TEKS Lesson Plan/Unit Plan

Focus Plan Texarkana Independent School District

GRADING 3rd six weeks PLAN CODE: E10.3.5 PERIOD: writer: Deanna Henderson Course/subject: English II

Grade(s): 10 Time allotted for Two 50 – minute periods instruction:

Title: Avoiding Sexist Language by Using Gender-Fair Pronouns Lesson TOPIC: Students engage in a brief assignment that illustrates how language and gender stereotyping interact. Students write a response to a short prompt which includes no information about the participants’ gender. Students analyze the narrative for the use of pronouns and what the pronouns reveal about language use. TAKS Objective: Objective 6 The student will demonstrate the ability to revise and proofread to improve the clarity and effectiveness of a piece of writing. FoCUS TEKS and Student 3 (B) demonstrate control over grammatical elements such as subject- Expectations: verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, verb forms, and parallelism

Supporting TEKS and Student 2 (C) proofread writing for appropriateness of organization, content, Expectations: style, and conventions

Concepts Enduring Understandings/Generalizations/Principles The student will understand that gender gender synonyms are sex, sexual category, sexual characteristics, masculinity, and femininity. stereotype a stereotype is an oversimplified image or idea held by one person or group of another, such as the dumb blonde or football player. narrative a narrative is a story or an account of a sequence of events in the order in which they happened. pronoun a word that substitutes for a noun or a noun phrase is a pronoun. Examples of pronouns are I, you, them, it, ours, who, which, myself, and anybody. assumption Something that is believed to be true without proof is an assumption. I. Sequence of Activities (Instructional Strategies)

A. Focus/connections/anticipatory set  As student enter the classroom, have this assignment on the board: Find the pronouns in this passage:

Nnaemeka, for his own part, was very deeply affected by his father’s grief. But he kept hoping that it would pass away. If it had occurred to him that never in the history of his people had a man married a woman who spoke a different tongue; he might have been less optimistic. --Chinua Achebe, “Marriage Is a Private Affair”  Ask students to explain how they identified the pronouns his, his, he, it, it, him, his, who, and he.  Encourage students to ask questions for clarification and to provide effective feedback.  Discuss with students the word that each pronoun replaces in the passage.  Point out that the pronoun it is used as a “filler” subject in impersonal statements, such as It is raining. In such uses the antecedent is general, and it is used only to provide a subject.

B. Instructional activities (demonstrations, lectures, examples, hands-on experiences, role play, active learning experience, art, music, modeling, discussion, reading, listening, viewing, etc.) Introduce the writing assignment by discussing the basic characteristics of narrative writing. Handout # 1 – Stories and Narratives  If you have to write a story, or narrative, the following techniques will get you started. 1. Decide why you are telling the reader this story. 2. Choose an illustration, event, or experience that can be covered adequately and still interest the reader. Do not try to narrate the whole of World War II in one story! 3. Decide the point of view you will use. Do you want to tell the story from one character’s point of view (1st person narrative), or do you want the narrator to be outside the story and know everything (3rd person omniscient)? Which is more appropriate for your purpose? 4. Keeping your purpose in mind, select those details or events which seem the most important or the most revealing. 5. Arrange those details in an order, using either a strict chronological order or one that employs flashbacks. To help your reader follow your story, keep your verb tenses consistent and signal any switches in time. 6. Remember the differences between showing and telling. Which method will be better for your narrative?

C. Guided activity or strategy  Give students Handout # 2 – In-Class Narrative Writing Assignment. Depending upon your students, you may allow them to complete the writing at home; however, having them complete the task in class is more likely to result in students’ true responses to the scenario described in the prompt.  Allow students the remainder of the class period to write.  Collect all of the papers at the end of the session.

NEXT CLASS SESSION  Before beginning the next class period, read through the students’ papers. Your purpose is not so much to “correct” them for pronoun-antecedent agreement errors as to see how students’ choices of pronouns (or names) identify the gender of each character in the narrative.  Choose passages from a couple of papers to share with the class.  An option might be to make a table compiling the gender distribution represented in the narratives. Either make copies of the table or make an overhead of the table to share with them.  Start the class by reading one or two passages from students’ narratives that employ pronouns that reflect gendered roles. Ask students to visualize the characters from the story as you read.  Once you’ve finished reading, note details from students’ visualizations on the board or on chart paper, grouped by character. (e.g., judge, police officer).  Share Handout # 3 – Student Assignments of Gender Table with students. Ask students to identify biased job roles represented on the chart.  Compare the information on the chart with the assumptions that the numbers on the chart and on the board reveal.  Turn to the way that language has shaped these assumptions, what the choice of “he” rather than “she” communicates about our ways of thinking about the world around us.  Distribute Handout # 4 - Use of Gender-Fair Language.  Return students’ in-class writings. For homework, ask them to read their narrative and write a reflective piece that explores how their use of pronouns reveals their assumptions about others. The general question for their reflection is this: What do you notice now about the language that you used in your narrative that you did not notice when you originally wrote it, and how does your use of pronouns play a role in what you notice?  The piece should be informal. Students’ self-reflection is the primary goal.

