Preinstructional Planning

OBJECTIVES
Students will:

 Utilize brainstorming techniques in a writing exercise

 Develop a graphic organizer describing their lives
 Set personal goals for the school year

MATERIALS

 Reflection Worksheet: Who Am I? printable

 Projector
 Pencil and paper
 Whiteboard
 Timer or clock

During Instruction

SET UP

1. Copy a class set of the Reflection Worksheet: Who Am I? printable.

2. Complete the Reflection Worksheet: Who Am I? printable to describe
yourself and prepare to display it to the class.
3. Set up the projector.

LESSON DIRECTIONS
Step 1: Model use of the Reflection Worksheet: Who Am I? printable by filling
out each section of the organizer and displaying it on the projector. This is a
creative way to introduce yourself to the class, while preparing them for the
activity. Handout copies of the organizer to your students.
Step 2: Invite the students to describe what they think brainstorming means.
Explain that they are going to brainstorm important information about
themselves to share with the class.

Step 3: Demonstrate how to fill out the first reflection topic of the organizer.
Set the timer for 1 minute (or ask a student to watch the clock) and record
your answers on a board or using the projector. Brainstorm a list of where
you’ve been in your lifetime. This can include states where you’ve lived,
places you’ve traveled, schools where you’ve taught, etc. When the time is up,
talk about your responses with the class. Ask if anyone has had similar
experiences. Invite them to suggest other information that could have been
listed.

Step 4: Ask students to brainstorm the first section of the handout on their
own. Set the timer and start.

Step 5: Encourage students to share responses. Make a list on the board to

compare what the class has in common. Make a list of unique responses that
only one student describes. This is a creative method to get to know the class,
and receive enthusiastic participation.

Step 6: Demonstrate the next topic of the handout. Examples of "What

Defines You": sister, mother, brother, uncle, American, Asian, dancer, athlete,
soccer player, saxophone player, couch potato, movie buff, reader, optimistic,
caring, mellow, out-going, quiet, tall, redhead, freckled, and so on.

Step 7: Ask students to brainstorm this section and proceed as above.

Step 8: Complete the printable by following the above steps. The beginning of
the school year is a great time to set expectations for the class, talking in
depth about individual goals can be an opportune moment to set class goals.

Step 9: Ask students to take the handout home and begin to gather photos,
clippings, computer artwork, and magazine pictures that show many of the
responses on their Reflection Worksheet: Who Am I? printable. Explain that
tomorrow they will be creating a graphic time line of their lives.
READ MORE 
SUPPORTING ALL LEARNERS

 Students work at their own ability on this exercise, but if someone

struggles to complete the project in the allotted time the handout can be
taken home to complete.
 ELL students can complete the project in their first language if
necessary.

HOME CONNECTIONS
This is a good time to introduce yourself to the parents. Send a note home
explaining the project, and ask parents to help their students collect the items
for the time line.

ASSIGNMENTS

 Students recall, recognize, and record important events in their lives on

the Reflection Worksheet: Who Am I? printable.
 They will compare and contrast completed graphic organizers with the
class.
 They will choose graphic displays to represent events on their
organizers.

Post Instructional

EVALUATION

 Did students complete the graphic organizer?

 Do they continue to talk about the things they have in common, and
what makes them unique?
  Did they arrive the following day with pictures and information for the
graphic time line?

LESSON ASSESSMENT
Through participation and completion of the Reflection Worksheet: Who Am I?
printable, assess that students understand correct responses to each
reflection topic.

Learning Objectives

1. Students will be able to define the word identity

2. Students will be able to identify various factors that shape their identity

Overview

This lesson is part of the unit Identity & Community: An Introduction to 6th Grade
Social Studies

“Who am I?” is a question we all ask at some time in our lives. It is an especially
critical question for adolescents. As we search for answers we begin to define ourselves.
How is our identity formed? To what extent are we defined by our talents and interests?
by our membership in a particular ethnic group? by our social and economic class? by
our religion by the nation in which we live? How do we label ourselves and how are we
labeled by others? How are our identities influenced by how we think others see us?
How do our identities inform our values, ideas, and actions? In what ways might we
assume different identities in different contexts? How do we manage multiple
identities? Answers to these questions help us understand history, ourselves, and each
other.

As students study world history, they will explore how individuals and groups over
time and across continents have answered questions about identity. They will learn that
many of the same factors that influence their identities—factors such as religion, gender,
and geography—also shaped the identities of the ancient Greeks, the Mayans, and
the Chinese. Thus, this lesson establishes an important social studies theme that will
resonate throughout the year.
At the same time, beginning the year by having students examine and share their own
identities is a way to build relationships in your class. When sixth grade students begin a
new school year, often with unfamiliar classmates and teachers, it is particularly
important for them to have the opportunity to get to know their new community and to
become known by others. The activities suggested in this lesson begin this process of
relationship building.

Materials

Reading: "My Name" by Sandra Cisernos

Activities

Warm-up

When students begin a new school year they may hold contradictory feelings. On
one hand, they may think they know a lot about their classmates just by looking at
them. They may have formed judgments about who will (or will not) be their friends
based on the clothes people wear or how they speak. On the other hand, students may
feel they are in the company of strangers; they may feel that nobody really knows them
and that they don’t really know their classmates. To help students push beyond judging
their peers based on simple stereotypes, you can have them participate in a “How well
do we know each other?” activity.

First, distribute an index card to each student. Ask students to write one little-known
fact about themselves on this card. It should be something that people could not know
just by looking at them. Their names should not appear on the cards. Then collect the
cards.

Read a card and ask the class to guess who the fact describes. You might read several
cards at the beginning of each class period throughout this unit. Through this activity
students often learn that they have something in common with a classmate or they learn
something interesting about someone that might otherwise have taken all year to
discover.

