Learning Goals
Students will be able to analyze Lois Lowry's word choice, tone, and juxtaposition in The Giver to explain how Jonas's community builds sameness, control, and the loss of individual choice.
Students will be able to compare Jonas's community with early river valley civilizations, Athens, and Han China using evidence from literary, historical, visual, and oral sources to determine how societies organize power and belonging.
Students will be able to evaluate the credibility and usefulness of banned-book data, librarian testimony, and short informational texts about intellectual freedom to support an evidence-based position on book banning.
Students will be able to construct a clear claim about whether books should be banned and support it with relevant evidence and reasoning from The Giver and research sources.
Students will be able to identify and explain counterclaims about book banning and intellectual freedom, then rebut them with evidence and fair reasoning.
Students will be able to present and defend an evidence-based position during a public symposium using clear sequencing, relevant details, and speaking skills.
Students will be able to collaborate with peers to refine arguments and products through discussion, critique, and revision.
Products
Research-Based Argumentative Essay on Book Banning in The Giver
Each student writes a polished essay taking a clear position on book banning, using evidence from The Giver and at least two informational sources. The essay includes a claim, subclaims, citations, a counterargument, and a rebuttal grounded in reasoning.
Reading Freely Student Symposium Panel and Evidence Gallery
Teams lead a public panel or debate-style symposium and create a shared evidence gallery that compares positions on book banning and intellectual freedom. Each member's research feeds the team defense, synthesis, and audience Q&A.
No rubric has been generated yet.