Unit 1: Identity and Community Building
Unit 1: Identity and Community Building
What is race? What is a social construction?
What is my place in the world?
How do I identify myself? How do others identify me?
What is a community and what is its purpose? What makes it function or fall apart?
What causes certain groups in our society to have advantages while others do not?
This unit establishes a foundation for understanding identity, self-perception, and self-discovery. Students will begin by defining key terms essential to the course (e.g., race, ethnicity, hegemony, master narrative, etc.), using these concepts to explore how language shapes our understanding of ourselves and others. By examining race as a social construct, students will analyze how societal definitions of identity influence personal and collective self-perception. The unit will also challenge students to consider how English—the dominant language in American discourse—functions as both a tool of empowerment and a mechanism of control in shaping narratives about identity, belonging, and exclusion.
Approximately 3-5 Weeks
(3) Furthering self-understanding – Encouraging students to explore and articulate their identities.
(4) Developing a better understanding of others – Examining how language and society shape perceptions of identity.
(6) Promoting self-empowerment for civic engagement – Encouraging students to claim their voice through writing and discussion.
RL.9-10.1 – Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly and implicitly.
RI.9-10.1 – Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of informational texts.
W.9-10.3 – Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences, using effective technique, details, and structure.
SL.9-10.1 – Initiate and participate in collaborative discussions, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly (entry-level focus).
L.9-10.4 – Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings.
Students will analyze how various films explore different visual interpretations of utopias, dystopias, and what groups are included, excluded, and to what extend.
Future in Film Student Handout (Link)
Future in Film Clips and Links (Link)
"Afrofuturism mixes sci-fi and social justice" by Vox (Link)
"Utopia and Dystopia: Imagining the Future with AI" (Link; AI Written)
"Race, Identity, and Community" (Link; AI Written)
Students will explore fictional depictions of dystopian worlds. Then, compare those fictional representations to real-life 'ends of the world,' so to speak, like the nuclear bomb drop on Hiroshima.
"The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury (Text)
"By the Waters of Babylon" by Stephen Vincent Benét (Text)
Early Newspaper Illustrations (Link)
Students will look at the real-life end of the world scenario: nuclear bomb. They will explore the Japanese perspective of the bomb and focus on understanding the terrible human cost of the bomb. Students will be asked to empathize with the civilian perspective of war.
Dropping the Bomb, BBC Context Video (Link)
Story of a Hiroshima Survivor, with Questions (Link)
She Was 300 Yards From the Atomic Bomb Center — and Survived | Obon | Op-Docs (Link)
Nuclear Bomb Map/Simulator (Link)
WWII Explained in 5 Min (Link)
Nuclear Bomb Tests (Link)
Hiroshima in 4 Poems (Link)
Students will do a small research project where they discover different aspects of how they identify themselves. Instead of explaining who they are, they will reframe it: what ghosts haunt you? These ghosts can be trauma, race, elements of their heritage, or more. For now, we will focus on identifying them, and giving them names and forms.
Ghost Hunt Guided Packet (Link)
In class, we will read Reynold's Long Way Down. It is a short, satisfying novel and we will establish routines for in-class reading. Students will also respond to and analyze potery.
Reading Guide for Long Way Down (Link TBD)
Poetry Analysis Mini-Project (Link)
Students will write a short creative piece where they talk with their ghosts. It can be written in poetry, like Long Way Down, or in prose (like a traditional book).
"A Conversation with Ghosts" Prompt (Link)
Long Way Down (Jason Reynolds)
"Introduction to Poetry" By Billy Collins (Text)
"Untitled Poem" by Beth Strano (Text)
"Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes (Text)
"America" by Claude McKay (Text)
"Totally like whatever, you know?" by Taylor Mali (Text)
"On Turning Ten" by Billy Collins (Text)
"Quilt of a Country" by Anna Quindlen (Text)
"Only Daughter" by Sandra Cisneros (Text)
"Names/Nombres" by Julia Alvarez (Text)
"There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury (Text)
"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegt (Text)
"The Future Looks Good" by Lesley Nneka Arimah (Text)
N.K. Jemisin’s “The Ones Who Stay and Fight” (Text)
"Spider the Artist" by Nnedi Okorafor (Link)
"The Rememberer" by Aimee Bender (Link)
"Culture, Ethnicity, and Finding Free Will" (Link; AI Written)
"Growing Up Wired: Phones, Games, and the Teenage Brain" (Link; AI Written)
"Afrofuturism in the Stacks" by Angela Washington (Link)
How to recognize a dystopia - Alex Gendler (Link)
Mr. Nobody Against Putin (Link)
Reflect on what you've learned, then make predictions about the future (Link)
Recommended Plan: Have students watch film clips of the future, read "By the Waters of Babylon" (and similar texts), then study historical events that often inspire science fiction and dystopian fiction (like the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki). THEN complete this deck.
Updated 8/9/25 to fit with standards.Identity Slide Deck – A collection of writing, images, and reflections exploring personal and cultural identity.
Prompt and Template Deck (Link)
Universal Slide Deck Template (Link)
Personal Narrative Letter: A Letter for a New Year (Link to Prompt)
Where I'm From Poem (Link to Prompt)