Introduction
This is How it Always Is, is a book that focuses on a family from Wisconsin and their transgender child. Frankel focuses on the challenges Poppy faces throughout her life and how she gets through them. By using family drama, school fiascos, and social issues. Throughout this Webquest, you should be thinking of how a big family may affect your interactions with others and how you see yourself. Think of how transgender kids are treated in schools and the different rights that they have in and out of school. As well as how much of an impact parent's decisions have on their children.
Pictured Above: Laurie Frankel the author of This is How it Always Is
Task
In order to fully grasp the ideas behind the book, you will be analyzing the rights that transgender students have in school and the issues they face. Using the link I provide watch the video and write 5-6 detailed notes based off of the video you watched.
Next, read over the article given. While you read this think of how being apart of a big family affected Poppy's life.
Read the article provided about families raising transgender children.
Watch the short documentary, then choose one of the two short answer examples I provide.
Process
The first task is to watch the video from the link below and take 5-6 detailed notes over the video. Then I would like you to compare and contrast the student's school life in the video to Poppy's. This video shows a more optimistic and accepting school compared to others. I chose this video so you could see the different students background and how being in a safer school helped their self-esteem and how they interact with others. How does Poppy's school life compare to the students in the book?
Next, read the article below about how our families influence us. While reading this article think about Poppy's siblings and their opinions on her attitude/appearance. What did they think about her when she was younger and "flamboyant?" After you read the article answer the questions that will be listed after the link shown below. These questions will analyze how Poppy was influenced by her brothers and parents. And how their opinions affected her on a day to day basis. While answering these questions refer back to the article.
https://www.statesmanshs.org/913/features/how-do-family-peers-influence-us/
Questions: 1. How did Poppy's siblings first interpret her persona when she started preschool and did their opinions influence Poppy's self-esteem?
2. How do you think Poppy's family situation would have changed if Rosie and Penn didn't agree with her wanting to be a girl?
Critical Thinking Question:
3. Why are people so reluctant to accept that not everyone that is born a certain gender is that same gender? And what steps do you think we should take to change that idealization?
Next, I would like you to read the article about raising a transgender child. While you read the article think about how Rosie and Penn raised Poppy. Do you think that she was raised well? After you read this article, make a Venn diagram on a blank piece of paper. You should have at least 8 compare and contrast answers based off of the article and book. Remember that your answers should be thoughtful and complete sentences. Refer to the link below.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/well/family/raising-a-transgender-child.html
Your last task is to watch the short documentary I provide about transgender children. This task is the most important because you are allowed to express your opinions on the book and prove to me that you have been reading it. This documentary goes through three families that are raising a transgender child. While watching the documentary take notes on how these families are similar to Rosie and Penn's family. After you finish the documentary, answer one of the short answer examples provided below. What was similar about the parent's reactions to their children coming out as transgender? What social situations do the kids face?
Short Answer Question: 1. Write 1-2 paragraphs about how watching this documentary and reading This is How it Always Is would help you define gender dysphoria. In the documentary, they stated that many cases of gender dysphoria are grown out of would this affect your opinion of allowing your children to grow up the gender they see themselves.
2. After watching the documentary, how would you describe parents impact on their children and the decisions that they have to make for their kids? Write 1-2 paragraphs on this topic. (Hint: You can also tie this topic into the article you already read about how family influences us.)
