We Beat the Street: How A Friendship Pact Led to Success

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

Paying It Forward (Times Three)

In this activity, students will consider how the idea of “paying it forward” manifests within We Beat the Street and come up with strategies for paying it forward in their own lives.

In We Beat the Street, George, Sampson, and Rameck are empowered by friendship to pursue an education in medicine. As they discuss in Chapter 17, the boys decide that it is important for them to pay their good fortune forward by establishing a student organization called Ujima, dedicated to exposing youth from underprivileged backgrounds to the possibilities of college and higher education.

Even after graduating from med school, the idea of “paying it forward” continued to be important to George, Sampson, and Rameck. In 2000, they established Three Doctors Foundation to “inspire and motivate youth through healthy lifestyles and education” via positive peer and mentor relationships, particularly for underserved populations.

In this activity, you will draw from the themes and motifs of We Beat the Street and strategize with your classmates about ways to “pay it forward” in your own community. To get you started, in small groups, first review the core themes of the book: What were the main values of the three boys? When were those values most evident in the text? Next, try and think of ways you can serve as an agent of kindness/positive change in your own communities. To get you started, you might find reviewing the following lists helpful:

• 50 Ways to Pay it Forward from the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
• 10 Ways to Pay it Forward from the Teaching Channel

In your small groups, figure out two kinds of action you’d like to focus on: A one-time action you can do now, and another you can start practicing daily going forward. Discuss with the larger class the different kinds of actions you came up with in your small groups.

Teaching Suggestion: Encourage students to reflect upon the themes of the book (The Power of Friendship, Second Chances, and Learning Experiences and Education) and how they might manifest in their own lives. For example, considering the power of friendship: perhaps a friend did something kind/generous for them, and so they could “pay it forward” by identifying someone in need to whom they might be kind/generous. In terms of second chances, they could think of someone in their life who deserves a second chance. Finally, regarding learning experiences and education, students could consider the positive mentors they’ve had in their educational career, and possibly think of how they might serve as a mentor for a younger student.

Differentiation Suggestion: A differentiation strategy to make this a more interactive, long-term activity would be to have the class play a week-long round of Kindness Bingo. Hand out each of these cards to students and instruct them to complete as many acts of kindness on the cards as possible within the span of a week. The first student to get a bingo wins a prize; for an added challenge, if any student is able to completely fill out their card they win a special prize.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Friendship is an important theme in We Beat the Street.

• How are the boys helped along by their friends? (topic sentence)
• On the other hand, how are they hindered by their friends?
• In your conclusion, explore how the Power of Friendship acts as both a negative force and an agent of positive change in the book.

2. In their early childhood, theater and music are essential to the boys’ lives.

• Why are theater and music essential to the boys’ lives, even later in medical school? (topic sentence)
• How do theater and music provide a vehicle for the boys’ self-expression?
• In your conclusion, explain how music and theater offer the boys a new kind of Learning Experience and Education, one outside the usual subjects taught in school.

3. Sports participation is important to all three of the boys, to varying degrees.

• Why are sports important to the boys’ development from kids into young adults? (topic sentence)
• How do sports offer the boys a kind of education different from the one they receive in school?
• In your conclusion, describe how sports represent another way the boys have Learning Experiences that enrich their lives beyond formal education.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. A select group of adults in the three boys’ lives helps them grow in a positive way. What teachers or mentors most profoundly shape the boys’ learning and sense of self? Examine at least three figures (one for each boy) and comment on how they helped steer the boy’s life in the right direction. In your conclusion, focus on which, if any, of these teachers/mentors gave the boys a Second Chance to make a good decision after a bad one, and explain how that is an especially powerful tool for change.

2. How do socioeconomics and growing up in an impoverished environment impact the three boys? Reflect upon the ways in which their socioeconomically disadvantaged environment puts them in harm’s way, as well as how their lack of family wealth and financial resources impacts their quest to receive an education. In your conclusion, explore how the Power of Friendship provides emotional stability, as well as a certain amount of financial stability, offsetting the three boys’ lack of financial resources at home.

3. In their childhoods, the three boys often find themselves engaging in or around illegal activity. What kind of legal trouble do the boys get into over the course of We Beat the Street and what do they learn from these mistakes and/or legal entanglements? In your conclusion, explore how legal entanglements became a kind of Learning Experience for the boys, and in certain instances offered them a Second Chance to make a better decision.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. When Sampson breaks his foot at age six, how does he react when the doctor shows him the X-ray of his wounded bones?

