Education Standards
Analysis of Text Craft and Structure
Overview
This lesson explores author's craft and structure through articles that directly affect students.
Part 1
Purpose Statement(s):
Students will understand that writers use structure to create meaning in a text and will do this by reading a New York Times article and evaluating the craft of the author’s argument.
Students will understand that comparing our experiences to others can help us gain our own insights.
INSTRUCTION:
Part 1
You will be reading about book banning in the United States.
Read the article "Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S." by Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexander Alter.
Once you have read the article, highlight/underline (or take notes on paper) these items on the article:
What is the argument/main point/focus? What are the writers trying to convince you to do or believe about book banning?
What are their reasons? How do they justify what they are saying?
Highlight a section where you think the writing is especially clear, convincing, or engaging. What techniques do you think the writers used to make that section so clear, convincing, or engaging?
Rate the writers' effectiveness on a scale of 1 (not effective) to 5 (very effective). How effectively do you think they made their point? Explain why.
Part 2
Part 2
Read "What Students are Saying About Banning Books from School Libraries" by The New York Times Learning Network. This article is a set of student responses to the article "Book Ban Efforts are Spreading Across the U.S." by Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexander Alter, which you read in part one. As you skim these student responses, look for a couple of responses that you feel you agree or identify with -- and a couple of responses with which you disagree. Think about why you agree/disagree with those students based on your own experiences with reading.
Now write your own response to the first article. Aim for 2+ paragraphs, and respond to at least 3 of the following which are some of the question prompts The New York Times gave other students:
What do you think about efforts across the nation to remove books — especially ones that address race, gender, and sexuality — from school libraries?
How do you think these bans affect students, teachers, and librarians?
In your opinion, what makes a book “appropriate” or “inappropriate” for inclusion in a school library? If you were a school librarian, what criteria would you use to determine whether a certain book should be included in the library?
What’s the best way to address parents’ concerns that a book in a school library is inappropriate for their child? Should the library remove the book? Should a library have a policy in place to stop individual students from checking out a book if their parents disapprove of it? Or are there better solutions that don’t involve changing what books are available in a library?
Jack Petocz, a student who protested a book ban in his school, argued that removing books about racism and LGBTQ issues was discriminatory. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Do you think the books in your school library represent a diverse range of perspectives and experiences? What subjects are adequately covered? What kinds of books would you like to see more of?
Part 3
For the Flipgrid video, the teacher should create a Flipgrid class for each section and have the students log in via QR code or the Flipcode for the section.
Use the attached rubric if you choose to assess students on this lesson.
Part 3
Using Flipgrid, record a video talking through these things:
Talk to me about the article from part 1: What was Harris & Alter's argument about book banning? Read me a quotation from the article that you thought was especially clear, convincing, and/or engaging -- and briefly explain why.
Read me the response that you wrote for part 2.
Make sure you prepare some notes for yourself before you record your Flipgrid video.