School Demographics
The school at which I work serves 1,086 students in 6th-8th grade. 58% of our families qualify as low-income households and 33% of our students are English Language Learners. 76% of our students are “Hispanic” or LatinX, 10% are White, 5% identify as biracial, 4% Black, 5% AAPI, and the remainder unspecified. (4)
Each grade level is departmentalized and there are at least 3 ELA teachers per grade level, in some cases four. In 8th grade, students each enter with a different understanding of close reading based on their own educational experiences, past teachers, and varying reading and writing abilities. With this varying level of analysis and a habit of working for the grade, it is difficult to introduce high-level texts and reach an adequate level of engagement from students. Without this first step of deep understanding, it is difficult to then converse and finally write about, a text in a manner that aligns with college and career readiness, and most importantly with critical thinking.
This unit is designed to re-teach the fundamentals of reading critically through close reading and historical curiosity, early on in the year, as a means to recenter learning on curiosity and conversation and social justice, rather than on as a means to a grade. After all, we are striving for a collaborative, curious, and critical classroom.
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