A Born a Crime Unit Plan Your Students Will Actually Love

Trevor Noah’s memoir Born a Crime is hands-down one of my favorite modern books to incorporate into a high school curriculum. Between its laugh-out-loud moments and heartbreaking truths, Born a Crime gives young readers a deeply personal window into apartheid South Africa—and makes them think about the world today in entirely new ways. If you’re planning to teach this memoir and have no idea how to start putting together your Born a Crime unit plan, you’re in the right place.

In this blog post, I’m going to share some ideas and resources you can use to put together your unit.

Want to skip the prep work of creating your Born a Crime unit plan from scratch? Grab my complete Born a Crime by Trevor Noah Unit Bundle here!

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What Is Born a Crime About?

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood is Trevor Noah’s first book—and it’s just as sharp, funny, and powerful as his comedy. The memoir follows Noah’s life growing up as a mixed-race person during and after apartheid in South Africa, a time when his very existence was considered illegal under the law.

Through short narrative scenes and vivid storytelling, Noah reflects on his childhood with his fiercely independent black Xhosa mother, his struggles with identity, and his experiences navigating white areas, black neighborhoods, and everything in between. During this exploration, he examines themes like institutional racism, poverty, language, and unconditional love—with plenty of humor and heart woven throughout.

While the book covers serious topics like the Immorality Act, apartheid South Africa, and the legacy of colonialism, it also highlights moments of resilience, family bonds, and the importance of laughter in the face of injustice. It’s a perfect text for high school and advanced middle school students looking to understand history through a personal lens.

It’s important to note that there are two versions of this book.

There is the original, unabridged version. And there is a young reader’s version.

The young reader’s version is censored (no swearing!) and has been condensed. Some sections are shortened, and an entire chapter was removed.

If you’re teaching students in a more conservative district, or have struggling students, or just don’t have much time for this unit, the young adult version may work better for you. (My Born a Crime Unit includes versions for both book formats.)

For more information about why you should teach Born a Crime, check out this blog post.

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Start with the Free Born a Crime Pacing Guide

Before I dive in with some teaching ideas, I just wanted to let you know that I have the pacing guide for my own Born a Crime unit right here.

Sometimes a big, long blog post isn’t what you need. Sometimes, you just want to see examples of how others did it.

Use this free pacing guide to help map out your own Born a Crime unit from the first chapter to the end of the memoir.

Want to see one example of pacing for a *Born a Crime* unit plan? Download this one for free.

It includes:

Suggested reading pacing
Related YouTube videos to add to your classroom for enrichment
Options for homework assignments, assessments, and final projects
Day-by-day plan for a nine-week quarter

Whether you’re teaching in high school or adapting it for advanced middle school readers, this guide can help you get a feel for structuring your own unit, OR it can serve as a preview if you’re interested in grabbing my done-for-you unit.

Check it out here for FREE. Use what you like, and change what you don’t.

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Born A Crime Unit Plan Must-have #1: Background Building Lessons

Before diving into Noah’s story, start with a few lessons on the historical context.

Build background knowledge on South Africa’s history of apartheid with this lesson and two activities.

Most students in the United States haven’t learned much about apartheid South Africa, so this part is essential.

Whether you do a mini-lesson, stations, Webquest, or some other lesson structure, cover the history of racism in South Africa. (Bonus points if you can include how it connects to institutional racism and the world today.)

In my Apartheid Introduction Lesson, I include a slideshow presentation with the history of apartheid and two activities. After (or during) the lesson, students answer questions using a timeline of apartheid legislation. For the second activity, students do a close reading of an excerpt from Mandela’s “I Am Prepared to Die” speech and answer questions.

In addition to historical context, you should talk a little bit about the book itself–the genre, the author, etc.

In my Born a Crime Introduction Lesson, I include a presentation that covers some basic information about Trevor Noah and his book. I also include some guided notes to help students stay on task.

If students have heard of him before, make sure to play some of his Comedy Central or stand-up clips.

If you want to create your own lessons, consider having students read primary sources before a class discussion.

These activities provide the necessary understanding of the text before you even crack open page one.

Born A Crime Unit Plan Must-have #2: Thematic Ideas

Because Born a Crime is written by a South African comedian and host of The Daily Show, students expect it to be all jokes. But this book delivers so much more: reflections on unconditional love, the importance of language, and life lessons that feel painfully relevant to young adults today.

For this reason, I encourage you to take a thematic approach to teaching Born a Crime.

If you need to introduce your students to theme, this Theme Lesson includes a slideshow, handout, exit tickets, graphic organizer, and more!

