By:
Dacey Sartor &
Caroline Butler-Rahman
Identity, perception, and memory have been the central, defining themes of the 7th grade ELA and ADLE classes this semester. While reading and analyzing memoirs in ADLE from such writers as Esmeralda Santiago, Francisco Jiménez, and Alma Flor Ada, students have selected a central defining moment in their own lives in order to create their own memoir. In ELA, students have read informational nonfiction, memoir, and social commentary (in the form of rap and song lyrics) as they investigated the different internal and external factors that influence individual as well as community or cultural identity—and how those factors can be used or manipulated to shape both behaviors and self-perception. In both classes, the discussion of individual identity and how we see ourselves and others has guided students to examine not only their own identity and self-perception, but also how that identity has been shaped by the experiences and influences in their lives.