Evaluation
| Features | Advanced | Proficient | Basic | Incomplete |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Task | The student wrote 5-6 detailed notes that thoroughly explain what was shown in the video. And successfully compares the book to the video. It is shown throughout their work that they understand the book and why they watched the video. No grammatical errors present and advanced word choice. | The student wrote 5-6 detailed notes but failed to thoroughly explain. It is shown throughout the video that they understand the book and watched the video. Compares the video to the book. Minor grammatical errors present. | The student wrote 5-6 detailed notes. Doesn't completely explain the notes. It shows that they don't understand the book and video that they watched. Grammatical errors present. Doesn't correctly compare and contrast the book and video. | Less than 5-6 detailed notes. Provides no explanation for the notes. Evident that they did not read the book and/ or watch the video. Various grammatical errors. There is no compare and contrast apart of their work. |
| 2nd Task | Thoroughly answers all questions with meaning correctly. Used textual evidence from the article for all questions. On Critical Thinking Question, they explained in their own words. It is shown that they read and understood the article and book. Compares the ideas in the article in the book to something in their life or another experience. | Answers all questions correctly, but fails to thoroughly explain answers. Uses textual evidence for all questions. Explained Critical Thinking Question in their own words. It's shown throughout the work that they understood the article and book. Compares the ideas in the article and book to their life experiences. | Doesn't answer all the questions correctly. Fails to use textual evidence for all the questions. Critical Thinking Question is not thoroughly explained. Fails to compare the ideas in the article and book to their life experiences. | Doesn't answer the questions completely. Uses no textual evidence for any questions. Fails to explain the Critical Thinking Question correctly. Doesn't compare the ideas in the article and book to their life experiences. |
| 3rd Task | The student correctly drew a Venn Diagram comparing the article to the book. They wrote eight examples. Thoroughly comparing the article to the book. Students specifically compare the families in the book and article explaining why they did so. It is shown throughout their work that they actually read the article. | The student correctly drew a Venn Diagram comparing the article to the book. They wrote eight examples. The student compares the article to the book but fails to explain why they chose the comparisons. Students specifically compare the families in the book and article. It is shown throughout their work that they actually read the article. | The student correctly drew a Venn Diagram comparing the article to the book. The student fails to thoroughly explain the eight examples and why they chose them. The student does not specifically compare the families in the book and article. It is shown throughout their the work that they did not read the article carefully. | The student did not correctly draw the Venn Diagram. The student did not write eight examples. They give no explanation to the examples they wrote. There is no comparison provided between the families in the book and the article. It is shown that they did not read the article at all. |
| 4th Task | Chooses one of the two short answer questions. Based on their option, they follow the format requirements. The student follows the curriculum requirements for the short answer they chose. No grammatical errors are present. Expresses their ideas in a professional and academic way. Uses textual evidence in their answer. Depending on their choice, they use the hint provided. | Chooses one of the two short answer questions. Based on their option, they follow the format requirements. The student follows the curriculum requirements for the short answer they chose. Minor grammatical errors are present. Expresses their ideas but fails to do it professionally. Uses textual evidence in their answer. Depending on their choice, they use the hint provided. | Chooses one of the two short answer questions. Based on their option, they follow the format requirements. The student does not follow all of the curriculum requirements for the short answer they chose. Grammatical errors are present. Doesn't correctly express their ideas in an academic way. Not enough textual evidence present. Depending on their choice, they do not use the hint provided. | Chooses one of the two short answer questions, but they're not complete. They don't follow the format requirements for their short answer. Major grammatical errors are present. There is no explanation provided behind the ideas they expressed. They don't correctly answer the questions provided. No textual evidence provided. They don't use the hint provided if they chose that prompt. |
Conclusion
Overall the purpose of this assignment was for you to get a better understanding of the book. Throughout the book, it goes through the life of a transgender child and how she changed and struggled throughout life. We got to look into what the parent's transgender children have to go through and the decisions they have to make for their child. I added in the documentary to give you a more realistic outlook on what the parents and children go through. All of the tasks provided in the WebQuest were to give you a better understanding of transgender people's childhood. There would be no use if you just blindly read the book not having any prior knowledge on transgender children and their childhood. For instance, how your family interacts with you can affect how you see yourself especially in a big family. In the book, they're a family of seven and everyone had a lot to say when Poppy became transgender. This is why you read the article about how our family influences us. This was a big transition not only for Poppy's parents but her siblings, throughout the book we got to see their reactions to her transition. In the book, there are many different personalities floating around their household. Whenever Poppy was transitioning their siblings always questioned, "Why is he acting this way?" or, "Isn't he worried about getting bullied?" These opinions influenced how she felt about herself. Allowing you to see the different environments that schools have was important for Poppy's character. In the video, you watched the school was very welcoming and optimistic, but not everyone in the LGBTQ+ community has that option. There was a vast difference from Poppy's school and the one in the video.
Credits
Here are some links that will help you throughout your WebQuest.
https://collegeinfogeek.com/how-to-take-notes-in-college/
While reading this link about note-taking skills, think about how this applies to your first assignment. I would like your notes to follow the guideline given on the link above.
Here is a link about the rights that transgender students have at schools. You can apply this information to your notes as a boost to your knowledge of rights at schools.
https://transequality.org/know-your-rights/schools
This next link is just to give another perspective on some families raising transgender children. You can also use this link to help you with any of your tasks.
https://www.parents.com/parenting/dynamics/raising-a-transgender-child/
Extra Credit Opportunity:
Complete the word search provided below. You will need to print it off.
https://worksheets.theteacherscorner.net/make-your-own/word-search/#alert_area