Here are some of the pivotal moments worth analyzing:

Noah’s experience navigating life as a mixed-race person in white areas
The dynamic between his black woman mother and white Swiss father
Structural choices in the memoir, like the short narrative scenes and anecdotal format
His insight into the cycle of poverty, institutional racism, and surviving as an outsider

If your students have never studied theme deeply before, you may want to find time to teach this concept in your class. (You can grab my Theme Lesson to help you do this right here.)

I also recommend narrowing down the themes or giving your students thematic questions to ponder during their study.

Theme is an essential part of my Born a Crime unit plan. Students track thematic ideas as they read using a graphic organizer (in this resource). They write short responses to thematic questions in their reading journal and workbook here. Then, at the end of this unit, they write a thematic essay.

You could use your own methods, however, to weave theme throughout your unit.

Consider using identity charts, small groups, and close reading strategies to explore how these larger themes affect a reader’s understanding of both the memoir and the world today.

Writing a Thematic Essay

Students’ thematic essays are based on a central theme. (I give students a selection of thematic questions to choose from. You could let students pick any theme they want.) They gather evidence (quotes from the book) to support their analysis of key concepts from the memoir.

Go through each step of the writing process:

This thematic essay assignment for *Born a Crime* includes an editable assignment, rubric, and more!

Gathering textual evidence from throughout the memoir (my Born a Crime Thematic Essay resource includes a graphic organizer to help students do this)
Then, outlining an argument using claims, evidence, and reasoning
Practicing thorough textual evidence and clear analysis
Using mentor texts and peer feedback for support
Conducting a peer review before the final draft

Of course, if you don’t want students’ summative assessment to be an essay, you can create whatever final project you’d like.

You can even tie in a summative Socratic seminar as a pre-writing activity or offer creative options like a news report, short narrative scene, or crime lesson plan presentation.

Whatever you choose should build off of the skills and topics you teach throughout your unit.

Born A Crime Unit Plan Must-have #3: Comprehension Checks

I would love to assign reading and be able to assume that students actually, you know, read.

These *Born a Crime* Chapter Questions include questions for BOTH versions of the book and editable versions, so you can make sure they work for your class!

But in my experience, that rarely happens.

So make sure you have some assignments built in to keep students engaged and on task.

I always assign reading questions for students to complete while reading any class novel. Are they innovative? No. But they work.

If you need some, you can grab my Born a Crime Reading Questions right here.

I also always assign short, multiple choice questions or quizzes along the way. (I like to call them quizzes when I assign them, but I don’t put them in the grade book as high-stakes points. Students never notice.)

Alternatively, you could assign a study guide (or have students create their own).

Born A Crime Unit Plan Must-have #4: Activities to Help Students Connect

So far, your Born a Crime unit plan includes background-building lessons and activities, thematic lessons, and comprehension checks. Now it’s time to add in some ways for students to connect with the novel.

In what ways do you want your students to dig into the text?

You could have discussion questions for students to work through in small groups after each chapter or section. Maybe you want students to make connections to nonfiction texts or discuss Noah’s structural choices.

This 40-page *Born a Crime* Student Workbook has an endless amount of activities for your students–from academic writing prompts to creative activities.

My Born a Crime unit includes a complete student workbook. Inside this workbook are journal reflections, quote analyses, and a character list. It also includes fun activities like a crossword, word search, and plan a podcast worksheet. (Plus, there’s a digital version for remote teaching.)

Another idea to help students connect more to the novel is to have them connect to the author–maybe even seeing Trevor Noah as a modern role model.

You can spend a day or two discussing satire (I have a Satire Introduction Lesson to help you here) and watch some Trevor Noah clips.

Want some more information on Born a Crime activities? Check out this blog post.

Resources to Help

This *Born a Crime* Unit Bundle includes everything you need for a thematic exploration of Trevor Noah’s memoir.

If you’re not up to creating your entire Born a Crime unit plan from scratch, check out my Born a Crime unit bundle. Inside you’ll find:

It’s a great way to support young readers while addressing key language arts standards.

Don’t forget that you can check out the pacing guide for free right here.

Final Thoughts on Teaching Born a Crime

If you’re looking to create a Born a Crime unit plan that honors Trevor Noah’s unique experiences, connects to world history and the world today, and encourages growth in reading, writing, and critical thinking—make sure you’ve checked off all of the boxes.

Whether you’re teaching Born a Crime in 9th grade, using it in a world history or language arts course, or checking it out from your local library, I hope these ideas help you put together a unit that gives your students deeper understanding.

Ready to teach Born a Crime?
Grab the free pacing guide here and get started with a plan that supports your students every step of the way.