UNIT PLAN: IDENTITY

Rationale
The theme for this unit is identity. Identity is something that adolescent students struggle
with. Reading literature about the same struggles that students in my class are going through,
whether it be their ethnicity, their family, or even having a mistaken identity, will allow them to
feel a connection with what they are reading.
Since reading and writing go hand in hand, a unit with which the students can relate may
increase their willingness to write. Through the different writing assigned in the unit students
will have a chance to write about themselves and their unique experiences. Since the topic
(themselves) will be of interest to the students, it will increase their motivation and interest in the
unit.
This unit is designed for a 10th grade class.
I chose this theme because identity is something that all people struggle with at some
point. Students are going through a great deal of turmoil during their adolescent years and are
trying desperately to be what they are expected to be, while at the same being themselves. These
students must be able to express themselves on these issues. Students will be able to relate to the
literature and make connections about issues critical to their development.
The human condition encompasses the unique features of being human, particularly the
ultimate concerns of human existence. It can be described as the unalterable part of humanity
that is inherent and innate to human beings and not dependent on factors such as gender, race,
culture, or class. My theme of identity is significant to this because humans are concerned about
their identity, a concern which is uniquely human but that every human has. This unit will be a
relatable topic for each student in class.

This theme of identity is significant to teens because in adolescence they are often
confused about who they are. Most students simply want to fit in, but if they are conflicted about
who they are. In this time of great change, emotionally, psychologically and physically, children
should be able to feel comfortable with their transition. Adolescents should be given the
opportunity to understand and comment on their own change as well as the change of others
through reading, discussing, writing, research and other forms of expression. Reading literature
that addresses these great changes opens the door for a dialogue between students, their peers
and teachers on difficult topics related to the formation of students identities.
This unit is designed for a classroom of 31 10th grade students in Dakota High School,
which is a part of Chippewa Valley Schools. Seven of these students are on average A students,
nine of them are B students, five of them are C students, two of them are D students and one
student usually refuses to do any work and spends time sleeping in class. About 20 of the
students enjoy reading and the class in general. Eight of these students spend a considerable
amount of time outside of school reading. About 17 of the students in class enjoy writing, with
about six of the students keeping a personal journal.
The local community is lower middle class. The area is very urban, most students live
less than 5 miles from school in neighborhoods or apartments. Thirty-two percent of the students
qualify for free or reduced lunch.
About 7 of the students in the class are very outgoing and enjoy speaking in class. They
have a very active social life. Five students are quiet and tend to not talk unless directly called
upon. They have a few close friends. The rest of the students are somewhere in between. None of
the students seem to be completely ignored by classmates or stand out. The student
demographics are: 78% Caucasian, 15% African American, 5% Asian and 1% Hispanic.

Each of the selected texts for the unit increases student understanding of identity by
bringing something new to their attention. The first selection, Richard Cory, is meant to grab
student attention and interest by being a rather shocking poem. The poem is written in a pleasing
rhyme scheme, but it ends with the suicide of the poems character. This selection is meant to
teach students that just because a classmate, or anyone, appears to be one way, does not mean
that they necessarily are. It is important not to judge anyone. This lesson of not judging a book
by its cover will raise awareness in students of the struggles that everyone has, no matter if they
show it or not.
I chose the selection, Names/Nombres because it is important to realize that part of our
identity is related to our own culture and our interaction with other cultures. With this idea in
mind, we will enter this unit with a multicultural perspective. Since the students will be given the
opportunity to discuss the literature they read in this unit, they will be able to better understand
their own identity in relation to culture. Many different cultures mix in our society today, so
students must think of their own identity in relation to their culture as well as their identity with
other cultures.
The last selection, Subtotals, is a unique type of poem that brings a persons life, their
accomplishments and their failures, into perspective by numbering these things. I was personally
drawn to this poem when I first read it and I think students will enjoy it as well. The activity that
goes along with this piece will allow students reflection time of their own lives, which will be
needed for one of the units closing activities.

Introductory Activity: What is Identity?

