Shifting to teach Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime to sophomore students several years ago was one of the BEST shifts for student engagement. Students, on semester exit surveys, regularly comment that this book is the first book they’ve actually read in a long time. And we all know from experts in the field such as Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher, that teachers can combat “fake” reading with student choice and texts that are truly engaging.
This is a must-teach text in my book. Not only is it interesting to read and story-based, the chapters can be read together or alone as “episodes” that develop thematic ideas.
Four thematic ideas that students can trace throughout Born a Crime are:
- Identity & Coming of Age
- Faith & Religion
- Language & Culture
- Love & Relationships
Now, one can take a perfectly good, engaging text and kill it with too much structure, boring assignments, yada yada.
So in this blog post, I’m going to give you some of the ideas I have tried with success over the years in teaching this compelling memoir.
In addition, here are ready-to-go Born a Crime teaching resources that will save you some time!
Born a Crime Reading Notes
Taking notes while reading (handwritten notes, that is) is proven to increase comprehension and focus. Allowing students to come up with their own questions and insights is best, though teachers may find it helpful to provide more structured questions as a differentiation option. *Scroll down further for some chapter questions I’ve collected over the years.
TQE Notes
The first type of notes my PLC and I tried as TQE notes.
This method asks students to come to class prepared with a TQE (thought, question, and epiphany) to spark further analysis and conversation. Modeling is needed to show students the level of insights you expect, but this method is great because it’s student-led and student-friendly.
As you get rolling with this type of notes and modeling, you’ll want to be sure to pull and project AWESOME student TQE’s on an ongoing basis.
You’ll also want to try brainstorming TQE’s as a whole class and discussing / voting on which insights spark the best conversation. On-the-spot revision of student questions can also be a powerful move to help students write discussion-worthy questions.
Sketch Notes for Born a Crime
This type of note taking is a blend of visual and written cues. I tried this year as one of three options for students. Here are some examples of what my students created for chapter one:
Hexagonal Thinking Notes
Another type of notes I’ve tried is hexagonal thinking notes. You can try these notes for one chapter OR have students take notes on pre-made hexagons throughout the reading focused on meaningful quotes, universal thematic insights, how student group affiliations (values, expectations, roles, behaviors, beliefs, assumptions) influence their understanding of the text, how Trevor Noah acts as a cultural critic, etc.
You can have students sort these hexagons to make connections (individually, in pairs, in small groups) throughout the reading, but definitely at the end to synthesize their thinking and think about “big picture” meaning(s).
For the final hexagonal thinking sort, you can provide students with prompts. Here are some teaching Born a Crime questions you could have students sort in response to:
- In what ways does Born a Crime function on a metaphorical, symbolic level?
- What motif(s) does Noah thread through his vignettes and how do these, together, help the reader to see a big-picture message?
- How does Born a Crime define apartheid beyond the information in your Hyperdoc, and what questions remain?
This assignment aligns perfectly with the following CCSS standards:
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.2
Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper). - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.5
Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter). - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.6
Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.
Standards-Based Notes
The final type of reading notes for Born a Crime you might try are focused around standards. This type of notes sets students up for ongoing reading responses aligned to the standards. This year, as we shifted to Common Lit, we had to align everything around theme, characterization, and structure / setting.
Here’s the simple note sheet I used.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah Audiobook
I highly recommend having students listen to the audiobook in addition to reading independently! Trevor Noah’s narration makes the stories come to life. I typically have students listen to the first chapter, pausing to discuss, as a way to kick of our reading experience. Another chapter that’s best to listen to and read is chapter 15, but they’re ALL worth listening to.
Reading Schedule
This book has a unique structure. Divided into three parts, each chapter has a preface (introduction) that reads like a history lesson but ends up connecting in some way to the theme or idea behind the chapter’s story. The narrative, as a whole, starts with the Immorality Act of 1927 to provide context for the book’s title and the author’s childhood / coming of age experiences.
If you have time, have students read every chapter. Here’s a sample reading schedule (after we read / listen to the first chapter together):
Ch. 2 (p. 19-31) |
Ch. 3-4 (p. 33-59) |
Ch. 5-8 (p. 61-111) |
Ch. 9-11 (p. 115-141) |
Ch. 12-14 (p. 143-179) |
Ch. 15-16 (p. 183-224) |
Ch. 17-18 (p. 225-end) |
Now, if you’re pressed for time, you may want to try making the “affairs of the heart” chapters in part two optional. Or, if you’re even MORE pressed for time, you can try an unconventional reading approach: paired chapters.
Paired Chapters for Reading Born a Crime
This year, with our district’s switch to Common Lit 360, we were even more pressed for time than usual. The English 10 “Coming of Age” unit (ugh) was “required,” but I didn’t want to lose this text!
