The Curriculum: Project Edition

Epigenetics—Race, Class, and Education

For this project students were required to read Part I of Between the World & Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. As a class, we also read and discussed information about epigenetics and its role in student achievement and the relationship between epigenetics, race, health, and socioeconomic class.  

Design/create an artistic model of a Glucocorticoid Receptor with written or visual explanations of the effects of high and low nurture in children; models may be 3-Dimensional, crafted, sculpted, painted, drawn, digitally constructed, or etc.

 Create either a 10-minute documentary or podcast which will discuss the following:

Hip-Hop Activism

Purpose: This project is intended for you to think critically about what activism means and explore activism in the form of music. 

Checklist: Mic check, 1, 2, 1, 2...For this project you will need one music album, 3 songs from the album, and one secondary source. 

Breakdown: 

Part 1: The Paper.

Part 2: The Album Cover

Part 3: Youth Activism

Part 4: A Multimedia Component 

Part 5: Presentation 

Final Reflection: A Celebration of Identity, Growth, & Love—This is America

Choose to complete one multimodal creative artistic reflection of the themes present throughout this course and American literature. Each piece of artwork should be of the highest possible quality using the resources available to you.

1.     Photography: create a collection of photography as a celebration or critique of identity in America/American literature.  Photos must be of good quality.   Must include at least 15 photos. Take a variety of subjects (not all 15 should be images of people/faces—be creative) Every photo should have a title.  At least 5 photos should be explained in 3-5 lines (the meaning of the photo, it’s connection to America/American literature/American identity, the story behind the photo)

Nature Site Study Project

Standards: RL1, RL2, RL4, W2, W8, SL5, L1

Site Study 1: Describing Space: Find (and visit) an outdoor site, which may be on- or off-campus, naturally or architecturally produced. This is a site to which you will return several times to make (and record) observations. As you make your observations, consider not only the visual and “natural” features of your site, but also how it feels to be there – Where is your place? What does it look like? Which plants grow there? Are there animals? Does the place affect the social dynamics of people moving through it, or produce certain feelings or behaviors? What are its rhythms? (Don’t feel limited by these questions.) 

·      Finding a space: Due Date 

·      Describing your space: Due Date 

Site Study 2: Describing Space after Thoreau and Emerson: Return to your site and write a brief description borrowing something of the style, structure, or perspective of Thoreau or Emerson. Then write a paragraph in which you indicate what it is you have borrowed (citing a specific example from Thoreau or Emerson if possible), explain how the process of imitation transforms or confirms your sense of the writer you are imitating, and/or reflect on how and why a Thoreau or Emerson frame is appropriate to your space (or not). Total 250-500 words.

Salem Witch Trials & The Exonerated 5

To prepare for the reading of The Crucible, students were first asked to work in groups to read four articles about the Red Scare, Salem Witch Trials, and The Exonerated 5. Students were asked to determine any overlapping themes and central ideas, to respond critically to what they were reading, ask questions to deepen the conversation, and analyze the way the diction impact the text.

While reading The Crucible, we also watched clips of The Crucible movie (1996) along with clips from Ava DuVernay’s Netflix special When They See Us (2019). Students were asked to identify parallel plot lines, dualities, and contradictions within both films/texts.