her] history or

[her] community.” If I want to encourage students to bring their own “personal knowing”

(Traill 1993) into the classroom, I can only do so by “legitimizing students’ real life

experiences as a part of the ‘official’ curriculum” (Ladson-Billings 2016). In my lesson

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plans, it is often student-created work that serves as our day’s most central text.

However, in inviting conversations about students’ lived experiences, I must also

acknowledge and prepare for the possibility that challenging discussions may arise.

Therefore, in introducing a topic such as identity, it is imperative that I take a

strong trauma-informed approach to my teaching. My students will not be required or

specifically prompted to discuss difficult personal topics. I have made a concerted effort

to allow flexibility in our classroom conversations and activities so that students may

elect to extract from the wealth of their lived experiences or to instead draw from the

rich texts introduced in class. I will frequently inform students about who will be able to

view the materials that they create in class, clearly identifying activities that will be

shared with the class or visual only to me. I want to earn students’ trust by being

transparent and communicative about how their texts will be used or shared. In several

activities, I will allow students to mark their paper if they are willing for the content to be

shared with other students. In addition to being respectful of students’ privacy, I also

hope to reiterate the vital role of student choice in my classroom.

Through intentionally cultivating a safe environment with love and

student-centered, culturally responsive teaching practices, I hope that students will feel

safe to discuss if certain activities or conversations are uncomfortable or upsetting.

However, I can personally empathize with the experience of feeling unable to openly

discuss particular topics or to express concern about completing an activity that is

triggering. Therefore, I believe that it is my responsibility to be in tune to the ways that

students are communicating to me without words. I want to keep a careful eye on

students’ body language and how they move in response to assignments, so that I can
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quickly sense and address any discomfort. This being said, I may be unable to identify

all signs from my students, and it is therefore my intention and duty to deeply

investigate all my texts, activities, curriculum, methodologies, and practices, and

reimagine them if needed. As Ladson-Billings asserts in “#Literate Lives Matter,” if

methods are not working, teachers have a “moral obligation to try something different”

(2016) for their students.

As an educator, this willingness to reimagine is crucial. I believe deeply that I

must be willing to challenge myself, my philosophies, biases, practices, and

methodologies. Just as I have attempted to communicate to students throughout my

lesson plan, these inquiries into who we are, why we are, and who we want to be are

infinite, and infinitely rewarding.

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Guiding Questions: What is identity?

Week 2, Lesson 1: ● How do I describe who I am?

● What makes up identity?
● What are the various aspects of identity?
● What are we interested in learning about ourselves and
others?

Week 2, Lesson 2: ● Where do our identities come from?

● How do our families and communities inform our
identity?
● How can we learn more?

Week 2, Lesson 3: ● How are the different aspects of our identity

manifested?
● How do we imagine the aspects of our identity working
together or against each other?

Week 2, Lesson 4: ● What happens when others don't see us for who we
are?
● Who determines who we are?
● How can we ask questions to get to know people?
● How can we be respectful of other people's identities?

Week 2, Lesson 5: ● How are we unique and important?

● How can we be empowered in our identities even when
it feels difficult?
● What are we capable of?
● What questions do we want to ask ourselves?
● How do you respect and embrace your own
multifaceted identities?
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Text Set

Week 1

● Identity Vocabulary List

● “Two Names, Two Worlds,” poem by Jonathan Rodríguez
● The Great Wall of Los Angeles, 2,754 ft mural in San Fernando Valley
designed by Judith F. Baca and actualized by 400+ youth, artists, and
community members
● The Great Wall of Los Angeles teacher guide

Week 2

Lesson 1: Define ● Identity Vocabulary List

● “Two Names, Two Worlds,” poem by Jonathan
Rodríguez
● Student identity webs (Text in Motion)
● “I Am From” poem format/examples, such as “Cherokee
Daughter”
● Students’ “I Am From” poems (Text in Motion)

Lesson 2: Trace ● Student Artifacts (Text in Motion)

● Sample Flyers for Museum or Gallery Exhibits
● Students’ flyers (Text in Motion)
● Nana Akua Goes to School, Tricia Alam Walker

Lesson 3: Imagine ● 1,000-piece puzzle

● "Las dos Fridas," painted by Frida Kahlo
● "Autorretrato en la frontera entre México y los Estados
Unidos,” painted by Frida Kahlo
● "Her Heart Was in the Clouds," quilted by Marion
Coleman
● Video on Marion Coleman from National Endowment of
the Arts, directed by Sara Aguilar
● Oral history of Kahlo's life with slideshow of important
photographs

Lesson 4: Respect ● TED Talk, “Danger of the Single Story,” Chimamanda

Ngozi Adichie
● Compilation of Avengers interviews
● Wilson Critical Literacy Questionnaire A and B (2002)
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Lesson 5: Value ● Your Life Matters, Chris Singleton

● Question and Answer cards (Text in Motion)
● Student poems and group poem (Text in Motion)

Week 3

● Students’ identity books (Text in Motion)

● Atlases
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Week 1 Overview

Guiding Questions:
● What is identity?
● How are people defining identity and the key aspects of identity?

Texts:
● Identity Vocabulary List
● “Two Names, Two Worlds,” by Jonathan Rodríguez
● The Great Wall of Los Angeles, 2,754 ft mural in San Fernando Valley
designed by Judith F. Baca and actualized by 400+ youth, artists, and
community members

In this first week, students will familiarize or re-familiarize themselves with some

vocabulary that will aid our conversations about and inquiries into identity. We will

specifically discuss the “Big 8 Identities,” plus several others: race, ethnicity,

socioeconomic status, gender identity, nationality, immigration status, age,

religious/spiritual affiliation(s), ability, and sexual orientation. We will also define

“stereotype,” “language,” and “culture.” Before providing formal definitions for these

words, one of our first activities will involve asking students what they think about when

they hear each word, to get an understanding of how they currently define, understand,

and connect to these vocabulary words.

Sample Vocabulary List:

1) Identity: the characteristics, qualities, and beliefs that make up who a person is
2) Ability: a talent, capacity, or skill
3) Race: one way to group people, usually based on characteristics like skin color,
facial features, hair texture, or geographic ancestry
4) Ethnicity: the state of belonging to a social group or culture that has shared
national, cultural, or religious traditions
5) Gender Identity: how you identify on the spectrum of gender, how you see and
define yourself.
6) Age: the length of time a person has been alive, sometimes how you are
categorized as being “young” or “old”
7) Nationality: the status of belonging to a particular nation (or multiple nations)
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8) Stereotype: an idea or belief some people have about a group of people that is
unfair, untrue, or overly simple
9) Culture: refers to a group of people’s way of life that is passed down through
generations--their shared knowledge, religion, food, histories, traditions, arts,
values, achievements, beliefs, ideas, communications, and behaviors
10) Sexual Orientation: A person’s sexual, emotional, romantic, and/or affectional
attractions. It is not just based on behavior, but what people feel. Examples of
identities include heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual (people who are
attracted to people of two genders), pansexual (a term that refers to the
potential for being attracted to or loving people of all gender identities).
11) Immigration status: the way a person is present in the United States, such as if
they have papers, a Green Card, are a citizen, or are undocumented
12)Socioeconomic Status: a term used to categorize people based on a
combination of factors, such as income, wealth, poverty, and occupation.
13) Language: (1) the principal method of human communication, consisting of
words used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech,
writing, or gesture; (2) a system of communication used by a particular country
or community.