Main activity

In the next several lessons, students will focus on the concept of identity. Write the
word identity on the board and ask for volunteers to share their thoughts on what it
means. Or
you can share this definition with students: Identity is the answer to the question, “Who
am I?” The fact students wrote on their index cards in the warm-up activity represents
one part of students’ answer to this question.

Next, distribute copies of “My Name,” a chapter from Sandra Cisneros’s

book The House on Mango Street. In this excerpt a young girl, Esperanza, reflects on
her name. In the process she reveals information about her identity—how she perceives
herself, what she values, where her family is from, and so on. Ask student volunteers to
read a paragraph of this excerpt to the class. As the text is read aloud, students
can underline any words or phrases that give them information about how Esperanza
would answer the question, “Who am I?”

In small groups, have students create an identity chart for Esperanza. The diagram on
the next page is an example of an identity chart. Students can begin with the words
orphrases they underlined in the passage that represent how Esperanza defines her
identity.

You can also provide groups with some questions to guide them:

1. Who is in Esperanza’s family?

2. Where is her family from?
3. What languages does she speak?
4. What does she hope for her future?
5. What does she think about her name? What does this reveal about her
personality?

Alternatively, you can create Esperanza’s identity chart as a whole class activity.

Curriculum connection: Students can create identity charts for historical figures as
well as for civilizations and nation-states. For example, have students create identity
charts for Athens and Sparta or for Montezuma or Siddhartha.

The purpose of reading “My Name” is to help students think about the various factors
that shape our identities. However, the text also introduces other interesting themes
such as the concepts of stereotypes and prejudice. Later in this unit, students will have
the opportunity to address

Who Am I? Exploring Identity

Who am I? In this lesson, students reflect on this question through discussion, writing and art. Students first
define "identity" and consider who they are and what they value. Students then explore the work of two
photographers featured on an upcoming episode of Thirteen/WNET New York's series EGG THE ARTS SHOW
to see how they have dealt with the issue of identity. As a culminating activity, students respond to the
question "Who am I?" using photography, paint, clay, or collage.
Grade Level:
High School

Time Allotment:
This lesson should take approximately five class periods of approximately 50-60 minutes.

Subject Matter:
Language Arts

This lesson was prepared with Maureen Carroll.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

 gain an understanding of a variety of means of expression of identity.

 engage in research and self-exploratory writing activities.
 explore the role of art in self-expression.
 create a rendering of their own identity by using varied forms of expression.
 gain insight into their own identity.

Standards

New York State Standards

Language Arts
http://accelerateu.org/standards/ela_stan.htm

STANDARD 3-Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation -Commencement

Listening and reading to analyze and evaluate experiences, ideas, information, and issues requires using
evaluative criteria from a variety of perspectives and recognizing the difference in evaluations based on
different sets of criteria.

Speaking and writing for critical analysis and evaluation requires presenting opinions and judgments on
experiences, ideas, information, and issues clearly, logically, and persuasively with reference to specific
criteria on which the opinion or judgment is based.

http://accelerateu.org/standards/ela_stan.htm

STANDARD 1-Language for Information and Understanding-Commencement

Speaking and writing to acquire and transmit information requires asking probing and clarifying questions,
interpreting information in one's own words, applying information from one context to another, and
presenting the information and interpretation clearly, concisely, and comprehensibly.

Arts
http://www.accelerateu.org/standards2001/alldetails.cfm?&output= 1&CFID=22376&CFTOKEN=72583088

Students will make works of art that explore different kinds of subject matter, topics, themes and
metaphors. Students will understand and use sensory elements, organizational principles, and expressive
images to communicate their own ideas in works of art. Students will use a variety of art materials,
processes, mediums, and techniques and use appropriate technologies for creating and exhibiting visual art
works.

 Students create a collection of art work, in a variety of mediums, based on instructional

assignments and individual and collective experiences to explore perceptions, ideas, and viewpoints
(a).
  Students create art works in which they use and evaluate different kinds of mediums, subjects,
themes, symbols, metaphors, and images (b).
 Students demonstrate an increasing level of competence in using the elements and principles of art
to create art works for public exhibition [c].

New Jersey Standards

Language Arts
http://www.achieve.org/achieve/english.nsf/ 20604eef4ae073988525669f005aee11/
818c1b875575b70d8525661a005d9113?OpenDocument

New Jersey State Standard 3.4: All students will read a variety of materials and texts with comprehension
and critical analysis.

Arts
http://www.state.nj.us/njded/cccs/s1_vpa.htm#12

New Jersey State Standard 1.2: (Creation and Performance) All students will utilize those skills, media,
methods and technologies appropriate to each form in the creation, performance and presentation of dance,
music, theater, and visual art.

Connecticut State Standards

Language Arts
http://www.state.ct.us/sde/dtl/curriculum/frlanga.pdf

Content Standard 1: Students will read and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to
literary, informational and persuasive texts.

Performance Standard: Generate questions before, during and after reading, writing, listening and viewing.
Students will ask and answer their own and each other's text-related critical and analytical questions.

Content Standard 2: Producing Texts Students will produce written, oral and visual texts to express, develop
and substantiate ideas and experiences.

Performance Standard: Communicate effectively in descriptive, narrative and expository and persuasive
modes. Students will identify and use effectively the salient features of all appropriate oral, visual and
written discourse.

Visual Arts
http://www.state.ct.us/sde/dtl/curriculum/FRARTS.PDF

Content Standard 1: Students will understand, select and apply media, techniques and processes

Performance Standard: Students will apply media, techniques and processes with sufficient skill, confidence
and sensitivity that their intentions are understood.

Performance Standard: Conceive and create original works of art that demonstrate a connection between
personal expression and the intentional use of art materials, techniques and processes.