Using a primarily “quasi-bibliotherapeutic” approach, this curriculum unit seeks to afford adolescent middle school students an opportunity to discover and identify with characters, situations and/or literary elements within a narrative framework. By using narrative text, this writer seeks to provide an opportunity for students to discover and critically deliberate the concept of identity and its development. The term “quasi-bibliotherapeutic” is used to insinuate a connection with the reading of literature, generation of self-knowledge, and the crafting of an individual’s own identity narrative. It is not meant to imply that by reading the various texts contained herein a guide to self-discovery has been provided or such renderings will be therapeutic. This unit serves as an exploratory vehicle for the engagement of meaningful and thought provoking conversation with and between students. This unit should also provide fodder for student reflection on the concept of their identity as individuals and their placement within society. This unit may be used to supplement or enrich an existing middle school English language arts or literature curriculum.

This unit is designed to help eighth grade students build a working definition of identity, first by exploring their own identities. Deepening awareness of identity, students will identify different internal and external characteristics to heighten their understanding. This is intended to be a simple way to parse the complex topic of identity. For many students, family and cultural expectations have already predetermined their future. Depending on the structure of their family, these expectations may be based on outdated traditions that may need to be abandoned because they are a mismatch for young generations. Therefore, the priority goal for this unit is to fuel the next generation to maintain and establish expectations that best suit them. Instead of losing their sense of self, in an effort to satisfy and please their family, students will learn self-advocacy.

At the core of the curriculum and educational mission of King Robinson Interdistrict Magnet: An International Baccalaureate STEM School are certain ubiquitous goals which drive all aspects of this unit. Among these goals is to integrate units and individual lessons with the two magnet themes. When done successfully, students become empowered to be responsible, productive and engaged 21st-century global citizens, who are respectful, open-minded, and reflective students with positive attitudes. Through inquiry-based learning, students will use their skills to take actions that lead to positive contributions to the world.

Unit and Task Pacing Guide: This unit is designed for six to eight weeks of instruction. The outline follows forty-five minutes of instruction that is systematic, explicit, and structured for five consecutive days each week.

This course map outlines learning objectives, discussions, activities, and resources for a three-week module or block that would be part of an introductory writing class. The module focuses on identity and belonging that supports different perspectives and the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of belonging.

The purpose of this OER is to explore and define the concept of What is Personal Identity?, from Chapter 11 of Norton's Introductions to Philosophy, and Reasons and Persons by Derek Parfit. The OER was created by an undergraduate student from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and includes the breakdown of the material covered in the lesson. Discussion questions are provided to engage participants by contributing to the provided material covered. Following the discussion questions, an article covering the concept of cloning is provided to assist in the argument of Parfit's theory of personal identity and replication, along with a quiz. 

This unit will be geared toward my Advanced Placement Literature and Composition class, but could certainly be taught in any survey course of English literature, or a course that examines women’s literature.

One objective, part of the AP Literature curriculum, is to teach historical context. This is always important so that students realize that art is a response to real life, and characters’ lives represent real lives shaped by real events. I also want my students to see connections to their own lives, and that the struggles for equity are not futile, but ongoing and necessary. I would like students also to see that a society that suppresses a group of people, is weaker, not stronger, and oppression is something for all of us to fight. And, I would like to open up some dusty-shelf texts to high school teachers who might not consider teaching them.

This unit will ask students to examine the historical boundaries in law, society, and economics for women in medieval literature, and consider how females depicted in stories from these eras might reveal power and agency that is not revealed in laws or politics. The unit will include the ancient Greek play Lysistrata, poetry from Anglo-Saxon England, Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and stories from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

All things in moderation. This phrase is typically heard in reference to a person’s diet or exercise habits. Given the tremendous rise in social media use among adolescents, moderation is something that can also be practiced in our relationships with the digital world. My theater students' social lives occur predominately online through various social media like SnapChat or Instagram. The relentless comparisons they make between themselves and their peers is correlated to a feeling of unworthiness. In my classroom, I often hear my students say, “I am not good enough” or “I am not as pretty or talented as...” Theatre is an art that should help students find the power of their own voices. However, this can only happen if a student is open to the exploration of the self. What if an oversaturation of social media is blocking my students from digging into their identities because they feel as if their “self” could never possibly be good enough? This unit seeks to guide my students on a journey of self-exploration in order to create a healthier relationship with social media. Ultimately, I want my students to feel worthy enough to participate fully in the art of theatre. For this to happen, my students need to break down the emotional blocks built by social comparisons that happen through social media.