To help students become more accustomed to the words and their definitions, the

first week will involve several more activities to promote an understanding of these

words and a comfortability with mobilizing them in conversation and in analysis of texts.

In one activity, students and I will read the poem “Two Names, Two Worlds,” by

Jonathan Rodríguez. In our discussion, students will identify the aspects of Jonathan

Rodríguez’s identity that are presented in the poem. We will consider how he discusses

and reveals these facets of his identity. For example, we might consider the role of

socioeconomic status by paying attention to descriptions about the places he has lived.

Through this poem, we will begin to discuss intersectionality; specifically, we will begin

to notice how authors and artists think about the many aspects of their identities--do

they work together or work against each other? How do they portray their intersectional

identities?
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On the last day of Week 1, students will go on a field trip to The Great Wall of Los

Angeles, a half-mile long mural designed by Judith F. Baca, the artistic director of the

Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), a part of the Latinx Art Alliance. Baca

describes this mural as a “pictorial representation of the history of ethnic peoples” in

California, from prehistoric times to the late 1950s.

In addition to exploring the content of the wall, which provides a “long narrative of

another history of California; one which included ethnic peoples, women and minorities

who were so invisible in conventional text book accounts,” our tour will consider the

history of the wall’s collaborative creation. Over “five summers” in the 1970s, the wall

“employed over 400 youth and their families,” referred to as “Mural Makers,” from

diverse social and economic backgrounds,” who worked with “artists, oral historians,

ethnologists, scholars, and hundreds of community members” to dream up and

actualize the mural ().

During the field trip, I will utilize the teacher resource guide provided by SPARC

to teach students about the purpose and creation of the monument and to mobilize the

identity markers in conversation as we seek out parts of artwork that stand out to us.

Students and I will:

● Discuss important topics such as immigration, protest, and representation of

diverse identities

● Think about ways we can share our histories and identities, outside of books

● Consider the role of young people in creating the mural

● Think about what this mural tells us, whether this mural provides a complete

history, and what other information we would like to have

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● Discuss Baca’s hope to continue the work of the mural with a new generation of

young “Mural Makers.” What would we like to tell others about the identities of

our families, communities, ethnic or racial groups, or nationalities?

Week 2, Lesson 1

Wilson Chapter: Code-breaking

Guiding Questions:
● How do I describe who I am?
● What makes up identity?
● What are the various aspects of identity?
● What are we interested in learning about ourselves and others?

Text Set:
● Identity Definition set
● Print/Online dictionaries
● “Learning for Justice” articles
● Student posters (Text in Motion)
● “Two Names, Two Worlds,” by Jonathan Rodríguez
● “I Am From” poem format/examples, such as “Cherokee Daughter”
● Students’ “I Am From” poems (Text in Motion)

Activity 1: Introductions (6-7 minutes)

Overview: To begin Week 2, students will briefly introduce themselves to each other.

Purpose: This preliminary activity intends to help the class start to get to know each
other better, think about the information they usually provide to others in introductions,
what information they don’t provide, what information about their identity is
immediately visible, and to consider how their identities are influential in informing
their interactions with others and who they are.

Breakdown:
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As students come into the room on the first day of Week 2, I will ask them to

meet in groups of two and spend about 30 seconds each introducing themselves to

each other. As students speak, I will attempt to pull out a couple of the topics that

students mention and write those on the board. Once students have completed their

introductions, I will ask the class:

● What did you learn about your partner?

After 1-2 minutes of sharing, I will take an additional 1-2 minutes to note how students

are beginning to make connections to particular facets of identity. For example, if I hear

a student discuss being born in Los Angeles, I may consult with the class and think

about how that connects to nationality, family, or ethnicity/culture. I may also note about

how I learned more about students’ personalities as well. To conclude this conversation,

I will spend 2-3 minute asking students:

● What parts of our identities do we usually mention when we introduce ourselves

to others?

● What parts of our identities did we not mention?

● Are there parts of our identities that people may notice even when we don’t bring

them up in conversation?

Activity 2: Code-Breaking and Vocabulary (40 minutes)

Overview: In this activity, students will work in small groups to research an identity
vocabulary word and create a poster about their word to share with the class. The
poster, cut out in the shape of a circle, may contain the word’s definition(s), drawings,
and photos. After students present their poster, I will introduce a new vocabulary
word, “intersectional,” as it pertains to our identities. We will then organize the
students’ posters to demonstrate how our identities interact, intersect, and overlap.
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Purpose: In the first week, students learned definitions of many of the words
commonly associated with identity. Although we began to discuss the concept of
intersectional identities, we did not define the word intersectional. In this activity, we
will both review our identity vocabulary and consider what it means when we say we
have intersectional identities. Instead of encouraging students to portray the facets of
their identity as individual pieces, this activity will present the aspects of their identity
as immovable, inseparable facets of the whole.

Breakdown:

I will refer students to our vocabulary board. For 4-5 minutes, I will read through

the definitions one by one and ask students if they have any questions about the words

or their definitions.

To continue to review the words, I will break students into eight groups of two.

Students will each be provided with one of our vocabulary words. They will also receive

an information packet, which may contain articles, connected words, and several

suggested resources for learning more about the word, including print/online

dictionaries, such as Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary, online resources, such as

Learning for Justice, and search engines for students, such Kiddle. Students will have

18-20 minutes to research the word and create a poster. The poster may contain the

word, a definition written in their own words, associated words, and several drawings or

pictures. I will remind students that if they have any questions while researching or

creating their poster, I will be available to clarify any confusion about the words or their

definitions. It is also important to note that the posters will be circular in shape, rather

than rectangular.

Once students have finished with their poster, they will spend about a minute and

a half per group sharing their word and poster with the class. Students will be asked to
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provide examples if relevant (for instance, gender identity examples may include

non-binary, female, male, two-spirit people). Students will be invited to discuss any

personal knowledge that they already had about the topic, or if they learned anything

different in their research. Students may discuss if they learned about any specific

histories, laws, or stereotypes associated with the word.

After students finish their presentations, which should take about 10 minutes, I

will ask for their poster and tape it onto the board. Once we finish the presentations, the

posters will each be taped up sporadically across the board. I will thank the class for

their presentations. Here, I might ask, “Do these aspects of our identity all exist

separately? Can we really separate all these words from each other?” I will ask several

students to share their initial thoughts.

I may look behind me and say, “All these circles are reminding me of our math

unit--which makes me think about a question I would like to ask you. Can someone

explain what intersecting lines are?” I will get information from several students before

drawing an example on the board of two intersecting lines. Then, I will use this drawing

to begin to explain the definition of intersectional identities.

Intersectionality: a way of thinking about identity that considers the combination of all
our identities--how they connect, overlap and influence one another. It also refers to
the way that stereotypes about certain identities might give a person more power or
less power in a society.

I may say, “Our identities are a bit like this, too. We are at the center here.” I will draw a

circle in the middle and begin adding in additional lines that transect the dot. As I draw

lines, I may say, “This could be religion. This could be ethnicity. They all come together

and affect us at the same time.” By connecting “intersectionality” with “intersecting

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lines,” I hope to provide students with a concrete visual image and heuristic that will

allow them to remember the word more easily.

