Students investigate how identity, privilege, and power shape lived experiences in Madera and use that learning to draft a community-focused proposal for change. Through close reading of primary and secondary sources, identity reflection, discussion, and local research, they build shared language around intersectionality, colonization, indigeneity, the 4 I’s, white supremacy, and healing. Working with classmates, their teacher, and possible district partners, they develop and revise a proposal and presentation that connect personal experience to community issues and lay the foundation for a larger action project later in the semester.

Students will analyze primary and secondary sources to identify central ideas, trace how ideas about identity, privilege, colonization, indigeneity, and the 4 Is/white supremacy develop over a text, and determine the meaning of key social and political vocabulary. They will investigate how identity and intersectionality shape lived experiences in Madera, using discussion, reflection, and local research to connect course concepts to community issues. Students will write a clear, audience-aware proposal that explains a community problem, supports claims with evidence, and outlines a realistic action step that can build into a later change project. They will strengthen collaboration and communication by giving and using peer feedback, revising their work through checkpoints, and presenting their proposal to classmates and invited school or district partners.

Students will create identity maps, annotated readings of primary and secondary sources, vocabulary trackers for key ethnic studies terms, and short reflection logs that help them analyze privilege, power, intersectionality, colonization, and local issues in Madera. In teams, they will produce a written community issue proposal that identifies a problem in Madera, explains how identity and systems shape it, cites research and data, and outlines a realistic path toward action later in the semester. Throughout the unit, groups will also create draft discussion protocols, peer feedback notes, and presentation checkpoint slides to revise their thinking with classmates, the teacher, and possible district partners. By the end of the unit, each group will deliver a polished proposal presentation to their classmates and leave with a revised proposal that can serve as the foundation for a larger community action product in Unit 3.

Begin with a gallery walk of photos, headlines, maps, and short data snapshots about Madera, paired with identity reflection prompts such as “Where do you feel seen, excluded, or expected to fit in?” Then facilitate a community circle where students share a personal experience of navigating school or community spaces, followed by a class brainstorm of local problems connected to privilege, power, and identity. Invite the Ethnic Studies teacher and, if possible, a district or community guest to add a short perspective on whose stories are centered or erased in local systems. Close with partner talk and a quick written notice/wonder reflection that launches teams toward a proposal for a community issue they want to investigate.

Students can present their Unit 1 proposals in a structured gallery walk where each group shares an identity map, key research on a Madera community issue, and a clear proposal for action with classmates, the teacher, and invited district or Ethnic Studies community members. Build in a feedback protocol so audience members respond to the proposal’s central idea, use of key Ethnic Studies vocabulary, and clarity of writing and speaking, giving students one last revision opportunity. End with small-group presentations and reflection circles in which students explain how their identities shaped their thinking and how this proposal could grow into the larger action project later in the semester. This keeps the exhibition manageable for 9th graders while making their work public, purposeful, and connected to future community change.