Who are you? Where is your place in society? How has society treated people, historically and currently? These are the questions that the sixth grade discuss in reading class. Recently, the sixth grade worked on a unit based on social justice.
We started with shared reading and discussion of a variety of poems from Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming. Next, we read The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. This Holocaust-themed novel prompted many discussions of history, bystanders, upstanders, and perpetrators. Our students are to be commended for their sensitivity to a difficult topic and their willingness to ask questions and listen to each other. After completing the novel, the class will visit The Museum of Tolerance to solidify their understanding.
Then, we will be starting a book club rotation where each group takes a deep dive into a second book with a social justice theme. Books to be read and discussed include Ghost Boys, Out of My Mind, and Return to Sender. Each group will discuss how characters are complex, just like people in real life, how groups have and use power over others, and how actions and decisions have consequences. They have also become proficient at explaining themes and conflicts in novels. Our readers will complete their book club rotation by creating book talks, which they will present to demonstrate their newfound knowledge.
As we leave the world of fiction, students will move into biographical reading where they will discuss the plight of the lost boys of the Sudan in A Long Walk to Water and the life of disability activist Judy Heumann. As a character said in Ghost Boys, “Only the living can make change.” Our 6th graders are ready to embrace the role of a change maker.