Once I have explained the meaning of intersectional, I will then ask the students,

“Now that we know what it means to have intersectional identities, identities that overlap

with one another, that we can’t separate from each other, should I try to organize our

words differently?” I will gesture to the circles all presented separately. I will begin to

move the posters on the board until all the circles start to overlap with each other, so

that they create a large quasi-circle. I will write “Identity” over the top of this chart. In

conclusion, I will ask:

● Do you think this is the whole picture? Did we include every single part of

identity? Is this the whole picture?

After this activity, students will go on a 15-minute break before returning to the

remainder of the lesson.

Activity 3: “I Am From” Poems (50 minutes)

Overview: Students will revisit “Two Names, Two Worlds,” by Jonathan Rodríguez and
the identity web made as a class during Week 1. Students will discuss the poetic
elements of the piece, specifically considering how Rodríguez uses sensory details.
Students will use their own identity webs to create “I Am From” poems.

Purpose: In this activity, students will have their first opportunity to create art that
explores their intersectional identities. By constructing “I Am From” poems in the first
lesson, I hope to create space for students to bring in the valuable knowledge they
already possess about identity and the factors that influence identity. Students will
weave in specific, meaningful sensory details about their homes, families, ancestors,
memories and will begin to witness the beauty and uniqueness of the traditions,
moments, people, and places they are “from.”
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Breakdown:

When students return from their break, I will let them settle into their seats before

asking if they remember the poem “Two Names, Two Worlds,” by Jonathan Rodríguez

from the previous week. For 3-4 minutes, students and I will collectively remember

elements of our conversation from the previous week.

Once we have a chance to discuss based purely on our memories about the

poem, I will project it onto the board. I will reread the poem to students and project a

picture of the identity web that we made for Rodríguez. I will ask students to think about

how Jonathan Rodríguez poetically weaves elements of his identity into his story.

● How did he reveal the aspects of his identity?

● Does he always tell us directly?

● What sensory details does he use?

● Why do you think poets use sensory details in their writing?

If students have difficulty selecting lines, I may highlight certain stanzas in the poem that

feature powerful sensory details, such as:

The smell of freshly mowed grass, autumn leaves

Sancocho, Rice and Beans

The sound from Billy Joel’s Piano Keys

And the rhythm from Juan Luis Guerra (Rodríguez)

Once we discuss some of the elements of craft employed by Rodríguez for 6-7 minutes,

I will tell students that we will have a chance to apply what we discussed with our

poems. I will redistribute students’ identity webs from Week 1 and provide them with the
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outline worksheet for “I Am From” poems. These poems allow students to consider their

individual characteristics, but also allow them to explore elements of their identities by

grounding them in rich, specific details. For instance, the format asks for students to

include foods commonly cooked in their household, family members or ancestors they

descend from, and quotes or sayings common in their household. By encouraging

students to explore these prompts during the first lesson of Week 2, I hope to reiterate

to students that they hold a wealth of incredible and valid knowledge that is relevant to

our classroom and to our classroom’s inquiry. Their stories and histories are our most

important texts in our communal quest into identity.

To guide students in writing their own poems, I will pass out two example “I Am

From” poems, one written primarily in English, or one written primarily in Spanish, which

students and I will read as a class. We will take 5-6 minutes to read these poems. I will

encourage students to respond to each line’s prompt in any language they would like;

this poem is about expressing ourselves and who we are, so we can use the

language(s) that we feel allow us to express who we are. Before students begin writing,

I will tell them that they will be able to choose whether or not they would like to share

their poems. If they do not want to share their work with the class, I will be the only

person to view their poems.

As students write, I will move around the class to help students brainstorm, figure

out wording, or answer questions. Once students have had 20-25 minutes to write,

students may share 2-3 lines of their poems with the class.

At the end of our class, I will thank all the students for their creativity and bravery

in thinking about their identities and writing their poetry.

WHAT IS IDENTITY?
22

Week 2, Lesson 2

Wilson Chapter: Text User

Guiding Questions:
● Where do our identities come from?
● How do our families and communities inform our identity?
● How can we learn more?

Texts:
● Student Artifacts (Text in Motion)
● Sample Flyers for Museum or Gallery Exhibits
● Students’ flyers (Text in Motion)
● “When We Were Alone” by David A. Robertson and Julie Flett
● Nana Akua Goes to School, Tricia Alam Walker

Activity 1: Artifactual Literary (70 minutes total):

Overview: Today, students will bring in an artifact from their homes. Because this
lesson is centered on family or community, students will be asked to select an item
that may reveal something meaningful about their relationships to their family and
community. This artifact may be something easily moveable, like a necklace or written
document, or something that needs to be photographed, such as a building, home,
part of a home, or a piece of artwork. Students will use their artifact to ground a
presentation about their families and their communities. Students may discuss what is
important to them and their families, tell a story about their family history, or make
connections to lived experiences and/or ancestral histories. This assignment will be
very open-ended and self-directed; students may decide the content of their 2.5
minute presentations. In asking students to explain their artifact and its history, I
recognize, support, and appreciate that each student’s “explanation” will look different.

Purpose: Students have a chance to share something important to them and their
families in the context of a classroom. Students will get the chance to get to know
each other better and more deeply, to see how our family histories play a vital role in
forming who we each are. My primary pedagogical intention is to help students feel
that their own “personal ‘knowing’” is itself a text--a rich form of knowledge that can be
brought into our classroom.
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
23

Breakdown:

As students come into class, I will ask them to place their artifact on their desk. I

will tell students how excited I am to get to know more about them, their artifacts, and

the artifacts’ significance to the students’ lives, families, and communities. I will remind

students that they will have 2.5-3 minutes to present to the class about their artifact,

and that we will then have a brief question and compliment period, where the class can

ask the presenter a question or share something that they liked about or learned from

the presentation. Each students’ total presentation time will be 3.5 minutes.

Before the presentations start, I will ask students about the kinds of questions we

might want to ask our presenters and how we might practice kindness and respect

towards the artifacts and the identities that belong to our classmates. What meaningful

questions might we ask? What behavior should we exhibit when we listen to our

presenters?

After spending 3 minutes discussing possible questions, I will tell students that

we are going to do a class walk-through of all the artifacts, just like it’s a museum. I will

ask the class to stand up and come join me in the front of the room to get a good look at

all our artifacts. I will invite students to walk through the gallery with me for 5-6 minutes,

looking at all the objects students brought in. I will tell students to keep track of any new

questions they might have. Once 3-4 minutes have passed, I will ask students to sit

back in their seats for the presentation to begin.

Before the break, eleven students will share their artifact (38.5 minutes). After

break, the remaining five students will share (17.5 minutes). Students will explore their

artifact, explaining the object and the object’s significance to the student. Students may
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
24

elect to hold their object or place it on a stand in the classroom during their

presentation. After the student presents, I will lead the class in “snaps” to thank the

student for sharing. Depending on how long the presentation went, I will then select 1-3

students to share during the questions and compliments section. For students who want

to share and don’t have a chance to, either because they prefer not to share verbally or

because there was not enough time, I will ask students to write their question or

compliment on a notecard to be shared with the student later. Once 3.5 minutes have

elapsed, I will select a new student to present. This will be repeated with ten students

before their break and with the remaining seven students after break. Immediately

following the presentation activity, I will thank students for their wonderful presentations

and for sharing their artifacts with the class. I may also make some closing comments,

identifying themes across presentations and citing new knowledge gained.

