Context
The classroom that this unit has been designed for is an 11th grade
English literature and composition class. The class consists of approximately
30 students and meets on an alternating block schedule, which consists
of 90-minute class periods every other day, meeting three times one week,
and two times the next. It is a yearlong course. There are
18 females and 12 males in the class. 2 of the students are African
American, 2 are Hispanic American, 3 are Asian American, and the rest are
Caucasian American. The school in which this classroom exists is
located in the northeast suburbs of Grand Rapids, Michigan. There
are approximately 1100 students in the school. Of these students,
approximately 75 percent of the population is Caucasian American, 12 percent
is African American, 7 percent is Hispanic American, and 6 percent is Asian
American. The majority of the students come from middle class families,
although both ends of the socioeconomic spectrum are represented in the
student population. The school is also a School of Choice, with students
from around the area attending classes there. The school is considered
to be more liberal than most in the area when it comes to deciding what
works of literature will be taught in the classroom and teachers, especially
those teaching the advanced classes, are given adequate freedom in choosing
their texts. This unit will take approximately six to eight weeks
to complete (the decision to give more or less time will be made depending
on the progress of the students in each class) and will be taught in the
early spring.
This unit is relevant to the students in this classroom, and, I think,
to the students in any 11th grade language arts classroom. This unit
allows students to think about the individuality of others and their own
individuality and to present that individuality to the class and possibly
to others. I feel that this unit is both a fun and informative way
to learn more about the students in the class. Although students
will have spent a lot of time together up until this point in the year
(remember, the assignment is given in the early to late spring), I think
that learning new things about each other will be even more surprising.
The classroom in which this class will be taught is on a block schedule,
with two 90-minute class periods one week, and then three 90-minute class
periods the next. Because this is a unit that addresses both literature
and composition, the class time will be divided into two parts: reading
workshop and writing workshop. The writing workshop class periods
will take place during the last class of each week, meaning that the first
week, students will have one reading workshop and one writing workshop
class and the second week will consist of two reading workshops and one
writing workshop, and so on. For the purposes of organization, the
activities portion of this unit plan is divided up between these two components
of the class. Throughout the course of the unit, the teacher may
decide to use more or less time for reading and writing workshops based
on the progress of the class.
Literary Benefits
I feel that that this unit on individualism will
be beneficial to students in the future when they read texts that deal
with this issue as well. The theme of individualism is recognizable
in all of the texts (and one movie) used throughout the unit. Furthermore,
this unit will prepare students to read larger texts by Emerson, Thoreau,
Whitman as well as the wealth of stories and poems by Poe. Furthermore,
many novels and stories deal with the struggle of an individual to be an
individual such as works by George Orwell and Gustave Flaubert.
Writing Benefits
The benefits provided to students in regards to
their writing with this unit will be significant. Their purpose throughout
the writing workshop portion of this unit, students will be working on
a project that will showcase themselves. The purpose of this project
is for students to get to know more about each other, even though they
have spent a significant amount of time with each other throughout the
year. The assumption is that students still do not know everything
about each other and that the information provided through the project
will be interesting. Students will have the opportunity to choose
any genre that they would like as long as the teacher approves it, which
in most cases is likely. This will allow students to express themselves
in any medium that they desire. Furthermore, this project, being
based on themselves, should provide a topic of great interest to the students.
As will be discussed later, the final projects (along with an explanatory
essay) will be presented to the class and showcased either in the school
or on the class website, or both. This will provide the students
with a living, breathing audience that will increase motivation.
Benefits to Students’ Lives
This unit focuses on individuality. In high
school, individuality can either be praised or ridiculed. This unit
will give students a sense of individuality, not only that of the writers
that that they read, but their own individuality as well. Furthermore,
with the final project that they will produce, students will have the opportunity
to celebrate their own individuality, an event that many may not have had
up until this point. They will also view the individuality of the
others in their class, and hopefully come to respect that individuality.
Reading Workshop Plan
Rationale
I realize that some may question my decision to
include a number of texts in this unit because of the fact that they deal
with certain issues such as gothic literature and death. Many might
consider this unit to be too dark for high school students. However,
I believe that these texts all have important messages about individualism.
In none of the texts is death or suicide glorified. Furthermore,
I feel that these texts illustrate the detrimental effects of denying individuality.
These texts are all texts that are commonly taught at the high school level
and I suggest that it is only the grouping the I have provided that makes
them appear darker than they really are.
Texts
Walden (excerpts) Henry David Thoreau
The selections of Walden provided as excerpts in
the textbook illustrate many of Thoreau’s essential ideas and provide for
the students a good representation of his philosophy. His major argument
is for nonconformity, an issue that embodies the spirit of individualism.
