10th Grade World Literature, College Prep



10th Grade World Literature, College Preparatory

Year-long Theme: Defining Ourselves

Unit Theme: Decisions and Consequences: Do I dare disturb the universe?

Unit Techniques: Conflict, Metaphor, Static and Dynamic Character, Greek Tragedy, Tragic Hero, Tragic Flaw, Dystopian Novel, Marxist Criticism, Epiphany

|1. Unit Intro. |2. View Jerry McGuire |3. Complete “Contents . .|4. “We Are Many” Neruda |5. “Civil Peace” Achebe; |

|“The Road Not Taken” |clip, begin “Contents of |.”; |and “I’ve Seen the |Independent Reading |

|Frost and |the Dead Man’s Pocket” |Independent Reading |Promised Land” King; | |

|“Making a Fist” Nye, |Finny; | |Independent | |

|view clip from Hoosiers; |Independent Reading | |Reading | |

|Independent Reading | | | | |

|6. Intro. Antigone, |7. Antigone; |8. Antigone; Independent |9. Antigone; Independent |10. Antigone, begin group|

|video on Sophocles and |Independent Reading |Reading |Reading |work on modern tragedy |

|Greek Drama, view clip | | | |plays; Independent |

|from Braveheart; | | | |Reading |

|Independent Reading | | | | |

|11. Antigone wrap-up, |12. Group work on modern |13. Present Plays; |14. Present Plays; |15. Present Plays; |

|group work on modern |tragedy plays; |Independent Reading |Independent Reading |Independent Reading |

|tragedy plays; |Independent Reading | | | |

|Independent Reading | | | | |

|16. “A Man Said to the |17. Begin excerpt from |18. Complete Kaffir Boy |19. “The Base Stealer” |20. Complete “Through the|

|Universe” Crane, |Kaffir Boy Methabane, The|excerpt, The Chocolate |Francis and begin |Tunnel,” The Chocolate |

|Intro. The Chocolate War |Chocolate War continued; |War continued; |“Through the Tunnel” |War continued; |

|Cormier; |Independent Reading |Independent Reading |Lessing, The Chocolate |Independent Reading |

|Independent Reading | | |War continued; | |

| | | |Independent Reading | |

|21. “We Wear the Mask” |22. “The Vision Quest” |23. “Eldorado” Poe, begin|24. Complete “And of Clay|25. “The Boar Hunt” |

|Dunbar, The Chocolate War|Lame Deer, The Chocolate |“And of Clay Are We |. . .”, complete The |Vasconcelos, wrap-up The |

|continued; Independent |War continued; |Created” Allende, The |Chocolate War; |Chocolate War; |

|Reading |Independent Reading |Chocolate War continued; |Independent Reading |Independent Reading |

| | |Independent Reading | | |

|26. ABR’s, Intro 1984 |27. ABR’s, 1984 |28. ABR’s, 1984 |29. ABR’s, 1984 |30. Complete ABR’s, view |

|Orwell, view Tiananmen |continued; Independent |continued; Independent |continued; Independent |clips from The Time |

|Square video; Independent|Reading |Reading |Reading |Machine and Planet of the|

|Reading | | | |Apes, 1984 continued; |

| | | | | |

| | | | |30. Independent Reading |

|31. Begin “The Masque of |32. Complete “The Masque |33. “The Censors” |34. Snow White and the |35. “Ex-Basketball |

|the Read Death” Poe, 1984|. . .”, 1984 continued; |Valenzuela, 1984 |Seven Dwarfs, 1984 |Player” Updike and “Miss |

|continued; |Independent Reading |continued; |continued; |Rosie” Clifton, |

|Independent Reading | |Independent Reading |Independent Reading |1984 continued; |

| | | | |Independent Reading |

|36. Begin excerpt from |37. Complete Brave New |38.Final project research|39. 1984 continued, work |40. 1984 continued, work |

|Brave New World Huxley, |World excerpt, 1984 |in Media Center |on projects; Independent |on projects; Independent |

|1984 continued; |continued; Independent | |Reading |Reading |

|Independent Reading |Reading | | | |

|41. 1984 wrap-up, work on|42. Present projects; |43. Present projects; |44. Present Projects; |45. Complete project |

|projects; Independent |Independent Reading |Independent Reading |Independent Reading |presentations, unit |

|Reading | | | |wrap-up, “Do not go |

| | | | |gentle into that good |

| | | | |night” Thomas and finish |

| | | | |viewing Hoosiers clip; |

| | | | |Independent Reading |

Drew Lawson

Dr. Cope

ENGL 7701

July 26, 2004

Thematic Unit

Year-long Theme: Defining Ourselves

Unit Theme: Decisions and Consequences: Do I dare disturb the universe?

