Perspectives of Power: ELA Lessons for Gifted and Advanced Learners in Grades 6-8

Perspectives of Power explores the nature of power in art, literature, historical documents, and poetry. In this unit, developed by Vanderbilt University's Programs for Talented Youth, students will explore the power of oppression; the power of the past, present, and future; and the power of personal response by engaging in simulations, skits, art projects, literary analyses, Socratic seminars, debates, and creative writing. Texts illuminate content extensions related to the bystander effect, social class structure, game theory, the use and abuse of technology, cultural conflict, the butterfly effect, women's suffrage, and surrealism--all pertaining to power. The unit features texts from Emily Dickinson, William B. Yeats, and Charles Perrault; art from Moyo Okediji and Salvador Dali; and speeches by Elie Wiesel, Susan B. Anthony, and John F. Kennedy. As a result from the learning in the unit, students will be able to examine powerful influences in their own lives and take on power in personal responsibility.