rationale

Rationale This project while extensive is nowhere near a complete semester plan. I find that I could spend several hours revising, editing and or improving upon the units I have created and the ideas therein. The resources available for educators seen never ending, and as such any idea can be “tweaked” indefinitely. I endeavored to create a semester plan that offered students several choices, addressed different learning styles, and provided several opportunities for collaborative learning. I would like my classroom to be one where students look forward to attending each day because they find the content compelling and engaging. While I have never taught high school before and don’t feel like I have a good gauge for material 14 year old students find engaging, I thought it would be a good idea to start by sharing some of my favorite authors and stories with them. I picked Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye because it is one of my favorite books and covers topics that I hope teenagers will find compelling. The main character finds herself being dealt a rough set of circumstance (most teens feel their lives are filled with similar kind of hard knocks and as a result can relate) and tries to cope with them the best way she knows how. The major connection between each unit in this semester is the discussion around identity. Each unit starts with an essential question that asks students to consider how their identity is shaped. We explore characters in novels, cultural influences on identity in memoirs, autobiographies, and biographies and the impact issues of race, class and gender have on identity in drama. Choice Choice is a central theme in this semester plan. By giving students several opportunities to choose, I hope to nurture an environment where students feel like they have a hand in shaping and consequently responsibility for managing their own education. Students are given choice each unit to choose books for their independent study and opportunities to choose how to manage their small learning groups. I hope to use choice as a classroom management tool. I hope students will be more motivated and engaged in projects they have chosen which will result in better quality work and more opportunities for authentic learning. Choice is also being used as a means of differentiation. In several of the units, the books reflect different reading levels. The hope (crossing my fingers) is that students will choose books on their own reading level. Of course this is not a fool proof plan. In the event that a student picks a book above or below his or her reading level, I will make every attempt to help them access the novel in a way that is meaningful and can still lead to the acquisition of greater knowledge. Journaling Each day, class begins with a journal entry. Each prompt is associated with the essential question and is designed to provide students with time to prewrite and brainstorm around topics connected to the class discussion or the writing focus for the unit. Journal prompts make use of various forms of media. Students are asked to analyze, evaluate, and interpret songs, images, and movie clips. There are obvious connections between the books and topics chosen with classes like economics which could talk about the connection between economy and a person’s lifestyle. There are those obvious connections to Social Studies and historical moments associated with different biographies, auto biographies and memoirs. In this semester plan there are performance task that provide students with the opportunity to produce projects using various forms of media and Web 2.0 tools. During class activities and journal entries students are taught how to evaluate elements of media and ways to introduce media literacy. Students are asked to use their knowledge of media literacy to produce projects ranging from photo journals to press releases, campaign ads and movie trailer. These assignments are designed to give students experiences that increase their media literacy and perform in real life scenarios. In this semester plan, issues of race, class and gender are explicitly addressed in the 3rd unit. The books for the various units were chosen to represent stories of people from a wide variety of cultures, genders, classes and races. I did not include material that deals with sexual orientation. I thought using text that deal with sexual orientation may not be accepted by parents and cause a lot of controversy. I would love to include poems, articles and other resources that address these issues if that is acceptable. The assignments and materials I have selected address several standards. I was particularly interested in creating opportunities for students to practice the speaking listening and viewing standards because those are often overlooked. There are several opportunities for small group discussion and projects that require students to make oral presentations. Each unit provides students with the opportunity to practice writing through different genres and of course reading opportunities that provide students with the opportunity to compare and contrast different genres. Issues of identity always find relevance in the real world. Real world for high school student often consist of daily attempts to define one’s self within cliques, outside of them or in spite of them. The questions covered in these units give students opportunity to explore, shape and test the validity of their beliefs about identity. This self- exploration is the kind of work that helps to shape ones character and can lead to the development of habits every good student needs to succeed academically. It is my hope that this semester plan is constructed in a way that provides students with avenues tat lead them to greater character, healthy chances to express themselves and opportunities to learn.