I will ask students to imagine: if guests were to come into our classroom and view

the gallery of our artifacts, as we did in the beginning of the class, what do you think

they might learn about us, our families, and our identities? I may also ask:

● What might they not learn?

● What information would they still be missing?

We will spend 2-3 minutes on this discussion.

Activity 2: Museum Opening (25-30 minutes)

Overview: Students will create a flyer for our “Identity Gallery” in which they explain
what someone might learn by visiting the class’s gallery of artifacts, specifically what a
visitor might learn about the students’ identities. Students will be provided several
museum flyers for reference as they create their flyers.
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
25

Purpose: Students have the opportunity to showcase why their class’s identities are
important while also using text for a purpose. Similar to Wilson’s “Book Launch
Invitation” text user activity, students will invite visitors to come view their artifact
museum, borrowing aspects from other museum flyers.

Breakdown:

After all the students have thought about what a visitor might learn or not learn

from a gallery walk, we will segue into our next activity. I will hand out several sample

museum flyers. Students will take 1-2 minutes to briefly examine the flyers. For 3-4

more minutes, I will ask students to share some of the features of the flyers. As

students respond, I will begin to compile a list. The list may include: name of the gallery,

description of the exhibit or some of the artifacts, reasons to visit the gallery, pictures or

photos of the artifacts, and dates of the exhibit. I may suggest that our exhibit date could

be the following week, on a Friday. After we feel our list is complete, I will tell students

that they will create their own posters. Their work should attempt to include elements

from the example posters. I will tell students that their posters should include a

drawing/rendering of some sort, either of the whole exhibit, of one artifact, or of several

artifacts. Students should also include a description of the exhibit and include what a

visitor may learn about the students, their identities, or their families from their artifacts. I

will tell students that they may refer to our class list of “Identity Words” if needed. I may

also ask:

● What information will visitors still be missing about our identities?

● What might they do if they have more questions for us?

Students will have the opportunity to select the color of the poster and will have art

supplies available. They will also have magazines at their disposal if they would like to
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
26

cut out letters/designs or brainstorm for their posters. Students will have the remaining

class period to create their flyers (roughly 15-20 minutes).

If students complete their work early, they will be asked to silently read. They will

have the option to read “When We Were Alone” or “Nana Akua Goes to School.”

Week 2, Lesson 3

Meaning Making

Guiding Questions:
● How are the different aspects of our identity manifested?
● How do we imagine the aspects of our identity working together or against
each other?

Texts:
● 1,000-piece puzzle
● "Las dos Fridas," painted by Frida Kahlo
● "Autorretrato en la frontera entre México y los Estados Unidos,” painted by
Frida Kahlo
● "Her Heart Was in the Clouds," quilted by Marion Coleman
● Video on Marion Coleman from National Endowment of the Arts, directed by
Sara Aguilar
● Oral history of Kahlo's life with slideshow of important photographs

Activity 1: Puzzling Questions (20 minutes)

Overview: Students receive 3 puzzle pieces of a 1,000-piece puzzle and are asked to
make a prediction about what the entire puzzle might contain. Students provide
feedback about whether the activity seemed fair or realistic.

Purpose: In discovering the impracticality of guessing a whole puzzle’s content from

several pieces, students make connections to how assumptions based on limited
information are equally impractical, unjustifiable, and harmful.

Breakdown:
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
27

When students come into class, each 5th grader will find 3 puzzle pieces on their

desk and a blank notecard. I will ask students to take about a minute and a half to look

at the pieces carefully and jot down one or two things that they notice about their puzzle

piece, such as colors or shapes that they can make out. Once a minute or two has

passed, I will ask students to flip over their card and make a prediction about what the

entire puzzle might contain. I will specifically ask, “What do you think these three pieces

tell you about the larger puzzle?” I will give students another minute to write their

prediction, assuring them that this activity is just for fun and that there are absolutely no

wrong answers--only creative ones.

Once students have finished writing, I will ask them to share their predictions and

explain their reasoning. For about 4-5 minutes, I will jot down some of the guesses on

the left side of a T-chart under the title, “Predictions,” and their explanations under the

right side of the T-chart, labeled “Reasonings.” After I list several of the students’

thoughts, I will ask the class if they notice any similarities in their prediction strategies.

What clues did we use?

I will then project the completed puzzle on the board. I will generally ask

students, “Were any of the predictions accurate or partially accurate? Why or why not?”

I will take a minute or two to discuss these questions.

I will then ask students to take out their journals to give me some feedback about

this activity. I will read the following questions out loud and project them on the board:

● What did you think about this activity?

● Do you think this was a reasonable task for me to give you?

WHAT IS IDENTITY?
28

● Do you think that there is any way that you’d be able to figure out what the whole

puzzle contains from only three pieces?

● Why do you think I asked you to do this?

Students will have about 6-7 minutes to think about their answers and write them down.

Once students finish writing down their feedback, I will ask them to spend 2-3 minutes

discussing their responses with another student. Did they have similar feelings or

predictions?

After students have had the opportunity to share with their peers, I will ask

students to share their reflections, their thoughts about the activity, and their predictions

about its purpose. I will guide the conversation based on the students’ feedback,

continuing to ask questions if necessary to facilitate the discussion. I am especially

interested in seeing how my students’ unique knowledge and perspectives (their

“personal ‘knowing’”) influence how they respond to my final question, “Why do you

think I asked you to do this?” I want to see the connections students naturally make to

their lives or to greater themes. Because we already embarked on our inquiry into

identity, students’ responses may begin to explore the connection between identity and

this activity. To help facilitate this connection, I might ask:

● Does this relate to our conversations the past couple days? How?

As students make their own unique meaning from the activity, I might also ask the

following as needed:

● Did the three pieces give you enough information?

● How much can we really figure out about the larger puzzle from a couple of

pieces?
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
29

● What might happen if we make guesses or assumptions about people based on

only a couple things?

● Does the larger picture give you all the information you need?

● Do we know everything that we need to know?

● Even if we look at this “full picture,” does it really give you the “whole picture?”

● What questions do we still have? What else do we not know?

● Can we ever know the full picture of someone else? Do we even know the full

picture of ourselves?

In this activity, my hope is that students will notice and verbalize the absurdity in

asking them to make guesses about the content of a 1,000 piece puzzle with only three

pieces at their disposal. Naturally, I hope to relate this activity to how we view others’

identities, and how others might view ours. Could we say it is unrealistic, even absurd,

to make guesses or assumptions about people, knowing only a couple pieces of the

puzzle? Even if we think we have the full picture, is that ever possible? I also hope that

students are able to reflect back onto this activity as we advance through our

curriculum, for it to be an accessible, tangible metaphor for students to utilize

throughout our inquiry.

Activity 2: Frida Kahlo and Marion Coleman: Their Art and Ours (80 minutes)

Overview: Students will learn about the artist Frida Kahlo through an oral history and
the quilter Marion Coleman through a video from NEA. Students will view their artwork
and discuss how Kahlo and Coleman depict intersecting and co-existing identities
through their respective art forms. Students will then select from three works of art:
“Las dos Fridas,” “Autorretrato en la frontera entre México y los Estados Unidos,” and
“Her Heart Was in the Clouds” and create their own self-portraits inspired by the piece
they selected. The self-portraits will explore students’ identities and allow them to
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
30

think about how they imagine the intersectional aspects of their identities working with
or against each other.

