My Critical Thinking students are diverse, thoughtful, and articulate 10th and 11th graders who have made the bold choice to attend a Middle College, a program that gives them the opportunity to complete a technical certificate or associates' degree at our community college while still high school students. Students in my class are still working towards college readiness, and are motivated to get there.
My students are diverse and are reeling from the 2016 election cycle.
Approximately one-quarter of my students are Muslim and are asking me and my colleagues questions about the safety of their families. My LGBT students and their allies have expressed feelings of vulnerability. My female students have expressed outrage and confusion about some of the discourse used during the lead-up to the election. My conservative students have expressed fear of speaking up about their beliefs about the economy or on social issues for fear of being labeled as racist.
Participating in nonfiction literature circles during the Winter semester can be a balm; it will give them the opportunity to explore some of the issues entrenched in the election cycle while reading high-quality nonfiction texts.
My Project
These nonfiction titles have been carefully selected to cultivate productive discourse about some of the many issues raised by the 2016 election cycle. They are high-quality texts that will stimulate analytical discussion and discourse and will strengthen my students' critical reading skills.
I plan on using these texts in nonfiction literature circles with my 10th and 11th-grade students.
Students will use these texts to analyze bias, rhetoric, evidence, diction, and text structure. During our literature circle meetings, all students will participate equally, support their ideas with textual evidence, and discuss ideas in-depth rather than superficially. Students will select texts based on their interests and will share ideas raised in their texts with students who have chosen different texts.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Boland and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