I feel that this text is essential to introducing the idea of individuality
to the class.
"Thoreau, a Hippie in History" Delbert L. Earisman
This short selection will provide the students with
an opportunity to relate Thoreau’s ideas and philosophy to those of a more
contemporary time: the 1960s and 1970s.
“Song of Myself” (excerpts) Walt Whitman
I feel that this is Whitman’s ultimate poem, one
that embodies individuality to the highest possible degree. From
the beginning, Whitman considers his own individuality to be just as important
and deserving as that of the heroes of classical poetry such as Homer’s
Odysseus. This poem will also serve as a basis for which students
will produce their final projects for the unit.
“O Captain! My Captain!” Walt Whitman
This poem will serve as a lead in to the following
movie. Although I do not think that this poem focuses as explicitly
on individuality as does the preceding poem in the unit, I do think that
it will give students a means by which to identify with both the poet and
the characters in the movie and themselves.
Dead Poet’s Society (movie) Peter Weir (director)
I think that this movie is wonderful for an English
class in a number of ways. First of all, it glorifies literature
and individualism. Second, it illustrates the harmful effects of
denying one the right to be an individual. Some have said that Robin
Williams’ character is irresponsible in this film. I disagree.
It is Neil’s father that is irresponsible. He denies Neil the opportunity
to be an individual (especially noticeable when he decides to send Neil
to military school, in which there are no individuals).
“The Masque of the Red Death” Edgar Allen Poe
This is the introduction to the darker side of individualism:
American Gothic Literature. In this story, the main character is
neurotically trying to avoid death and cannot escape it. Here students
will be introduced to the horror story and try to see the individuality
portrayed in it.
"Danse Macabre" (excerpt) Stephen King
This short excerpt is intended to help students
better understand the horror genre. It describes some of the characteristics
of horror stories and explains why they are used. Students will then
apply what they have learned from the excerpt to “The Masque of the Red
Death,” which they will have already read, and to “A Rose for Emily, which
they will read later.
“A Rose for Emily” William Faulkner
Faulkner’s story about the morbid Miss Emily Grierson
will provide students with an opportunity to view the relationship between
a community and an individual. Miss Emily’s actions may then be seen
as a result of the community’s actions as well as her own individuality.
Classic Text: The Awakening Kate Chopin
The final work studied in the unit will be Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.
This novella describes the life and death of Edna Pontellier, a wealthy
woman living in and around New Orleans. This text was written around
the turn of the 20th Century. In the story, Edna Pontellier searches
for happiness in the arms of a man other than her husband, only to realize
that she cannot realize this happiness because of her children. She
commits suicide. This text will provide students with an opportunity
to view the individuality of a woman being stifled and will briefly introduce
the concepts of feminism to the class. I think that the text also
has links to previous texts studied in the unit, especially the movie Dead
Poet’s Society.
Overview of Reading Minilessons
Below are two overviews of minilesson that will
be conducted during the reading workshop time of the class. Each
minilesson will take approximately 15-35 minutes to cover. The time
is only approximate and may be shortened or lengthened depending on the
progress of the students.
Psychoanalytic Critical Theory
This minilesson is intended to introduce psychoanalytic
critical theory to the students. The very basic points of Freud’s
theory will be overviewed and then the students will read some excerpts
from Lois Tyson’s Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. The
students will then participate in a short psychoanalytic exercise in which
we will examine Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily” through a psychoanalytic
lens.
Reading Poetry Aloud
This minilesson is intended to help students better
understand some of the poetry that they are reading in this unit and poetry
that they will be reading in the future. The lesson will include
poetry readings by both the teacher and the students. Students will
be encouraged to read aloud many of the same poems in order to see how
different people understand a poem in different ways. This will be
illustrated by the way(s) in which the students read their poems aloud.
Introductory Activity
I have chosen to create a set of scenarios for the
introductory activity for The Spirit of Individualism Unit.
Introductory Activity Rationale
There are many valuable prereading activities to
choose from when designing a thematic unit. For this unit, I believe
that scenarios are best suited for introduction to the themes and concepts
that the class will be dealing with throughout the unit. I have previously
come to the conclusion that scenarios lie on a progression of activity
choices that builds upon the ideas and understanding of prior activities.
