From December, 2014
Silence that Transforms Us
“When he heard music, he no longer listened to the notes, but the silences between. When he read a book, he gave himself over to the commas and semicolons, to the space after the period before the capital letter of the next sentence. He discovered the places in the room where silence gathered; the folds of curtain drapes, the deep bowls of family silver. When people spoke to him, he heard less and less of what they said and and more and more of what they were not.”
– Nicole Krauss, The History of Love
Argumentative Essay: Issues in Contemporary Society
In unit two, embedded assessment two for grade ten, students are asked to do the following:
Develop an argument about an issue that resonates across cultures
Some ten teachers have decided to focus the argumentative essay as follows:
Prompt/Topic: What Issue that Extends Across Cultures is Most Important to Resolve in Our World Today and Why?
Optional Addition: What Do You Believe Needs to Be Done To Resolve This Issue?
The handout, Texts linked to Cultural Issues in Springboard Unit 2, outlines how all of the resources in the Springboard text can be linked to the following specific cultural issues students might choose to write about:
- Education for All
- Racial Discrimination
- Political/Personal Freedom and/or Freedom of Speech
- Class Structure/Class Tension
- Gender Discrimination/Gender Stereotypes
- Use of Capital Punishment (Crime and Punishment)
- Effective Change and the Use of Violence and/or Non-Violence
- Protect the Rights of Children
- End World Hunger/Hunger in the US
Kristina Claytor and Allie Sberna also wanted additional non-fiction research for students to be able to access as they write essays. Here are some links to articles that can be used for the following topics:
- Racial Stereotyping
- Gender Stereotyping
- Capital Punishment
Racial Stereotypes/Gender Stereotypes (Both)
- US News and World Report, “Stereotyping Has Lasting Negative Impact”
- General information on the danger of stereotyping; could be applied to race or gender
- The Guardian, “Why Stereotypes are Bad Even When they are ‘Good’”
- General information on the danger of stereotyping; could be applied to race or gender
Racial Stereotypes
- Stanford Graduate School, “Unconscious Racial Stereotypes Can be Reversible”
- Explorable Psychology Experiments, “Stereotypes and the Ken Doll Experiment”
- National Communication Association, “Perceptions of Asian American Students: Stereotypes and Effects”
Gender Stereotypes
- Think Progress, “Forcing Kids to Stick to Gender Roles Can Actually Harm Their Health”
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation, “Princesses and Superheroes”
- Forbes, “America’s Most Sexist Jobs”
- Global Issues, “Women’s Rights”
- Center for Media Literacy, “How do Media Images of Men Affect Our Lives”
- TedXBeaconStreet, “The Hidden Meaning in Kid’s Movies” (video)
Capital Punishment
- The Economist “The Slow Death of the Death Penalty”
- Prodeathpenalty.com numerous articles in support of the death penalty
- International Commission Against Death Penalty “Why the Death Penalty Should be Abolished”
These resources are also available as a handout version with links:
Learning Lab Consulting 