EdPsy490TER: Technology & Educational Reform
Dr. Sandy Levin
Revision of An American Literature Class to
Reflect De-Tracking
American Literature 303/304:Aim
The purpose of this course is to improve students' ability to relate the various parts of American life, past and present in order to improve their understanding, appreciation and respect for the differences and similarities among groups in this society, historically as well as in contemporary life through American literature.
The skills that will be developed are academic skills as identified by the district curriculum and workplace skills identified in Workplace Basics: The Skills Employers Want (American Society for Training and Development and U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administation, 1988). In addition students will integrate technology as a tool for learning.
The Instructional Syllabus reflects student input through a student survey last semester and the change in the tracking structure. The tasks from 301/302 and 303/304 have been combined and reflect the tasks found in the skills column of last year's curriculum maps:
Some classes will be able to handle all of the old 303/304 tasks, while others may concentrate on the old 301/302, and still others may cross-over selecting from either path.
] Guiding Questions
What parts of American life, past and present influence our study of American literature today?
What differences and similarities exist among groups that are the subject of American literature past and present?
What events in the past have influenced the development of American literature?
What events in the present or near present influence contemporary American literature?
What are the differences and similarities in the attitudes between generations and decades in such things as literature and art, daily life, and ideas about the ideals of America.
Individually and collaboratively, students will be expected to:
µ read, analyze, interpret, and discuss representative genres of American literature.
µ respond to representative genres of American literature through writing, multimedia presentations, individual and group projects, large group and small group discussions.
µ monitor their progress through self-assessment rubrics unique to assignments and projects.
µ participate in the evaluation of their work as researcher, organizer and producer through reflective journaling and live performances measured against assignment specific rubrics and checklists.
Materials
First Semester
Second Semester
Texts:
The American Experience, Prentice Hall
Nothing But the Truth, Avi
Lit Circle Theme Choices:"Consequences"
The Crucible, Arthur Miller
The Narrative of Frederick Douglass,Frederick Douglass
Literary Calvacade
Writing Magazine
The American Experience, Prentice Hall
The Great Gatsby, F.Scott Fitzgerald
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
Harlem Renaissance Poet Study
Vietnam War Literature:
Student choice of:
In Country, Bobbie Ann Mason
Fallen Angels, Walter Dean Meyers
The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien
Videos
"1776"
"Dances with Wolves"
"The Crucible"
"American Visions"
"The American Experience: 1900." PBS
"F. Scott Fitzgerald." A&E Biography
"Artists of the Harlem Renaissance"
"The American Experience: Riding the Rails." PBS
"The American Experience: Surviving the Dustbowl." PBS
"Letters Home" HBO
Art
American Art, slides from Art Institute
African-American Art and the Harlem Renaissance
"American Photography: A Century of Images" PBS
Music
Music of the American Revolution, The Civil War, Native American Pow Wow
Langston Hughes;Poetry and Jazz
Music of the Decades
Internet Sites
Nothing But the Truth Teacher Guide
American Memory Library of Congress
Crucible Webquest: Timeless Persecutions
WJHS Pathfinder:The Crucible and the McCarthy Era
The West(MS-P handout)
The 1920s and Its Excess WebQuest
Students will demonstrate their development as readers and writers through traditional and alternative assessments. Each semester students will work on reading strategies to give fluidity in approaching any reading task. They will read a variety of texts, including visual media. When working on research, students will complete check point sheets to monitor their progress and ensure accountablility. Each semester students will have choices as to how they demonstrate thier learning. Lit circles will give them an opportunity to apply learning strategies to new texts. At the same time, they will be doing so in a safe, supportive group of readers. Students will keep journals, lit notes, present, and evalute their work and the work of others. Rubrics and standardized writing rubrics will be used. Each student will also create his/her own rubric for one of his/her projects. Two poetry rubrics are included under assessments.
State Goal #1: Reading
A. Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections.
1.A.5a Identify and analyze new terminology applying knowledge of word origins and derivations in a variety of practical settings.
1.A.5b Analyze the meaning of abstract concepts and the effects of particular word and phrase choices.
B. Apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency.
1.B.5a Relate reading to prior knowledge and experience and make connections to related information.
1.B.5b Analyze the defining characteristics and structures of a variety of complex literary genres and describe how genre affects the meaning and function of the texts.
1.B.5c Evaluate a variety of compositions for purpose, structure, content and details for use in school or at work.
1.B.5d Read age-appropriate material with fluency and accuracy.
C. Comprehend a broad range of reading materials.
1.C.5a Use questions and predictions to guide reading across complex materials.
