1. Bellwork 8/7/17
On the lined side of the index card you received write one little known fact about yourself. Do NOT share this fact with anyone.
This fact should not be something other people could know just by looking at you.
Do NOT put your name on the card.
If you have your parent sheets, put them on the corner of your desk.

2. Identity and community
Who am i?
Identity and community

3. How well do we know one another?
When you entered you wrote a fact about yourself on your index card and I collected them. I am going to read those cards out loud and we are going to try and figure out who each one is based on what we know about one another.
Listen carefully because you might learn that you have something in common with someone or discover something interesting about someone that you might have never known.
How well do we know one another?

4. What is a stereotype?
You may feel like you know a lot about your classmates. You may have already formed judgements about people based on how they dress or how they speak. You may also feel like you are in the company of complete strangers. You might feel that no one really knows you and like you don’t really know your classmates.

5. Identity web

6. Write what you see

7. Little things are big
Stop at 2:16 and discuss

8. Who am i? identity

9. My name by Sandra Cisnero’s From house on mango street
In this excerpt a young girl, Esperanza, reflects on her name. She reveals information about her identity: how she perceives herself, what she values, where her family is from and so on. As we read, underline any words or phrases that give information about Esperanza and would answer the question “Who am I?”

10. Identity web

11. Bellwork 8/8/17 Grab the handout from the table.
Answer the questions regarding the story by Jesus Colon.
Answer in COMPLETE SENTENCES.
You may use your story to answer the questions.

12. Personal Id web Now, create an identity web for yourself.
Look back at your web for Jesus Colon if you need help.
Remember to include everything you can that makes up who you are as a person.

13. Writing task
Choose one of the traits or characteristics on your ID web.
Write a paragraph explaining why that trait/characteristic is important to who you are.

14. biopoem
A biopoem is a poem that describes a person. In the standard biopoem structure an individual is described largely through his or her experiences, hopes, and accomplishments rather than by basic characteristics such as gender, height, age, and race. Yesterday we read “My Name” about a young girl named Esperanza. In this excerpt Esperanza’s great-grandmother’s identity was shaped when she was “kidnapped” by Esperanza’s great-grandfather. Before this event she was a “wild horse of a woman.” After she was married off she because a sad woman who sat at a window much of the day.

15. Getting ready for the biopoem
Look again at the characteristics you used to identify yourself on your web.
Do any of them mention hopes, personal experiences, or accomplishments?
If not, identify an experience that shapes how you answer the question, “Who am I?”
If you need help, refer back to the “My Name” reading. In this excerpt, Esperanza describes how her great- grandmother’s identity was shaped when she was “kidnapped” by Esperanza’s great-grandfather. Before this event she was “a wild, horse of a woman.” After she was married off to Esperanza’s great-grandfather, she became a sad woman who sat at a window much of the day.

16. Write your bio-poem
Using the handout, complete your bio-poem using the format provided.

17. “What words or labels would you use to describe this person?”

18. What about you?
What words or “labels” would you use to describe yourself?
What words might others use to describe you?
What words might others use to describe you that you would not choose for yourself?

19. Read “the bear that wasn’t”

20. The bear that wasn’t What words does the bear use to describe himself?
What words did others use to describe him?
How does the identity of the bear shift over time?
What point do you think Frank Tashlin, the author, is trying to make in this story?
What do you think has more bearing on identity—the labels we give ourselves or the labels others give us?”

21. Writing the “What I wish my teacher knew” letters
On pieces of lined paper, write about three things you want me to know about you, your life, family, etc.
These will not be corrected. Do not worry about spelling or sentence structure.
These letters are just for me.
They will not be shared with other students.

22. quickwrite
Think about a time when you have pretended to be something that you are not or when you have hidden your true feelings.
Why did you choose to hide a part of your identity?

23. discussion “Why do people sometimes hide their true selves?
What would happen if we never concealed our feelings or parts of our identities?”

24. We wear the mask
Paul Laurence Dunbar was an African American poet who was born in He was the son of slaves. Whom do you think he might have been writing about in this poem? Why might these people be wearing a mask?
He writes, “With torn and bleeding hearts we smile.” Why would the hearts of African Americans be torn and bleeding in the years after the Civil War? Why would African Americans still be smiling? Are their smiles happy smiles?
Why did Dunbar call this poem “We Wear the Mask”?

25. Making masks
Before we begin our activity, list the reasons people wear masks.
Think both literally and figuratively to consider the multiple purposes of masks

26. Mask prep worksheet Complete the handout given to you.
Be sure to fill it out completely because you will be using it even more shortly.

27. Create your mask
You can decorate both the outside and the inside of the masks.
Perhaps, use the outside to represent the aspects of their identities you openly show to the outside world
Use the inside to represent the more private aspects of your identity.
Then time to share?