Introductory Activity:
What is Identity? Who are you in relation to others?
1.Teacher will write Identity on the board.
2. Students will be told to use magazines to cut out pictures of what makes
up their idea of their personal identity.
3. Students will work on their own to take these pictures and make a collage
of what makes up their personal identity.
4. Once the collages are made teacher will pose questions to the students
about their personal identity collages.
5. What makes up your identity?
How is your identity made up of your relationship with other people?
How do you think that this influence of your involvement with groups such as peer
groups, sports groups, and/or family work together and against each other to make
up who you are?
6. Students will have a classroom discussion about their responses to these
questions.
7. Teacher will explain that a great deal of ones identity is made up of who
you are in relation to others.
8. The teacher will explain that the students will be reading selections related to the concept of
identity in relation to others throughout this unit. At the end of the unit, once the students have
read selections related to identity, the students will come back to their collages to comment on
their growth, as far as knowledge on their own identity and how it is related to others.

Lesson 1: Richard Cory

Teachers Name: __Holly Herman_____________________ Date: ____3/16/15________
Grade Level __10___ Subject/Topic: ____English___________________________________
School: _Dakota High School_______ District: _Chippewa Valley Schools__________
Lesson Plan Title: __________Richard Cory____________________________________

Objectives:

RL.6.1; W.6.1, W.6.4, W.6.9; SL.6.1

Introduction:
To introduce the lesson the teacher will hold up 6 different pictures of people, and ask the
students to make predictions about these people based on how they look, how they are dressed,
their facial expressions. They will then be asked to predict which of these people has a better life,
which person is the happiest, the richest, the poorest, and the saddest.
Procedure:
Before handing a copy of the poem to each student, the teacher reads the poem out loud to the
class.
Teacher hands out a copy of the poem to students.

Students are asked to do a quick write on their initial reaction to the poem.

Students are then asked to answer two questions:

What do I know about the person in this poem and what part of the poem shows this?
What do I still wonder about the person in this poem?

Vocabulary:
Sole
Favored
Arrayed

Imperially
Admirably
Fluttered

Questions:
Content Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

What is the characters name in this poem?

What was he from sole to crown?
How was he arrayed?
What did he do when he walked?
What was his financial status?
What did Richard Cory do at the end of the poem?

Interpretation Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Was Richard Cory dressed nicely or shabby?

How does a gentlemen act?
How does this compare to how Richard Cory acted?
Why does the poet say things like He glittered when he walked?
What might have happened if someone had approached him?

Application Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.

Why do you think people commit suicide?

Why do you think people with a lot of money commit suicide?
What are some things that money cannot buy, which make us happy?
Do you know people that seem happy on the outside but are sad on the
inside?
5. Do you know someone who seems one way but is really another?
6. What does this story tell us about judging other people?

Students will be asked to answer the questions as homework.

Activity:
Students will work in groups to memorize the poem and create moves to go with it. All groups
will perform their moves for the class.
Conclude:

The lesson will conclude with a whip around, where every student shares first their reaction to
the poem and then a question with the class out loud while students listen and ask new questions
and comments.
Accommodations/Adaptations
Accommodations for this include reading the story allowed if several poor readers
are in the class, for ESL students the story is available in several different languages
to make comprehension of the story easier.
Outcomes/Assessment/Evaluation

Informal, teacher grades on the student reactions to the poem and the participation in
memorizing the poem.
Teacher Reflection
N/A

Teachers Name: __Holly Herman_____________________ Date: ____3/17/15________

Grade Level __10___ Subject/Topic: ____English___________________________________
School: _Dakota High School_______ District: _Chippewa Valley Schools__________
Lesson Plan Title: __________Names/Nombres____________________________________

Objectives

RL.6.2, RL.6.3; W.6.2, W.6.4; SL.6.1, L.6.2

Materials Needed
Computer, Projector, Pen, Paper, Copy of Names/Nombres,
Teacher Procedure/Development
Introduction

Day One

Introduction:
Begin class by letting students know that we will be discussing a very serious
subject today. Ask them to all take the days discussion very seriously.
Lead a class discussion. Ask questions like:
What defines ethnic identity? (Most people agree it includes one or
more of the following: a shares heritage, a common belief system and
a set of similar physical characteristics.) What other things do you
think it includes?
Is ethnic identity something were born with, something we invent for
ourselves, something were given by other or a combination of these
things?
Should people be allowed to discriminate against others based on their
ethnic identities, or should there be laws to prevent it? If so, in what
cases?
The Unites States has been called a melting pot. What does this
mean?

What are the benefits of living with people with different ethnic
identities?
What are the difficulties?
Throughout history, millions have been abused or killed based on their
unique ethnic identities. If we could somehow all be the same, would
things be easier?
Other than ethnicity, what are other things that people discriminate
against?
What are some instances in which people have been discriminated
against in the past? What lessons can we learn from these instances?
Are people being discriminated against today? Who? By whom? How is
this situation similar to situations in the past?

