Students investigate how societies create order by deciding what to protect, what to control, and what people may be asked to give up, using The Giver as a literary lens and social studies as a historical lens. The learning launches with a “Ceremony of 12” role-assignment simulation and a gallery walk comparing historical civilizations with scenes from the 2014 film, then expands through close reading, discussion, research on intellectual freedom, and comparison across texts, media, and time periods. In addition to the novel, students use resources such as banned book case studies, librarian talks from Queens Public Library, PEN America data, short nonfiction on censorship, and selected myths, historical accounts, or visual sources that deepen comparisons about power, belief, and community. The work builds toward strong content knowledge, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, self-direction, reflection, and belonging as students craft an evidence-based position on book banning and present their learning in a public symposium for families, staff, and community partners.

Students will analyze how Lois Lowry uses word choice, tone, and juxtaposition to build Jonas’s community, then compare that society with historical civilizations and modern examples using evidence from literary, informational, visual, and oral sources, including The Giver film adaptation, librarian talks, banned book data, and selected nonfiction on censorship and intellectual freedom. They will launch the project by experiencing a society-building simulation and a gallery walk of historical societies and film images, then use those experiences to ask what societies need, what they give up, and who holds power. Students will conduct short research on book banning and intellectual freedom, evaluate the quality of sources, and write an argumentative essay that makes a clear claim about power, choice, and the freedom to read, while also crafting a narrative extension that maintains character, theme, and style. Through collaboration, feedback, discussion, reflection, and the public symposium with families, school staff, and community partners such as Queens Public Library, they will strengthen critical thinking, communication, content knowledge, self-direction, and their sense of belonging and voice in civic conversations.

Students create products from launch to exhibition: observation notes and claims from the Civilizations Then and Now gallery walk, a reflection from the “Ceremony of 12” society-building simulation, annotation logs and discussion notes from The Giver, and short responses comparing the novel with historical societies, myths, film clips, and nonfiction texts. Core resources can also include selected scenes from the 2014 film adaptation, banned book case studies, Queens Public Library or PEN America materials, and short paired texts on memory, power, and censorship, which students use to build a comparative society analysis paragraph, source-based research notes, and a 200–400 word narrative extension. The culminating products are a polished argumentative essay on book banning and freedom of knowledge, a visual artifact such as a poster, zine page, or digital slide featuring a challenged book, and a social studies connection shown through a timeline entry, map, or written comparison. For the public symposium, each student delivers a live 2-minute pitch, answers visitor questions, and contributes to a gallery-walk display that shows critical thinking, communication, collaboration, content knowledge, self-direction, and reflection.

Open with the “Ceremony of 12” simulation: students receive assigned jobs, schedules, privileges, and rules they did not choose, complete a short task under those constraints, and debrief what they gave up for order, choice, and belonging. Follow with a gallery walk pairing artifacts from Mesopotamia, Athens, and Han China with stills from The Giver film adaptation, plus short excerpts from The Giver, a challenged-books list, and a current article or infographic from PEN America or Queens Public Library so students compare how texts, images, and data shape their understanding. Invite a Queens Public Library librarian, and if possible a PEN America speaker or local advocate, to share a brief story about intellectual freedom and book challenges, then have students discuss, sketch, and write initial claims about what societies must protect, who holds power, and who decides what young people can read. Close with the essential question, a continuum protocol, and a quick reflection in which students name one historical connection, one resource they want to investigate, and one product idea for the final symposium.

Host an evening “Reading Freely: A Student Symposium on Books, Power & Choice” as a gallery walk with live presentations for families, Elm staff, Queens Public Library partners, PEN America guests, and community members, launched earlier in the unit through a “Civilizations Then and Now” gallery walk and a “Ceremony of 12” society-building simulation that students can reference in their displays. Each student exhibits a printed argumentative essay on book banning, a visual piece such as a poster, zine page, or digital slide featuring a challenged book, a social studies connection shown through a map, timeline, or comparison to a historical society and Jonas’s community, and selected evidence from additional core resources such as the 2014 film adaptation, librarian talks, banned books data, or short nonfiction texts on intellectual freedom. During the event, students deliver a practiced two-minute pitch answering what societies must sacrifice and protect, then respond to visitor questions using evidence from the novel, research, and cross-civilization comparisons while demonstrating collaboration, critical thinking, clear communication, and content expertise. Include a visitor feedback form, a student reflection station, and a closing circle or digital recap that helps students name how their thinking, independence, and sense of belonging grew across the project.