Stephanie Bowles-Jones
Kean University Writing Project
Teacher Inquiry Workshop
July 3, 2016/ July 10, 2016/July 11, 2016
Analytical Reading & Writing
Women’s Rights to the Suffrage & Ain’t I a Woman?
Teaching Context- Teaching middle school ELA at BRICK Avon Avenue in Newark I instruct mostly African American students that live in a section of Newark with the highest concentration of poverty. About 85% of the students I teach read below grade level. In spite of this daunting fact, my overarching learning objective focus is to create critical thinking opportunities for academic growth and improved standardized test-taking skills. I teach 80 minute periods to three three different classes each day. This scheduling structure affords me the time to introduce, discuss and explore complex texts by engaging in well thought out and meaningful lessons and activities in the classroom. My scholars are talented, and intelligent in ways that aren’t always captured on standardized testing. As a result they don’t have confidence in themselves as capable readers and writers. Because I see the potential in them, I am driven to develop lessons that not only allow them the chance to enhance their reading and writing skills necessary for the world of academia and standardized tests. Through these lessons my goal is develop them as readers and who are able to comprehend and critique while providing thought answers to text-based questions and create their own. This is what Reading Reconsidered author refers to as “intellectual autonomy.”
In light of the recent presidential election where we have our first female presidential hopeful I decided to try a different angle to get my students to critically think about the significance of this election. When I taught the industrial revolution, women’s rights and the suffrage movement we read the book Uprising by Katherine Haddix we looked at some of Susan B. Anthony’s speeches. Then we I taught slavery we looked at some abolitionists speeches we read “Ain’t I a Woman” by Sojourner Truth. Both speeches lent themselves to great academic discussions. My students were able to make connections and see the underlying issues in both speeches. They wanted to talk about it, debate it discuss it. Looking at the two speeches together affords the student the opportunity to write an analytic compare and contrast essay where they are able to recognize how textual evidence can strengthen an argument either written or oral. Leading questions such as why so many students are so passionate about issues of unfairness and how that passion can be translated to them reading and about about these using their voice in written and oral expression inspired me to choose this task for my Teaching Inquiry Workshop.
Overview-- The objective for this assignment are key to developing and strengthening students’ understanding of the relationship between reading and writing. Student tasks will center around developing students’ analytical reading and writing skills by comparing and contrasting each text for purpose, audience, identifying the author’s use of rhetoric and supporting textual evidence. Through teacher facilitated and peer to peer led discussions along with read and response questions students will be able to develop critical reading skills. Students will build analytical writing skills by writing a an opinion piece from the perspective of a Black person that attended both events and heard each woman’s speech while keeping in mind their audience. Students will have to use peer discussions for their brainstorming and prewriting strategies. The overarching real world learning context is to encourage students to realize that they have a voice and they can explore that voice through their writing while developing speaking and listening skills that can be created through opportunities such as this one and then used for interdisciplinary approaches to writing across different curriculums. This overview is designed for an introduction to high school English course.
Students will have already read “Ain’t I a Woman” and “Woman’s Rights to the Suffrage” selections before the start of this lesson. (Please note that independent readings have been scaffolded to accommodate the reading levels of all students) Class will start with a Do Now activity designed to get students to think about the two pieces collectively. Upon completion of the Do Now, a brief teacher led reflection on the texts will transition students right into their peer lead text discussion groups. Groups sizes are determined by class size. Group members are decided randomly then adjusted by the teacher based on teacher knowledge of student personalities. Each group will have a different text-based question that they will have to discuss. The peer group questions will be the following:
- Who are the speakers in each text? How are their “voices” different?
- How are the purposes for each text similar? Do you think that it was more effective that these texts were originally given orally as speeches?
- What are your thoughts about this text as a reader? Which one of these texts leaves more of an impression on you, and why?
Upon completion of the peer group discussions each group will share out their question and group answer to the whole group. This will take place during a 15-20 minute class discussion These activities will help students generate brainstorming/prewriting opportunities which will ultimately allow them to create their editorials. Students will then have to draft their suffrage editorials using the following assignment criteria:
Write an editorial that demonstrates your understanding of Susan B. Anthony’s speech as well as Sojourner Truth’s. Write from the perspective of a black person (free or enslaved) where you give you compare and contrast the argument each of the women are making using at least two text references. This response must be at least three paragraphs in length and be shared with your peer group for peer to peer feedback/evaluation. Students will 20 minutes to compose a first draft. This task will be carried over into the next class or until all students have had their work evaluated by their peer groups.
Theoretical Lens: The reading of and writing responses to “Ain’t I a Woman” and “Women’s Rights to Suffrage.” reflects the following 8th Grade English Language Arts Common Core Standards in objective, practice and assessment:
- Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).
- Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.
- Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence
- Introduce claim(s), acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.
- Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
Having the ability to read analytically read two challenging texts and then write a compare and contrasting response encourages critical thinking. It is the type of critical thinking that students will have to do when they take the state mandated PARCC. According to studies done by Doug Lemov Colleen Driggs and Erica Woolway in Reading Reconsidered teachers should allow students the opportunity to be exposed to nonfiction texts and given the opportunity to struggle with those complex texts. Their thinking is that if teachers create a balance exposing their students to nonfiction and fiction texts simultaneously then it can help build the knowledge they’ll need to be college read. This school of thought aligns with writing studies by Cynthia A. Tyson and Sung Choon Park. They claim that students already see the world through three lenses, historical events as told to them by family members, the current social context in which they live and day to day first hand experiences. This lesson allows them to tap into those access their prior knowledge and/or misconceptions while making connections to the past and the present. Essentially allowing them to participate in meaningful work because it will leave room for them to uncover the relevance of the assignment by close reading complex texts.
Practical Lens- The authors of Reading Reconsidered discuss the importance of student writing in response to literature in what they call autonomous writing structures. If the teacher provides students with a text that is complex enough and teachers create thoughtful and intentional questions that challenge students to do a close reading of the text then students will be able to answer these questions in a diligent and focused way. (352) Throughout their research the importance of teacher purposefulness is explained and if teachers create meaningful opportunities for student writing throughout the reading of a text then students will be able to better access these skilled when they are called upon to write a longer piece. The idea behind Lemov, Driggs, and Woolway’s claims is that if the writing is done consistently and in permanent places then students will eventually devlop a sense of autonomy over their writing. (354) The smaller writing pieces like text dependent written responses about a novel or nonfiction texts that carry the same theme prepare students to write pieces over longer periods of time-- it refines or creates a sense of writing diligence which will in turn transform them into critical “autonomous” thinkers. (355)
Reflective Lens
It is my belief that this lesson will be well received by my students because it is real. This is real and it’s relevant to them. In 2016 they are living in a world that is the realization of the Suffrage Movement. They have to opportunity to experience the epitome of how a social injustice of the past has come full circle. Students like to give their opinions they like to argue and discuss instances of wrongdoings or injustice. I have noticed in my teaching that it especially makes them feel validated when they can find evidence that supports their ideas. It is my intent to use this lesson to jump start teaching my students how to find their voice. Not just in my class but in science and ELA too and this type of a lesson can be used across subjects. Finally, I would like to see how my students improve from this lesson where I am providing several scaffolds to one where they have to do this entire process alone. How can this type of instruction prepare my students to think through these steps when they’re not prompted.
Inquiry Questions
- How can teaching analytical skills over two texts allow students the opportunity to become critical thinkers?
- How can this lesson demonstrate an interdisciplinary approach to reading and writing about texts in social studies while aligning with ELA standards and objectives.
- What kind of teacher created questions can prompt or promote student reflection and inquiry that takes them beyond this lesson?
Sources
Park, Sung Choon and Tyson, Cynthia Social Studies and the Young Learner, Nov./Dec. 2006. Web. 11 July. 2016
Lemov, Doug, Driggs, Colleen and Woolway, Erica. Reading Reconsidered. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2016. Print
Do Now- Suffrage means the right to vote in an election. List one way in which having the right to vote could’ve affect the lives of Susan and Sojourner.
Essential Questions
- How have people used their voices to affect change and do we still see this today?
- How does one decide the most effective way in which to use their voice to convey a message?
- What types of influences can impact the someone’s decision to use their voice to expose societal ills?
- What types of societal issues are universal?
Learning Objectives
SWBAT(This objective drives teacher instruction)-- analyze text for main idea & author’s purpose; identify relevant pieces of text evidence to support analysis, develop speaking and listening skills, actively participate in peer discussions and prewriting, strengthen writing skills through an editorial piece.
Student Objective(Student Friendly Objective given in “I can” statements)-- I can analyze two nonfiction texts then write an editorial that demonstrates my understanding of multiple texts.
Class Agenda:
- Do Now (10 minutes)
- Whole class (Teacher led) discussion (10 minutes)
- “Ain’t I a Woman” & “Women’s Rights to the Suffrage” Individual question response/Peer Discussion (20 minutes)
- Write the 1st draft editorial (20 mins)
- Peer Conference (remainder of class time)
*This will take two classes. Students will have to meet with their peers and and revise 1st draft before submitting their work to teacher.
Reading Response Questions (Each group will be responsible for one question in which they will need at least 2 pieces of textual evidence)
- Who are the speakers in each text? How are their “voices” different?
- How are the purposes for each text similar? Do you think that it was more effective that these texts were originally given orally as speeches?
- What are your thoughts about this text as a reader? Which one of these texts leaves more of an impression on you, and why?
Women’s Suffrage Editorial
Write an editorial that demonstrates your understanding of Susan B. Anthony’s speech as well as Sojourner Truth’s. Write from the perspective of a black person (free or enslaved) where you give you compare and contrast the argument each of the women are making using at least two text references. This response must be at least three paragraphs in length and be shared with your peer group for peer to peer feedback/evaluation. Students will 20 minutes to compose a first