So I blended the two. This required some creativity on my part when it came to designing the reading schedule. In the end, I ended up liking how I was able to pair chapters purposefully around topics and ideas for larger discussions. Students had the option of reading the chapters in-between that were not formally assigned, and many of them did. 🙂
Here are my suggested pairings. Aaaaand even if you read the chapters sequentially, you can still pair these chapters together for discussion!
BAC Ch’s 1-2
To enrich the response and discussion in these opening chapters, I had students explore apartheid further on their own.
I also had students graph 8-10 key life moments and journal about the significance of three moments on the graph. This connected both Born a Crime and the overall unit question: How do our values and beliefs influence the transition from childhood to adulthood?
This thinking exercise set students up to write photograph vignettes as they discussed the initial chapters in Born a Crime. Noah’s storytelling is a rich mentor text for this assignment.
Here are some small group / Born a Crime book club questions for chapters 1-2:
- In chapters 1-2 of Born a Crime, what central theme begins to emerge through Trevor Noah’s depiction of his early life and his relationship with his mother? How is this theme developed through specific details and anecdotes in these chapters? Provide an objective summary of how these details and stories contribute to the theme.
- In the first two chapters of Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, how does the portrayal of Trevor’s mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, contribute to the development of complex characters in the narrative? How do her actions and beliefs challenge or reinforce the themes of identity and resilience?
- In the first two chapters of Born a Crime, how does Trevor Noah’s use of chapter preludes, flashbacks, and non-linear storytelling affect the reader’s understanding of his childhood experiences and the broader social context of his anecdotes? How do these choices create elements of surprise and tension in the narrative?
BAC Chapters 3 & 13
In these chapters, we focused on the idea of social constructs, i.e. the question of how people interpret reality…and why.
I introduced the concept with some real world examples for discussion that centered around food / eating: saliva vs. spit, eating horse and crickets, American food such as Cheez Whiz, “mountain chicken,” PBJ sandwiches, and Hershey’s chocolate. Then, I paused to have students apply this thinking to the idea of being a “teenager.”
The bigger idea we get to is that social constructs can include and marginalize people who don’t fit a “socially constructed” norm. Our understanding and connotations are mediated by culture, and cultural meaning-making can result in including some things and people as “ideal” and excluding others.
Jumping to chapters 3 & 13 in Born a Crime, students discussed the following:
BAC Chapters 4 & 11
I paired these chapters together so that we could focus on the idea of code switching. To start off, here are some links you can have students explore to understand the idea of code switching.
- Code-Switching Explains the World
- What is Code Switching?
- Code Switching: What It Is and What It Costs Us
- 5 Reasons Why People Code Switch
At the beginning of our discussion on this set of chapters, here are some journal response options I gave to students. They chose 1-2 topics and wrote for 10 minutes before sharing an insight with their table group.
- Language and Identity: Reflect on a time when you felt that language or communication played a significant role in your sense of belonging or separation from a group. How did this experience influence your perception of identity and connection with others?
- Racism and Perception: Consider a situation where you encountered prejudice or discrimination. How did you or others involved address the situation, and what strategies, like those Noah describes, did you use to challenge or cope with these biases?
- Privilege and Inequality: Think about a moment when you recognized a privilege you had compared to others. How did this realization affect your views on fairness and equality? In what ways can you use your awareness of privilege to promote a more equitable environment?
- Chameleon Identity: Have you ever had to adapt your behavior or identity to fit in with different groups or environments? How did this affect your sense of self and your interactions with others? Reflect on whether this adaptability helped you or created internal conflict.
- Isolation and Connection: Reflect on a time when you felt both connected to and isolated from the people around you. How did you navigate these conflicting feelings, and what did you learn about your own needs for connection and independence?
To kick-off small group conversation, I asked students to discuss / analyze important quotes. I started them with this list and asked them to add their own, as well.
For each of the quotes, I asked students to discuss the following questions: What’s the context (turn in your books)? What do these quotes reveal about the challenges Trevor faces in maintaining his personal identity while conforming to varying social expectations? What is Trevor critiquing here about society and/or human nature?
- Language brings with it an identity and a culture, or at least the perception of it. A shared language says “We’re the same.” A language barrier says “We’re different” (49).
- Racism is stupid, it’s easily tricked (49).
- My own family basically did what the American justice system does: I was given more lenient treatment than the black kids…growing up the way I did, I learned how easy it is for white people to get comfortable with a system that awards them all the perks… (52).
- I became a chameleon. My color didn’t change, but I could change your perception of my color (56).
- Since I belonged to no group I learned to move seamlessly between groups. I floated. I was a chameleon, still, a cultural chameleon (140).
