This unit was created by 12th-grade Educators from Gahanna Lincoln High School, part of the 2021 cohort of The 1619 Project Education Network. This curricular resource outlines three extended lessons over 50 class periods.
Objectives & Outcomes
Students will be able to…
- Think critically about social concepts, cultural content, and historical perspectives.
- Utilize creative, investigative methods and techniques toward enlightenment.
- Analyze various forms of text and information, & use it to build their knowledge base as well as to persuade through writing.
- Write intentionally with a clear purpose for specific audiences.
- Foster humanizing relationships with peers and community members
Essential Questions
- What does it mean to be a master manifestor?
- What are the steps toward becoming a master manifestor?
- What is the American Dream?
- How do we actualize our dreams?
- What happens to a dream deferred?
- What do you think it means to be an American? What does it mean to be Black in America? Is there a difference and, if so, why?
- How have U.S. laws, policies and practices oppressed Black Americans?
- What foundational ideas, philosophies, cultural offerings, etc. have Black Americans contributed to America? To the world?
- How did Black Americans define themselves?
- What methods did Black Americans use to rebel?
- How have Black Americans fought to make the founding ideals of liberty and equality true?
- What does freedom mean to you? What do you need to do or change to acquire this freedom?
- How has your learning impacted how you identify as an American?
- How has your learning in this unit informed your own responsibilities in regard to your social role as a community member, American citizen, and Global citizen?
Unit Overview
This unit outline models the implementation of an extended project to support students in exploring and analyzing the ways in which Black consciousness, Black genius, and Black ways of being (historical, social, spiritual, societal practices, etc.) were foundational in the creation of the United States and the construction of American national identity. The unit is meant to empower young people to recognize the tremendous value people of African descent have always had (within and without) as well as expose them to truths and insights that help them redefine what Blackness is through their own lenses. Lastly, it is meant to inspire young people to always seek knowledge for themselves, acknowledge their own power, and recognize that there is no challenge, harsh reality, condition, distraction, or ploy that can stop their light from shining if THEY believe it cannot be dimmed.
The essay “The Idea of America” and the associated podcast by Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of The 1619 Project, are weaved throughout the unit as touchstone pieces in order to emphasize the significance of the Project and the role Black people/people of African descent have played in shaping the U.S. Analysis of “The Idea of America” is interwoven with literary texts, including poetry, song lyrics, and prose.
Throughout the course and unit, students will write/produce analysis responses, creative prose, poetry, persuasive writings, and original performance pieces as forms of assessment as they engage with Black cultural and historical content. Students can reflect on life experiences in their writing but will be encouraged to focus not on just what others have done to them, but on what they can do for themselves. Students will address the history of the past for it is necessary to know the pathway toward the future, but will also connect its lessons to the relevant experiences of the present. In this act, students will strengthen their endurance towards creating the realities they wish to experience in the present and future.
This unit aims to…
- Empower the literacy practices of critical thinking, reading and writing, through exposure to Black cultural perspectives, experiences and histories.
- Inspire students to produce works discussing and analyzing the Black and/or American experience in the U.S. as well as issues of racial and social inequality.
This classroom engages in meditations and/or pre-lessons as entries into lessons each day. The unit writer recommends these practices as a way to engage students’ minds, focus them on themes, and empower them to build their social emotional learning skills. Some meditations and pre-lessons are included in the unit outline as models. Other lessons will require teacher created entry points and introductions.
At the end of this unit, students should be able to answer…
- Has your idea of America changed? In what ways?
- What is your superpower?
- What do you think is an important contribution your generation (and/or you personally) can/should make to America?
Performance Tasks
Pre-Lessons
In her implementation of this unit, the unit writer had students regularly engage in pre-lessons in order to capture their engagement and get them focused on the themes, concepts, and main ideas she wanted them to grasp as they engaged in the work. She designed these pre-lessons to stimulate critical thinking skills and give students room to demonstrate their opinions and perspectives. The pre-lessons also served as a quick way to assess students’ understanding and accountability, and monitor their daily work ethic.