Purpose: Students will begin to think about the many ways that artists construct,
express, negotiate, and represent the aspects of their identities. Students too will
begin to conceptualize how they express (or don’t express) their identities, whether it
be through clothing, hair, paint, poetry, design, music, collage, etc.

Breakdown:

For 7-8 minutes, I will give an oral presentation about the life of Frida Kahlo, with

a supplemental PowerPoint presentation to project photos of Kahlo, her family, the

Mexican flag, her childhood home La Casa Azul, and her hometown of Coyoacán. I will

incorporate the personal history of Frida Kahlo, in part inspired by a course in History of

Latin America I took at the University of Southern California. I will also read excerpts

from Frida Kahlo’s journals about her experience traveling in the United States and her

attribution of meaning to colors. The pages of her diary reveal that the artist provided

backstory to colors: blue as "electricity and purity," yellow as "madness, illness, fear,

part of the sun, and happiness." I will begin to talk to the students about the use of

symbols to represent meaning (and in self-portraiture, perhaps, to represent different

facets of one’s identity). I may ask:

● If I want to represent my nationality in a painting, how might I do that?

● What can colors tell us? If I see bright reds in a painting, what could that mean?

Does it mean the same thing to all of us? Does it mean the same thing in all

contexts?

I will tell students they have 4-5 minutes to walk around the “Frida Kahlo Gallery” on the

left side of our room and consider what stands out to them. Do they notice anything
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
31

about the symbols or colors used? What parts of Frida’s identity do we see showing up

in the self-portraits? How can you tell?

Once we return to our seats, students and I will take a closer look at “Las dos

Fridas” and “Autorretrato en la frontera entre México y los Estados Unidos” as a class.

For “Las dos Fridas,” I will ask students to talk to me about their observations of the art.

I may aid this discussion by asking:

● Who is in this painting?

● What do you notice about how Frida Kahlo painted this picture?

● What is this painting of?

● What differences or similarities do you notice between the two Fridas?

● What might each Frida represent? How can you tell?

● What do you notice about how the two Fridas are interacting with each other?

● What do you think Frida Kahlo’s painting is about?

With the “Autorretrato en la frontera entre México y los Estados Unidos” painting, I

might ask:

● What stands out to you in this painting? What is happening in the background?

● What symbols do you notice? Why might they represent? (ie: flags, industrial

buildings, flowers, sun, moon, etc.)

● Is there a difference between the sides of the painting?

● Looking at Frida in the center, what do we notice about her? What is she

holding? Where is she facing? What might that convey about how Frida Kahlo

feels about certain aspects of her identity?

● Do we know the whole picture? What do we not know?

WHAT IS IDENTITY?
32

I will then transition into the work of Marion Coleman. For 3-4 minutes, I will ask

students to think about other ways that people might express themselves and who they

are. Does anyone have any thoughts? As students list some ways, I will jot them down

on the board. If quilting is not brought up, I might say, let me show one possible way

that might be familiar to a lot of you. I will then briefly introduce Marion Coleman and

play a YouTube video from NEA, National Endowment for the Arts (0:00-2:44), where

she was formerly a fellow. The video discusses quilting as a generational legacy and

artform, a way to connect to ancestors, and an act of storytelling.

Students and I will spend 3-4 minutes discussing the main takeaways from the

video and considering some of things Coleman puts into her quilts and why (such as

words and symbols). I will then ask students to visit the right side of the classroom to

see the “Marion Coleman gallery.” Once students have 4-5 minutes to visit the gallery, I

will ask them to return to their seats and join me in looking closely at her piece, “Her

Heart Was in the Clouds,” a piece about Bessie Coleman, the first African American

woman and first Native American woman to receive her pilot's license. I will provide a

brief history of Bessie Coleman, referring in part to the Women’s History website.

Students and I will go over similar questions with regards to this piece.

● How are different parts of Bessie Coleman’s identity portrayed in this picture?

● What symbols and colors are used? What maps and places do you see? Why

might these be included?

● What do you think the symbols represent and why?

● Do we get a full picture of Bessie Coleman? What do we still not know?

WHAT IS IDENTITY?
33

Once the students and I have discussed these questions, I will introduce our next

activity. This activity is guided by the following questions:

● How do I want to portray myself in my art?

● How can I portray different aspects of my identity? How do I imagine that they fit

together? Are they at odds? Are they like the two Fridas, holding hands?

● How can I represent myself and the parts of identity through colors, pictures,

words, and symbols?

Students will have three options for the activity.

1) “Las dos Fridas” activity: Draw two versions of yourself. What two parts would

you like to show? Students may choose to represent who people see them as,

and who they truly are. Students may explore two important facets of their

identities that are in conflict with each other or work well together. How do they

interact with each other? Kahlo used blood vessels to connect her two selves.

Would you keep your two selves connected or disconnect them? How do you

imagine the connection?

2) “Autorretrato en la frontera entre México y los Estados Unidos” activity: Think

about your life and your history. What things are important in making you who

you are? Draw yourself in the center of the page and surround yourself with

symbols of importance that may represent pieces of your identity. Kahlo

considers her Mexican identity and her experience living in America by using

symbols such as flags and flowers. You might think about what Kahlo did and

think about places or people that make you feel most like yourself (or most not

like yourself). How might you portray that?

WHAT IS IDENTITY?
34

3) “Her Heart Was in the Sky '' activity: Use magazine cut-outs or drawings to build

a collage quilt. As you build the quilt, you will begin to piece together images that

represent something important to you and your identity. You may use words that

have meaning, images that represent something about you, your family, culture,

traditions, home, religion, or personality.

Students will have 6 minutes to read through the descriptions again and pick the project

they’d like to focus on and start jotting down notes of what they might want to include in

their project. After this initial brainstorming period, students will have 30 minutes to work

on this project. I will tell them that during project time, they may move freely around the

room, looking at our galleries, at books, and conferring with other students. I will walk

around and support students as they figure out what is important to them and how they

would like to portray themselves. I will remind them that they will have time during other

class periods to add or change things if they would like.

Week 2, Lesson 4

Critical Literacy

Guiding Questions:
● What happens when others don't see us for who we are?
● Who determines who we are?
● How can we ask questions to get to know people?
● How can we be respectful of other people's identities?

Texts:
● TED Talk, “Danger of the Single Story,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
● Compilation of Avengers interviews
● Wilson Critical Literacy Questionnaire A and B (2002)
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
35

Activity 1: Avengers Introduction to Critical Literacy (18-20 minutes)

Overview: In this activity, students will think critically about the interview process, the
selection of questions, and the motives behind questions. What image does this
create about someone’s identity? This discussion will be centered around a
compilation of interviews featuring the Avengers cast, specifically Scarlett Johansson,
who plays Black Widow, and Robert Downey, Jr., who plays Iron Man. I have selected
interviews about Avengers as a “text,” as this lesson was inspired by a Wilson critical
literacy activity centered around “the texts read voluntarily by children outside school
hours.” Avengers is a film commonly watched, “read,” and referenced by students in
the 5th grade age group; even many students who have not seen the movies possess
cultural knowledge of films, or have knowledge of the superhero genre. By selecting
video interviews, I want students to become accustomed to reading critically outside
of books, to begin to think about other “texts” that they interact with on a regular basis.

