New Kid

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What are microaggressions? What impact do they have on people, and why are they tricky to deal with?

Teaching Suggestion: Depending on students’ prior life experiences, they may never have heard the term microaggression. To avoid guessing about their level of familiarity with the term, offer a brief introduction using the resources below. Students whose personal experience does not include being the target of microaggressions or who struggle to deal with the impact of microaggressions in their lives may dispute the entire concept, and they may be uncomfortable with a class discussion on this subject. Consider having students answer these questions in written form or giving clear guidelines about respectful ways to discuss this subject aloud.

• This NPR interview defines microaggressions and offers suggestions for dealing with them. (Teacher-appropriate, not student-facing due to length and complexity)
• This 5-minute video clearly and gently explains the term and its relevance to everyone.
• This amusing 3-minute video from MTV News asks what microaggressions against a dominant group might look like.

2. What is code-switching? What might be difficult about having to code-switch? How does needing to code-switch point out differences in power?

Teaching Suggestion: These questions require familiarity with the specialized term code-switching. Ensure that all students are prepared with similar information using the resources listed below. If students discuss these questions, clarify in advance the difference between code-switching and mimicking another group’s dialect or accent: Code-switching is a personal choice that is generally classroom appropriate, while mimicry of another group is a microaggression that has no place in a classroom.

• This Psychology Today article that explains the pressure to code-switch and its potential consequences. (Teacher-appropriate, not student-facing due to length and complexity)
• This NPR article that explains situations where code-switching happens, and why. (Teacher-appropriate, not student-facing due to length and complexity)
• In this 8-minute video from TEDx, a student explains code-switching and argues that it is an important tool for success.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Have you ever been in a situation where you were the only person (or one of very few people) belonging to a group that is important to your identity? For instance, were you the only female or male on a sports team or in a class, the only racial or religious minority in a group of friends, the only person with a disability on a tour or fieldtrip, the only person from a lower-income background in a particular restaurant or hotel? What did this feel like? Were you worried about microaggressions or other forms of discrimination? Did you feel the need to change how you talk, act, or dress to fit in better? Would your experience have been different if you were with people more like yourself? Why or why not?

Teaching Suggestion: Some students may say they have never been in a situation like this. Encourage them to imagine themselves in such a situation and respond on that basis. They may also base their answers on a fictional situation they have read or watched. An interesting follow-up question, whether students write or discuss their response to this prompt, is to discuss how people benefit from situations like this—from experiencing the discomfort of being in the minority and by learning from those who are in the minority.