Barth-Franklin
How do the Changing Times Reflect the Evolution of American Society?
Kady Franklin and Kristen Barth
11th Grade Year Long Plan
EDUC 463
10 October 2011
We have not given, received, or used any unauthorized assistance
Kady Franklin and Kristen Barth
Introduction:
The theme for this year-long plan focuses on the changing times throughout American history and the way that those times have shaped the society that we live in today. It is geared towards an 11th grade American literature course and the theme will allow students to read some of the most important literary works in U.S. history. Students will begin with 17th century literature and gradually move through the works of major eras in U.S. history until they arrive at the final unit, which is modern American writing. In each unit students will be challenged to analyze the way that those pieces of literature reflect the society of the time and how it has changed from the period before. Students will have the opportunity to explore multiple genres as well as multimedia sources to expand their literary knowledge. There is a very diverse selection of American authors, each displaying a unique aspect of American society through their writing. By the end of the year, students should have an understanding of the way that American society has evolved into the current world we live in today.
Defense of Over-arching Theme:
Our over-arching theme for this year will be how do the changing times reflect the evolution of American society? We chose this theme because typically 11th grade English classes are some form of American literature course in Colorado. Therefore, we thought it was only appropriate to have it cover something to do with America. Yet, we did not want to study a cliche topic such as “what it means to be American” or something of that source. We also wanted to allow our students to read a variety of texts from many different time periods throughout history. So we decided to study how the changing times reflect the evolution of society because you cannot help but look back on American history and note the major changes in society. Also, in this grade students will likely be in an American history course, so this theme will allow them to prosper by cross-referencing the material they are learning between classes.
This theme allows us to discuss many themes in society, such as finding your “self” and the way that society changes in war. Students are really trying to find themselves at this age and the transcendentalist unit that this theme covers will help them with that. Also, America is in a time of war and this theme allows students to read texts from three separate wars and relate what is going on in their lives right now to what others have gone through in the past. We thought that this theme was the best theme to study because it allows students to study American literature in a chronological order that makes the most sense and allows them to relate what is going on in their lives right now to what has happened in the past.
Context:
The school that we have chosen to base our classroom context around is Rocky Mountain High School in Poudre School district in Fort Collins, Colorado. The class will be an eleventh-grade American literature course with 16-17 year old students. The enrollment of the entire 11th grade class is approximately 530 students. The ethnic breakdown for Rocky Mountain High School is; 76.4% Caucasian, 18.1% Hispanic, 1.4% African American, 3.4% Asian, and 0.6% Indian. The context of the students in our classroom is as follows:
● The class size will be about 31 students
● The ratio of boys to girls will be approximately 51%-49%, which would create a classroom of 16 boys and 15 girls.
● It will be an 11th grade classroom, but the reading and writing skills may range from 9-12th grade.
● Based on the demographics of the school, the racial breakdown of the classroom will be approximately:
○ 22 white students
○ 5 Hispanic students
○ 1 African American student
○ 2 Asian students
○ 1 Indian student
● The context of the community surrounding Rocky Mountain High School is displayed in the tables featured below:
Population / Fort Collins city, Colorado / ColoradoTotal Population / 118,652 / 4,301,261
Male / 50.2% / 50.4%
Female / 49.8% / 49.6%
18 years and over / 78.5% / 74.4%
Housing Characteristics / Fort Collins city, Colorado / Colorado
Total Housing Units / 47,766 / 1,808,037
Median Home Cost / $169,600 / $166,600
Number of Households / 45,882 / 1,658,238
Persons per Household / 2.45 / 2.53
Economic Characteristics / Fort Collins city, Colorado / Colorado
Median Household Income / $44,459 / $47,203
Per Capita Income / $22,133 / $24,049
In Labor Force / 72.4% / 70.1%
Families below poverty level / 5.5% / 6.2%
Education Characteristics / Fort Collins city, Colorado / Colorado
School Enrollment
Elementary School Enrollment / 11,654 / 503,119
High School Enrollment / 5,303 / 239,240
Source:
http://www.fortcollins.com/demographics.html
http://eweb.psdschools.org/schools/rockymountain/aboutus/profile.aspx
Classroom:
Our classroom will be set up in a way that inspires student interaction in a student-centered environment instead of the teacher being the center of attention all the time. It is set up with the desks in four rows of eight; however, the rows will be facing each other so that when class discussion comes around the students can focus on one another and their own thoughts and opinions instead of what the teacher has to say. The teacher’s desk is pushed to the corner so that it does not draw too much attention to itself, yet it is at the front of the classroom so that there is still authority.
The literature circles at the back of the classroom serve to provide a place for students to go to read when there is class time to do so. It will consist of comfy chairs or bean bags so the students can get comfortable and relax. Students can go there individually, or in groups to discuss a text in a smaller group setting. We will regulate the students that go to the literature circles as to make sure that the area is not being abused or creating a distraction. We will also use these circles for times when we feel we need for one-on-one or small group discussions with students who are behind or struggling with a particular reading or assignment.
We have a white board set up at the front of the classroom so that we can quickly write any important information on the board that we want students to know. This can also be utilized by the students themselves to visually express their ideas to their peers if they need to. We would like to have a smart board at the other end of the classroom because we think that technology is an extremely important factor in modern education and we would like to incorporate it as much as possible.
