Diversity UnitGrades: 6Reading/Language ArtsApproximately 4 weeks

OverviewThis thematic unit is organized to support students’ understanding of

diversity over a four week period. Diversity is a huge aspect of society which students should learn about. Students will also discuss the idea of diversity and how it relates to ones identity as it is represented in the novel which we will be reading as a class.

What is Diversity?The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It

means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity,

gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. It is the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. It is about

understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each

individual.Essential Questions

1. What is Diversity?2. Why is Diversity important in society (especially in this country)?3. Why do certain diversities sometimes have a negative connotation that

goes along with them?  Key Assessments

  There will be a key assessment associated with each essential question so that students can demonstrate their understanding of each question.

1. Diversity Poem- A poem which depicts ones diversity/identity2. Letter to someone who is of a different diversity then you- A letter to

someone who is diverse from you. A diversity that you are interested in learning more about. The person that the letter is to can be made up.

3. Reader’s theater- In table groups’ students will practice and perform a scene in front of the class. They will be asked to also explain how their scene represents diversity and identity.

4. Vocabulary AssessmentVocabulary

Diversity Acceptance Civil rights African American

Equality

Culture Minority Prejudice Identity PeaceDiversity Inclusion Ethnicity Cultural

AssimilationSpirituality

Anemic Velvety Bazaar Trudge FringeNaptha Brim Currency Descend Canteen

Note: Vocabulary listed above that is italicized is associated with the idea while the rest is vocabulary students will need to know when reading the novel.

Instructional Overview

  In this unit, students will have access to several texts in order to explore the idea of diversity along with several different viewpoints on the subject. In order to support student’s background knowledge (before reading the novel),

I want students to understand how they are diverse from one and other. Using this experience as an inspiration, we will write poems about how our

classroom is diverse, and why diversity is a good thing. Overall, the major activities are created to expand student’s knowledge in order to answer the essential questions stated above: What is Diversity? Why is

Diversity important in society? Why do certain diversities sometimes have a negative connotation that goes along with them?

As students read The House on Mango Street, they will simultaneously be making reading log entries in order for students to better comprehend the

text and also ensure the students are reading. Throughout this unit students will be writing poems, letters, and will do a reader’s theatre in small groups in front of the whole class. There will be a lot of time allotted for students to ask questions and have discussions with their table groups. Students will be

expected to complete the full drafting process including revisions and turning in a final copy to be graded. In the appendix, there is a list of the

chapter specific questions that students will be asked to answer while reading the assigned book. Similar to units past, students will be expected to

learn the new vocabulary by the end of the unit which they will then be tested on.

Resources

Novels: Cisneros, Sandra. (1991). The House on Mango Street. Vintage Books.

Poems: Donna Caldwell, “The Flickering Flame”

Videos: Do One Thing For Diversity and Inclusion Video

Web Resources:Aggarwal, A. K., & 2010 43rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). (January 01, 2010). Diversity in Distributed Decision Making: An Exploratory Study. 1-11.

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/cisneros.htmlhttp://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/https://www.vocabulary.com/lists/252073#view=notes

Learning Activities and Instructional Strategies

 Week One Community: We will begin this unit of diversity by creating poems

describing things about ourselves as individuals (Monday). Students will get the chance to share with the class their poems describing what makes them unique. Then as a whole class we will discuss how everyone of us have different backgrounds, which makes each of us diverse from one and other. In particular we will look at an overview of different things that can make us diverse. What color is our hair? How many times have you moved? What is your favorite thing to do? Students will write a journal entry of what diversity means to them based on what they learned from the poems.  

KWL: After creating our poems we will finish our group discussion by creating a KWL chart as a whole class. Based on what students decide they want to learn is what I will make sure to highlight during this unit.

Vocabulary: I will introduce the vocabulary that students will be seeing throughout this unit and need to learn. We can create a vocabulary table as a class which students can copy along as I take note of the definitions we come up with.

