English Language Development

Snapshot 7.8. Invisible Man: Cultivating Conversations About Literature

ELA in Grade Twelve (cont.)

Christopher: Is it just me or is most of the books we read here supposed to teach us

psychologically or something? I feel like each one has to sort of be like

lessons.

Maribel: There’s always a deeper meaning.

As students collaboratively converse, Ms. Oliver circulates around the room, noting in

her journal which students are more or less engaged in discussions and jotting down any

misconceptions she can clarify, as well as comments students make that she can highlight as

examples students may want to use in their writing.

Resource

Ellison, Ralph. 1952. Invisible Man. New York: Random House.

CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy: RL.11–12.1, 3, 4; SL.11–12.1

Source

Adapted from

Schoenbach, Ruth, Cynthia Greenleaf, and Lynn Murphy. 2012. Reading for Understanding: How Reading

Apprenticeship Improves Disciplinary Learning in Secondary and College Classrooms, 2nd ed., 281–282. San

Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

In the following snapshot students use discussion to explore a ballot measure and consider the
importance of voting. This snapshot is placed in this section of the chapter because of it features
discussion; however, the reading, writing, use of media, and presenting portrayed in the snapshot
relate to other themes as well.

Snapshot 7.9. Why Vote?

Integrated ELA/Literacy, History, and Civic Learning in Grade Twelve

Mr. Lee is teaching a unit that focuses on a compelling question: Why should anyone

care about voting today? His students have studied the significant events surrounding the

founding of the nation, the U.S. Constitution, and the philosophy realized in the Declaration

of Independence’s assertion that: “all men are created equal.” Students have also read

primary and secondary sources about the following: the women’s rights movement in the

era of Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony that led to the passage of the Nineteenth

Amendment, ratified in 1920; the series of events that ultimately led to the passage of the

1964 Civil Rights Act; and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In the next series of lessons, Mr. Lee’s twelfth graders, many of whom are eighteen years

old and eligible to register to vote, will develop a communications campaign that addresses

why anyone should care about voting. In collaborative groups, they will create original media

pieces, including fliers and commercials that promote interest and engagement in voting. They

will also collaborate with the League of Women Voters and other civic/governmental agencies

to organize and participate in service-learning activities (for example, voter registration drives,

volunteering at polling booths).

As part of the process of creating and disseminating brochures to inform the parents and

students in their community about election issues and agendas, the students are broken into

small interest groups that will be responsible for developing written communication about a

780 | Chapter 7 Grades 11 and 12