Methods and Procedures

Procedure:
1. Ask students to gather in groups of three or four to discuss a past
situation in which they felt they were the source or the subject of
discrimination.
2. After providing ample discussion time, address the class as a whole and
explain that many people believe discrimination is really just an
expression of fear, an emotion shared by everyone. Ask students to
provide examples of social situations that people are commonly afraid of.
Solicit as many responses as time allows and write everything on the
black board.
3. Allow students to resume their group discussions, encouraging them to
consider how their discriminatory experiences may have been motivated
by fear.
4. After discussion time, ask individual students or groups to share their
thoughts with the class. If students do not see a connection between
discrimination and fear, or if they simply do not agree with the concept,
encourage them to offer alternative explanations. There should be no right
or wrong answers.

Conclude:
As politics, economists and technology draw once-remote populations closer
together, ethnic identity plays an ever-increasing role in peoples lives. While
some relish new opportunities to interact with people from different
backgrounds, just as many, if not more, find the prospect rather unsavory. It
is convenient to dismiss the latter category as narrow-minded, but a more

helpful approach to ethnic discrimination may lie in understanding that its

source is often mothing more than fear, a common thread among all people.
Day Two
Introduction:
Ask students to review what was talked about yesterday
Introduce Names/Nombre
Procedure:
Distribute copies of Names/Nombre and read the story out loud as students
follow along.
After the story, allow students 5 minutes to reflect on the story.
Activity:
Explain to students that using the story, and also the discussion from the
previous day, that they should write a letter to the main character, Julia. In
this letter they should bring together elements of the story and the
discrimination discussion to reassure her that she would be accepted in
school, her unique background and all.

Closure

Conclude:
To conclude, ask if any students would like to read their letters allowed. Have
students display these letters around the class as reminders that
discrimination is not allowed in the classroom, that this is a place where
everyone is welcome.

Technology Use
A computer and projector will be used to display the questions asked during
discussion and to give directions for writing letters to the main character, Julia.
Accommodations/Adaptations
Accommodations for this include reading the story allowed if several poor readers
are in the class, for ESL students the story is available in several different languages
to make comprehension of the story easier.

Outcomes/Assessment/Evaluation
Students will be assessed on the content of their letters in relation to the story they
read and the class discussion on discrimination.

Teacher Reflection
N/A

Lesson 6: Subtotals
Teachers Name: __Holly Herman_____________________ Date: ____3/19/15________
Grade Level __10___ Subject/Topic: ____English___________________________________
School: _Dakota High School_______ District: _Chippewa Valley Schools__________
Lesson Plan Title: __________Subtotals____________________________________

Objectives:

RL.6.3; W.6.2, W.6.9; L.6.1, L.6.2

Introduction:
Teacher will begin the lesson by introducing famous peoples stats on posters.
Teacher will ask:
What is this person known for?
What do these numbers mean?
Are these numbers part of these peoples identities?
Are numbers part of all of our identities?

Procedure:

Teacher will read poem aloud while students follow along.

After, students will work on Evidence Based Questions.
Class will come together for a discussion on the poem.

Vocabulary:
Immigration
Declare
Trilling
Namesake
Sancocho
Serapes

Questions:
Content Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

How
How
How
How
How
How

many
many
many
many
many
many

broken bones has Gregory had?

hunches has Gregory played?
times was Gregory patted on the back?
different numbers does Gregory list in his poem?
of these are things are ones to be proud of?
of these are things to be ashamed of?

Interpretation Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

How is this poem different from what you normally read?

What do you have to do in order to understand this poem?
What do some of the numbers listed here tell us about Gregory?
Do you think Gregory was a good person or a bad person? Explain.
Do you think this is a good way to put a persons life into perspective?
Explain.

Application Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What did you learn from this poem?

What are some other things you would have added to the poem?
What are some things that you would have taken away?
What are some things that you would add to your own poem like this?
Why would the author write this poem?

Questions will be used in a discussion format.

Concluding Activity:
Write your own Subtotals story about your life. Use the poem as an example that you can base
your own story off of, but be sure to include details and pieces of information from the life you
have lived so far. Create a minimum of 25 different examples from your life that explain

Accommodations/Adaptations
Accommodations for this include reading the story allowed if several poor readers
are in the class, for ESL students the story is available in several different languages
to make comprehension of the story easier.
Outcomes/Assessment/Evaluation
Students will be assessed on the content of their evidence based learning
worksheets and creation of their own Subtotals poem.

