Primary Source Exemplar: Progress, Conflict, and Outcomes
Learning Objectives
Students will understand the complexities of the essential questions and apply this understanding across different texts
Students will identify key ideas and details as they are reflected in multiple texts
Students will write text-based journal entries, analyzing thematic content across texts
Students will discuss the impact of abstract nouns and other ambiguous language on a text
Students will communicate their understanding and discuss the complexities of the central question by structured speaking and listening activities (Small group and whole class discussions)
Standards Addressed
RL.9-10.1-Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL.9-10.2-Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
RL.9-10.4-Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
RI.9-10.1-Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RI.9-10.4-Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings
RI.9-10.6-Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.
W.9-10.10-Write routinely over shorter time frames for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
SL.9-10.1-Participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners
Instructional Approach/Procedures
Primary Source Texts for this Lesson:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Preamble
Our Rights—Filip Spagnoli http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/human-rights-poem-5/
Introduction
Students will begin this unit by reading a poem in which one individual states a strong point of view on the topic by using poetic language. This poem may be displayed on the overhead or distributed on a handout alongside a statement of the central question.
Students will read the poem, and then write a journal entry on the following prompt: What is the purpose of this poem? How do you know? Why do you think the author wrote this poem? What was he or she feeling? How do you know? Be sure to provide specific evidence from the text to support your answers.
After writing the journal, the teacher should provide an opportunity for students to share their ideas in a class discussion. Following this discussion, the teacher should guide the class in aspects of the poem the class may not have explicitly addressed in their journals. The teacher might use questions such as the following to point out particular words, phrases, and lines of significance:
What does the poet mean when he states: “We beg for what’s already ours?"
What do we “trade-off” in terms of rights and liberties in our society?
How can one be “Locked up in Liberty?”
Do we feel that “somehow somewhere” we have basic human rights?
After a discussion of the poem, the teacher should ask students to reflect in writing on the Essential Questions of the unit: What are human rights? How do competing notions of human rights lead to conflict or change? The teacher might want to point students to the image that accompanies the poem to help them to begin making connections between competing notions of human rights and conflict/change.
Student Tasks/Activity: The Preamble
Distribute handout 1: The Preamble. Students will read the Preamble individually. Before students begin, the teacher should tell students that the text is very difficult and that they might not understand it in its entirety the first time through. The teacher should tell students that they will have enough time to read the text at least twice. The first time through, they should read the text to understand only its overall purpose. The second time through, they should mark unfamiliar vocabulary and write any questions they have about the text as a whole.
After students have read the text twice, the teacher should lead them in a discussion of the main idea and purpose of the text and then turn to an analysis of unfamiliar vocabulary, helping the class as a group to use context to define these words. The teacher should also address student questions at this time about the literal meaning of the text.
Once students understand the literal meaning of the text, they should be asked to re-read the text. This time, they should choose the part of the text that they think is most important. They can make their choice based on personal criteria, but they should be asked to be able to defend their answers with evidence and reasoning.
After students have made their selections, they should discuss their choices in small groups. The teacher might use a small group discussion protocol such as the Final Word protocol to provide students an opportunity to share their choices and their reasoning with their peers.
After small group discussions, the teacher should lead the class in a reflection on the choices they made. The teacher should ask the class if everyone chose the same quotation. Because it is likely that they did not, the teacher can use this response to begin to discuss competing notions of human rights. The teacher might ask questions such as the following:
Whose opinion is right? What happens when people have differing opinions and both have value? What might cause people to think differently about human rights?
Is there any language in the text of the Preamble that may lead people to have different opinions? Are there any words that have multiple meanings? Are there any abstract nouns that are difficult to define? How do these abstract nouns impact the meaning of the text and the opportunity to interpret the text differently?
What is “the conscience of mankind” and where does it stem from? What “barbarous acts” have violated this conscience?
Do we “recognize the inherent dignity” of all people in the U.S.? How do we succeed or fail to do so?
Is it possible to “realize this pledge,” and if so, what conditions need to be present to facilitate this realization?
Would any unforeseen consequences arise from an adoption of this pledge? What unforeseen consequences may occur as a result?
At the end of the lesson, the teacher should use the idea of abstract nouns and multiple interpretations to introduce the idea of ambiguity in a text. What is the purpose of ambiguity? Are there positive impacts of ambiguity on a text? Are there negative impacts?
Students should return to the poem and discuss the ambiguity in the poem. Examples might include “We beg for what’s already ours,” “They’re lost and gone yet still somewhere,” and “Even if we never had them, somewhere somehow we could feel them.” The teacher should lead students in a discussion of how this ambiguity impacts the purpose of the poem. Students might return to their original journals and add ideas.
At the end of the class period, the teacher should ask students to take a short survey about their food choices. Questions might include:
Did you eat breakfast today?
How often do you eat breakfast each week?
What is your favorite food?
What food do you eat most often?
The survey should also include data about gender, age, athlete/non-athlete etc., so that it can be used to draw conclusions about the class when it is used in the next lesson to introduce students to the idea of data sets. Before the next class, the teacher should compile this data into a document for student analysis.
Student Literacy Tasks
Reading task
Students will conduct a close reading of a poem and the Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights focusing on language and style.
Vocabulary task
Students will use context to understand unfamiliar vocabulary from the Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Sentence syntax task
Students will break sentences and lines of poetry into component parts to identify key ideas and details.
Inquiry and analysis task
Students will compare and synthesize ideas across multiple texts, and use them to inform their discussion.
Writing (or other production)
Students will write a journal response to a poem and will add to this response at the end of the lesson. Additionally, students will complete an initial written response to the unit’s Essential Questions.
Checking for Understanding
Guided Questions and Discussions: The instructor will check for understanding throughout the lesson by modeling close reading, concept mapping, analysis, and prompting student thinking with questioning and discussion.
Structured Discussion: Students will demonstrate understanding of the concepts by engaging in structured speaking and listening activities (small group and whole class discussion).
Writing-Based Assessment: Students will write while observing language conventions outlined by the Common Core Language Standards.
Differentiation and Supports
Adaptations: This lesson may be adapted to fit a one or two day schedule, depending on the pacing and comfort level of the students. Additionally, if necessary, the teacher might provide a “plain language” or “other language” version of the Preamble. These versions can be found at http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/resources.shtml.
Supports: Students having difficulty with the material may draw upon those in their groups and the instructor to unpack the complex language of the reading, students should be grouped strategically, and placed in groups that represent a diversity of skill levels and background knowledge.