At the point in the year during which this unit is being taught, I believe
that students will have adequately practiced the skills associated with
both AWBR prompts and opinionnaires. I believe that this renders
them ready to move on to the next logical step on the progression, which
is scenarios. Although scenarios do not offer the opportunity to
link themes and concepts from the upcoming unit directly to personal experience
as AWBR prompts do, nor do they offer the opportunity to link personal
opinions directly to the texts as do opinionnaires, it is my belief that
once students can form these direct links through completing the aforementioned
activities, they will then be able to form indirect personal links through
studying and analyzing scenarios. Additionally, the assessment of
scenarios more closely parallels the assessment of texts, albeit in smaller
doses. This, in turn, provides valuable close reading practice for
students.
Introductory Activity
Directions: Please read through each of the following scenarios carefully.
Each scenario describes a person struggling with his/her own spirit of
individualism. The focus of this exercise is on the ability of the
person to be an individual. Please rank each of the three following
scenarios from 1 to 3 with 1 being the scenario that illustrates a person
displaying her/his individualism to the highest degree and 3 being to the
lowest degree.
___ A) George is a high school senior who is preparing
to graduate. Every year in the past the seniors at George’s high
school have performed a prank near the end of the year to signal their
freedom from school. This year a bunch of George’s friends and classmates
are planning to let 300 white mice go in the hallways of the school 15
minutes before the first morning class starts. The principal and
other administration have caught wind of the plan and have promised to
suspend any students caught performing the prank and prevent them from
walking at graduation. George is nervous about this but his classmates
plan to go on with the prank under the assumption that “they can’t suspend
all of us!” George doesn’t want his friends to think he’s scared
but he doesn’t want to get suspended and not walk at graduation either.
So instead of participating in the white mouse prank George uses his artistic
talents to draw unflattering caricatures of the principal and some of the
teachers and posts them all over the school. George’s classmates
all get suspended for the white mice but George gets away with his prank.
___ B) Emily is a freshman in high school. Her friends have all
began to dye their hair various different colors to be different from everyone
else in the school. Many of her friends have piercings on their faces
and Emily has decided to get a nose ring this week. Her mother constantly
ridicules her about the clothes that she wears and the way she looks.
But Emily does not see anything wrong with the way that her or her friends
look. She likes the fact that they all look different from the majority
of the other students in the school.
___ C) Steve and his friends are getting ready for the high school’s
Big Battle of the Bands in a week and a half. Steve is the lead singer
of his friends’ rock band. His buddy Joe plays lead guitar, Kyle
plays rhythm guitar, Troy plays the bass, and Ryan is the drummer.
Recently, Steve has been working on some new lyrics with his girlfriend,
Anna. He is very anxious to try them out with his friends playing
a new song that Joe and Kyle have written the music for. When he
tries them out at practice with Anna there, his friends just kind of smile
and don’t really give Steve and feedback on the lyrics. After practice,
they guys tell Steve that the new lyrics aren’t very good and that they
don’t want to use them at the Big Battle of the Bands. Steve becomes
very angry with his friends and quits the band. When Steve tells
Anna about it she says that the two of them should start their own music
group anyway.
Procedures
1) “Okay. Today we’re going to start with a short scenario activity. I’m going to give each of you a set of scenarios and you will have to rank them in order based on the way in which each describes the person being an individual. After we are finished, we will discuss our responses in small groups and then as a class.”
2) Hand out the scenarios.
3) Read the instructions out loud while the students follow along on their handouts. After the instructions have been read, ask students if they have any questions about the activity.
4) After any questions have been answered, instruct the students to begin reading the scenarios and ranking them. Allow approximately 10 minutes for them to read and respond.
5) When the 9 minutes have passed, inform the students that they have only about a minute left.
6) If students are still finishing their rankings after the 10 minutes are up, allow them another minute or two, but no more.
7) Divide the students up into groups of 4 students each. This can be done by having the students count off by fours or, if the students have demonstrated an ability to form groups quickly and efficiently by themselves, allow them to do so. If there are students missing or if the number of students is not divisible by 4, one or two groups of 5 students will be okay.
8) Again go over the group instructions on the scenario handout out loud with the students following along. Ask if they have any questions.
9) After the instructions have been read, instruct the students further. Tell the students that although they have probably responded differently and ranked the scenarios in a different order, their goal in the small groups is to come to a consensus.
10) Allow 5-7 minutes for the group discussion. If discussions are going well and not finished by the end of 7 minutes, allow 3 more minutes and then end the small group discussions.
11) Instruct the students to remain seated in their groups but inform them that a class discussion will follow. Ask a member from each group to tell the class what the group decided was best order for the scenarios. Mark their responses on the board.
12) After each of the groups has given their rankings compare the groups decisions. If there are any differences between groups, as the groups to discuss why their opinions differed.
13) At the conclusion of the class discussion, instruct students to disband their groups and return to their seats. Begin the link to upcoming texts, described next, and then begin reading Walden.
