Adventures in Non-Fiction

Sophomore Pre-AP English students in the Magnet read Malcom Gladwell’s book Outliers, in which he explores the hidden factors that play into achievement and success. For our study of the book, students are assigned sections of the book to teach the class. They design lessons tied to the Common Core standards, develop learning targets and activities, and create formative assessments to determine their individual level of “success” in teaching a lesson meant to underscore Gladwell’s ideas about success in that section.  The activities they’ve designed have all essentially been based off of levels of advantage/disadvantage that groups and individuals have and how this impacts their success, according to the author.