Rafael Trujillo was president of the Dominican Republic in the 1930s. Pupils read and analyze the first six paragraphs of Julia Alvarez's autobiographical essay "A Genetics of Justice," in which the author describes Trujillo's impact on her mother. Learners work in small groups to answer text-based discussion questions and write definitions for new vocabulary. As a culminating activity, scholars complete a quick write to analyze how the author unfolds her ideas.

Concepts

guided reading, critical reading, independent reading, reading paragraphs, close reading

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Prior to the lesson, write the word genetics on the board and have students free-associate any related phrases and ideas that come to mind

Classroom Considerations

• Part one of 10 from the Grade 10 ELA Module 2: Unit 2 series
• Must teach the lessons in order
• Does not provide a copy of Alvarez's essay, so teachers need to have them on hand
  

Pros

• Provides specific examples of high-performance writing responses
• Expertly organized lesson with clearly identified standards, a learning sequence, and a list of required materials

Cons

• None

Common Core

RI.9-10.3 L.9-10.4.a