- Being at H.W. Jack made me realize I was black. Before that recess I’d never had to choose, but when I was forced to choose, I chose black…With the black kids, I wasn’t constantly trying to be. With the black kids, I just was (59).
- As the outsider, you can retreat into a shell, be anonymous, be invisible. Or you can go the other way. You protect yourself by opening up. You don’t ask to be accepted for everything you are, just the one part of yourself that you’re willing to share (141).
- I was everywhere with everybody, and at the same time I was all by myself (141).
Finally, another discussion option for this set of chapters (that I used Brisk to create) is a ladder discussion. Here’s what it looked like:
BAC Chapters 5 & 8
In this section of the text, we focused on analyzing character complexity.
After practicing character analysis, students responded to the following Born a Crime writing prompt:
We see complexity in relationships and interactions between characters when there is tension. Thinking about our six tools for analyzing complex characters, what creates conflict between Patricia & Trevor OR Trevor & Robert? Where’s the dissonance?
- In your 8-10 sentence response, give a specific example of conflict (with p.#) between characters (Patricia and Trevor OR Trevor and Robert) due to one or more of the areas / tools you thought about at the stations.
- In your response, be sure to explain how each character is different, referencing one or more tools, and then explain how that difference leads to conflict.
- End your paragraph by connecting to the bigger picture. Why is this conflict important for character development / thematic development?
BAC Chapters 15-16
In this section of the text, we focused on synthesis and brought in hexagonal thinking as I described in the previous section of this blog post. I gave students a honeycomb hexagonal thinking note sheet with four ideas filled in and asked them to add quotes, details, and big ideas from chapters 15 and 16.
After students discussed their connections in groups, they responded to one of the following prompts:
Begin by stating your most interesting insight (#1) or important idea (#2). Then, explain how at least three pieces of evidence (with page #’s) from connected hexagons contribute to this insight or idea and connect together.
- Looking at your hexagon map, explain your most interesting insight that connects 3 or more hexagons together. Make sure to discuss how these details work together to help the reader to understand a deeper message or theme in chapters 15-16.
- Looking at your hexagon map, explain how at least three of your hexagons help you to understand an important symbolic idea or complex character development in chapters 15-16.
BAC Chapters 18-end
Students ended their reading of Born a Crime with small group graded discussions. Throughout our reading, in addition to what I’ve described above, we were working on discussion skills in formative small group conversations (using specific textual evidence, adding depth and complexity to the conversation, paraphrasing to show understanding). These graded discussions gave students an opportunity to demonstrate these skills as well as to use their notes from throughout the reading. Here are the questions students were given to start.
- In this text, complex relationships are portrayed. How did societal factors influence the development of these relationships? What causes conflict between characters and what does this conflict reveal?
- In this text, Noah develops themes related to values and beliefs related to Identity, Coming of Age, Faith / Religion, Language & Culture, Love & Relationships. Discuss how Noah develops these topics / thematic ideas over the course of the text. What messages does he send related to these topics?
- How does Noah offer a cultural critique of society and human nature? So what?! Why does this matter?
I ran these discussion groups over 3 different days while students had a separate independent task to complete while I was listening to group discussions. Other formats you could try include a pinwheel discussion, a fishbowl, or even a stoplight discussion. Check out this student-led whole class discussion post for more ideas!
Born a Crime Book Club Questions
Here are some chapter-by-chapter questions I’ve collected over the years for student book clubs and discussion/reading response. Or, as I previously stated, these can serve as a differentiation option for students who may need a more structured way of taking chapter notes.
Chapter 1
- How does the incident with the minibus contribute to our understanding of Noah’s relationship with his mother? Identify at least two things this moment reveals about their relationship, using evidence from pages 15–17 to support your answer.
- What is Noah’s tone in this first chapter? What is the impact of his tone on the reader? Provide specific examples from pages 5–11 to support your answer and carefully explain your thinking.
- Reread the dialogue between Trevor and his mother that begins after the break on page 9 and ends halfway through page 10 (end at “‘Trevor! Sun’qhela!'”). Why has Noah most likely included this dialogue? What does it reveal? Provide specific evidence from these pages to support your answer.
Chapter 2
- What is Noah’s perspective on/argument about the government’s attempt to enforce laws against race-mixing? How does he use humor to advance this idea? Provide specific evidence from page 22 to support your answer.
- How do apartheid laws affect Noah’s mother’s life before her son is born? How does she respond to these laws? Provide specific examples from pages 24–26 to support your answer and carefully explain your thinking.
- How do apartheid laws affect Trevor’s life as a young child? What examples and anecdotes does he provide to demonstrate this? Provide specific examples from pages 27–31 to support your answer and carefully explain your thinking.
