Poetry and Public Life

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 17.03.07

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Content Objectives
  3. Demographics
  4. Rationale
  5. Content
  6. Teaching Strategies
  7. Classroom Activities
  8. Bibliography/Teacher and Student Resources
  9. Appendix 1: Assessment Worksheets for Students
  10. Appendix [2]:  Common Core State Standards for Pennsylvania
  11. Endnotes

A Private Moment in Public View: Analysis of Muslim Poets and Political Activists from the 20th Century to Today

Kathleen Radebaugh

Published September 2017

Tools for this Unit:

Demographics

Henry C. Lea Elementary is located in West Philadelphia in Network 2 of the School District of Philadelphia. I teach reading and writing for eighth grade. This unit is designed for a middle year’s classroom, in particular, eighth grade. Despite its being a neighborhood school, many of the students do not live within the catchment due to specific services provided by our school. We have a full time nurse, two guidance counselors, a speech therapist, two behavioral health specialists, and two ELL teachers. In the current financial and political climate of Philadelphia, these positions are considered “additional.”  Therefore, many students who need these services are permitted to come to our school, along with their siblings. Currently, our population is 570 students, with ten percent of our population coming from charter schools after the first quarter. Twenty percent of our entire student population is English Language Learners (ELL). With the growing number of ELL students, we saw a significant growth in number of Muslim families from the Middle East and Africa. I do not know the percentage of our students within the whole school who associate as Muslim, but within my classroom it is 40 percent. That is a significant growth since I started teaching at Lea five years ago. Our school follows the Children’s Literacy Initiative for Reading and Writing for grades K-2. Upper grade teachers follow the same literacy block with various modifications which will be outlined in the Strategy section of this unit. Based on my students’ DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) results, 45% are on reading level, 30% are one or two grade levels behind, and 25% are multiple grade levels below. Twenty-two percent of my student population has an IEP for reading and writing in which the modifications vary from extended time needed on formal assessments to the use of sentence starters, graphic organizers, and manipulatives to help them complete reading and writing assignments. Our entire student body population matches the criteria for CEP Economically Disadvantaged state funding: free breakfast and lunch and enrollment into an after-school program.

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