Analyzing Symbols in All American Boys

Activity Overview

All American Boys is filled with symbolism. It's helpful for students to analyze it in order to gain a deeper understanding of the characters and their journey. The symbols in this book will come alive when you use a storyboard. In this activity, students will identify and illustrate symbols from the novel, supporting their choices with details from the text.

Examples of Symbols in All American Boys

Basketball
Graffiti / Tagging
Uniforms
Family Circus Cartoons
Sports
Marching

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Template and Class Instructions

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Due Date:

Objective: Create a storyboard that identifies recurring symbols found in All American Boys. Illustrate each symbol and write a short description below each cell.

Student Instructions:

Click "Start Assignment".
Identify the symbols from All American Boys you wish to include and type them in the title box at the top.
Create an image for examples that represent each symbol using appropriate scenes, characters and items.
Write a description of each of the examples in the black text box.
Save and exit when you're done.

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Lesson Plan Reference

Grade Level 9-12

Difficulty Level 3 (Developing to Mastery)

Type of Assignment Individual

Type of Activity: Themes, Symbols & Motifs

Common Core Standards

[ELA-Literacy/RL/8/2] Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text
[ELA-Literacy/RL/8/4] Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts
[ELA-Literacy/RL/5/1] Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

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Rubric

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Symbolism

Create a storyboard that identifies symbolism in the story. Illustrate instances of each and write a short description that explains the example's significance.

	Proficient	Emerging	Beginning
Identify Symbol(s)	All symbols are correctly identified as objects that represent something else at a higher level in the story.	Most symbols are correctly identified, but some objects are missing or are incorrectly identified as significant symbols.	No symbols are correctly identified.
Examples	All examples support the identified symbols. Descriptions clearly say why examples are significant.	Most examples fit the identified symbols. Descriptions say why examples are significant.	Most examples do not fit the identified symbols. Descriptions are unclear.
Depiction	Storyboard cells clearly show connection with the symbols and help with understanding.	Most storyboard cells help to show the symbols but some storyboard cells are difficult to understand.	Storyboard cells do not help in understanding the symbols.