Grade 9 ELA Curriculum Guide

 In 9th-grade English, students will focus on the overarching theme of Archeology of the Self, inspired by the work of Columbia University professor and antiracism scholar Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz. Over the course of the year, students will be engaging critically in reading, writing, and discussion that furthers their understanding of the complexities of their own identities and the structural inequities of the world around them. In reading an assortment of prose, poetry, and nonfiction from different places and time periods, students will reflect on the influences that culture and society have on identity. Student writing will focus on text-based argument, issue-driven explanatory, and personal narrative. Highly engaging core texts range from award-winning contemporary novels to classic literature; class discussion fosters student voice and respectful academic discourse. 


Unit

Timeframe

Big Ideas (Statements or Essential Questions)

Major Learning Experiences from Unit 

Unit 1: 

Archaeology of Identity

September - November

  • What are the consequences of having individual choices that are in direct conflict with your family ideals, culture, and societal values?

  • Which turning points in life determine our individual pathways to adulthood?

  • What is “both/and” logic (duality) and how can it empower us to understand our place in society?

Students will:

  • Read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie in order to study a character who struggles with being caught between two worlds.

  • Gain background knowledge on Native American reservations and reservation life in the United States through multiple non-fiction sources. 

  • Research relevant social issues from the novel, analyzing how young people in the U.S. are impacted by these issues.

  • Apply their analysis of duality to social issues and explain their understanding of the archaeology of identity through multiple modes of writing and presentation. 

Unit 2:

Archaeology of 

Community & Society

November - January

  • What determines who holds power in society?

  • How do interpersonal relationships influence power dynamics in a community? 

  • How does our community and society impact our individual choices or our exercise of free will?

Students will:

  • Read one of the following texts: Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck, Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare, or Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

  • Develop their close reading and annotation skills to support literary analysis.

  • Critically discuss a book from the traditional literary canon, considering how the author’s commentary is still relevant to modern-day society.

  • Write well-developed claims about complex narrative aspects and thematic arguments of the text and support these claims with thorough evidence.

Unit 3:
Archaeology of 

History

February - April

  • How does knowing political history in conjunction with our own personal history help us to understand present-day injustices?

  • How does environment, geography, and culture impact individual identity, privilege, and power?

  • What is the difference between repression & oppression and how do women experience these social dynamics differently than men?


Students will:

  • Read one of the following books focusing on gender & race and repression & oppression: Kindred by Octavia Butler and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.

  • Gain background knowledge on the historical, political and geographical setting of the book through multiple non-fiction sources.

  • Discuss the impact of historical context on modern-day issues of gender, race, repression, and oppression.

  • Analyze the narrative structure of a graphic novel and apply their understanding of narrative to their own narrative writing.

Unit 4:

Archaeology of Social Structures

April - June

  • What are the structures of modern life that impact how people live and their sense of themselves?

  • How do the structures of modern life support or conflict with specific cultural, religious, or personal values?

  • How do the structures of modern life impact adolescent development specifically?

Students will:

  • Choose a novel by a Latin American author to read with a small group of peers.

  • Think critically about plot, setting, characterization, style, theme, and societal structures as they read their chosen novel.

  • Further develop their speaking and listening skills by preparing for and actively contributing to regular, peer-facilitated discussions.

  • Apply their understanding of the structures of modern life to an argument piece about the role of these structures in their own lives and in present-day society as a whole.