Assessments
The students will be assessed on several different levels. On a primary level, there will be formative structured questions developed for each of the vignettes to assure reading comprehension and understanding of the unit themes. For most of the reading themes there are formative assessments for students to complete. Last, there are three overarching summative assessments that span the unit.
Changes in the Latino Community/Personal Challenges Assignment
The students will be asked to analyze how the changing role of women over the last fifty years (since the period of Cisneros' childhood and adolescence) has affected the machismo attitude in Latino communities. We will consider questions on the role of women in Latino culture. Has the Latina voice curtailed male control over women? What changes to the female role in the family have occurred as Latino families assimilate to United States economic culture?
After the focus on women, we will switch to the Latino community in general. More than at the time of The House on Mango Street's publishing, Latinos are the latest victims of American xenophobia. Today's global context and economic reality have caused an influx of migration to the United States from Latin America. As is traditional in American history, there is a large segment of the population that is opposed to this migration, creating even more difficulties for people who are usually coming to the United States already in extreme poverty. Families looking for a better life often enter communities rife with illegal drug and gang activity, which oftentimes might be the easiest or only job opportunity. Access to education and healthcare are often limited. On top of all of this, restricting laws have been put in place, all of which contribute to harder lives. These are all reasons, despite having such a rich culture, that Latinos might have a hard time establishing a positive identity.
In response to this students will analyze a current issue affecting the Latino community. They will identify whether this is an issue that has changed, is the same, or if it is new in the last fifty years. On their selected topic they will research and analyze the effects on people, and make predictions of the future and share their findings with the class.
After hearing presentations on current challenges Latino groups face, students will be asked to analyze if any of these or similar issues create barriers for them in their own lives (even if they are not Latinos). If students cannot identify with any of the barriers discussed in class they will write on what does restrain them from doing their best.
Goal Setting Assignment
Outside of structural barriers, students will also identify intrapersonal hurdles they need to overcome and create a detailed plan of how they are going to graduate from high school and go onto college. This is something to be done in conjunction with class visits from the counselor and dean of the school to stress the importance of making good life choices. This is to address the school goals of keeping freshmen on track for graduation by passing their classes and also beginning an introduction to the What's Next Illinois curriculum which is a plan that follows them through their years in high school, tracking their test scores, goals and interests while providing them with information about college. For my class they will state what their goals are after high school, with a strong emphasis on going to college. After they have made their goals, we will create a roadmap to take them through high school to get there.
Capstone Interview
In the capstone assessment students will be required to interview an adult woman in Chicago whom they view as a leader. This person could be a family member, a person within the school, or a community member, and students will discuss what adversity the individual has faced and how they overcame it. They will show the interviewee their plan for success and ask for advice in reaching their goals. I hope that this assignment will help build professional contacts for the students and perhaps evolve into some mentoring relationships. The students will write up the discourse of their interview and report out on what they experienced with the class.
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