Link to Upcoming Texts
In order to link this activity to the upcoming texts in the unit I would
make this statement to the class shortly after finishing the activity or
just before we began reading Walden: “Now we are going to read some texts
by various authors that deal with individualism. Keep in mind the
instances of individuality that you encountered in the scenarios that you
ranked and compare and contrast them to the experiences of the characters
in the texts.” It is likely that I would remind the students of the
scenarios again while reading each of the texts.
Teaching Plan for The Awakening
Transition
In order to transition from the previous texts in
the unit to The Awakening by Kate Chopin, I would make the following statement:
“Alright. Up until this point we have been reading various texts
that have illustrated for us the individuality of both the characters in
the texts and the authors of those texts. Now we are going to begin
reading The Awakening by Kate Chopin. It is the final text we will
be reading in this unit. As you read, I want you to keep in mind
the various aspects of individuality we have seen in the previous texts
and think both about the characters in the text and the author. I
think that doing this will help you to better understand The Awakening.”
Introductory Activity Rationale
I have chosen to create a case study for the introductory
activity for The Awakening. While there are many prereading activities
to choose from when creating an introductory activity for a text, I feel
that by this point in the year, students will have adequately practiced
AWBR prompts, opinnionaires, and scenarios. I think that a case study
that closely parallels the text in a shorter form gives the students the
opportunity to deal with issues central to the text in a smaller dose.
Introductory Activity
Directions: Please read through the following case study carefully.
After you have read it thoroughly, you will find three questions at the
end. Please respond to each of these questions in writing.
About a paragraph for each question should be sufficient.
John is a freshman at College University. He
is from Littleton, Michigan, which is about 90 miles from the CU campus.
He has been living in his dorm room for about four weeks and he is just
settling in to his surroundings. He has made a lot of new friends
at school and is enjoying himself very much. His classes are tougher
than he thought they would be, but he’s getting by.
Judy is John’s girlfriend. They have been
dating since John was a sophomore in high school and Judy was a freshman.
Since Judy is still in high school, John only gets a chance to see her
on weekends, but he goes home every chance that he gets. Judy plans
on going to college after high school, but will probably go to Prestige
College, which is out of state. Whenever John goes home, Judy continually
instructs him to get his grades up so that he can transfer to PC next year.
John doesn’t think he’ll ever get his grades high enough to do that and
has told Judy that he likes it at CU.
One weekend at CU, John doesn’t go home because
he has a big test coming up the following Monday. A girl in
his class, Jill, asks him if he wants to study that Sunday, and since John
could use a little help reviewing for his test he says sure. Jill
is a sophomore in college and lives in an apartment off-campus.
While at Jill’s apartment, John and Jill stay up
late studying and talking about themselves. Jill owns a guitar and
is pretty good at playing it. John tells her that he would like to
learn how to play and Jill tells him the she will teach him.
The next weekend John goes home to see Judy.
He tells her that he is learning how to play the guitar and that soon he
should be able to play a song for her. Judy tells him that playing
the guitar is waste of his time and that he should be focusing on getting
all As so that he can transfer to PC next year. She says that he’s
not being practical. John just shrugs it off and they go out to a
movie.
Later, during the next week, Jill asks John if he
would like to hang out over the weekend. She says that she could
teach him more on the guitar. John immediately says yes. Later
that night, he gets a phone call from Judy asking him what they are going
to do that weekend.
1) What do you think John will do? Why?
2) What would you do if you were in John’s position? Why?
3) What issues is John facing concerning his individuality?
Procedures
1) “Alright. Today we’re going to begin with a case study that will better prepare us to begin reading Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. I’m going to hand out a case study for all of you to read and a few questions for you to answer at the end.”
2) Hand out the case study and questions.
3) Read the directions out loud as the students follow along on their handouts. After reading the directions, ask if the students have any questions regarding the activity.
4) After any questions have been answered, instruct the students to begin reading the case study. Allow approximately 3-5 minutes for this.
5) After every student is done reading the case study, instruct them to begin writing their answers to the three questions that follow the case study. Again, tell them that a paragraph, approximately 4 or 5 sentences should be sufficient to answer the questions. Allow about 10-15 minutes for the students to construct their responses.
6) Divide the students up into groups of 4 or 5 each. Instruct them that their goal is to discuss their answers to the questions that they answered at the end of the case study and to compare their answers. Allow approximately 5-7 minutes for this discussion
7) Bring the groups back together as a class: “Now that you have thought a little bit more about individuality issues in a context that seems some of you might face in the near future, we are going to start reading Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. Keep in mind that even though this story is set in different time period and that many social circumstances are different from those you are currently or ever will experience, many individuality issues that we have encountered and discussed in previous texts and activities will be found here.”