Detailed Annotations
The unit writer required students to complete detailed annotations for each reading. These detailed annotations were used as a tool for assessing students’ analysis and understanding of the reading. The unit writer engaged in all classroom assignments and activities alongside her students. She used her own detailed annotations along with her students’ annotations to determine the grading expectations for each assignment.
PMP (Purpose | Message | Perspective) Critical Thinking Muscle Exercises
The unit writer developed these exercises to aid students in their discussion of the context of the various poems and songs integrated in this unit. The PMP exercise consists of the following critical thinking questions:
- Who wrote this piece?
- When was this piece written?
- What is the message(s) of the piece?
- Who is the intended audience for the piece?
- Why is this piece significant/relevant?
Writing and Creative Activities
These creative tasks functioned as an assessment of how students made personal connections to their learning.
What Is Your Superpower? Writing Activity
This activity is divided into two parts.
Part 1: Students identify…
- What is/are your superpowers?
- How has your culture/identity contributed to the development of your superpowers?
- What have you learned in this unit that has provided new insights on the purpose and significance of your superpowers?
- How can your superpowers benefit you and/or others?
- How do you plan to utilize them in the future?
Part 2: Students develop and produce a product that showcases their superpowers. This will also demonstrate how they applied the knowledge gained during their engagement with the unit.
What they do is up to them.
Some possibilities include a podcast, essay, digital storytelling, animation, website creation, original artwork, or original poetry.
Unit Reflection Paragraph
The unit writer designed this assignment to give students space to reflect on their learning experience with this unit plan and to gain insight on how the unit could be improved. Students crafted reflections that responded to the following prompts:
- Share your experience with this unit.
- What did you like?
- What did you not like?
- What were your favorite parts/readings/activities/resources?
- What did you learn?
‘I, Too, Am America: Blackness is a Superpower’ Post-Unit Writing Activity
The unit writer designed this activity to aid students in tracking their learning and the evolution of their thinking over the course of this unit. In this exercise, students respond to the same questions posed in the ‘I, Too, Am America: Blackness is a Superpower’ Unit Pre-Writing Activity. Students are to compare their responses from the Pre-Writing Activity to their responses from the Post-Unit Writing Activity and discuss any changes and continuities found within them.
- What do you think it means to be an American? Has your idea of America changed? In what ways?
- Share an adjective (word or phrase naming an attribute/ descriptor) and write a sentence showcasing how(in what way) that adjective represents American culture.
- What does it mean to be Black in America?
- Share an adjective (word or phrase naming an attribute/ descriptor) and write a sentence showcasing how (in what way) that adjective represents the Black experience in America
Three extended lessons for teachers, including pacing, texts and multimedia resources, and performance tasks for the unit. Download below.
Facilitation Resources
Ohio Reading Literature Standards
RL.11-12.1 - Key ideas and details
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
RL.11-12.2 - Analyze literary text development
- Determine two or more themes of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another.
- Produce a thorough analysis of the text.
RL.11-12.4 - Craft and structure
Determine the connotative, denotative, and figurative meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text; analyze the impact of author’s diction, including multiple-meaning words or language that is particularly evocative to the tone and mood of the text.
RL.11-12.9 - Integration of knowledge and ideas
Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more diverse texts from the same period treat similar themes and/or topics.
CCR Anchor Standard 10, grades 11-12
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11–CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently, building background knowledge and activating prior knowledge in order to make personal, societal, and ethical connections that deepen understanding of complex text.
Ohio Reading Informational Text Standards
RI.11-12.1 - Key ideas and details
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
RI.11-12.2 - Analyze informational text development
- Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another.
- Craft an informative abstract that delineates how the central ideas of a text interact and build on one another.
Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
RI.11-12.4 - Craft and structure
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text
RI.11-12.7 - Integration of knowledge and ideas
Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy.