Diversity Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5JcGo3FCyk

THE FLICKERING FLAME

She stared at her with envious eyesHer nature turning greenThe tall blonde girl approaching herWith a figure very lean

Her eyes were the deepest blueThat she had ever seenHer jealousy was surfacingAt this beautiful figurine

Her complexion was the clearestThat nature could provideShe thought of her own angrilyHer hatred opening wide

And then she noticed suddenlyA stick the colour whiteAnd suddenly felt guilty That she was blessed with sight -Donna Caldwell

Week Two

Novel: I will introduce students to the story, The House on Mango Street. Based on the title I will ask the students what they predict the book is about (hinting that we are currently in a diversity unit). I will read the first chapter and then for the remainder of the book I will ask for volunteers to read.

Reading Logs: As we continue reading the book, students will journal their reactions to the text, including connections and different thoughts they have concerning what is happening in the book. We will share in class discussions any questions we have noted in our reading logs and also any special comments/connections students might have. Students will treat reading logs like free writes and will be asked to not worry about their conventions.

Chapter Specific Questions: Students will work on chapter specific questions mostly in small groups but occasionally by themselves. See the appendix for questions.

Storyboard: As we read the book as a whole class students will be put into groups and assigned to create a storyboard. This task will be done in class and students will be asked to describe a scene from the text through either drawing or using technological resources.

Week Three

Defining Diversity Continued: We will read a poem about diversity. We will also read an excerpt from the novel Out of My Mind by Sharon

Draper and discuss how judgements can be made about one and other based on personal differences.

Reading, journaling, and questions: As a class we will discuss questions that have been assigned for the chapters we have been reading. I will have a personal check in with students about their journaling which they are continuing to complete.

Vocabulary: As a class, we will work on applying the vocabulary which students have been studying for this unit. During free time we will play both partner and whole class games to quiz the knowledge students are gaining of the vocabulary assigned. Games such as jeopardy, and foursquare will be used during this time.

Theme exercise: I will provide different quotes from the book and students will describe how the chosen quotes relate to diversity.

Diversity Letter: Students will write a letter to someone who is diverse from them. Students will explain to the person who they are sending the letter to how much they appreciate them and who they represent. They will be asked to include any questions they have about that certain diversity, note any connections they may have, and finally state what diversity means to them.

Dear Esperanza,

You are such a courageous little girl. Where I come from people aren’t treated differently if they are from different cultures. I’m happy there are people like you in this world who don’t let the hatred that some people show in the world tear them down, even when situations get really tough. I appreciate the culture you come from, and would love to learn more about it. What are your favorite traditions that originate from your native culture? What is the hardest thing you have to deal with being different? I have never understood why people treat those who are different wrongly. After all we are all different in more than one way or another, right?

One of my very best friends is Hispanic and comes from a huge family that loves to celebrate their culture through traditional food and lots of family get togethers. I feel grateful that they are kind enough to allow me to participate. Being different from others isn’t a bad thing, and that doesn’t always mean you come from somewhere different. Diversity to me is the individuality we have from one and other that makes us unique and all together a stronger society can be made. Thanks for letting me write this letter, I hope to hear back from you soon!

Always,

Ms. Takayoshi

Week Four

Charades: For this activity students will be grouped up and be asked to act out a scene from the story or key vocabulary. These scenes and the vocabulary is prerecorded for students in order to ensure appropriateness for the activity. This activity will be non-graded and students can participate in as many or as few as they want, they do have to at least participate once though.

KWL: Students are finally able to reflect on what they have learned throughout the entirety of this unit filling out the “L” section of the chart. This will be a good assessment of what students have learned.

Readers theatre: In their table groups, students will be assigned a scene from the book. Students will be expected to put in their best effort for this activity. Before performing the scene they will reflect on the importance of the scene especially in regard to diversity and identity.

Assignment Checklist

This is the checklist of all of the different activities you need to complete during the diversity unit. This checklist is meant to keep you on track with one and other. For every activity you complete you will

put a checkmark in the correlating box and for every assignment I have reviewed of yours I will then put a checkmark in the correlating

box.