Breakdown:

I will begin this activity by asking the class if they are familiar with the Avengers

series. I will ask if any students would like to share their insight about the characters.

This introduction will be fairly brief, about 2-3 minutes.

I will then ask students if they are familiar with press tours, and if they have ever

watched interviews with the cast members. I may broadly ask:

● What is the purpose of an interview?

● Who interviews people?

● Who writes/picks the questions?

● What do you think people might think about when writing questions?

After about 3- 4 minutes of discussion, I will play a short compilation of clips from the

Avengers press tour (about 4 minutes), in which Scarlett Johansson is routinely asked

questions about her diet, workout regime, and physical appearance, while Robert
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
36

Downey, Jr. receives a greater breadth of questions. For example, in one video clip, a

journalist can be heard saying:

I have a question for Robert and for Scarlett. Firstly for Robert, throughout Iron

Man I and II, the Tony Stark started off as a very egotistical character but learned

to play as a team. So how did you approach this role, bearing in mind that kind of

maturity as a human being that comes through the Tony Stark character, and did

you learn anything throughout the three movies that you made?

And to Scarlett, to getting into the shape of Black Widow, did you have

anything special to do in terms of the diet like if you have to do even specific

foods or that sort of thing?

I will play the 4-minute compilation. In order to be accommodating to different learning

styles, the video will be played with Spanish subtitles, and I will also provide students

with a typed out transcript to read. After watching the interviews, I will ask students to

talk in groups of two for 4-5 minutes and discuss the following questions:

● What do you notice about the questions the journalists are asking?

● Did Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr. get the same questions?

● What questions were Scarlett Johansson asked?

● What questions were Robert Downey Jr. asked?

● What new information did we learn about Scarlett Johansson?

● What new information did we learn about Robert Downey, Jr.?

As a whole class, we will spend another 4-5 minutes discussing some of the thoughts

that students had about the questions. I will type their ideas into a Google Doc projected
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
37

onto the whiteboard. If students do not bring up how Johansson and Downey’s gender

identities influenced the questions, I may prompt them by asking:

● Do you think the actors’ gender identities had anything to do with the kinds of

questions they were asked?

I will then tell students that I will be giving them some interview questions for them to

answer.

Activity 2: WIlson’s Critical Literacy Questionnaires (30 minutes)

Overview: Based on a critical literacy activity in Wilson’s Reading to Live chapter 6,

students will fill out two questionnaires, one with questions that elicit positive
responses (Questionnaire A), and one with questions that elicit negative responses
(Questionnaire B). After analyzing the results of the surveys, students will think
critically about how asking a person biased questions can help curate biased images
about that individual. Students will begin to explore how we can ask questions that
allow us to meaningfully and respectfully get to know others and learn more about
their multifaceted identities.

Breakdown:

To further this discussion, I will provide students with two handouts and conduct

an interview activity inspired by Wilson in her critical literacy chapter. In this lesson,

students will receive two questionnaires, which they have 15-20 minutes to complete. I

will ask them to start first with Questionnaire A, will include questions such as:

1. What is the kindest thing you have done for someone this week?

2. What is one tradition that you love to be a part of?

3. Who is someone in your family that you love and why?

4. What is one thing you dream about?

WHAT IS IDENTITY?
38

5. When was the last time you were extremely happy or excited?

Once they have completed the first set of questions, students will move on to the

second questionnaire, Questionnaire B, which will contain questions such as:

1. When was the last time you apologized to someone? What did you do?

2. When you are very upset or angry, what do you do?

3. What is a food that you don’t like?

4. When was the last time you yelled at someone? (No explanation)

Students will be instructed not to write their name on this activity. Once 15-20 total

minutes have elapsed, I will ask students to place a star at the top of their sheet if they

are willing to have their questionnaires used as an example and anonymously read to

the class. A star means that either questionnaire may be read.

I will then collect their responses and tell the class that I will be anonymously

reading two students’ questionnaires out loud. After selecting a student who placed a

star on their packet, I will begin with the positive questionnaire. I will read each of the

questions and answers out loud. I will then ask students to list one adjective or trait they

associate with this person, such as kind, thoughtful, etc. I will record these on the board

in the left column in a T chart under “Student A.” Next, I will tell the class that I am

selecting another students’ questionnaire; however, I will actually be reading the same

student’s Questionnaire B form. Once I finish reading, I will again ask students to list

one trait or adjective to describe this person, which will likely be negative words, such

as rude, mean, etc. I will record these on the right side of the T chart under “Student B."
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
39

I will ask students to compare the two people featured in the questionnaires.

What are their similarities or differences? After allowing several students to provide their

insight, I will inform the class that these “different” students were in fact the same

person. As students reflect on this information, I want to give them some space for

sense making and allow their curiosities, emotions, and analysis to guide our

conversation. I might prompt, “What’s on your mind? What are you thinking? What are

you feeling?” As needed given the natural class discussion, I may ask:

● Are you surprised? Why or why not?

● What are you beginning to notice about the two questionnaires?

● Did the type of questions included on the questionnaires affect how we saw the

person?

● Does it matter what kind of questions we ask each other?

After some whole-class discussion, I will ask students to independently look over their

questionnaire responses, paying attention to how the questions on Q1 and Q2 created

an image about who they are. They will then journal for 7-8 minutes to consider these

topics, specifically:

● What image did Questionnaire A create about who I am?

● What image did Questionnaire B create about who I am?

Once students finish their responses, I will allow several to share their reflections. As a

class, I will ask students again:

● What were the authors of these questions up to?

● What might have been the author’s purpose in Questionnaire A?

● What might have been the author’s purpose in Questionnaire B?

WHAT IS IDENTITY?
40

● Do the questions we ask others matter?

● What might we think about when we ask questions?

● What kind of questions can we ask to thoughtfully get to know someone?

As students answer, I will record their thoughts and ideas about the last question onto a

section of our board. I will tell students that I will leave some open space so that we can

continue to add to our list if we think of something new. This conversation will continue

for about 5-6 minutes, or until students go out to recess.

Activity 3: Identity & the “Single Story” (35 minutes)

Overview: In this activity, students will listen to “The Danger of a Single Story” and
consider how we create and challenge “single stories” about others based on one part
of their identity. Through whole-class and small group discussion, students will
consider how we can endeavor to avoid the “single story” and learn more about
others, in part through asking questions. As an exit ticket, students will brainstorm one
meaningful question that they would like someone else to ask them.

Breakdown:

When students return from their break, I will ask them to join me on our class

reading mat. I will tell them that we will be watching a TED Talk from a famous novelist

named Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Students and I will watch “The Danger of a Single

Story” together for 18 minutes; however, I will skip the section 13:18-13:30 to ensure the

audio is appropriate for 5th graders.

After watching the video, I will remain silent to allow students to collect their

thoughts and consider their first impressions, questions, and connections. To begin the

discussion, I will ask students:

● What is a single story?

WHAT IS IDENTITY?
41

● What are some of the examples Adichie provides?