Ohio Writing Standards
W.11-12.2 - Text type and purposes
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
- Establish a clear and thorough thesis to present and explain information.
- Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia to aid comprehension, if needed.
- Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
- Use appropriate and varied transitions and syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts.
- Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic.
- Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
- Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
- Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation and its significance, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.
- Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
- Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole and build toward a particular tone and outcome (e.g., a sense of mystery, suspense, growth, or resolution).
- Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
- Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.
W.11-12.4 - Production and distribution of writing
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
W.11-12.9 - Research to build and present knowledge
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
- Apply grades 11–12 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more diverse texts from the same period treat similar themes and/or topics”).
- Apply grades 11–12 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning [e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court Case majority opinions and dissents] and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy [e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses]”)
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences
Ohio Speaking and Listening Standards
SL.11-12.1 - Comprehension and collaboration
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
- Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.
- Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.
- Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives.
- Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task.
SL.11-12.4 - Presentation of knowledge and ideas
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
Ohio Language Standards
L.11-12.4 - Vocabulary acquisition and use
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grades 11–12 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
- Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence, paragraph, or text; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
- Identify and correctly use patterns of word changes that indicate different meanings or parts of speech (e.g., conceive, conception, conceivable).
- Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning, part of speech, etymology, or standard usage.
- Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
- Interpret figures of speech (e.g., hyperbole, paradox) in context and analyze their role in the text.
- Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.
Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
Art & Haiku Assignment
For this assignment, students penned haikus in response to artworks they saw while visiting the Columbus Museum of Art.
What is Your Superpower Writing Assignment
Students reflect on their superpower(s) and the things that make them unique.
If I Could Talk to My Ancestors Writing Activity
In this exercise, students wrote letters to an ancestor(s) of their choosing. Students were required to honor, thank, ask questions of, seek wisdom from, and share realizations with their ancestors in these letters. Below are portions from students' letters.
Dear Great Grandfather,
I am your great grandson, I’ve always heard about what you accomplished while you were here and everyone speaks so highly of you. Knowing that you were one of few tuskegee airmen shows your dedication to overcome adversity which is also one of my strengths too. Now I know the adversities that I’ve faced right now are nowhere near your level but to me they are still accomplishments that I am proud of. This also leads to what makes me happy, and the answer to that is accomplishing goals that took me many obstacles and setbacks to overcome. Because any feeling of victory, even the littlest amount is something to make me happy knowing how hard I worked for it and that I deserve it. Something that I struggled with was dealing with mental blocks in life, but with the right people in my life I was able to conquer this problem easily.
Cameron J.
You, my ancestors, are vast, complicated, flawed and downright confusing. While you have brought my family alive and happiness you also have brought other people pain...But no matter how ugly or beautiful you are, I will continue to carry a torch for a better future, in hopes that the future generations will see me as an ancestor to remember.
Alexis L.
I just wanted to let you know that I love you and look up to you. No one ever talks about you but I will do my best to keep your memory alive. You have created a lot and my family is attributed to you, so we all owe you lots of thanks. Whether it be heaven, through reincarnation, or another realm, I can’t wait to meet you one day. I’m sure we would get along great.
Alaina J.
The opportunities that I have today are only here because you created them by fighting for the country and your family. I see each generation becoming more and more accepting, understanding, and brave. The change isn’t here yet, but it’s coming and it’s unstoppable. On a personal level, I feel myself growing into a better person every day and I am definitely going to make the most of the opportunities you have created for me. For the reasons I have mentioned above, I love you. Even if I have never met you, I love you. Even if I can’t express the extent of the feeling, I love you. I am so blessed to be a part of a family that I truly love and admire. I’m honored to wear my last name and to share DNA with such a beautiful tribe. I want nothing more than to make you proud and to represent the best of my family. I hope my appreciation comes through to wherever you are right now.
Thanks for always being there,
Maddy D.