Grade and Ability Level: 10th, College Preparatory

Unit Techniques: Conflict, Metaphor, Static and Dynamic Character, Greek Tragedy, Tragic Hero, Tragic Flaw, Dystopian Novel, Epiphany, Marxist Criticism

Narrative

I have chosen each peace of literature in this unit due to its connection to the theme “Decisions and Consequences: Do I dare disturb the universe?”. All of the texts address, in some way, characters standing up for their beliefs (both good and bad), defying some form of authority, and facing the consequences for their decisions. This unit’s primary works include Antigone by Sophocles, The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, and 1984 by George Orwell. Each of these three texts focuses on one person’s dogged defense of his or her beliefs in the face of tremendous opposition. Throughout this unit, students will discuss how this theme is portrayed in each text. Students will not only make connections between texts, but they will also make universal connections between the texts and their lives, others’ lives, and the world around them. This unit will challenge students to be individuals, thinking about and taking a stand for what they believe, even if their beliefs challenge those of their peers, their parents, or society in general; however, if students are to take a stand, they should be prepared to defend their actions and face the consequences. Making individual decisions and being mature enough to confront the consequences are important parts of growing up and, ultimately, in defining who we are as individuals.

This unit incorporates a variety of literature, including poems, short stories, nonfiction, drama, and novels. The unit begins with a week of poetry, short stories, and nonfiction, introducing the theme and challenging students to make thematic connections across literary genres. The remainder of the unit concentrates on drama and novels, with short stories, poetry, and nonfiction used to teach the key terms and ideas of the larger works.

I will occasionally introduce literary terms through minilessons, giving modern pop culture examples of terms, discussing the examples, and then having students define the terms themselves. For example, before teaching the term epiphany, I would show a clip from the film Jerry McGuire where the protagonist experiences an epiphany that changes his entire outlook on life. After presenting an overview of classical Greek tragedy through a video, I will introduce individual terms such as tragic flaw and tragic hero through minilessons while reading Antigone. Furthermore, while reading The Chocolate War, I will introduce the types of conflict in minilessons, and while reading 1984, I will introduce the genre of the dystopian novel using video clips from The Time Machine and Planet of the Apes. I will introduce literary terms so that students realize that these are not merely antiquated techniques only applied in English classes. Students will understand that these terms are still applicable today and that understanding these terms will make them more astute viewers of pop culture and the world around them.

Throughout the unit, students will interact with texts in reader response journals. I agree with Rosenblatt, Andrasick, and Probst that the act of reading is a transaction between reader and text. Meaning is not locked inside of a text, waiting to be freed. Instead, through personal experiences and reactions, readers apply their own meanings to texts. Following Fulwiler’s example, I will have students respond to texts by encouraging them to ask and answer questions, describe what they picture in their mind, connect and extend the text to their personal experiences, other texts, movies, songs, etc., write about passages they don’t understand and tell why, or write about passages they especially enjoyed. Students will write in a conversational voice and will be graded on the content and quality of their responses only. Students must, however, support what they write with examples from the text. I will require students to write two response journals per week, for a total of eighteen at unit’s end. Students will use their reader response journal topics as prewriting for essay assignments over the course of the unit. I will use reader response journals to show students that their thoughts on and opinions of literature certainly do matter. Students who understand that their role as a reader is an active one where they are encouraged to construct meaning are far more likely to fall in love with literature and become life-long readers.

