The Courage of my Convictions
Ninth Grade Pilot ProgramOverview
The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum, Inc. has partnered with Northeastern University School of Education to develop and implement a ninth grade language arts curriculum for the Boston Public Schools that will expand upon the foundation laid by the by The Courage Curriculum in the sixth grade and work to show ninth grade students in the Boston Public Schools that with careful and thoughtful response they can facilitate change in the world around them.
Max's Story: Students will revisit Max's story with an emphasis on how he and his family worked to unite a community around a specific cause. His positive attitude as well as his actions that united a community shows students how they too are capable of such acts of courage. There are two goals of this stage: to reconnect students to the foundation that was built in sixth grade or to introduce students who did not participate in the Courage Curriculum in the sixth grade to the story; to demonstrate how one boy's voice and experience was able to unite a group of people for a common cause.
Novels and Discussion: Students will read, write about and discuss a thoughtful selection of texts, varying in form and genre, that will explore a wide range of cultures and examine the nature of courage and its connection to the use of thoughtful social action to produce change. Students will work to identify examples of this practice in the characters they read about as well as participate in activities designed to improve writing and comprehension skills.
Teaching Materials: Each text will be accompanied by a comprehensive curriculum guide that will assist teachers to: lay the framework for the development of strong reading, writing and comprehension skills; facilitate discussion of the student experiences which connect with the reading. Art supplies will accompany each curriculum kit.
Final Project: The culmination of the ninth grade curriculum is a final project, "The Courage of my Convictions". Each student will combine the written word and artistic expression to demonstrate his understanding of the effective use of communication to produce thoughtful and useful social change.
Exhibit: The final products will be displayed at Northeastern University and each participating student, his teacher and his parents or guardian will be invited to come to the Northeastern University campus, celebrate the students' work and listen to a short program designed to reinforce the curriculum goals. The goal of this exhibit is two fold: 1) A celebration of the completion of this work for the student. 2) A visit to a college campus as well as a presentation that will engage Boston Public School students and their parents in conversation and pursuit of post secondary education.
The Courage Anthology: In addition, a selection of the art accompanied by the written component will be published in an anthology, which will enable students to read and learn from each others stories year after year. This not only adds to the students' understanding of the meaning of courage, but gives students the opportunity to read about students from their neighborhoods who have tackled adversity.
Professional Development and Enrichment for Teachers: The curriculum development team will work closely with two courses in the Northeastern University Teacher Preparation Program: Teaching in the Disciplines: English and Literacy in Middle and High School. Pilot teachers will have the opportunity to earn professional development points by attending lectures and workshops. Each year the Courage Curriculum hosts an annual teachers' conference. This year we will include all sixth and ninth grade Boston Public School teachers. This will provide the opportunity to introduce the program to all ninth grade teachers.