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THUG, or on literary choices for English B HL


It has always been a challenge to choose a set book for English B HL, as the choice is overwhelming and the factors to be taken into consideration numerous. The perfect fit will be a book that is relevant and relatable, as well as interesting and of literary value- a rare find indeed, and all the adjectives used to describe it  are very subjective and depend on the students' and teachers' taste to a great extent. 

So far with my HL students I have used Lord of the Flies, The Help, the Handmaid's Tale, the Giver, Of Mice and Men, Great Gatsby, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, the Room.....Some of them were quite a success, some a bit of a disappointment for a reason-  at a point I realized I just need a change. 

This year I decided to try out something more up-to-date and went for The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I prepared a unit planner with activities that worked well for me and my students, maybe you will find it useful, too?



THUG UNIT PLANNER

1. Content quiz- eg.https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-hate-u-give/quiz/

HW- THUG topics hexagonal thinking (based on Hexagonal Thinking- Now Spark Creativity-highly recommended!)


2. Topics discussion- based on hexagonal presentations prepared as HW

HW- a meaningful quote analysis (rubrics based on the wonderful materials from the blog Cult of Pedagogy rubrics)


3. A quote that stuck with me- students individual presentations-2-3 min

HW- creative writing- choose a fragment of the book and ‘rewrite it in text messages’ using a text message conversation generator, for example https://ifaketextmessage.com/)


4. Historical references, cultural background  and real life cases- 3 min presentations after 10 min prep

REFERENCES:

Blm

Black panthers

MLK

Tupac Shakur

The Fresh Prince of Belair

Blue lives matter

All lives mater

Harlem resistance


REAL LIFE CASES:

Eric Graner

Tamir Rice

Philando Castile

George Floyd


HW-plot organizer revision (eg. Freytag's Pyramid)


5. Character analysis- in 4 groups, each group gets 4 characters, then a presentation- ppt, prezi, sway- following the pattern: Character: description, traits, quotes

HW- an interview with a character after 10-20 years- roleplay in pairs, recorded in OneNote, 5 minutes each


6. Code-switching, racism and the film (optional)

- the article THUG- how racism works

- the cost of code-switching Ted talk by Chandra Arthur

HW- preparation for the mock trial


7. Mock trial: officer One Fifteeen- Brian Cruise Jr (based on a sample high school mock trial script like this https://line.17qq.com/articles/uwwwrsahx.html or buy this excellent resource TeachersPayTeachers )

HW- opinion column writing- exam-style task

You have recently read an interesting article on violent protests entitled 'Rioting is never an answer' in a magazine online. 
Prompted by its content, you decide to write an opinion column of 450-600 words to be published in the same magazine, commenting on some claims made by the author, presenting your own views on the subject, and suggesting ideas on how the situation can be improved.

 

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