Marching Past the Single Story: AP Language in West Virginia
My students need a class set (30) of Representative John Lewis "March"; graphic novel memoir to supplement our study of the civil rights movement.
FULLY FUNDED! Mrs. Kisner's classroom raised $495
This project is fully funded
My Students
My AP Language students are hard working, kind and brilliant young humans. My West Virginia superstars care deeply about the world, and I want to expand their understanding of it. I teach at a midsized high school in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. My students come from a variety of backgrounds, from trailers in the mountains of our county, from newly built subdivisions, and from the (somewhat) nearby cities of Baltimore and Washington DC. From many paths, they have found themselves in my classroom in the mountain state.
My goal in AP language is to help my students to see beyond the "Single Story" of our state, and beyond the "Single Story" of populations and cultures that they may not have previously encountered.
The best way to change people is through hearing stories.
My Project
Quite frankly, my students' knowledge of the Civil Rights movement and its significance is minimal. Their understanding of their world is very small. Every year I teach a unit called "The Rhetoric of Revolution and Change". We study Patrick Henry's "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" speech, the Declaration of Independence and then move to studying Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel memoir of growing up during the Iranian Revolution of 1979. I feel that this is one of the most meaningful unit's of my year, but I want to add to it by using Representative John Lewis' memoir March.
My students need to encounter more stories of people who worked to change the world.
John Lewis' memoir is a raw and beautiful story of his part of the Civil Right's movement. I want my students to learn how significant this movement was. I want my students to understand how significant and relevant it still is today.
My students need a class set of Representative John Lewis' memoir because it would allow me to make the Civil Right's movement real to my students (most of whom probably have never heard of Mr. Lewis). My students are kind and intelligent, but in the words of Chimimanda Ngozi Adiche, they have "Single Stories" of many events and people. To help them learn, to help them grow into compassionate citizens, they need to hear stories like that of John Lewis.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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