Teacher Reflection
N/A

Concluding Unit Activities:

Review of Identity
Write the word Identity on the board again.
Have students to pull down their collages from the wall and take to their seats.
Discuss collages from introductory activity.
Have students break into their groups and discuss and then we will reconvene as a whole to
discuss what the class consensus on these questions is.
Teacher asks:
How have your ideas of identity changed?
Do you think any differently since youve read these selections?
How do you feel you have learned from these selections?
Do you think that Identity is stable? Explain?
Do you feel that you have more than one identity?
Do you think that there are different things you would add to your collage now? What? Why?
Reflective Paper
After reading and reflecting on each of the works within this unit, students will be asked to now
think about their own lives in a reflection paper. They will write a three page paper on
themselves, who they are, where they come from, what they learned about themselves through

this unit, what else they hope to learn about themselves in the future, and anything else they may
like to add.
Identity Book
Throughout the unit, students have been writing reflective pieces and thinking about who they
are as people. To conclude the unit, students will use these materials to create a Book of Me
project, where they create a book using the work they have done. This will be a reminder for
each student that they are not alone in going through an uncertain time where they are not sure
who they are. It will also remind them that they should always be accepting of others, as it is
impossible to know what struggles each person has in their lives.

Richard Cory
By Edwin Arlington Robinson
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was richyes, richer than a king
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

S U B T O TALS
Gregory Burnham

Number of refrigerators I've lived with: 18. Number of rotten eggs I've thrown: 1.
Number of finger rings I've owned: 3.
Number of broken bones: 0. Number of Purple Hearts: 0.
Number of times unfaithful to wife: 2. Number of holes in one, big golf: 0; miniature golf:3.
Number of consecutive push-ups, maximum: 25. Number of waist size: 32.
Number of gray hairs: 4. Number of children: 4. Number of suits, business: 2; swimming: 22.
Number of cigarettes smoked: 83. Number of times Ive kicked the dog: 6.
Number of times caught in the act, any act: 64.
Number of postcards sent: 831; received: 416.
Number of spider plants that died while under my care: 34.
Number of blind dates: 2. Number of jumping jacks: 982,316.
Number of headaches: 184. Number of kisses, given: 21,602, received: 20,041.
Number of belts: 21. Number of screw ups, bad: 6; not so bad: 1,500.
Number of times swore under breath at parents: 838. Number of weeks at church camp: 1.
Number of houses owned: 0. Number of houses rented: 12.
Number of hunches played: 1,091. Number of compliments, given: 4,051; accepted: 2,249.
Number of embarrassing moments: 2,258. Number of states visited: 38.
Number of traffic tickets: 3. Number of girlfriends: 4.
Number of times fallen off playground equipment, swings: 3; monkey bars: 2; teeter-totter: 1.
Number of times flown in dreams: 28. Number of times fallen down stairs: 9.
Number of dogs: 1. Number of cats: 7.
Number of miracles witnessed: 0. Number of insults, given: 10,038; received: 8,963.

Number of wrong telephone numbers dialed: 73. Number of times speechless: 33.
Number of times stuck key into electrical socket: 1.
Number of birds killed with rocks: 1. Number of times had the wind knocked out of me: 12.
Number of times patted on the back: 181. Number of times wished I was dead: 2.
Number of times unsure of footing: 458. Number of times fallen asleep reading a book: 513.
Number of times born again: 0. Number of times seen double: 28.
Number of deja vu experiences: 43. Number of emotional breakdowns: 1;
Number of times choked on bones, chicken: 4; fish: 6; other: 3.
Number of times didn't believe parents: 23,978.
Number of lawn-mowing miles: 3,575. Number of light bulbs changed: 273.
Number of childhood home telephone: 384-621-5844. Number of brothers: 3 1/2 .
Number of passes at women: 5. Number of stairs walked, up: 745,821; down: 743,609.
Number of hats lost: 9. Number of magazine subscriptions: 41.
Number of times seasick: 1. Number of bloody noses: 16.
Number of times had sexual intercourse: 4,013.
Number of fish caught: 1. Number of times heard The Star Spangled Banner: 2,410.
Number of babies held in arms: 9. Number of times I forgot what I was going say: 631.