Unit Plan: LGBTQ Civil Rights

This unit will introduce middle and high school students to LGBTQ civil rights with an emphasis on the struggle for marriage equality. They will learn about ideas, events, and individuals that influenced George Takei and his decision to come out as an advocate for LGBTQ rights and contextualize the fight for LGBTQ rights as an extension of the Civil Rights Movement. The unit will culminate in an essay assignment in which students will analyze how the discussed events, people, and ideas influenced the struggle for marriage equality.

1. The LGBTQ Community & Marriage Equality: Introduction, Central Idea
2. Defining Civil Rights: Historical Context of Civil Rights Issues, Central Idea
3. The LGBTQ Movement & Asian-Americans: Central Idea, Close Reading
4. Editing & Revising: Peer Revisions, Written Response

RI: Reading Standards for Informational Texts
RL: Reading Standards for Literature
W: Writing Standard

RI.7.2-12.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text… how it emerges and is shaped… provide an objective summary of the text.
RI.7.3-12.3: Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text… including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced…
RL.7.1-12.1: Cite strong and thorough pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text…
W.7.2-12.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of content.

1. Introduce a topic clearly… organize ideas, concepts, and information…
2. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations…
3. Use appropriate transitions… create cohesion… clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts.
4. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary…
5. Establish and maintain a formal style…
6. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.

1. Students will be able to identify the central idea of a portion of the text.
2. Students will be able to close read the text to determine multiple central ideas presented throughout the text.
3. Students will be able to use the technique of comparison/contrast to analyze how events, different ideas, and individuals influenced George Takei.
4. Students will be able to cite multiple pieces of evidence in order to answer the questions:
1. Spicy: Is the United States a place of liberty and justice for all? Cite at least one example from George Takei’s story, one example from class discussions, and a current example related to the LGBTQ community to support your answer.
2. Mild: Using at least three examples from the close reading and class discussions, write an essay that answers the following question: To what extent was the struggle for marriage equality a continuation of the earlier Civil Rights Movement?

1. Students will learn about how the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s opened the door for greater gains of civil rights for many communities.
2. Students will learn about the LGBTQ community and some of the struggles it has faced and continues to face.
3. Students will learn that everyone can make the choice to resist.
4. Students will learn about some of the different ways people are influenced to become activists or advocates of certain causes.