A) He is disgusted to see his “insides” so clearly.

B) He is fascinated and feels as if he could stare at the X-ray for hours.

C) He is scared to see that his skeleton is so fragile.

D) He is neutral about the experience because he is in so much pain.

2. When Rameck is placed into special education classes in Chapter 2, what does this say about his Catholic school teachers?

A) They don’t understand that his behavioral “issues” are related to boredom.

B) They are cruelly and unfairly punishing him.

C) They observe him closely and catch onto subtle intellectual difficulties.

D) Their idea of “special education” means something different to them.

3. On a school trip to the Lincoln Center, George is chagrined by a wealthy woman’s comment toward him. What does she say?

A) That George’s shoes are inappropriate for the venue

B) That Miss Johnson should be ashamed to bring so many students to Lincoln Center

C) That she can't believe children from George’s school could be so well behaved

D) That she is surprised their school could afford to send them to the orchestra

4. When Jack catches Sampson stealing from his store in Chapter 4, he threatens to do what as punishment?

A) Call the police

B) Feed Sampson to his dogs

C) Ban Sampson from his store for life

D) Tell Sampson’s mother

5. In Chapter 5, Rameck lands a leading role in his school’s production of what play?

A) “Guys and Dolls”

B) “Jesus Christ Superstar”

C) “Hair”

D) “The Wiz”

6. Sampson is dismayed when he learns how Eddie intends to procure supplies for his carpet-cleaning business. How does he plan on getting supplies?

A) Stealing them from a store

B) Stealing them from his mother

C) Stealing them from a neighbor

D) Stealing them from a non-profit

7. What is the main reason that Sampson tries his hardest at the entrance exam for University High School?

A) He wants to please his mother.

B) He wants to beat his friend Craig.

C) He wants to impress his crush.

D) He wants to prove to himself that he can do it.

8. When Rameck pleads for leniency after the Silly String incident in Chapter 11, which of the book’s themes does that episode best represent?

A) The power of friendship

B) Second chances

C) Learning experiences and education

D) The power of music and theater

9. The three boys nearly skip the presentation by the Seton Hall professor about the college’s pre-med/pre-dentist program. What makes them attend?

A) George convinces the other two that they should attend.

B) Rameck’s mother comes to the school and forces them to go.

C) A math teacher and the principal both herd the boys toward the presentation.

D) Rameck convinces the other two that they should attend.

10. Which of the following is an ever-present motif in the childhood of the three boys in We Beat the Street?

A) Graffiti

B) Broken windows

C) Guns

D) Firecrackers

11. Who is the speaker at the graduation ceremony for the boys’ seven-week summer program at Seton Hall?

A) An African American pulmonologist

B) An African American surgeon

C) An African American pediatrician

D) An African American oncologist

12. Which of the following is a reason why the boys have trouble getting used to social interactions in their first semester at Seton Hall, as described in Chapter 17?

A) The majority of their classmates are snobby.

B) The majority of their classmates are rich.

C) The majority of their classmates are white.

D) The majority of their classmates have specialized interests.

13. What initially spurs the boys into trying to make it in the world of hip-hop?

A) George’s mother says she thinks they could be great musicians.

B) A music teacher at Seton Hall encourages them.

C) A rapper comes to campus and inspires them.

D) They produce a short karaoke video.

14. When Rameck is unjustly stopped by the police while driving home from a boxing match in Chapter 20, how does the situation resolve itself?

A) The charges against Rameck are miraculously dropped.

B) The sentence for Rameck is a month in jail.

C) Rameck’s mother bails him out.

D) Rameck’s lawyer argues for his innocence, and he is found “not guilty” by a jury.

15. Sampson is practically ready to throw in the towel when an emergency medicine residency position suddenly opens up at what hospital?

A) St. Mary’s General Hospital

B) Hudson Regional Hospital

C) Newark Beth Israel

D) Kindred Hospital

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. In their early childhood, the adults in Sampson, Rameck, and George’s lives all fail to protect them or actively endanger them. What is an example of this?

2. How do guns serve as a motif throughout We Beat the Street?