Al Sharpton expresses his thoughts on racial equality in America and describes the challenge today's activists face in order to organize for - and sustain - real change, in this video from Eyes on the Prize: Then and Now. Sharpton recognizes the frustration and anger that many black Americans share because their access to voting rights, criminal justice, and economic opportunity has been restricted. He also acknowledges that some progress has been made, comparing today's world with that experienced by earlier civil rights organizers.

Have a question about the law? Go to this site dedicated to teaching children about the law and to encouraging law-abiding behavior. Topics include driving laws, "Teen trouble", drug and alcohol laws, and more.

This article provides an overview of Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center that provides educators with free resources around the areas of equity, justice, and tolerance.

Do Something is a nationwide network of young people who know they can make a difference in their communities and take action to change the world around them. As part of Do Something, young people are asked what they want to do to make things better and then given the resources and support to bring their unique vision to life.

The 11th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 11th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Students move from learning the class rituals and routines and genre features of argument writing in Unit 11.1 to learning about narrative and informational genres in Unit 11.2: The American Short Story. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

People often say that mankind should learn from history. Charles Dickens, whose books are considered classics, set his novel A Tale of Two Cities in the past. He wanted his readers to learn from the bloody French Revolution and from the widespread brutality in London. Both cities (Paris and London) offer the reader a glimpse into dark and dangerous times. As students read about Dickens's Victorian setting and learn his view of the French Revolution, they will think about what makes a just world. Students will have a chance to think about their own experiences, and, using techniques they have learned from Charles Dickens, they will do some writing that sends a message about your own world.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

To complete the unit accomplishments, students will:

Read the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities.
Read several short pieces, including a biography of Dickens and excerpts from other literature, to help them understand Dickens’s world and the world of the novel.
Explore new vocabulary to build their ability to write and speak using academic language.
Practice close reading and participate in several role plays and dramatic readings to help them experience the dramatic writing style of Charles Dickens.
Write a vignette and a short narrative piece, and practice using descriptive detail and precise language.
Write a reflection about the meaning of Dickens’s novel.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How does good storytelling affect the reader, and how can a good story promote change in the world?
What was the Victorian view of gender roles?
How can power be abused?
What is loyalty ? What are the limits of loyalty?

In this lesson, you will have a chance to involve yourselves in the dramatic language of Dickens by performing parts of the text.In this lesson, students will have a chance to involve themselves in the dramatic language of Dickens by performing parts of the text.

In this lesson, students will focus on making their vignettes more effective by considering more vivid language and getting advice from their classmates.

The 12th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 12th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Language study is embedded in every 12th grade unit as students use annotation to closely review aspects of each text. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

Students will consider the different ways that humor can be used by a writer to criticize people, practices, and institutions that he or she thinks are in need of serious reform. Students will read satirists ranging from classical Rome to modern day to examine how wit can be used to make important points about culture.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students research an aspect of modern life that they would like to lampoon.
Students read from satirists across history to absorb the style and forms of humor and institutions satirized.
Students write their own satire, drawing on techniques of famous satirists to criticize their targets.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

What is satire, and when is it too harsh?
How can humor and irony make you more persuasive?
What do you think is funny? How far would you go to satirize it?
Who gets more reaction—satirists or protestors?

In this lesson, students will conference with their teacher at some point and finish their satirical video. If Students have time, they can ask for input from another group one more time.

The laws that govern and the social norms that regulate society are not always fair, legal, moral, or ethical. What is a person to do about all this injustice? What are the hazards of righting injustices or changing social norms? And what are the dangers of doing nothing?

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and annotate Antigone, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” and Pygmalion.
Students write a literary analysis showing the effect of social class or the law on a character’s life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do social class and legal institutions shape literary characters’ lives (and presumably our lives)?
How does social class affect a person in dealing with the law (protect a person, hurt a person)?
How is social class determined in America and in other places in the world?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this lesson, students continue reading, annotating, and discussing Antigone. Students will learn more about the Oedipus myth and consider a different perspective on the story.

In our lives, we are constantly telling stories to ourselves and to others in an attempt to both understand our experiences and present our best selves to others.  But how do we tell a story about ourselves that is both true and positive? How do we hold ourselves up in the best possible light, while still being honest about our struggles and our flaws? Students will explore ways of interpreting and portraying personal experiences.  They'll read Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart , analyzing the text through the eyes of one character. They'll get to know that character's flaws and strengths, and they'll tell part of the story from that character's perspective, doing their best to tell an honest tale that presents their character's best side. Then they'll explore their own stories, crafting a personal narrative about an important moment of learning in his or her life.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and analyze Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart , viewing the events and conflicts of the novel through the eyes of one of the central characters.
Students write a two-part narrative project: one narrative told through their character’s perspective and one personal narrative about an incident in their own life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do our conflicts shape and show our character?
How can we tell a story about ourselves that’s both honest and positive?
How do definitions of justice change depending on the culture you live in?
What are ways individuals can react to a changing world? To a community that doesn’t accept us?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

Does being part of a community mean that you accept the values and customs of that community? In this lesson, students will begin to analyze what they know about Umuofian society, and try to figure out how various characters feel about its customs.

What roles do men and women play in Umuofian society? How are expectations of husbands and wives, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, different from each other? In this lesson, students will examine gender roles and expectations in Umuofian society.Read the lesson and student content.Anticipate student difficulties and identify the differentiation options you will choose for working with your students.

This video segment adapted from 'Earthkeeping: Toxic Racism' looks at how pollution from an industrial hog farm impacts people who live near the farm. Learn about waste lagoons and other environmental hazards from animal feeding operations. Hear the story of how one hog farm has affected a community in North Carolina and how residents sued the farm for violations of the Clean Water Act. In addition, learn about how minority communities are unfairly affected by environmental issues. Includes background essay and discussion questions. [3:16]

Learn how farm workers and owners formed a rare alliance in an effort to block the use of an incinerator in their Latino community by suing for environmental discrimination in this video segment adapted from 'Earthkeeping: Toxic Racism.' Learn about the rural town of Kettleman City, California, where one of the country's largest hazardous waste landfills is located. Hear how farm workers and farm owners joined together to sue the waste management corporation for environmental discrimination against poor and minority communities. In addition, learn about environmental law principles that led to a ruling in favor of the citizens. Includes background essay and discussion questions. [4:36]

In this video segment, adapted from 'Earthkeeping: Toxic Racism,' learn about the beginning of the environmental justice movement. Meet various experts and leaders who describe the issues of environmental racism and justice, and learn about the watershed event - the controversy over the location of a toxic landfill in Warren County, North Carolina - that brought the issues to national attention in the early 1980s. See footage of the residents protesting the transport of PCB-contaminated soil to their community, and hear about how the incident triggered further investigations into the relationship between communities of color and toxins. Includes background essay and discussion questions. [4:33]

Students use the text and illustrations of fables and folktales to analyze setting, characters, and key details, allowing them to connect traditional stories to their own lives.