8) Have students begin reading The Awakening.
Midreading
Throughout the reading of The Awakening, I would
like to stop at several points to discuss what the students are encountering
in the text and to examine some key elements of the text that coincide
with the theme of individuality on which the entire unit is based.
However, because the story is relatively short compared to other novels,
I feel that it will only be necessary to stop once to do an actual in-class
midreading activity.
I would like to use Autobiographical Writing While
Reading prompts for my midreading activity. I feel that autobiographical
writing in conjunction with reading a text can provide the students with
a great opportunity to link themselves to the text through writing about
personal feelings and experiences.
Below I have illustrated the mid-reading activity that I will use and
the point during reading at which these prompts will be presented to the
class.
Mid-Reading Autobiographical Writing Prompts
These prompts will be given to the class after they
have read Chapter 21, the chapter in which Edna first reads a letter written
to Mademoiselle Reisz by Robert Lebrun.
Directions: Please read the first two of the following prompts and
respond to either #1 or #2. After you have responded to one of the
first two, please answer the corresponding prompt in the following set,
building on your first response. Please do the same with the third
set of prompts. When you are finished, please turn your work in to
the teacher.
1) You have just seen Edna read a letter from Robert
to Mademoiselle Reisz and it made her cry. Why do you think that
she was moved to tears? Have you ever been emotionally moved (not
necessarily to tears) simply by something that someone else wrote?
Who wrote it? What was it about? Why did it move you so much?
2) As we have seen in Chapter 21 and the previous
chapters, Edna seems to strongly identify with Mademoiselle Reisz.
Why do you think that she identifies so strongly with her? Have you
ever identified very strongly with another person like Edna has with Mademoiselle
Reisz? Who was it? Why did you identify so strongly with that
person?
1) Now that you have written about a time that you
have been emotionally moved by something that someone else wrote, do you
see any similarities between your situation and Edna’s? What makes
them similar? What makes them different? What do you think
that Chopin is trying to say about emotion here? Especially about
love?
2) Now that you have written about someone that you
have identified strongly with in the past, how does that help you to understand
why Edna identifies so strongly with Mademoiselle Reisz? What does
your own experience say about Edna’s? What do you think that Chopin
is trying to say about friends like Mademoiselle Reisz vs. Léonce
or Madame Ratignolle?
1) Now that you have written about what this text
is trying to say about emotion within an individual, how does this help
you to view emotion within yourself and within others?
2) Now that you have thought about what The Awakening
is trying to say about certain relationships and their effects on an individual,
how does this help you to see your own relationships differently?
Discussion Questions
The following questions are meant to facilitate discussion in the class
directly following the completion of The Awakening. All of the following
are authentic questions meant to allow the students to state what they
think about the text and its implications.
Prediction Questions
1) What do you think will happen to Léonce
now that Edna has killed herself? Do you think that he will remarry?
Why or why not?
2) How do you think that Robert Lebrun will react
to Edna’s death? Will he simply move on? Do you think that
he will ever engage in another affair with a married woman? Why or
why not?
Author’s Generalization Questions
1) What do you think that Chopin was trying to say
about the position of women in her society? Do you see any links
to femenism?
2) What do you think that Chopin is trying to say
about individuality? Of women? Of men?
Structural Generalization Questions
1) Why do you think that Chopin allowed Edna Pontellier
to die? What would have changed had she been able to live?
How would the story have changed had it been Robert Lebrun who died?
2) Why do you think that Edna engages in an affair
with another man besides Robert Lebrun? What would have changed in
the story if she had not had this affair?
Personal Link Questions
1) In The Awakening, what character do you most identify
with? Which character could you see yourself being in the story?
Why?
2) If Edna Pontellier, Léonce Pontellier,
and Robert Lebrun were all friends of yours in this high school, who would
you be the most mad at and whose side would you take? Why?
Multiple Intelligence Activity
The multiple intelligence activity designed for
this unit will occur primarily in the writing workshop portion of the class.
The students will work on this project throughout the duration of the unit.
It is described in full detail in the following plan for the writing workshop
component of the class.
note: this project has been modified from one presented in The Language
of Literature by McDougal Littell, published in 1997. The original
project idea can be found on page 265i of the Annotated Teacher’s Edition.
