Week 1
Lesson 1
What do We Mean When We Say “America"? 
Text: “Let American be America” by Langston Hughes.  Skill Focus: reading responses and poetry writing.
 Week 2
Lesson 2
 Is the “Golden Door” Open to All?
Texts: “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus and “Prospective Immigrants Please Note” by Adrienne Rich.  Skill Focus: elements of poetry and poetry writing.
 Week 3
Lesson 3
Who is Invited to Sit at Our Table?
Texts: “I, Too” by Langston Hughes and “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman.  Skill Focus: reading responses and elements of poetry.
 Week 4
Lesson 4
Homesickness, Isolation, and Power Dynamics
“Postcard from Kashmir” by Agha Shahid Ali; “My Uncle’s Favorite Coffee Shop” by Naomi Shihab Nye; “The Island Within” by Richard Blanco; “La Mira” by Pat Mora; “Elena” by Pat Mora.  Skill Focus: poetry paper and poetry writing.
 Week 5
Lesson 5
Poetry Writing and/or Poetry Paper.
Students will write a literary analysis essay on a poem or poems and/or an original poem, depending on their chosen track for the class.  We’ll have a focused mini lesson based on the issues in students’ drafts, workshop the papers in class, and work on refining and revising students’ work.
 Week 6
Lesson 6
Like a Broken Accordion: Poverty, Memory, and Rage
Texts: “Marigolds” by Eugenia W. Collier, supplementary video.  Skill Focus: elements of a short story and short story writing.
 Week 7
Lesson 7
You Could be Anything You Wanted to be in America Writing and Poetry Paper
Texts: “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan and “Geraldo No Last Name” by Sandra Cisneros.  Skill Focus: elements of a short story.
 Week 8
Lesson 8
Even as My Dreams Fade, I Have Others: Nature, Love, and Dreams
Text: “John Redding Goes to Sea” by Zora Neale Hurston. Skill Focus: close reading of a literary passage, elements of a short story, short story writing
 Week 9
Lesson 9
Ah Wantah Cross Jurden in Uh Calm Time: Music, Language, and Religion
Texts: “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston, music, and African American Spirituals.  Skill Focus: elements of a short story with a focus on allusions, short story writing.
 Week 10
Lesson 10
Characterization Analysis Assignment and/or Short Story Writing
Students will write a literary analysis of a story and/or an original story, depending on their chosen track for the class.  We’ll have a focused mini lesson based on the issues in students’ drafts, workshop their writing in class, and work on refining and revising students’ work.
 Week 11
Lesson 11
A Brown Bag of Miscellany: Identity and Belonging
Texts: “How It Feels to be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston and “Two Ways to Belong in America” by Bharati Mukherjee.  Skill focus: elements of literary nonfiction with a focus on figurative language.
 Week 12
Lesson 12
Just Remember the Stories
Text: Leslie Marmon Silko’s “Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective.”  Skill focus: storytelling, elements of literary nonfiction, nonfiction writing.
 Week 13
Lesson 13
Creation Stories, Personal Fictions, and Native Worldview
Text: ’You’ll Never Believe What Happened’ is a Always a Great Way to Start” by Thomas King.  Skill focus: elements of nonfiction writing, how to write about nonfiction, essay writing.
 Week 14
Lesson 14
Original Literary Essay Writing
Students will write an original essay inspired by the essays we read in class.  We’ll have a focused mini lesson based on the issues in students’ drafts, workshop the papers in class, and work on refining and revising students’ work.
 Week 15
Lesson 15
One Woman’s Search for Her Dream
Text: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.  Skill Focus: Mini lessons on skills based on student work thus far in the class
 Week 16
Lesson 16
One Woman’s Search for Her Dream
Text: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.  Skill Focus: Mini lessons on skills based on student work thus far in the class
 Week 17
Lesson 17
One Woman’s Search for Her Dream
Text: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.  Skill Focus: Mini lessons on skills based on student work thus far in the class
 Week 18
Lesson 18
Literary Essay and/or Creative Writing
Students will write a literary analysis essay on Their Eyes Were Watching God and/or a creative writing assignment inspired by the book, depending on their chosen track for the class.  We’ll have a focused mini lesson based on the issues in students’ drafts, workshop the papers in class, and work on refining and revising students’ work
 Week 19
Lesson 19
Wrap Up and Final Projects
Students will complete an individualized creative project, a writing assignment on Their Eyes, and/or other summative project TBD