In|Dignity provides an immersive experience with deeply local, personal narratives that illustrate and humanize concepts common to the History-Social Studies curriculum, and support students’ intellectual and emotional wellbeing.
In|Dignity supports curriculum standards by providing points of departure to describe how information is presented, and to identify aspects of text that reveal an author’s point of view. Teachers can also utilize the narratives to distinguish facts, reasoned judgments, and opinions or speculation, and to analyze the relationship between primary and secondary sources on the same topic. Further, students have the opportunity through In|Dignity to reflect on a series of events to determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them, and to integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media in order to address a question or solve a problem. These opportunities each support Common Core and History–Social Science Framework Guidelines.
The In|Dignity curriculum unit provides scaffolded activities that support reading comprehension, the writing of personal narratives, and general comparative thinking. It has been designed to utilize an array of effective pedagogical strategies, including Question Formulation, Say-Mean-Matter, Historical Thinking Technique, and Choice Board. Content also aligns with the California History-Social Science Framework, and supports FAIR Education Act compliance.
Curriculum is recommended for three to five class periods.
The focus of the curriculum unit is working closely with the In|Dignity narratives in order to enhance students’ understanding of the experience of marginalization. It is on this foundation that students can build and move meaningfully into deeper analysis and evaluation of texts, history, and current events throughout the remainder of the school year, and as they progress through their education.
The learning objectives for the In|Dignity curriculum are:
- Understand the significance and use of color to divide, to unite, and to celebrate humanity
- Reflect on how being ignored, hidden, or muted impacts identity and lived experience
- Examine how sharing personal stories can help to soften preconceived notions
- Describe how words can impact self-perceptions and propel life decisions
- Theorize how outward appearances can reveal and conceal what is inside
- Differentiate the individual experiences of different members of a group
- Examine societal expectations, and experiences with self-definition