Kyle Redmon CI 403 E 8 September 2011 The Slave Across the Street: Developing Context and Appropriate Attitudes

for Reading Theresa Flores' Novel Time 50 minutes Setting Students in a High School sophomore class of twenty five will be working in groups of five to complete the activities as part of a literature circle.

Theory into Practice This lesson is chiefly informed by Burke's discussion of negotiation wherein he points to the four literacies that teachers must help students to develop in order for them to development meaningful connections with the text. These literacies are Academic, Cultural, Emotional, and Social, and each is specifically targeted by the activities of this assignment. (16) Students will first utilize their research skills by studying various sources pertaining to human trafficking in the United States. This study not only engages their academic minds but also creates an important social awareness about a significant yet unreported issue. Students will also be expected to study these materials in a respectful and conscientious way that highlights the seriousness of the issue. In order to engage with the text, students will have to be able to speak openly and respectfully about issues of sexuality, religion, slavery, abuse, and prostitution as all of these play a crucial role in Flores' work. Therefore, students will have to target their understandings of these topics to the context of the book. In addition, Flores states in the preface to her text that one of her chief goals in writing the book was to raise awareness that, when talking about human trafficking, we are not

necessarily talking about people in distant places or unfamiliar cultures. (6) This is a real problem right here in America. The first step in raising that awareness is in confronting our own misconceptions about forced sexual slavery. The websites that will be used for this lesson come from both institutional and activists sources that are intended to raise awareness of the issue. Students will be able to navigate these sites and pull out the pieces of information that are most striking and important to them. In this way, they will engage in the preliminary process of developing their own areas of interest for discussion topics for the text. They will also be making notes to help guide their interests into productive areas of discussion once we begin reading the text later on. (Daniels 22)

Objectives -Students will collaborate with group members to access prior understandings of issues of slavery. -Students will review statistics on human trafficking and study the language of laws governing its criminality for the purpose of gaining an enriched conceptualization of this important social issue. -Students will arrange their findings into an "idea wall" that will serve as a resource as they read Flores' text and beyond.

Materials Each group will need: -Several pieces of construction paper of various colors. -Assorted markers, pens, and pencils of various colors. -Thumbtacks -Individual copies of Theresa Flores' The Slave Across the Street

-Access to a internet-enabled computer device The class as a whole will also make use of a bulletin board that will bear the word "slavery" in the center at the beginning of class. The rest of the board will be empty. The instructor will also make use of a projector or smart board to present web-based information to the whole class.

Preparation Upon entering the classroom, students will find their desks arranged together as part of their literature circle groups. Each set of desks will have the word "slavery" printed on a card between them. On the board will be written the following prompt: "On a sheet of paper, respond to the word in front of you. Define it. Provide examples of what the word has meant throughout history and what it means today. Try to think of as many unique examples as possible. What time periods, peoples, and locations come to mind when you hear the word 'slavery?'"

Procedure 5 minutes: Students will enter the classroom and respond individually to the prompt on the board. 5 minutes: Each group will appoint one member to act as the group recorder. They will then go around and have each member share what they wrote in response to the prompt. From this discussion, the recorder will produce a wordle using the key phrases and ideas that students echoed and agreed upon. 7 minutes: As a whole class, students will share their wordles, highlighting the words and ideas that were most important to their groups. They will then thumbtack their wordles to the bulletin board.

3 minutes: Based on the ideas that students presented, the teacher will now pose a series of questions to get them to think outside of the box about issues of slavery. I anticipate that most students will fixate on the issue of African American slavery in America while Jews in Egypt and other historical examples might come up. "Is there any place in the world where slavery is still a problem?" is a question that might get students to consider places like Africa or Southeast Asia or other places that have a reputation for the slave trade. Once students have thoughtfully considered some of these options, the instructor will ask the question: "What about right here?" 5 minutes: The teacher will use the projector to show students the map of human trafficking that can be found at <http://www.slaverymap.org/>. The teacher will demonstrate how to navigate the site by clicking on some of the orange bubbles across that appear across the country. Students will be encouraged to call out areas that they would like to look at. I anticipate that many students will be surprised and interested in the number of incidents that have occurred within our own state. Each orange bubble provides a brief description about the nature of the incident, including what type of work the victim was forced to perform as well as information about criminal proceedings and aftercare. Teachers should pick a small but diverse range of incidents that help students see the various types of slavery that exist in America. 20-25 minutes: Students will go to their computers and visit the following sites to learn more about issues of slavery in America: <http://www.dhs.state.il.us/OneNetLibrary/27897/documents/Initiatives/Trafficking/Information %20sheet.pdf> (Statistics on Human Trafficking in the Chicago area along with information about prevention) <http://www.uic.edu/jaddams/college/research_public_service/files/TraffickingInPersonsInIllino is_FactSheet09202010.pdf> (Statistics on Human Trafficking in Illinois from 2010)

Students will be encouraged to pick out various facts and figures from each site that they find particularly striking or interesting. "From what you have read what numbers most surprised you? What preventative strategies and response actions do you think are most effective? Why?" Students will then look at two more sites. The first (<http://www.chtc.org/dl/handouts/20050913/20050913-6.pdf>) breaks down the Illinois and United States federal laws that protect against human trafficking as well as provides the definition of a trafficking victim under the Illinois law. The second (<http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html? ref=menuside>) provides the United Nations language for both defining and criminalizing human trafficking. Students will be asked to pull out key quotes and ideas that they feel best exemplify what the various legislations are about. They will also be asked to note any significant difference between the American language and the UN language. "What commonalities do they share in how they define human trafficking? Which law is more specific? What protections or procedures are provided by one institution but not the other?" Once students have completed the activities and made notes about all of their information, they will be encouraged to return to slaverymap.org to study more about specific instances from throughout the nation. For Homework: Students will be asked to write a one page reflection on the day's activities in which they reconsider the notion of "slavery." "How has your understanding of slavery grown or changed since before this activity? What facts did you find most shocking, angering, or interesting?" They will also be asked to complete another wordle from the notes that they compiled from their research. These will be placed on the bulletin board along with their original contributions to serve as a reference point for the key ideas in the unit. Through further activities

and the reading of the text, this "idea wall" will be augmented so that students can witness how their conceptualization of the important issues of the text are growing and changing as they progress.

Works Cited Burke, J. The English Teacher's Companion: A complete guide to classroom, curriculum, and the profession, (3rd ed). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 2007 Daniels, Harvey. Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, 2002. Flores, Theresa L., and Peggy Sue Wells. The Slave across the Street: the True Story of How an American Teen Survived the World of Human Trafficking. Boise, ID: Ampelon Pub., 2010. Houmenou, Charles. "Human Trafficking in Illinois Fact Sheet." University of Illinois at Chicago, 20 Sept. 2010. Web. 7 Sept. 2011. "Human Trafficking in Illinois." Illinois Rescue and Restore Coalition. Web. 7 Sept. 2011. <http://www.dhs.state.il.us/OneNetLibrary/27897/documents/Initiatives/Trafficking/Infor mation%20sheet.pdf>. "Laws Against Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery." Heartland Alliance, 11 July 2005. Web. 7 Sept. 2011. <http://www.chtc.org/dl/handouts/20050913/20050913-6.pdf>. "Slavery Map." SlaveryMap.org. Not For Sale. Web. 07 Sept. 2011. <http://www.slaverymap.org/>. "What Is Human Trafficking." United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. United Nations. Web. 7 Sept. 2011. <http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-humantrafficking.html?ref=menuside>.