This unit plan aims to teach 10th grade students about autobiographies. Students will read an excerpt from Frederick Douglass's autobiography and write their own. They will organize their writing using a graphic organizer and receive peer feedback. Finally, students will collaboratively create a blog to publish their autobiographies. The diverse class of 26 students speaks English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and French. The plan provides translation resources and aims to incorporate students' various home languages and cultures.

2.  Personal assumptions about
multiculturalism and cultural diversity
 Combining this idea of translingualism
with multiculturalism
 Utilizing the concept of identity texts
(Cummins 2011) to tie it all together.
 Creation of a thematic unit

3.  Students will:
› Have a clear, working knowledge of autobiographies and
its’ categories.
› Be able to identify important aspects of an
autobiographical text through the reading of the
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
› Write their own autobiography
› Collaboratively create a blog to display their work.
› Participate in the peer editing workshops.
 EXTRA CREDIT:
› Students can submit an additional version of their
autobiography written in a different language for other
students.
› Students can write a full, detailed reflection of their writing
process, to include challenges and successes.

4.  East Side High School in Paterson, NJ
 10th Grade Language Arts Classroom
 26 students:
› 12 Black/African American
› 7 Hispanic/Latino
› 3 White/Caucasian
› 2 Arabic/Middle Eastern students
› 1 Chinese

5.  Creation of a Word Wall based on the
various categories and/or characteristics
of a autobiography.
ENGLISH FAMILY COMMUNITY HOMETOWN HOBBIES
SPANISH la familia la ciudad actividades
comunidad natal de ocio
CHINESE 家庭 社区 家乡 休闲活动
ARABIC
FRENCH la famille la ville natale activités de
communaut loisirs
é

6.  An overview will be provided (Yatvin 2008) to introduce the
excerpt from the published autobiographical text: Narrative
of the Life of Frederick Douglass. For homework, students will
read the first chapter and answer the provided questions.
The audio version in various languages will be available to
students.
› Spanish: OTHER VERSIONS AVAILABLE ON
AMAZON!
› French:
› Chinese:
› Hebrew:

7.  Begin with journaling about their personal reflection on the
Douglass piece.
 Review homework questions.
 Provide students with bubble cluster graphic organizer to
begin organizing their thoughts. Students will be encouraged
to utilize the words from our wall. Also, add to it throughout
this writing process.

8.  Students will come into class with their first rough
drafts.
 Students are broken into pairs and groups of three.
 Students will work in a different group or pair each
time.
 Guidelines will be provided for peer editing, i.e. what
to look for.
 The teacher will walk around to provide informal
guidance, advice, and instruction.
 At the end of each workshop, students will correct
and polish drafts.
 Students will be encouraged to use words from the
word wall and add to the wall with teacher approval.
 All drafts will be collected at the end.

9.  Students will submit all drafts to me.
 All students will go to the computer lab.
 Collaboratively all students will create a
blog for them to display their work.
 Provide a tutorial for students on blogs.
 Assisting students with language
characters while typing.
 Acts as our creation of an identity text.

10.  Participation in the peer editing process
 Progression from draft to final piece
 Submission to the collaborative blog
 Grammar, pronunciation, and fluency
 Individualized assessment

11. Cummins, Jim (2011). Literacy engagement: fueling academic growth for
English learners.
Freeman, Y.S., Freeman, D.E., & Ramirez, R (2008). Diverse learners in the
mainstream classroom strategies for supporting all students across content
areas. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Lockard, Joe (2004-2009). Frederick Douglass Translations. Retrieved from
http://antislavery.eserver.org/narratives/douglasstranslations.
New Jersey State Core Curriculum Standards (2011). Retrieved from
http://www.corestandards.org.
Valdes, Gina (1982). Puentes y fronteras: Coplas chicanas. Los Angeles: Castle
Lithographs.
Yatvin, Joanne (2007). English-only teachers in mixed-language classrooms: A
survival guide. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.