Writing Workshop Plan
Class Handout
Celebration of Yourself
Directions: You are to create a celebration of yourself to be presented
to the class at the end of our unit on individualism. The project
could be similar to Whitman’s “Song of Myself” in poem format or could
be short story about a defining moment in your life. But don’t feel
limited by these suggestions. Feel free to use HyperStudio, Powerpoint,
music (original compositions or recorded music by other artists), or drama
(dramatic dialogs, short plays – you can have other students help with
a presentation like this), etc. to enhance your presentation. Make
sure that you discuss any ideas other than those listed here with me before
you begin work on them.
Also to be included with this assignment is a written essay detailing
why you included everything you did in your presentation and what your
entire presentation is trying to say about you. This essay should
be at least 2 pages long, typed, double-spaced, Times-New Roman 12 pt.
font, with standard margins. This essay will not be a part of the
presentation, but will be a part of the overall final grade for the project.
The purpose of this essay is to let me and the others that will read it
understand your project and presentation better. It may help you
understand it better, too. Remember, not everything in Whitman’s
“Song of Myself” is readily recognizable to the audience. The things
that you include in your project and presentation might not be readily
recognizable to us. Use this essay to help us understand it.
Approximate length of presentation: 5-12 minutes
Approximate length of essay: 2-4 pages
Drafting and Revision
Students will begin work on their projects on the
writing workshop day from the beginning of the unit until the unit is completed.
They will go through various steps from beginning to end of the unit, including
brainstorming, minilessons, drafting, etc. I envision actual
drafts of their projects beginning during the second week of the unit.
As stated above, the project is considered to be a celebration of the self,
similar to Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” but not confined to poetry
as a genre. This text is the third text to be read in the unit and
I want to make sure that the students are familiar with it before actual
drafting begins. The writing workshop day(s) prior to the reading
and discussion of this text will consist primarily of brainstorming activities
and an interview/brainstorming minilesson, to be described later.
Directions for drafting will vary depending
on the genre that each individual student has chosen. For those utilizing
poetry, they will begin with brainstorming and move into the process of
drafting their poems. Those using Powerpoint or HyperStudio might
begin by making outlines of their projects in class and drafting each individual
slide or card on paper (ample computer time will be made available for
those students who choose an option such as this). Those creating
short drama pieces will begin the drafting process by writing their dialogs
or stage directions, if the piece is performance based. Those creating
original music will begin work on lyrics, similar to poetry composition.
After students have completed approximately two drafts, they will revise
and edit their projects and begin drafting the essays that will accompany
the final product. The essays will examine each part of the project
and explain to the reader why the writer included what he/she did.
I am aware that many students may initially find
this to be a difficult project, especially in the beginning of the drafting
phase. As stated above, in-class time for drafting their projects
will begin during the second week of the unit. As the unit will take
from 1 to 2 months to complete (depending on the students and my perception
of their progress) the students will then have approximately 2 to 3 weeks
to work on drafting and revision. This means that up to three 90-minute
class periods will be devoted to drafting and revision. I believe
that this will be sufficient time for students to complete at least two
drafts of their projects, considering that out of class work time will
be expected of them as well. I will make use of teacher-student conferences
throughout the drafting and revision processes, trying to meet with each
student at least twice in that 3-week period. Students will also
be required to conduct at least 1 peer conference during this period to
gain feedback on the drafting and revision processes. These conferences
will be discussed later.
At the conclusion of the three weeks of drafting
and revision, editing will occur. This process will continue up until
the due date and coincide with the drafting and revision of the essay component
of the project. At least 2 class periods will be devoted to the essay,
during which the drafting, revision, and editing processes will be conducted.
There will be little need for prewriting because the composition of the
project prior to this point will act as prewriting and aid in organization
of ideas and thoughts for the drafting process.
In addition to in-class time and conferencing during
the drafting process, short journal entries will also be assigned as either
entrance or exit slips. The subject of these entries will address
the drafting process and any problems that the students might be having
so that I will be able to address those problems either in class during
conferences or with short written responses. These journal entries
will be short and only take about 5 minutes of class time at the end of
the period or 10 minutes of out of class time.
For those students who appear to be having in trouble
in class or that voice concerns about the drafting and revision processes
in the form of journals (entrance or exit slips), I will address them in
a number of ways. I will ask them to go back and view prior pieces
and think about how they got started with those. I will also use
the student-teacher conferences and peer conferences to address such problems.
And I will suggest that students attempt “desperation” writing if they
get really stuck while drafting. This method has students write down
each thought in their head on a separate piece of paper and then arrange
them in some type of order that makes sense, even if the student feels
that the thought, idea, or sentence is without merit. This method
usually provides the student with the opportunity to organize ideas while
drafting and even to come up with new ones (Zemmelman and Daniels 169).
The directions that I will give my students resemble
the following:
Day 2:
“Today we are going to start drafting our projects.
