Who is the Unit Designed For?
This unit is especially suitable for high school students who have experienced disruption in their lives. Whether through divorce, immigration, or moving to follow a parent's job, most of our students have felt the emotions depicted by the poets. Seniors who anticipate the end of their high school careers may also be captured by these poems. Giving non-immigrant students the opportunity to share the emotions of leaving home with their fellow students who have left their homes thousands of miles behind, is an added benefit of the unit. I have found that building empathy among diverse populations of students smoothes the teacher's path by countering cliques and infighting, and by enhancing the students' sense of belonging and well-being.
My ESOL (English as a Second or Other Language) students range in age from 15 to 19, and are at an intermediate level of English fluency. They are enrolled in sheltered ESOL classes for all their core content, including my English class. Our school, Englewood High School in Jacksonville, Florida, is an urban high school with about 2000 students in grades 9 through 12. We are an ESOL center for the Duval County School District, and house about 700 ESOL students.
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