Censorship in the classroom: Understanding controversial issues

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 10 — English II

• Goal 1: The learner will react to and reflect upon print and non-print text and personal experiences by examining situations from both subjective and objective perspectives.
  • Objective 1.02: Respond reflectively (through small group discussion, class discussion, journal entry, essay, letter, dialogue) to written and visual texts by:
    • relating personal knowledge to textual information or class discussion.
    • showing an awareness of one's own culture as well as the cultures of others.
    • exhibiting an awareness of culture in which text is set or in which text was written.
    • explaining how culture affects personal responses.
    • demonstrating an understanding of media's impact on personal responses and cultural analyses.
• Goal 2: The learner will evaluate problems, examine cause/effect relationships, and answer research questions to inform an audience.
  • Objective 2.01: Demonstrate the ability to read, listen to and view a variety of increasingly complex print and non-print informational texts appropriate to grade level and course literary focus, by:
    • selecting, monitoring, and modifying as necessary reading strategies appropriate to readers' purpose.
    • identifying and analyzing text components (such as organizational structures, story elements, organizational features) and evaluating their impact on the text.
    • providing textual evidence to support understanding of and reader's response to text.
    • demonstrating comprehension of main idea and supporting details.
    • summarizing key events and/or points from text.
    • making inferences, predicting, and drawing conclusions based on text.
    • identifying and analyzing personal, social, historical or cultural influences, contexts, or biases.
    • making connections between works, self and related topics.
    • analyzing and evaluating the effects of author's craft and style.
    • analyzing and evaluating the connections or relationships between and among ideas, concepts, characters and/or experiences.
    • identifying and analyzing elements of informational environment found in text in light of purpose, audience, and context.
  • Objective 2.02: Create responses that examine a cause/effect relationship among events by:
    • effectively summarizing situations.
    • showing a clear, logical connection among events.
    • logically organizing connections by transitioning between points.
    • developing appropriate strategies such as graphics, essays, and multi-media presentations to illustrate points.
• Goal 3: The learner will defend argumentative positions on literary or nonliterary issues.
  • Objective 3.01: Examine controversial issues by:
    • sharing and evaluating initial personal response.
    • researching and summarizing printed data.
    • developing a framework in which to discuss the issue (creating a context).
    • compiling personal responses and researched data to organize the argument.
    • presenting data in such forms as a graphic, an essay, a speech, or a video.
  • Objective 3.02: Produce editorials or responses to editorials for a neutral audience by providing:
    • a clearly stated position or proposed solution.
    • relevant, reliable support.
• Goal 4: The learner will critically interpret and evaluate experiences, literature, language, and ideas.
  • Objective 4.04: Evaluate the information, explanations, or ideas of others by:
    • identifying clear, reasonable criteria for evaluation.
    • applying those criteria using reasoning and substantiation.