Activity Completed Checked by Ms. Takayoshi

1. Journal Entries Week 1

2. Journal Entries Week 2 3. Journal Entries Week 3 4. KWL Chart 5. Diversity Poem 6. Diversity Letter 7. Story Board 8. Readers Theatre

Reading Log Prompts

Chapter One - "The House on Mango Street" In describing her house, or where she lives, what does Esperanza

convey about her self-identity? How is the description of her house different from other information about her and her family’s identity, such as a name, an occupation, or a physical description?Chapter 5 - "Our Good Day" At this stage of her life, what are Esperanza’s friendships based on, and what do her friends mean to her? Does she fit in with an older or younger crowd, and how does she feel about her place in the social hierarchy?Chapter 12 - "There Was an Old Woman..."Like "Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays," the title of this story is long and filled with detail. What do these and other titles in the book convey about the people and the life surrounding Esperanza? What kind of tone do these longer titles set for the story? What do they suggest about Esperanza’s character? How are children regarded in Esperanza’s community?

Chapter 13 - "Alicia Who Sees Mice"How has Esperanza’s relationships with Alicia changed since "Cathy Queen of Cats"? How does Esperanza’s portrait of Alicia compare to her portrait of Marin? What do these portraits indicate about the differences between the two girls, and about Esperanza herself?Chapter 22 - "Born Bad"What clues does this story provide about the roles of women and men in Esperanza’s community? How does this story, like "Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark," evidence Esperanza’s character development?Chapter 29 - "No Speak English"What does Esperanza tell us about her community’s attitude towards non-Mexican Americans? What about the image that the non-Latinos have of the Latinos? How do these views help or hinder Esperanza in the formulation of her own personal identity?Chapter 41 - "The Three Sisters"In what way do the Sisters provide the decisive turning point for Esperanza? How does Esperanza’s community fit into her vision of her own future?

Chapter Questions

Chapter One-1.Where did the narrator live before she moved to The House on Mango Street?

2.How were her previous homes different? 3.In what kind of house would she like to live?Chapter Two-1. Who are the members of the narrator’s family? How is the hair of each member different? 2. What makes her mother’s hair special? What are the narrator’s feelings for her motherChapter Three-1. What does the narrator say about the relationship between boys and girls? What evidence does she provide to support this idea? 2. What does the narrator say about her sister? How does this impact their relationship? 3. About what does the narrator dream? What does this say about her?Chapter Four- 1. What does her name mean? 2. After whom was she named? Why does she connect her name with the records her father plays on Sunday morning? 3. What point does Esperanza make about both the Chinese and the Mexicans? Does she seem to resent this? 4. How did her grandmother get married? 5. What does what happened to Esperanza’s grandmother tell you about women’s roles in Mexican society? 6. Why does she want to baptize herself with a new name?Chapter Five-1. To whom does Cathy claim to be related? Is this true? 2. How long will Cathy be Esperanza’s friend? 3. Why does Cathy say her family has to move? 4. How does Esperanza feel about Cathy’s family’s reason for leaving?Chapter Ten-1. Where does Louie live?

2. Who are his cousins? 3. Why were people so interested in the yellow Cadillac? 4. Where does Louie’s cousin get the Cadillac? 5. What happened to Louie’s cousin?Chapter Fifteen-1. Esperanza says that you can never have too much sky. Why does the sky symbolize for her? 2. What is there a shortage of on Mango Street? 3. What wise thing did Darius say? Why is it wise?Chapter Twenty-1. What are the girls doing while they talk about hips? 2. What do they say hips are good for? What ideas does Nenny have that are probably wrong? 3. What does the comments made about hips tell you about the girls’ ages?Chapter Twenty-five-1. Where did Marin meet Geraldo? 2. Why doesn’t Geraldo have a last name? 3. Why does Geraldo die? What clues let you believe that his death did not have to happen?Chapter Thirty-1. What English phrases does Mamacita know? 2. Why doesn’t Mamacita leave the apartment? 3. Where is home to Mamacita? 4. What broke Mamacita’s heart?Chapter Thirty-five-1. How does Esperanza describe herself? 2. Esperanza says she began “my own quiet war.” With what is she at war? 3. What does Esperanza decide about growing up?Chapter Forty-

1. Why did Sally say she got married? How old was she when she married? 2. Why does Esperanza believe that Sally got married? 3. How does her husband treat her?Chapter Forty-four-1. What does Esperanza do to help her cope? 2. What are her plans? 3. How does the ending of the novel complete a circle? 4. What does she mean when she says, “I’ve gone away to come back?”