D. Accommodations/modifications

E. Enrichment

II. STUDENT PERFORMANCE

A. Description The teacher should identify the resources that he/she wants to use with the class, either in textbooks or by making copies of the following handouts: Handout # 1 – Stories and Narratives Handout # 2 -- In-Class Narrative Writing Assignment Handout # 3 – Student Assignments of Gender Table Handout # 4 – Use of Gender-Fair Language Handout # 5 - Pronoun - Gender Test

B. Accommodations/modifications Students requiring accommodations/modifications may use the Learning Lab, peer grouping, and/or extended time.

C. Enrichment Students requiring enrichment may write brief narratives concerning a variety of professions. They should use descriptive words in the narrative, but no names and no pronouns. The students will then try to guess the gender of the person in the profession.

III. Assessment of Activities

A. Description This assignment offers an opportunity for students to voice their perspectives on sexist usage and gender equality. Feedback on the activity should focus on students’ self- reflection rather than “right” or “wrong” choices that they may make with their pronouns.

After the second class session, collect students’ original in-class narratives and the accompanying self-reflection. Read the pieces and comment on the self-reflections, noting important self-observations that students make and asking provoking questions where students need to think more deeply.

Handout # 5 – Pronoun-Gender Test B. Rubrics/grading criteria Handout # 5 – Pronoun-Gender Test will be graded as follows: Each answer is worth one point for a total of 63 points. A percentage grade can be achieved by dividing the number of correct answers by the total points possible. Example: 55 correct answers divided by 63 = 87%.

C. Accommodations/modifications The teacher should follow required accommodations/modifications.

D. Enrichment

E. Sample discussion questions Although MAN in its original sense carried the dual meaning of adult human and adult male, its meaning has come to be so closely identified with adult male that the generic use of MAN and others words with masculine markers should be avoided.  What is the alternative word for mankind? (humanity, people, human beings)  man-made? (synthetic, manufactured, machine-made)  the common man? (the average person, ordinary people)  man the stockroom? (staff the stockroom)  nine man-hours? (nine staff-hours)  chairman? (coordinator, moderator)  businessman? (business executive)  fireman? (firefighter)  mailman? (mail carrier)  steward and stewardess? (flight attendant)  policeman and policewoman? (police officer)  congressman? (congressional representative)

IV. TAKS Preparation A. Transition to TAKS context TAKS objective 6 states that “the student will demonstrate the ability to revise and proofread to improve the clarity and effectiveness of a piece of writing. TEKS # 3(B) states that the student will demonstrate control over grammatical elements such as subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, verb forms, and parallelism.

B. Sample TAKS questions Read the following passage. Answer the question that follows.

Horse Games Even though the people of Kyrgyzstan, a nation in Central Asia, Achieved their independence from the former Soviet Union a decade ago, we are steeped in centuries of their own national identity. The cornerstone of their national consciousness is a relationship with horses that is displayed at all festivals and celebrations. A. No change B. they C. it D. them

V. Key Vocabulary

VI. Resources

A. Textbook Glencoe, The Writer’s Choice, Grammar and Composition

B. Supplementary materials Handout # 1 – Stories and Narratives Handout # 2 -- In-Class Narrative Writing Assignment Handout # 3 – Student Assignments of Gender Table Handout # 4 – Use of Gender-Fair Language Handout # 5 - Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement Test C. Technology Web Resources http://www.ncte.org/positions/gender.shtml These guidelines, by NCTEs Women in Literacy and Life Assembly, outline preferred gender-fair usage as well as how teachers can work with students to encourage them to avoid sexist language.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_nonsex.html The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) provides this student-friendly handout of NCTE’s guidelines for non-sexist language use. You may want to share the Using Pronouns Clearly handout.

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-sexist_language Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia, provides background, guidelines, and Information on gender-free usage in several languages.

http://www.dianahacker.com/bedhandbook/subpages/pronoun.html Diana Hacker’s explanation of the various arguments surrounding how a writer writes his/her/their pronouns. This background shows that the issues are not as clear-cut as they may seem and that there is no one right answer.

VII. FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES (reteaching, cross-curricular support, technology activities, next lesson in sequence, etc.) A. Review of skills A review of the types of pronouns may be necessary before this focus lesson. Students should be familiar with personal, demonstrative, indefinite, intensive, interrogative, reflexive, and relative pronouns.

B. Next lesson in sequence The next lesson in the sequence may include more exercises with pronoun-antecedent agreement.

VIII. Teacher Notes This lesson is based on the following: http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view_printer_friendly.asp?id=201

Hayes, Christopher G., “A Brief Writing Assignment for Introducing Non-Sexist Pronoun Usage,” Teaching English in the Two-Year College 28.1(September 2000): 74-77.

Dowst, Kenneth. 1980. “The Epistemic Approach: Writing, Knowing, and Learning.” Eight Approaches to Teaching Composition, pp. 65-85. Ed. Timothy R. Donovan and Ben W. McClelland. Urbana: NCTE.