Thematic Unit Plan Part I: The Unit Title and Preface

Introduction

This unit will be intended for a seventh grade English Language Arts class. The students in this class come from a variety of diverse backgrounds and cultures, and there is a great mixture of both male and female students in these classes. These students also come from diverse ability levels. The first period class is an inclusion class with special needs/Exceptional Children (EC) students included. The second period class has a variety of ability levels present, however, it has been designated as an academically gifted (AG) class, and students are generally performing at a higher level in ELA than other students in the seventh grade. For the fifth and sixth period classes, there is a mixture of AG level students, students with IEPs, and students who are performing on grade level without difficulty. All four classes contain anywhere from 23 to 27 students. The school community is heavily supported by frequent parent contribution and interaction, and the general morale of students and faculty members is exceptional. Teachers stay up to date on the interests and happenings of their students, and email, as well as face-to-face, communication between teachers, PLCs, administrators, and parents is frequent.

Organizational Principle

The theme of my unit will be “Staying Gold” in reference to the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost, included in the novel The Outsiders. We will explore the theme of innocence and what it means to “stay gold” in the context of the novel and the poem itself. I chose this theme because I felt like the theme of innocence is an appropriate theme to explore with seventh grade students. Seventh grade is the “in-between” stage of middle school. They are not new to the environment of middle school as sixth graders are, so they are learning to take on leadership roles and are expected to act in more mature and adult-like ways. However, seventh graders are still trying to figure out exactly where they fit in. Their eighth grade friends may be experiencing the trials of being teenagers and they may become exposed to the problems and struggles associated with growing up. Seventh graders are right in the middle of it all, which is why I think the theme of innocence is important to consider in the classroom. By using The Outsiders as a central text to my unit, I feel as though many different issues important to middle school students can be touched upon. Friendship, family, responsibility, and society/class differences are all central themes to this novel. Furthermore, Wake County CMAPP guidelines have indicated that this unit have somewhat of a focus on Stereotyping. While my unit is not based on Stereotyping thematically, I have included several activities that will touch on the theme of Stereotyping in relation to The Outsiders. As far as the connection with the English Language Arts curriculum is concerned, there are many ways that this theme fits in with the concepts of seventh grade Language Arts. This unit will be taught during the portion of the year that students will be concentrating heavily on literary terms and problem-solution writing. While my unit specifically does not address problem-solution writing, it covers literary terms completely. The problem-solution writing part of the seventh grade curriculum will directly follow my unit, and my cooperating teacher and I have discussed ways in which we may bridge my unit with new writing material. Overall, I believe exploring the theme of innocence will get students thinking about moving towards adulthood and the choice that one must make.

Primary Subject Matter Focus

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton will be central to the teaching of my unit. According to the seventh grade Language Arts team at Davis Drive Middle School, The Outsiders is the quintessential seventh grade piece of literature. It has become a classic for young adolescents, and students of all ability level have enjoyed this novel for years. Because this novel is so highly regarded for use in seventh grade Language Arts classrooms, this is the appropriate novel to use in conjunction with instruction on literary devices. As part of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, as well as the Common Core standards, literary devices such as characterization, setting, plot, foreshadowing, conflict, and more must be covered in the seventh grade. It is important for students to learn these literary devices so that they are able to understand more difficult, higher level texts. The use of these literary devices is imperative for good fiction writing. Furthermore, the ways in which these literary devices interact is important to developing an accurate interpretation of a literary text. Seventh grade students must be able to understand these to better their comprehension, writing, and higher order thinking skills. Without the understanding of these literary devices, students may not be prepared to comprehend a text accurately.

Organizing Questions

Þ  What is innocence? What makes a person innocent?

Þ  At what point in time does a person lose his/her innocence? Is it about age? Experience? Going through adversity?

Þ  Does innocence mean the same thing to every person?

Þ  What kinds of experiences are shared by all people universally?

Þ  Do these universal experiences help us understand each other? Do they bring us together? Do they bring us apart? Is it okay to be different?