Harvey Daniel’s literature circles, however, will be the primary focus of instruction throughout the unit. I will use literature circles because each role in the circle models one of Harvey and Goudvis’ effective reading strategies. Furthermore, literature circles not only offer students experience in cooperative learning groups, but they also provide differentiated instruction. The roles in the literature circles will include connector, illustrator, passage master, and discussion director. Prior to this unit, I will have modeled each role in the literature circle for the students so that they will have a clear understanding of their respective jobs. All students will have copies of Aidan Chamber’s Tell-Me questions, and discussion directors can model their questions around these. The class will also be accustomed to me using these questions to facilitate class discussion. Connectors and passage masters will use their experience with reader response journals to complete their roles in the literature circles. Illustrators will find pictures that are in some way related to the reading and will provide a one paragraph explanation as to why they chose this particular illustration. Literature circles will meet three times each week with roles changing on a weekly basis. Through literature circles, students will take responsibility for their learning while also practice small-group speaking skills and effective reading strategies.

Throughout the semester, students will write in a variety of genres. In addition to reader response journaling and literature circles, students will compose poetry after reading “Making a Fist,” write a modern day tragedy play while reading Antigone, write a persuasive essay from the perspective of a character in The Chocolate War, and write/present a final research paper/Power Point project in which they will research one historical aspect of 1984 and compare and contrast the novel thematically to two other works they have read during this unit.

Short stories, nonfiction, and poems will be read in class through a variety of methods. I will read portions of texts aloud to model Harvey and Goudvis’ effective reading strategies to students. Students will occasionally read silently; however, I will primarily use several of Burke’s oral reading strategies such as Quaker reading, interrupted reading, reader’s theater, and reciprocal teaching. I will use reader’s theater and reciprocal teaching as the students’ primary methods for reading Antigone. Plays are meant to be heard and acted, not read. Using reader’s theater, I will assign parts to students and have them perform certain scenes from Antigone, following up the performance with a discussion of the scene. Students could ask the actors what a certain line meant or why they chose to act a particular part the way they did, hence leading to an in-depth discussion of the play. Through reciprocal teaching, students will read the play in small groups and discuss it as they go along. Through reciprocal teaching, students who are having trouble understanding the play can ask for assistance from those who have a firm grasp of the text. Furthermore, students can practice speaking skills in small groups. Working in the same small groups, students will also create and present tableaus to summarize acts and scenes in Antigone. Each student will have a pose and a spoken line, and each student must write a rationale explaining why he or she chose that particular pose and line.

Interrupted reading is similar to reciprocal teaching, the difference being that interrupted reading is done in pairs with one student reading and the other interrupting to make comments, ask questions, etc. I will use interrupted reading when students read a somewhat difficult text such as “The Masque of the Red Death” because students are often enthralled with Poe and have many comments, yet his writing style is complex, eliciting many questions, as well. The class will Quaker read with students standing to read as long as they want before choosing a different reader. Following Zemelmann’s Best Practice, I will allow daily class time for students to read books of their choice independently, as well.

Students will occasionally read The Chocolate War and 1984 silently in class, but, most often, these novels will be read for homework; however, certain important passages or chapters will be read aloud in class, and certain chapters, such as the excerpt from Goldstein’s book in 1984, will be summarized by me. I have chosen to handle independent reading in this manner because I want students to apply the knowledge they learn from reading short stories, poems, and nonfiction in class to these novels instead of having me hold their hands and tell them everything I want them to know. Students will understand the theme of The Chocolate War relatively easily, and once they have read this YA novel, they will understand better how to analyze the same theme in the more complicated novel 1984. As a result of “piggybacking” a YA novel on an adult novel, I will not have to devote so much class time explaining 1984, thereby allowing students to create knowledge for themselves.

Georgia Performance Standards:

ELA10RL1: The student demonstrates comprehension by identifying evidence (e.g. diction, imagery, point of view figurative language, symbolism, plot events) and main ideas in a variety of texts representative of different genres (e.g. poetry, prose [short story, novel, essay, editorial, biography], and drama) and using this evidence as the basis for interpretation. The texts are of the quality and complexity illustrated by the Grade Ten reading list.

Meeting the Standard: Students will acquire knowledge about static and dynamic character and the components of classical Greek tragedy through reading, discussing, and writing about Antigone. Students will write and present modern tragedy plays to demonstrate their knowledge of the conventions of the classical Greek tragedy. Students will acquire knowledge about conflict and dystopian novel through reading, discussing, and writing about the novel 1984, ultimately demonstrating their knowledge through an essay/Power Point presentation, connecting the novel to the students’ lives and to other texts covered in this unit. Students will acquire knowledge about the term epiphany through a mini-lesson on the term and by reading and writing about the short story “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket.” Students will demonstrate their knowledge of the term epiphany by writing a journal entry describing a personal epiphany. Students will learn about metaphor through a mini-lesson on the term and through reading the poem “Making a Fist.” Students will demonstrate their knowledge of metaphor by writing their own “A Metaphor for Life” poem.

