Objectives: Students will be able to explore the meaning of a place of home, in other words, how the place shapes his/her identity. through writing and discussions.
Do Now: Make a list of what home means to you.
Mini Lesson:
- How does the memory of home shape the narrator’s life as revealed in “Three Yards” by Michael Dorris, In Short 203-205?
- How does the write explore her heritage through a personal narrative as portrayed in “Sanctuary ” by Jane Moress Schuster In Short 244-246 ?
Independent Practice:
- Groups 1/2: What does home mean when “ home is away”?
How “Thank You in Arabic” by Naomi Shihab Nye(pdf) ( Consider: Through her journey from the US to Egypt to Jerusalem back to the States, how does the author reassess her understanding of home and identify? How does the culture of each place to which she traveled shape her identity or her views of home?)
- Groups 3/4: Discuss Jana Richman’s “Why I Ride” In Fact 395-418 (How is her identify shaped by the place, Utah, where she has deep family history? Why is Utah the ultimate home to her?)
Reflect: What new meanings does home bring after your reading of pieces?
Homework: Compose a piece about home.
Unit 3 #4
Many of us find our sense of “desh” blends real and distant-maybe unseen- places. Is your family one of the many in this country that embodies a divided sense of home? What does home mean to you, your siblings, your parents? Some may say “home” is where there’s a room for me to unpack my things’. Think about whether there is a single place- a physical location- your family defines as “ home,” or what you do as you move around to bring the sense of home with you. Consider writing an essay in which you unpack the complex layers of meaning in the word home, with specific references to all the possibilities (Tell It Slant 36).