Lesson 3: Building Background Knowledge: The 1960s, Part 3

Activate prior knowledge of the 1960s and guide students in making predictions about the text based on the title. Facilitate partner discussion and briefly synthesize key ideas to set the purpose for reading.

Turn and Talk

Say these Directions: Turn and talk with a partner about the following question to prepare for today’s lesson.

Ask: What have you learned about the 1960s so far?

• I learned that during the 1960s, many people wanted social progress. They wanted to end racial and gender-based segregation and discrimination, and they wanted the Vietnam War to end. I also learned that the president declared a “War on Poverty” that had mixed results since many people remained in poverty.

Ask: Based on what you have learned about social class in the 1960s and the impact of inequality on belonging, what does the title lead you to expect the book will be about?

• I think the book will be about characters who feel a lack of belonging as a result of inequality. They feel like outsiders in contrast to others with more privilege who have access to opportunities and communities they do not.

Bring the class back together and review responses to both questions. Briefly record students’ ideas.

Connection to Today’s Learning

Say: Today, you’ll build on what you learned about the 1960s to learn about and discuss details about the book’s characters. You’ll learn more about the author and why she wrote the book, and you’ll discuss what the title might mean in the context of the 1960s.

Part A: Explore 1960s Subcultures (RI.7.7, SL.7.1.c) (25 minutes)

Build understanding of 1960s youth subcultures by introducing the greaser identity and connecting it to prior learning about class and inequality. Use images and/or video clips to visually introduce the greaser subculture, then guide students in analyzing representations and engaging in structured academic discussion to explore how subcultures reflect social conditions.

Greaser Subcultures in the 1960s

The term working class usually refers to a person’s occupation. It means that someone is not wealthy on their own or because of their family and must rely primarily on earning wages from labor, or working a job. It often references jobs that require some type of physical labor. But it can also refer to economic class or income level; some working-class jobs don’t pay high wages, and some, not all, people in the working class experience poverty. Think about our discussion of poverty in Lesson 2.

The book we will read includes characters from the working class, many of whom are part of a specific youth subculture of the 1950s and 1960s—the greaser subculture.

A subculture is a smaller group within a bigger culture that has its own unique beliefs, styles, or interests. Subcultures come in various forms: people who like a certain type of media can form a subculture, for instance. Being part of a subculture often means more than having special interests; it may affect lifestyles, beliefs, and behaviors toward others.

Ask: What are some subcultures you can think of?

• Gamers, skateboarders, hip-hop fans, anime fans, surfers, etc.

Say these Directions: After reviewing the images and/or video clips, discuss the answers to these questions:

Ask: What similarities do you notice between the people in the images/video?

• clothing/leather jackets, denim jeans; slicked-back hairstyles; relaxed, casual postures; youth/young people

Ask: Based on these images/the video, what traits do you think might have been important to greasers’ identities?

• rebellion; looking cool; hanging out in a group and spending time with friends; intimidating others; maintaining hairstyles/styles of dress

Record student responses.

Greasers were often young white men who belonged to the working class. In many cases, they were left out of economic prosperity in the 1960s United States.

Academic Talk

Introduce the Academic Talk routine. Provide cue cards with lists of talk stems for students:

• Add-on talk stems:

  • “I’d like to add that . . .”

  • “I want to add some more detail to that idea . . .”

  • “I also noticed that . . .”

  • “This reminds me of . . . because . . .”

• Clarify talk stems:

  • “Can you tell me more about . . .”

  • “Can you explain why . . .”

  • “Could it also be that . . .”

Say these Directions: Follow the Academic Talk routine by using Add-on and Clarify talk stems to answer the questions.

Consider what you know about 1960s social tensions, poverty, and youth culture in the United States based on the texts you have already read. How do you think the greaser subculture may have been a response to what was happening in the 1960s?

• I think that the greasers’ subculture of rebellion may have been a response to poverty. If they experienced poverty, they may have felt angry, frustrated, or left out, as if the country was not doing enough to help them. Their rebellion may have been a response.

How do you think other people in the 1960s, such as older adults or wealthier people, viewed greasers? Why?

• Older adults may have been suspicious of greasers and thought that greasers were going to cause trouble. I remember that in the 1960s, there was a lot of tension between people who wanted social change and people who wanted things to stay the same. I wonder if this tension might have affected how older and younger people saw each other.

Model the routine with the first question by adding onto a student's response from the images/video.

• For example, say: “You noticed that spending time with a group of friends may have been important to greasers’ identities. I’d like to add that young people were connected in many ways in the 1960s, such as by enjoying the same music or rallying to protest something they believed was unjust. I wonder what the greasers had in common with groups of young protestors or music fans.”

Part B: Prepare to Read: The Outsiders (RI.7.2) (10 minutes)

Introduce The Outsiders by reading the cover copy. Explain that author Susan (S. E.) Hinton was a high school student in Oklahoma when she wrote the book, which came out in 1967. It was inspired by her own experience observing conflict between two rival gangs at her school.

As a class, review a text connected to The Outsiders that includes Hinton’s perspective. Suggestions: op-eds written by Hinton in the 1960s (or since) about young adult literature, interviews given by Hinton after the book came out and in the following decades, correspondence between Hinton and her editor.

Think-Pair-Share

Say these Directions: Use the Think-Pair-Share routine to answer these questions with a partner.

• Ask: What do you think the most important idea in this text is? How would you summarize it in a sentence or two?

  • Answers will vary based on the text chosen but may include ideas and connections related to the purpose and consequences of social divisions such as gangs; the needs, interests, and problems of teenagers; teenage rebellion and camaraderie; or economic and class-based conflict.

• Ask: What does the word “outsider” mean to you? What do you think makes a person or group of people “outsiders”?

  • I think of an “outsider” as someone who is either excluded from a majority group or chooses not to be a part of a majority group. Differences of opinion or differences in circumstances may make people outsiders.

• Ask: How does the word “outsiders” connect to what you know about 1960s America?

  • In 1960s America, many groups of people fought for equal rights and protections under the law. They may have felt like “outsiders” because they didn’t have the advantages that others did and had to fight to get those advantages.

Have students briefly reflect on their learning goals for reading The Outsiders. Use responses to gauge interests and guide focus during upcoming lessons.

Turn and Talk

Say these Directions: Write your response to the question below.

Ask: What do you most want to understand about 1960s U.S. teen culture while reading The Outsiders, and why?

• Optional Sentence Starter:

  • “I want to understand ____ because______.”

  • What I most want to understand is how 1960s U.S. teen culture impacted people from different backgrounds and identities. I noticed that the greasers were mostly young white men, and I’m curious if the author will also talk about the experience of women and/or racial minorities.

Instruct students to read Chapter 1 of The Outsiders and to take notes in their Journal in response to the following prompt:

• As you read the text, what evidence do you see of the social factors of the 1960s, like poverty or youth subcultures, affecting teenagers like Ponyboy?