1.C.5b Analyze and defend an interpretation of text.
1.C.5c Critically evaluate information from multiple sources.
1.C.5d Summarize and make generalizations from content and relate them to the purpose of the material.
1.C.5e Evaluate how authors and illustrators use text and art across materials to express their ideas (e.g., complex dialogue, persuasive techniques).
State Goal #2: Literature
A. Understand how literary elements and techniques are used to convey meaning.
2.A.5a Compare and evaluate oral, written or viewed works from various eras and traditions and analyze complex literary devices (e.g., structures, images, forms, foreshadowing, flashbacks, stream of consciousness).
2.A.5b Evaluate relationships between and among character, plot, setting, theme, conflict and resolution and their influence on the effectiveness of a literary piece.
2.A.5c Analyze the development of form (e.g., short stories, essays, speeches, poetry, plays, novels) and purpose in American literature and literature of other countries.
2.A.5d Evaluate the influence of historical context on form, style and point of view for a variety of literary works.
State Goal #3: Writing
A. Use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization and structure.
B. Compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes and audiences.
3.B.5 Using contemporary technology, produce documents of publication quality for specific purposes and audiences; exhibit clarity of focus, logic of organization, appropriate elaboration and support and overall coherence.
C. Communicate ideas in writing to accomplish a variety of purposes.
State Goal #5: Research
A. Locate, organize, and use information from various sources to answer questions, solve problems and communicate ideas.
5.A.5a Develop a research plan using multiple forms of data.
5.A.5b Research, design and present a project to an academic, business or school community audience on a topic selected from among contemporary issues.
B. Analyze and evaluate information acquired from various sources.
5.B.5a Evaluate the usefulness of information, synthesize information to support a thesis, and present information in a logical manner in oral and written forms.
5.B.5b Credit primary and secondary sources in a form appropriate for presentation or publication for a particular audience.
C. Apply acquired information, concepts and ideas to communicate in a variety of formats.
5.C.5a Using contemporary technology, create a research presentation or prepare a documentary related to academic, technical or occupational topics and present the findings in oral or multimedia formats.
5.C.5b Support and defend a thesis statement using various references including media and electronic resources.
Social Science Goal #14
Understand political systems, with an emphasis on the United States.
A. Understand and explain basic principles of United States government
14.A.5 Analyze ways in which federalism protects individual rights and promotes common good and how at times has made it possible for states to protect and deny rights for certain gorups.
Fine Arts Goal #25
Know the language of the arts.
B. Understand the similarities, distinctions adn connections in and among the arts.
25.b.4 Analyze and evaluate similar and distinctive characteristics of works in two or more of the arts that share the same historical period or societal context.
Technology Needs
Students will go to the communication's center at least once a week. I requested a class set of AlphaSmarts (word processing units) in order to give the 303/304 students lots of practice writing. I plan on having them journal daily, read daily, and I will use the computer on wheels (cow) to help them learn to self-edit. The AlphaSmarts will help them manage their note taking while doing research.
At the beginning of the semester, students will learn how to use Word and PowerPoint. They will learn to search more efficiently using databases, meta-search engines, and cd-roms. A technology option will be available as a choice during each unit.
Student Groupings
This course will consist of students who previously were tracked in the lowest level of English. Students who are in the 60 to 75th percentile will also be in this class. Brighter students will be placed in this class if they have poor attendance.
Additional Staff
I will rely on the Communications Center clerk and the librarian to assist in research instruction and software use instruction. I co-taught the lowest track with a special education teacher and I will probably seek her out as situations that I feel unsure of with a mainstreamed student occur.
Parent/Community Outreach
Parents will have access to the class web site. I will ask reporters froom the News Gazette to discuss freedom of speech and censorship in the first semester.During the second semester, I have had a veteran discuss the experience of war. As one of the project options, I am trying to coordinate an oral history project with an assisted living center. Students could create anthologies of their interviews.
Upon completion of a Movable Feast, I am inspired to have my classes put together a quarterly newsletter. With four classes of American Lit, each class would be assigned a quarter to compile it.
I am also setting up Blackboard.com for the class. I will be able to post grades, quizzes, and create chat space. I think that I will invite parents to "Office Hours" at a particular time during the week. They will also be able to send me email.
Integration among the Disciplines
This class will be taught as a humanities course, connecting art, music, evnts and social millieu to the literature. Through Visual Thinking Stategies (VTS) students will learn to talk about art, and use art to convey emotiions and attitudes of the literature that htey are reading.
