Like I stated in my reflection, this text cluster has taken on a life of it's own. It has permeated the entire trimester and fortunately is incorporating many of the same text I normally cover. This text cluster is based off the inquiry model and has the established essential question: WHY IS MAN SO CRUEL TO MAN? Taking a look at man's inhumanity can be controversial due to the different perspectives students have. My goal is to make them aware of what cruelties are, why they happen, and why/how they can be stopped.
Objectives:
Reading:
1. Use a variety of strategies prior to, during, and after reading to understand and to increase knowledge.
2. Understand historical and cultural influences in a literary selection.
3. Apply appropriate reading strategies to make sense of text.
4. Generate and answer questions when reading to deepen knowledge and clarify understanding, including when reading in both small and large group settings.
Writing:
1. Use a variety of print and non-print resources to gather information.
2. Summarize a variety of information for research purposes.
3. Produce a research paper utilizing correct format and documentation.
4. Write a focused piece of writing for a specific audience and purpose.
The goal of this text cluster is to help students explore what is noted as a justice and injustice, what causes these, and what stops these. It is important for students to understand human nature and why man is so cruel to other men. Ideas like jealousy, selfishness, money, love, fear, tradition, family, prejudice, etc. are explored throughout fiction and nonfiction. This pieces are very much set up to help students explore their own human nature. What cruelties do they see daily? Why do they act this way? Why don’t they stand up? Adding media would also stimulate conversation and help bring these ideas back to reality and out of the imagination and fantasy.
ReplyDelete“Lady or the Tiger”
“The Lottery”
“Half-hanged Mary”
Night and Fog
“First They Came…”
Romeo and Juliet
Hotel Rwanda
To Kill a Mockingbird
Mini novel cluster: Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan, Chocolate Wars by Robert Comier, If I Should Die Before I Awake by Han Noaln, Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Please Stop Laughing at Me by Jodee Blanco, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria, Scorpion by Andrew Kaplan
The final assessment is taking the theme topics throughout the unit, finding a modern day example, and write a problem-solution essay where students describe the problem, determine why it needs to be solved, and how to solve the problem.
Other Possibilities:
ReplyDeleteAudre: Judith's Fancy
Alice Walker—Everyday Use
“The Knights-Tale” The Cantebury Tales (translation)
“Sold Out” Marie Taylor Wells
20/20 What would you do?
Bob Dylan—With God on Our Side
Dante’s Inferno
Soloman…bible as literature
“A Gravestone Made of Wheat” Will Weaver
“Initiation” Sylvia Plath
Nineteen Minutes Jodi Picoult
Columbine Dave Cullen
Paperclips???
Holocaust TRUNKS: www.hmh.org/ed_cur_trunk.shtml
13 Reasons Why
Life is Beautiful
“Self-reliance” Emerson
Narrative—Fredrick Douglass
Miss Rose White
Beyond the Gate
More Current Events
Art
TV shows