Before delving deeper into the discussion, I would like to make sure that students and I

have a similar understanding about what a “single story” is. Once we have a chance to

clarify and broadly define “single story,” I want students to think about how stereotypes

and “single stories” about particular identities can be dangerous and limiting. I will ask

students to meet in groups of three for 3-4 minutes to discuss the following questions:

● What is the danger of a single story?

● What are some examples you can think of from the video or from your own life?

(From the video, we may discuss the “single story” of Africa, the “single story” of

poverty, etc.)

● What can happen if we only know or think about one part of a person’s identity?

What do we miss?

Once students have a chance to discuss these questions in their small groups, I will ask

students to share some things they discussed. Once students have 3-4 to share, I will

ask one final question:

● What are some ways that we can learn more about people and their different

identities?

I will encourage students to get ideas from Adichie’s talk, from class activities, or from

our real lives and experiences. I expect students to suggest various methods, such as

books, films, stories, paintings, or by asking each other thoughtful and respectful

questions.

As an exit ticket for the day, I will ask students to spend 3-4 minutes writing a

question on a blank note card. The question should be something that the student
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42

would like another person to ask them. Students will be encouraged to think of a

question that would allow them to provide new or meaningful information about

themselves. I might say: I love writing, and it is one of the ways I like to express myself.

If someone asked me, how do you express yourself? I would have a lot to say! I might

talk about my writing routine, the topics I write about, the genres I write in, like poetry or

fiction, and the way that writing makes me feel excited and empowered. That question

would be a good opportunity for someone else to get to know a piece of my identity.

What question would help someone get to know something important about you? About

your family, life experiences, interests, traditions, culture, or personality? I will ask

students to think back to the information they learned today to help guide their question

writing.

Week 2, Lesson 5

Wilson Chapter: Reading-to-Writing Connection

Guiding Questions:
● How are we unique and important?
● How can we be empowered in our identities even when it feels difficult?
● What are we capable of?
● What questions do we want to ask ourselves?
● How do you respect and embrace your own multifaceted identities?

Texts:
● Your Life Matters, Chris Singleton
● Question and Answer cards (Text in Motion)
● Student poems and group poem (Text in Motion)

Activity 1: Question and Answer (50 minutes)

WHAT IS IDENTITY?
43

Overview: In this activity, students will respond to a classmate’s notecard question

from the previous lesson. These question cards will be distributed to students in a
specific order, so that Student A’s question will be answered by Student B, whose
question will be answered by Student C, and so forth. To complete the circle, the final
student’s question will be answered by the first student, Student A. After the writing
activity is completed, I will guide students, in order, into a circle formation on the mat,
where they will practice and perform their question and answers as a skit.

Rationale: This activity will allow students to get to know each other better and
develop their comradery as a cohort. Because this lesson is centered on the
reading-writing connection, it is absolutely vital that I help facilitate an open, safe, and
supportive workshop environment, where students feel willing to share with me and
their fellow students.

Breakdown:

When students come into the classroom, they will find a notecard on their desk

that contains a question, along with a blank notecard. The question will be one of the

questions written by a classmate during the previous lesson. As students settle into their

seats, I will explain their morning activity. For 8 minutes, students will have a chance to

respond to their classmate’s questions. I will encourage students to respond with rich,

specific details that will help us all get to know each other better. They will be

encouraged to respond in any language or combination of languages that they feel

would be able to best express who they are.

I will be diligent about informing and reminding students that these answers will

be shared with the class, as I want to make sure students are comfortable sharing what

they write. Once students have documented their response, I will ask them to meet in

groups of three and share their question and their answer. If students have additional

time, I will encourage them to also share one thing that they liked about the question

their classmate asked them. The small session share is meant to get students
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
44

comfortable with sharing in a more intimate setting, and it will also allow students to

practice reading their answer out loud before sharing in front of the larger group.

Once students have shared for 5-6 minutes, I will collect their question cards and

ask them to hold on to their answer cards. I will then call them one by one to join me on

the mat, organizing them in a circle. Students will be asked to remain seated as we

introduce the activity and do our practice reads.

Once students are situated, I will redistribute the question notecards, returning

them to the student who authored the question. At this point, all of the students will now

have their original question card and their answer card. I will ask students to look to

their right and look to their left. What do they notice about the cards? Is there a pattern?

I will then explain to students that we are going to try to read our questions and

answers out loud in order, as if we were rehearsing for a play. I will ask if anyone would

like to volunteer to start the circle.

The first student (say Student A) will read their question. Student B will respond

with their answer, and then read out their question. Student C will respond with their

answer, and then read out their question. I will model this with students several times

and continue to guide them through the process depending on how quickly they take to

the activity. My intention is for this activity to be fun and comfortable, not stressful, so I

will encourage students’ laughter, excitement, and personalization of the activity. If

students would like to incorporate inflections or movements, they will be supported and

encouraged. Once students feel comfortable, I will ask them to stand up to “perform”

their skit. This will be a chance for students to express themselves with their voices and
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
45

bodies. If they would like to expand upon their answers or change them in the context of

the skit, I will welcome those additions.

Once we have done a successful read through, I will invite students to sit back

down on the mat. I might ask:

● Did you learn anything new about your classmates or their identities?

● Did you like any of the details or descriptions that your classmates used?

● What is one specific writing strategy a classmate used that you found unique,

powerful, or interesting? (This could be word choice, sensory details, etc.)

● What were some questions that you found interesting? What did you like about

them?

I will tell students that I certainly feel I have learned a lot about how strong, unique,

smart, multifaceted, and interesting they are. I will thank them for sharing with me and

with the class. I will add that I am impressed with how students have created questions

that allow such thoughtful contemplation and discussion. I will tell students that once we

return from our break, we will be reading a book together.

Activity 2: Your Life Matters (50 minutes)

Overview: Students will listen to the book, Your Life Matters by Chris Singleton. This
book will lead into a creative writing activity that will allow students to consider the
many ways that their lives have infinite purpose, to recount their strengths, to
remember the ways that their lives have touched others’, and to imagine how their
unique, intersectional identities, histories, relationships, and capabilities will allow
them to enact change.

Purpose: As we close out this unit, I want students to feel empowered, validated, and
strong. I want them to see and feel their worth and to dream up everything that they
are capable of. I want them to see how their specific identities can be leveraged to
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
46

enact change. Through having students work within similar prompts, we will have an
opportunity to see the ways that we are similar and different, and through compiling a
group poem at the end of the lesson, students will consider how we all, as a class, fit
together.

Breakdown:

As students return from their break, I will ask them to join me in sitting on the mat. I will

inform them that we will be reading and listening to the book, Your Life Matters by Chris

Singleton. We will all listen to the read aloud from the YouTube channel Sankofa Reads.

Once I start the video, I will sit back down with the class on the mat, in part to

emphasize that I am a participant in the class’s activities.

Once we finish watching, I will remain silent for a moment. I will ask students to

return to their seats and take 7-8 minutes to write in their journal about their thoughts

and feelings, simply asking: “What’s on your mind after listening to this story?” Once

finished, I will ask students a few questions:

● What happened in the beginning of the story?

● Why did the kids believe their lives didn’t matter?

○ Do the different aspects of the children’s identity, such as race or gender,

play a role in this story? What details in the story make you think that?

● What changed in the book?

● What were some of the reasons the book listed about why our lives matter?