ELA10RL2: The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of theme in literary works and provides evidence from the works to support understanding.

Meeting the Standard: Students will identify a universal connection through the theme of “Decisions and Consequences: Do I dare disturb the universe?”. This theme is central to each text covered in this unit. Students will identify how each text portrays this theme and compare and contrast these texts in journals, essays, literature circles, group and individual projects, and class discussions. Students will not only connect the theme to their lives and personal experiences, but they will also make a connection to the lives and experiences of others. That this unit is arranged thematically stresses the importance and unifying aspects of theme across various literary genres. While reading each text, students will concentrate on ways that such diverse texts are united thematically.

ELA10RL3: The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to contemporary context or historical background, as well as to works from other time periods.

Meeting the Standard: Students will connect Antigone to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. Students will compare the character of Antigone to other leaders and groups, both “good” and “bad,” such as Martin Luther King, Jesus Christ, Nelson Mandela, the student-protesters of Tiananmen Square, terrorists, suicide bombers, etc., who sacrificed themselves for their respective causes. Students will research the historical background of 1984, connecting the novel to Stalin, Hitler, and other totalitarian dictators throughout history. Students will also research current human rights violations, and those who are fighting against them, throughout the world. Students will discuss the ways that Woodstock High School and the government of United States are both similar to and different from Big Brother and the world of 1984.

ELA10RL4: The student employs a variety of writing genres (essays, narratives, poems, or technical documents) to demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of significant ideas in sophisticated literary works.

Meeting the Standard: Students will write modern tragedy plays implementing the elements of classical Greek tragedy. Students will write a persuasive essay from the perspective of any character in The Chocolate War, either encouraging or discouraging students to stand up for their beliefs. Students will write “A Metaphor for Life” poems after reading “Making a Fist.” Students will write journal entries responding to literature. Students will write about literature and make personal connections as they participate in literature circles. Students will write a short research paper on one historical aspect of 1984 and create a Power Point presentation applying the theme of “Decisions and Consequences: Do I dare disturb the universe?” to there own lives as well as comparing and contrasting how the theme is portrayed in each of the major texts covered in this unit.

ELA10RL5: The student understands and acquires new vocabulary and uses it correctly in reading and writing.

Meeting the Standard: Students will receive a list of pertinent vocabulary words for each piece of literature. Students will study Latin and Greek prefixes, roots, and suffixes, using them to decode meanings of unfamiliar words. I will utilize Burke’s and Allen’s strategies for vocabulary instruction by having students complete vocabulary squares and vocabulary clusters for assigned vocabulary, while also keeping a personal vocabulary log addressing unfamiliar words they encounter while reading each text. Reading will be the primary means of vocabulary instruction and acquisition in this unit.

Works Cited

Allen, Janet. Words, Words, Words: Teaching Vocabulary in Grades 4-12.. Portland: Stenhouse, 1999.

Andrasick, Kathleen. Opening Texts: Using Writing to Teach Literature. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 1990.

Burke, Jim. The English Teacher’s Companion: A Complete Guide to Classroom, Curriculum, and Profession. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 1999.

Chambers, Aidan. Tell Me: Children, Reading, and Talk. Gloucestershire: Thimble Press, 1993.

Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf, 1974.

Farrell, Edmund, J., and James R. Squire, eds. Transactions with Literature: A Fifty-Year Perspective. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1990.

Fulwiler, Toby, and William A. Stephany, eds. English Studies: Reading, Writing, and Interpreting Texts. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2002.

Glencoe Literature: Course Five. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.

Harvey, Stephanie, and Anne Goudvis. Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding. York, ME: Stenhouse, 1983.

Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 3rd ed. Boston: St. Martin’s, 1993.

Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Signet, 1990.

Probst, R.E. “Reader-Response Theory and the English Curriculum.” English Journal 83 (1994): 37-44.

Zemelman, Steve. Best Practice. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 1998.

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