Chapters 3-4
- What does Noah’s description of prayer meetings on page 40 reveal about the relationship between language and power in South Africa? Provide specific evidence from this page and carefully explain your thinking.
- Why does Noah include the anecdote on pages 51–52 about perforating his cousin’s eardrum? What other stories and examples does he provide to support this idea? Provide specific evidence from pages 51–54 to support your answer.
- How does Noah develop the idea that he was a “chameleon” at school? Does he ultimately want to be a “chameleon”? Provide specific evidence from pages 56–59 and carefully explain your thinking.
Chapters 5-6
- How was Patricia Noah’s young life shaped by apartheid laws and policies? How did she respond to the circumstances of her life? Provide specific evidence from Chapter 5 to support your answer.
- On page 61, Noah writes “A knowledgeable man is a free man.” How does Patricia Noah’s parenting of Trevor reflect this belief? How does Noah use humor to develop the reader’s understanding of his relationship with his mother in Chapter 6? Provide at least two examples from pages 77–85 to support your answer.
- In what ways is Trevor’s relationship with his father different from his relationship with his mother? Provide two examples from today’s reading and carefully explain your thinking.
Chapter 9
- What information does Noah include on pages 115–116 and 118 (after the page break) to page 120 (ending at the page break)? Considering what happens in the second half of the chapter, why has he most likely chosen to include this information at the beginning of the chapter? Provide specific evidence from these pages and carefully explain your thinking.
- What ideas is Noah trying to illustrate through the anecdotes about his stolen bicycle and the mulberry tree? How is it related to the information he provides on pages 118–120? Provide specific evidence from pages 121–122 to support your answer.
Chapters 11 & 13
- Noah has titled Chapter 11, “Outsider.” In what ways was he an outsider at his high school? Provide specific evidence from this chapter to support your answer.
- How does Trevor respond to being an outsider at his high school? What does this reveal about his character? Provide evidence from Chapter 11 to support your answer.
- What idea does Noah develop through the story of getting away with shoplifting? What does this story demonstrate about beliefs about race in South Africa? Provide specific evidence from Chapter 13 to support your answer and carefully explain your thinking.
Chapter 15
- What two lessons does Trevor learn about money on page 188 and 190? Do you agree or disagree and why?
- On page 189, Trevor’s voice as a cultural critic comes through. What is he “really” saying as he uses McDonalds as a metaphor for America?
- What message is Trevor sending with the story about “Go Hitler”?
Chapter 17
- Reread pages 57–58, 138–139, and 239–240. What connections can you make between these three passages? What do these passages, read together, reveal about Trevor Noah’s experiences growing up? Provide evidence from all three passages to support your answer and carefully explain your thinking.
- Why does Noah most likely include the story on page 225? What is the relationship between this story and the choices he makes in the following chapter? Provide specific evidence from the text to support your answer.
- What did Trevor’s experience in jail teach him about the assumptions we make about others? Provide specific evidence from the chapter to support your answer.
- On page 56, Noah writes, “That, and so many other smaller incidents in my life, made me realize that language, even more than color, defines who you are to people.” How does Trevor’s experience in jail further develop this idea about language?
Chapter 18
- How does Abel’s presence in the family impact Trevor’s life and understanding of the world?
- What does Trevor understand about his mother’s marriage as an adult that he didn’t understand as a boy?
- Consider the opening and closing of this chapter in particular and the memoir in general, including the final conversation between Trevor and his mother in the epilogue on page 285? What is the significance of the structural choices Noah makes?
Born a Crime One Pager
As a summative assignment, one pagers are a fun way for students to demonstrate their understanding of a text. In addition to creating the one pager, I’ve found that students need to explain the reason for their choices. This written component is a critical piece of the assessment so that I’m able to accurately assess student work and understanding.
Here are some example one pagers for Born a Crime that students have created in the past:
Born a Crime Project
One of the assignments that we use this novel to scaffold toward is our cultural criticism blog post assignment.
Good creative cultural criticism highlights some aspect of our world and critiques it in a way that allows us to think more deeply about who we are. This blog assignment is an invitation to think more deeply about what some aspect of our culture can show us about ourselves. As always, we’re looking for the truths that most people won’t see. In creative cultural criticism, it’s often the leaps in thought that the writer makes that take us to this surprising place.
We’ve recently read Born a Crime, which is Trevor Noah engaging in cultural criticism through storytelling, so you’ve seen this in action already. It’s your turn to be a critic now, to let your own stories and voice shine through in your own writing in order to explore different aspects of popular culture that you find important.
Read more about cultural criticism blog writing as a next step from reading Born a Crime!
I hope that this blog post has given you a LOT to think about and ideas for planning your next Born a Crime unit. You really cannot go wrong with this text. It’s a student (and teacher) favorite, for sure!