Goals

Þ  Students will understand that “staying gold,” in the context of The Outsiders, is a reference to staying innocent and good. Ponyboy is told to “stay gold” at the end of the novel as advice from his dying friend. Ponyboy, the protagonist and most innocent of all the characters in the novel, is a good person with good intentions. By the end of the unit, students should be able to understand this dynamic, and the idea that “nothing gold can stay”: we all have experiences that change us.

Þ  Students will understand that a variety of experiences can cause one to lose his or her innocence. Loss of innocence is not the same for every person. However, there are experiences that are universal for all individuals: loss, love, friendship, family, and responsibility to name a few. While we all experience these things, each person has a vastly different experience with each. However, these experiences interconnect us.

Þ  Students will understand literary terms and their usage in fiction writing. Their understanding will serve their own comprehension and interpretation of a young adult text, as well as inform their own writing.

Þ  Students will create and participate in projects that display their learning and mastery of the concepts covered in the unit.

Þ  Students will work collaboratively and independently to reach learning objectives for the unit.

General Unit Objectives

Students will be able to:

Cognitive

  1. Identify basic literary devices and how they coexist in a fiction text
  2. Summarize a fiction text and its component parts (literary devices)
  3. Analyze the organizational structure of a fictional text
  4. Write a speech from a fictional character’s perspective

Affective

  1. Participate in class discussions and projects; complete all required work
  2. Share their own opinions and ideas in a respectful, organized way
  3. Cooperate in collaborative, group and partner activities

Performance

  1. Perform a written speech in a mock-awards show
  2. Successfully complete The Outsiders/Literary Devices unit test
  3. Create posters, visuals, and other learning aids collaboratively with classmates

NC Standard Course of Study

5.01 Increase fluency, comprehension, and insight through a meaningful and comprehensive literacy program by

·  Reading literature and other materials selected by the teacher

·  Analyzing the effects on texts of such literary devices as figurative language, dialogue and flashback

·  Identifies the effects of such elements as plot, theme, point of view, characterization, mood, and style

·  Analyzing themes and central ideas in literature in relation to personal experiences

·  Extending understanding by creating products within various contexts

·  Contemplating the relationships between and among characters, ideas, concepts, and experiences.

5.02 Study the characteristics of literary genres

·  Reading a variety of literature and other text

·  Analyzing what genre specific characteristics have on the meaning of a text

·  Analyzing what impact literary elements (devices) have on the meaning of the text; realizing the influence of literary elements on setting, problem and solution.

Common Core

RL.7.6. Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.

W.7.3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

·  Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events.

SL.7.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Possible Unit Materials and Supplementary Texts

Novels/Fiction

·  The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton*

·  Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins (children’s book)

Film

·  The Outsiders (film) directed by Francis Ford Coppola*

·  Rosie’s Walk (YouTube) video from Scholastic*

Poetry

·  “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost*

·  “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost*

·  “Mother To Son” by Langston Hughes*

·  “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas*

Music

·  “Flashback” song by Dr. Lodge McCammon for The Outsiders Project*

Nonfiction

·  Article, “How Bad is the Gang Problem in the Triad?” WFMY News

http://www.digtriad.com/news/article/202584/57/How-Bad-Is-The-Gang-Problem-In-The-Triad

Drama

·  Acceptance speeches from famous actors/actresses as an example for speech writing

Advertisments

·  Public Service Announcements on gang violence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGOqktvKVNU&feature=fvwrel

Artwork

·  Paintings of Carlos Perez, a former Guatemalan gang member

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Out-of-the-Guatemalan-Gang-Culture-an-Artist.html?c=y&page=2

Possible Activities/Instructional Strategies

·  Think-Pair-Share

·  Mock Awards Show

·  Create a character’s portrait

·  Write a speech from the perspective of a character

·  QAR activity

·  Gallery Walk

·  Film Viewing

·  Unit Test

·  Study Guide Completion

·  Vocabulary picture books

·  Poetry Connection Posters

·  Making Predictions with children’s books

·  Writing Workshops

·  Journal Writing

·  Literary Devices Collaborative Chart