Blog #4: Text Sets

 Blog 4

The Anchor text that I have chose to use for my text set is the novel All American Boys by authors Jason Reynolds and Brandon Kiely.  I chose this novel because it A) is the novel I am currently teaching in my field placement and b) is not given any supporting texts by my co-op teacher.  I think this provides me with a unique opportunity to come up with a text set for an anchor text that I am familiar with and allows me the opportunity to possibly incorporate some of the texts into a real classroom setting and to structure/design the unit in my own way for class periods after Thanksgiving break.

"All American Boys" is a story from two different perspectives (one black and one white) on police brutality and its effects on an individual and on a community.  The structure is that of alternating 1st person narratives from each main character one per day.  The story lasts for 8 days (Friday to Friday).  Each book day would receive two class periods, one for each narrator, and then one additional day for whatever supporting texts I have chosen.

I think this structure allows for easy implementation of supporting texts for a beginning lesson planner like myself as it allows for easy division and organization based off the days of the week.  So... I decided to try and come up with a text set with at least 1 text for each weekday. 

1) Friday: Setting the scene

-Chapter 25 of "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

-Chapter from Malcolm X's autobiography

Chapter 25 of Stamped provides a baseline summary of the struggle between the police and the black community and its historical context.  Hearing Malcolm X's passionate words would add emotion and importance to this cause that has now been going on for decades (if not centuries).

2) Saturday: Character building

-Chapter from "Miles Morales: Spider Man" by Jason Reynolds

Saturday's chapters feature a lot of backstory and character building.  One of the dominant themes is the idea that both main characters are at stages in between being adolescence and adulthood.  Rashad is constantly lectured by his father about his future and his responsibilities as a black male while Quinn is reminded constantly about his deceased father and the pressure to live up to his dad's reputation.  Both boys clearly want to "party" and be teenagers, but just as clearly want to do right by their families. There is no better example of the pull of both youth and responsibility in modern storytelling than "Spiderman," and that Miles Morales is a black version of Spiderman written by Jason Reynolds? It fits very neatly into this section.

3) Sunday: Narrative perspectives

-Excerpts from Harry Potter, Gulliver's Travels, and The Lord of the Flies

-Media examples of  Video games: Call of Duty, Zelda, and Sim City

AAB has a non-traditional structure (two authors, two potentially opposite perspectives).  I would like students to focus on 1st person narration versus 3rd and what are the benefits/limitations of AAB's choice of perspective.  I would take short excerpts from famous stories and have the students attempt to rewrite them as different perspectives.  I would also use examples of 1st person shooters (1st person), 3rd person role playing game (3rd person limited) and real time strategy game (3rd person omniscient) to try and relate the narrative perspectives to something students might better understand.

4) Monday: Poetic Justice

-Poems from the novel "Punching the Air" by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

I think halfway through the unit is a great place to take an alternate expression on a similar topic.  "Punching the Air" has many powerful poems, also written in 1st person about the justice system and a black youth's place within it.  The narrator's thoughts about guilt/innocence, detainment, and the meaning of justice go hand in hand with AAB's themes and messages. I think this would provide a great opportunity for the class to write a perspective piece from AAB in a non-traditional format.

5) Tuesday: Police Brutality in the media

-Clip from the movie "The First Purge"

-Clip from the movie "Boyz n the Hood"

-Clip from "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"

-Part of the movie "Blindspotting"

The first three clips I chose show police brutality in different ways.  Boyz n the Hood shows a gritty and real form of police brutality from the early 90s when Trey and Ricky are pulled over and harassed by two police officers.  The First Purge depicts what might happen if there was ever a state sanctioned racist killing spree, and Fresh Prince is a comedy series that takes a moment to address a serious issue of Black people being targeted by law enforcement.  These clips can be compared and contrasted between one another as well as to AAB.

The movie Blindspotting has a bunch of similar themes as AAB in regards to the specific viewpoints and racial issues.  I would try to watch this movie in total, or at least most of it over a few class periods.

6) Wednesday: Police Brutality in American society

-Infographic on police brutality/the black community

-Excerpts from real cases of recent/not so recent episodes of police brutality (Rodney King/George Floyd, etc) and their effects on their communities.

- Collection of articles about the significance of cameras on phones and cameras on police uniforms and their impact on police brutality.

This would be a little bit drier two day period where we look at the real life issues concerning police brutality, how they are trending, and their current state. These would build off of the lesson from the first two chapters and inform students of not only the current state of policing in the US, but also what has led up to it.

7) Thursday: Community response

-Martin Luther King's letter from Birmingham Jail

-Protest songs: Fight the power, Killing in the Name, F the Police, Police State

These two texts might seem juxtaposed to one another but I think they do a good job of spanning the spectrum on different kinds of responses to police brutality.  AAB is a novel that illustrates how one act of violence can affect an entire community, which is much of the message behind King's famous letter that reads "I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned with what happens in Birmingham." 

At this point in the novel Quinn and Rashad have both come around to the idea of protesting and are all in.  I think the songs picked out obviously have to be for a mature classroom (edited versions could be used if there are issues) but they represent a wide range of voices from white punk bands to black rap groups.  I would also try to add a few more recent examples like songs from Kendrick Lamar and maybe even a band like bright eyes that have socially conscious songs.  I titled this lesson Community response, not black community response, because the book is purposeful about including white voices and the songs that I chose represent that.

8) Friday: Wrap up

I do not think I would have any additional texts on the last days, but instead would focus on whatever the final project is.  I would start with research on the first day and move to formation of the project itself on the second.

I think that these texts would provide plenty of context, rich discussion, and multiple perspectives of the themes and issues discussed in All American Boys.