My students are from a suburban community outside Charlotte, North Carolina. Educational funding is an issue in NC, and new books are a luxury to our high school classrooms - but to interest young adults in reading we should incorporate contemporary fiction that is written in an approachable format and relative to the world they're living in as part of the curriculum. Harrisburg is a town that grows daily. In our school, Hickory Ridge High School, we have large, diverse classes (around 35-40 students in each classroom). I feel incorporating lesson materials that can enlighten them and their families and ultimately the community to issues and cultures outside their sphere is essential to help us together build compassion and empathy which can lead to social action and conflict resolution as our community continues to grow and diversify.
My Project
My English IV and Honors English IV classes will end their semesters reading the Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel, Persepolis: A Childhood. That is, if we get books to read and analyze. Accompanying projects would include students' independent cultural expository writing to complete their senior writing portfolios where they would eventually story board their ideas. We would analyze the graphic novel genre and its occasionally discussed controversy- this specific author utilized the medium to make more of an impact. Was it more effective than mental imagery? Was the animation used appropriate for the content? Did the author reach their audience? Who did they hope to reach? What is your personal story that you think could bring awareness to a specific issue? How can you best communicate to reach your desired audience? These are some of the directions we will travel given the opportunity to study this literature.
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