Unit/Book that worked

One book in particular that my students loved was "Nigger", which is the autobiogragphy of Dick Gregory. I was a little scared of how the principal might respond to this book, therefore I decided not to include it in any of my lesson plans. Let me tell you it was well worth the gamble. My students absolutely fell in love with this book. Parents went out to buy the book for most of my students even though I had a class set and didn't require my students to buy the book. Anyway. My students related to many of the struggles that Mr. Gregory endured throughout his childhood. I completely took advantage of this. I had my students write an autobiography about themselves. As we were reading through the book I had them thinking about how their lives were similar to Mr. Gregory's. This sort of took the place of a pre-writing activity becuas ethey would use the information for an essay I would have them write after completing the book. I decided to teach what and how to write a compare and contrast essay. Since they had jotted down notes about Mr. Gregory's struggles it was easy for them to understand what comparing and contrasting is. After reading the drafts, I could tell that my students were extremely engaged in this assignment. They also told me that it was tough talking about their personal lives, but enjoyed writing about something important. There is no doubt that I will have my students read this book next year.