If you are working on a poem, story, musical composition, piece of drama,
Powerpoint or HyperStudio, etc., a good place to start would be with the
brainstorming activities that we did last week. Start organizing
your thoughts in front of you and your project should begin to take shape.
If you get stuck or are having problems, let me know and we’ll see what
we can do. Good luck!”
Day 3:
“Alright. We’re going to continue work on
our drafting our projects today. If you are just encountering or
still having problems, I’ll try to get to you for a conference today.
Also, I have your responses from last week’s exit journals and those might
prove helpful if you asked a specific question. Try to get at least
one 5 to 10 minute peer conference in today and be sure to record it on
the log sheet. Your first drafts should be done by the
end of this period.”
Day 4:
“Okay. Today everyone should be finishing
up their second drafts of their projects. Your homework was to come
as close as you could to a completed second draft so that you could finish
it today. I will be checking your progress by meeting with each one
of you for a minute or two today. Also, even if you are not having
problems with this draft, try a 5-minute peer conference anyway.
This should help you try to see your project in a different light by gaining
someone else’s perspective on it. Be sure to record your conference
on the log sheet. Remember, it is important to get as close as possible
to done with this draft by the end of this class because we will be continuing
our revision and starting work on our essays in the next workshop.”
Day 5: (directions given at end of class as homework, or as directions
in the middle of the class for those that are ready for them)
“Now that we have done a good amount of revising
on our projects, begin drafting your essays that will go along with your
project. We will hopefully be done with our first drafts of the essay
by the end of the next workshop.”
Day 6:
“Begin revising your essays in peer groups.
Divide up into groups of four or five and trade your papers around the
group. On a separate sheet of paper, write comments about the papers
you are reading. Keep in mind that the purpose of this is to provide
both positive feedback and to ask questions about the direction of the
essay. Feel free to talk about your questions and comments as well.
You will have about 20 to 30 minutes for this activity
and then you can start revising your essays and projects individually.”
Day 7:
“Alright. Today everyone should be able to
finish up revising their essays and their projects in the first 30 to 45
minutes of class. After that, we are going to start editing both
of our pieces and continue with that next time. Also, everyone should
be finished with both parts of their projects by the end of next class.
Remember, presentations will begin at the beginning of the following week.
Revision Checklist
Directions: As you revise your projects and essays both on your own, in peer conferences, and in groups, consider the following:
- Is everything within the work clear to the reader? If not, why not?
- What parts of the work don’t you think that the reader will understand?
- What can you do to make the reader understand?
- What didn’t you find out that you wanted to know?
- What part of the work do you like the best? Why?
- What would you change if you could? Why?
Editing
During the editing portion of this assignment, students
will have approximately an entire day of class time to work on editing
both their projects and their essays. They will focus on grammar,
spelling, and other mechanical issues while editing. Editing will
done primarily in peer groups, much the same way that some of the revision
process took place. Since this activity is occurring later in the
year (towards the middle or end of the second semester), there will not
be focus correction areas, but rather the students will be expected to
use the knowledge gained from previous minilessons and from work with multiple
focus correction areas from previous assignments. The following is
an editing checklist that the students will have when editing each other’s
projects and essays:
Editing Checklist
Directions: Use the following checklist to record any errors found while editing another student’s paper. Remember to be specific about the error so that the writer can accurately correct it. If you have any questions, address the teacher.
- Spelling errors:
o Misspelled word(s)
o Correct spelling
- Punctuation errors:
- Capitalization errors:
- Content errors:
Publishing
The students’ projects will be presented to the
class as a short presentation at the conclusion of the unit. The
accompanying essay will not be read out loud, but may serve for the basis
of the explanatory part of the presentation. The students will present
their projects by either reading them out loud if it is a poem or a story,
playing an original music composition, performing a short piece of drama
with the aid of other students, or presenting the class with a Powerpoint
or HyperStudio presentation. Those students that think of other mediums
for their projects that have cleared their ideas with me ahead of time
may have presentations different from those described here, but those must
be approved ahead of time.
It is my thought that the information and essays
will be displayed somewhere in the school, however, due to the nature of
some of the projects, I realize that it might be difficult for people to
view them. Therefore, I intend to publish the projects and essays
in some form on the class website that I intend to maintain throughout
the school year.
Assessment
Assessment for the entire project will be based
on a number of factors. The essay itself will count as 33% of the
total grade for the project. The original piece and presentation
of that piece will count as 33% of the total grade for the project.
And I will also assign 33% of the grade to how I feel that each student
utilized in-class writing time and how well each student met the due dates
leading up to the final due date. The three categories will be given
a number between 1 and 4, with a one equal to a D and a 4 equal to an A.
