Sandra K. Friday
The study of the protagonists’ identities and what drives them to interact with the “other,” physically and psychologically, for better or worse, will provide a variety of perspectives and, I hope, inspiration for my students to write about their own identities and how their decisions, emotions (fear, among them), and actions emanate from those identities. Students may choose from a variety of genres for these activities, which will be woven into the unit, resulting in a portfolio of their work. Using the same graphic organizers they learned to fill out for the stories we read together, they will examine the characters in the pieces they craft, just as they have learned to examine the characters in the stories we are reading. This part of the portfolio will serve as the assessment tool for my unit. Students will be encouraged to write about themselves and/or fictional characters they may wish to create, and if they become proficient in examining, with the graphic organizers, how and why they or their fictional characters change, then they will have made considerable progress in the skills that are part of this unit.