● Why do our lives matter? What are we capable of?

Once we have a chance to openly discuss some of these questions, students will

complete a poem entitled, “[Student Name]’s Life Matters” or “La Vida de [nombre del
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
47

estudiante/nombre de la estudiante] Importa.” In the poem, students will use 3-5

sentence starters inspired by lines from the poem; these include:

● My eyes matter, for they… ● Mis ojos importan porque ellos…

● My hands matter, for they…
● My mind matters, for it…
● My voice matters, for it…
● My heart matters, for it…
● My words matter, for they…
● My courage matters, for it…
● My strength matters, for it…
● Mis manos importan, porque ellos…
● Mi mente importa, porque…
● Mi voz importa, porque…
● Mi corazón importa, porque...
● Mi palabras importan, porque ellos…
● Mi coraje importa, porque…
● Mi fuerza importa, porque...

Students will also select 3-5 sentence starters inspired by aspects of their identity; these

might include:

● My religion/spirituality matters, for ● Mi fe/religión/espiritualidad

it…
● My nationality matters, for it…
● My family matters, for it...
● My community matters, for it…
● My age matters, for it…
● My ethnicity matters for it...
importa, porque…
● Mi nacionalidad importa, porque…
● Mi familia importa, porque…
● Mi comunidad importa, porque…
● Mi edad importa, porque…
● Mi etnicidad importa, porque...

Before students write, I will inform them that they can move freely between any

languages they would like. I will also tell students to keep in mind that their poems will

be shared with classmates later in the lesson.

As I provide students with activity instructions, I will tell them that they may swap

out general identity words such as “religion” or “ethnicity” with specific descriptions of

their identity, such as “My Jewish faith” or “My El Salvadorian heritage.” Students will be

encouraged to draw from their personal experiences, to consider their strengths and

what makes them strong, to think about the wonderful things they have already done
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
48

and the people they have impacted, and to dream up what change they are capable of

making now and in their futures.

I will tell students that in addition to selecting several sentence starters inspired

by the book and by our identity words, they are free to imagine other lines. For example,

I might tell students that they could say, “My feet matter, porque ellos bailan a Merengue

en la pisa de mi cocina,” or “My hair matters, for it holds the strengths and traditions of

my ancestors before me.” Likewise, students may explore another piece of their identity,

such as, “Mi doble nacionalidad importa,” or “My bilingualism matters.”

During their writing time, I will tell students that they may stand up, move around,

revisit the book, revisit other books from our unit, and talk with their classmates about

what they are thinking. I will also have thesauruses on hand, and our sensory details

chart will also be on display. As students write, I will move around throughout the

classroom to help them talk through their ideas or to help ground their answers in

specific details, sensory images, and powerful language.

After students have finished writing, they will return to their groups of 4-5

students. First, I will ask students to evaluate their own poems and put a star next to the

line they like the most or would like to share with the class. I will then ask the groups to

look at each other’s poems and think about lines that stand out to them and why. Is

there a strong image? Do the words make music together? The groups will decide on a

second line from each poem that they like best. Students will place a heart by this line.

I will ask students to stay in their groups while I collect the poems. I will ask them

to spend 5-6 minutes talking about their favorite activity of the week and explaining their

choices. While students chat, I will type out the starred and hearted lines from the
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
49

students’ poem. After the time has elapsed, I will ask students to come back together as

a class, and I will project the typed poem onto the board.

As our final Week 2 activity, students will read their class poem together, with

each student sharing their own lines of poetry. At the end, I may have to add in my own

line, with just one of the many reasons why my students matter.
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50

Week 3 Overview

Guiding Questions:
● What is identity?
● How do I want to define myself and my identities?

Texts:
● Students’ Week 2 artifacts (Text in Motion)
● Students’ identity books (Text in Motion)
● Atlases

During the final week, students will compile their work from the previous week

into their very own identity books. Students will be able to include their poems, writing,

self-portraits, questions from the Q&A activity, photos of their family artifacts, etc. During

this week, students will also be able to use the internet or atlases to print or cut out

maps of places that are important to them. They may also print out or bring in additional

items of significance to include in their books.

As a culminating activity, students will write their own About the Author pages to

put on the back of their books. Students will dream up the way that they would like to

present themselves to the world and think about what aspects of their identities and

selves they would like to incorporate. This activity hopes to be one final reminder that no

matter how the world attempts to define us, we have the power and agency to define

ourselves and write our own narratives.

I hope that this message is the preeminent one that I give to students during this

unit and throughout my time with them. In attempting to empower my students in their

identities, I do not want to dismiss the reality that many of them receive messaging from

others and from the world that they are not capable or not enough, often because of

prejudicial assumptions and stereotypes about their identities: their age, race, ethnicity,
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
51

immgiration status, nationality, gender identity, socioeconomic status, ability, religion, or

sexual orientation. What I want most is to remind students how much they unequivocally

matter, how immensely capable they are to write and produce their own narratives, and

that their identities, their invaluable, co-existing, and intersecting identities, should be

embraced and celebrated, for they have endowed them with distinct knowledge, and

played a vital part in shaping them into their unique, innovative, and emphatically

brilliant selves.

On the final day in Week 3, students will celebrate their successes by having a

final Identity Gallery walk through, in which students’ books, artifacts, and poems will be

on display.
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
52

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(2009). TEDTalks: Chimamanda Adichie - The Danger of a Single Story. New

York, N.Y: Films Media Group.

Campano, G. & Ghiso, M. P. (2010). Immigrant students as cosmopolitan intellectuals.

In P. Coates, P. Enciso, C. Jenkins, & S. Wolf (Eds.), Handbook on research on

children’s and young adult literature. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Coleman, M. (2012). Her Heart Was in the Clouds [Quilt of found objects, cotton fabric,

polyester, wool, thread, and photo transfers]. Women of Color Quilters Network.

Bullock Museum. (n.d.). Retrieved from:

https://www.thestoryoftexas.com/discover/texas-story-project/bessie-coleman-qui

lt.

Kahlo, F. (1939). Las dos Fridas. [Oil on canvas]. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City,

Mexico. Frida Kahlo (n.d.). Retrieved from:

https://www.fridakahlo.org/the-two-fridas.jsp.

Kahlo, F. (1932). Autorretrato en la frontera entre México y los Estados Unidos. [Oil on

canvas]. Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, United States. Frida Kahlo (n.d.).

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https://www.fridakahlo.org/self-portrait-along-the-boarder-line-between-mexico-an

d-the-united-states.jsp.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2016). “#Literate Lives Matter” Black reading, writing, speaking, and

listening in the 21st century. Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice,

65(1), 141-151.
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Love, B. L. (2019). We want to do more than survive: Abolitionist teaching and the

pursuit of educational freedom. Boston: Beacon Press. [Chapter 3, “Mattering”]

NEA National Heritage Tribute Video: Marion Coleman. (2019, April 25). [Video].

YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz6Wiqnanbk

Robertson, D. A., Flett, J., & Leask, A. (2020). Ispík kákí péyakoyak / When We Were

Alone (Cree and English Edition) (Bilingual ed.). HighWater Press.

Rodríguez, J. (n.d.). Two Names, Two Worlds. Facing History and Ourselves. Retrieved

June 16, 2021, from

https://www.facinghistory.org/reconstruction-era/two-names-two-worlds

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