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The novels I chose to plan each unit around are not necessarily the typical "classics" that you might find on a 7th grade reading list because I want my students to interact with stories that the average 7th grader doesn't read. This quote by Haruki Murakami really inspired my vision for this year: "If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking." I couldn't settle for books that are traditionally taught, because my students deserve a diverse literary education to support their unique thinking. Throughout this year, we will be working through ideas behind "censorship," and applying the dystopian concepts found in Fahrenheit 451 to current events. We will read the novel, Return to Sender, as a lens to discuss the complexities surrounding immigration issues. My students will analyze A World Without You to discuss mental health, and, finally, we will explore the graphic novel genre and learn about Deaf culture through El Deafo. In addition to the whole-class novels discussed above, this project will add more diverse reads to our classroom library shelves. My student population is almost entirely African American, and I need them to read books with characters that are rooted in positive and productive Black identities. My hope is that purposefully exposing my students to a well-rounded mixture of texts will support them in becoming curious learners, empathetic community members, and brave citizens who know what they believe in.
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