Students were very receptive to this assignment. I gave them an in class peer editing day and students were engaging with one another, challenging not only the spelling and grammar but also the ideas. I passed by a pair of students and overhead something to the effect of, "I understand what your saying but I want to hear more. You need to build this idea up." It was one of those proud teacher moments.
The final products were empathetic, insightful, and well thought out. Students cited Thompson's letter and responded to quotes to support or refute him argument. The two letters below come from completely different students. Dee* is a biracial student who is extremely attentive in class and is quick with an answer or an insightful comment. Her letter is nothing less than I expected from her. Personal but really focused on the task at hand. Al* is an African American student-athlete who usually has to be reminded a few times to get his notebook out or get to work. What I love about Al's letter is that I can clearly hear his voice and I can sense the depth to which he plumbed to respond to this letter.
*Students names have been changed for their privacy.
The final products were empathetic, insightful, and well thought out. Students cited Thompson's letter and responded to quotes to support or refute him argument. The two letters below come from completely different students. Dee* is a biracial student who is extremely attentive in class and is quick with an answer or an insightful comment. Her letter is nothing less than I expected from her. Personal but really focused on the task at hand. Al* is an African American student-athlete who usually has to be reminded a few times to get his notebook out or get to work. What I love about Al's letter is that I can clearly hear his voice and I can sense the depth to which he plumbed to respond to this letter.
*Students names have been changed for their privacy.
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Understanding: Both Dee and Al did a great job understanding Thompson’s letter and the points he was making. Dee spends a good chunk of her letter breaking down Thompson’s question, “Should I sacrifice my life to live half American?’ ‘Will things be better for the next generation in the peace to follow?” (1942). She demonstrates her understanding as she dissects the question and response by saying, [because] nothing change afterwards you would basically be fighting for someone else (“Response to James Thompson). Dee is referencing the fact that the military is still segregated in WWII and America does not desegregate right after WWII despite the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of African American men.
Analysis: Both Dee and Al make dynamitic and cohesive arguments. Dee thinks that Thompson was right to fight and Al thinks that Thompson was working too hard because the problems of racism still exist today. Both students followed their opening claim throughout their letters. They used direct quotes from Thompson to support their claim and were able to analyze those quotes.
Connection: Their assignment was to connect to the letter and to relate it back to themselves. I think both students did very well connecting their lives to Thompson’s. Al talked about the ways he still faces some of the problems Thompson wrote about and Dee talked about her trepidation about joining the military in response to Thompson writing that he wanted to serve America.
Application: The application of their study to a letter pulls together the understanding, analysis, and connection into two cohesive, articulate letters. There is always more a student can do to make their work better but for this inquiry, Dee and Al hit all the points I was looking to have fulfilled.
Analysis: Both Dee and Al make dynamitic and cohesive arguments. Dee thinks that Thompson was right to fight and Al thinks that Thompson was working too hard because the problems of racism still exist today. Both students followed their opening claim throughout their letters. They used direct quotes from Thompson to support their claim and were able to analyze those quotes.
Connection: Their assignment was to connect to the letter and to relate it back to themselves. I think both students did very well connecting their lives to Thompson’s. Al talked about the ways he still faces some of the problems Thompson wrote about and Dee talked about her trepidation about joining the military in response to Thompson writing that he wanted to serve America.
Application: The application of their study to a letter pulls together the understanding, analysis, and connection into two cohesive, articulate letters. There is always more a student can do to make their work better but for this inquiry, Dee and Al hit all the points I was looking to have fulfilled.