The rubric for each category is as follows:
Rubric Handout
The following outlines the process by which your grade for this project will be determined:
Project Essay:
4 – Essay is clear, concise, and free of grammatical errors to the point that they do not take away from the understanding of the text. The essay meets the length requirement and accurately discusses the student’s project, leading to a better understanding of that project.
3 – Essay is clear, concise, and has relatively few grammatical errors that do not cause too much of a problem understanding the text. The essay meets the length requirement and aids in understanding the student’s project.
2 – Essay is not quite clear or concise. Grammatical errors may inhibit understanding of the text. The essay may not meet the length requirement and does not really help the reader to better understand the student’s project.
1 – Essay is very hard to understand. Grammatical errors are numerous. The essay does not meet the length requirement and does not aid in the understanding of the student’s project.
Project Presentation:
4 – Both the project and the presentation were well thought out and informative. The project was original and the presentation kept both students and teacher interested. Throughout the presentation, the student made eye contact with the audience and had a clear, strong voice that kept their attention.
3 – Both the project and the presentation were well thought out and informative. The project itself was mostly original and the presentation kept the audience interested. The presenter had a little trouble with eye contact and voice during the presentation.
2 – The project and the presentation lacked in preparation. The project was original, but the presentation was short and without much explanation. The presenter did not often make eye contact with the audience and stumbled through the presentation.
1 – Little or no preparation for the presentation was obvious. The project itself is not thorough and suggests a waste of class time. The audience is left knowing very little about the student presenting.
Time Usage:
4 – Student made excellent use of class time throughout the duration
of this project. All drafts were completed on time. Student
also participated in group activities and met with the teacher and peers
the required number of times (twice each).
3 – Student used most of the class time provided
to work diligently on the project. Almost all of the drafts were completed
on schedule and student participated in group activities and met with the
teacher and peers the required number of times.
2 – Student did not make good use of class time. The student did not complete many of the drafts on the assigned due dates. The student did not work well with others in group activities and did not meet with the teacher or peers enough throughout the duration of the project.
1 – Student’s use of class time was not conducive to the writing workshop. Not only is the student often distracted from his/her work, the student also is a distraction to others. Drafts were not turned in on due dates, if at all, and teacher-student and peer conferences were all but ignored.
I should note here that I reserve the right to assign points for each portion of this project in terms of 0.0 to 4.0, in increments of .1 in order to more accurately represent the students’ grades. The overall grade for the project will be an average of the three categories listed above. This project is worth 20% of your quarter grade.
Due Dates
The due dates for the project drafts and final products are as follows:
- 1st draft of project composition: due at the end of the 3rd day of writing workshop – the end of the 3rd week of the unit
- 2nd draft of project composition: due at the beginning of the 5th day of writing workshop – the end of the 5th week of the unit
- 1st draft of essay: due at the end of the 6th day of writing workshop – the end of the 6th week of the unit
- 2nd draft of the essay: due at the end of the 7th day of writing workshop – the end of the 7th week of the unit
- final drafts of both project composition and essay: due the first class period after the 8th week of the unit. The 8th writing workshop day will be used to finish these final drafts.
Conferencing
I plan to conference with each student at least
twice throughout the process of composing these projects. The student-teacher
conferences will take approximately 2-3 minutes so that I can conference
with each of the students. I will conference with them both during
the drafting/revision stage of the writing and during the editing stage
of the writing.
In addition to student-teacher conferences, the
students will be required to conduct 5-minute peer conferences twice throughout
the composition process. These conferences are to be recorded by
the students on a record sheet and will be part of their usage of class
time grade on the project.
Writing Workshop Minilesson Overview
For this project, there will be 2 minilessons that
accompany instruction over the duration of the project in the writing workshop
class periods. The first is designed to help students develop ideas
before they begin the composition of their projects and will take place
during the 1st writing workshop day of the unit. The second will
help students in writing their informative and explanatory essays that
will accompany their project.
Topic Generation
The first minilesson is a sort of interviewing minilesson.
The purpose of the minilesson is to get students to think about what they
would want to know about other individuals in the class in order to get
them to think about what kind(s) of information to include in their project.
There will be a large group discussion on what kinds of questions to ask
and then students will ask these questions and others in pairs. They
will use the answers that they give to help them think about information
to include in their projects.
Explanatory Essay
The second minilesson will focus on their essays
that will accompany their projects. The minilesson will help them
decide what parts of their project need to be explained more through their
essay. They will pair up to review each other’s project and then
give feedback on what elements of the project will need more explanation
through the essay.