One of the missions that caught my eye was the one for Richard Wright's Black Boy because I would like to teach it next year.
1. When I looked at this mission from the lens of a teacher, I thought that the teacher was aiming to get students to get to relate to the book on a personal level as well as reflect upon the themes of the book and then compare and contrast those issues to what goes on in contemporary society. Some of the themes that were included in the channels were social justice, human rights, and racism. Students mused about questions/topics such as:
"How is Richard Wright’s book Black Boy relevant to society and the minorities that exist in them today?"
"How violence makes us who we are"
"How Richard Wright's book BLACK BOY inspires me and other readers"
The postings seemed to be essays assigned in class. They appeared to have gone through the writing process, as they had good textual evidence and cited other sources.
2. When I think about how students may have reacted to this mission, I imagine some may have been excited about sharing their work on this forum, while others rolled their eyes and sighed in frustration. One student said, "Reading Black Boy at first wasn’t enjoyable, but as it got further in, it became more appealing".
From the length of the responses, it is apparent that the students did a lot of work in class around selecting key quotes around the literary elements and techniques of the book, citing sources, and making textual connections. I think that participating in this mission was very meaningful for the students.