Standards:
The standards used in our classroom are from the newly updated Colorado state education content standards for reading, writing, and communication specified for 11th grade. These standards can be found at: http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/UAS/Printable_Standards.html
Standard 1: Oral Expression and Listening
1. Verbal and nonverbal cues impact the intent of communication
Through participation in the Socratic seminars and class discussions throughout every unit (but especially units 2 and 8) students will better their informal communication skills. They will have to use evidence to support verbal claims in order to prove their ideas or opinions.
2. Validity of a message is determined by its accuracy and relevance
Socratic seminars used in units 2 and 8 will also enforce students’ abilities to engage in different types of discussion (small group, one on one, and large group/class). They will also show their ability to evaluate point of view, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone through their creative reinterpretation of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.
Standard 2: Reading for All Purposes
1. Complex literary texts require critical reading approaches to effectively
interpret and evaluate meaning
This standard is most blatantly expressed in unit 4. The argumentative essay students may choose to write regarding The Great Gatsby and their choice to defend Gatsby’s actions will show their ability to closely examine and critically read a text in order to determine underlying themes, figurative language, author’s choice, and determine importance of historical or cultural context. Also in unit 4 students will watch the movie version of The Great Gatsby and will interact in discussion comparing the text and the movie, which will require students to extrapolate meaning and themes through not only text but film as well.
2. Ideas synthesized from informational texts serve a specific purpose
Through their analysis and close reading of The Scarlet Letter (unit 1) and The Great Gatsby (unit 4) as well as the close reading of informational texts such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech (unit 6) and watching Roosevelt’s “fireside chats”(unit 4), students will display an ability to form ideas and draw meaning from all forms of literary genre. They will use evidence from these different forms of text to show their understanding of meaning and intent through assignments such as their speech writing (unit 6) and their own rendition of “fireside chats” (unit 4).
3: Knowledge of language, including syntax and grammar, influence the understanding of literary, persuasive, and informational texts
As students practice their writing skills throughout each unit, they will encounter and learn about many different components of grammar and mechanics of language. Through their expansion of knowledge on these topics they will also learn how to apply these ideas to interpretations of particular texts, such as with poetry in units 2 and 5. (Dickinson and Ginsberg poems).
Standard 3: Writing and Composition
1. Stylistic and thematic elements of literary or narrative texts can be
refined to engage or entertain an audience
In unit 3 students write their own short-story/narratives of a day in the life of a person involved in or affected by WWI based on their readings of Hemgingway’s In Our Time. Engagement in narrative writing builds on students’ knowledge of and ability to identify and convey themes as well as other literary elements like figurative language and how these choices affect their tone and audience.
2. Elements of informational and persuasive texts can be refined to inform
or influence an audience
In unit 4, students write a persuasive essay arguing a point of view based on their reading of The Great Gatsby. Their exploration and use of persuasive language in this essay will further their knowledge of how language choice is pertinent in influencing an audience. This idea is also seen in unit 6 when students write their own speech modeled after the “I Have a Dream” speech.
3. Writing demands ongoing revisions and refinements for grammar, usage, mechanics, and clarity
Almost all of the units we teach throughout the year will contain some sort of assessment based around a writing component for that unit. Whether it is through essay writing (Units 1, 4, 5), speech writing (unit 6) ,play writing (unit 5), narrative writing (unit 3), or even daily journaling (unit 7), students will build on and display their knowledge of the conventions of grammar and language.
Standard 4: Research and Reasoning
1. Self-designed research provides insightful information, conclusions,
and possible solutions
This component of research standards are seen most in the assignments that directly ask students to perform research on their own in order to inform their writing successfully. Units that include research specific assignments include unit 6 with speech writing, unit 1 with their essay on puritan life, and unit 5 with their essay on post-modernism. Research based around a student’s particular choice on their assignment topic will influence their ability to discern helpful from non-helpful information as well as informational value of particular research findings.
2. Complex situations require critical thinking across multiple disciplines
The two units that most utilize this skill are the ones that relate research most directly with formal writing (units 1 and 5). The application of research to informed writing require students to differentiate between credibility and incredibility as well as between biased and unbiased writing.
3. Evaluating quality reasoning includes the value of intellectual character
such as humility, empathy, and confidence
The ability to evaluate information and “quality reasoning” is found in all of the research based assignments in the units (1, 5, 7). It is also important that students not only can evaluate this type of information but be able to use it to inform their own quality reasoning through discussion situations such as Socratic seminars (2).
Conceptual Units:
List of Units:
○ Early 17th Century Colonial America
○ Transcendentalism
○ World War I Era
○ Roaring 20s/Great Depression Era
○ World War II/Postmodernism Era
○ Social Justice
○ Vietnam/Anti-war Era
○ Modern Affairs
The units throughout out this year will transition based on chronological order to help students to understand the evolution of society. The first unit of the year will start the class with an introduction into 17th century Colonial America. This unit will focus on showing lifestyle of a puritan society and the rigid traditions that were incorporated with this time period. This unit serves to provide the students with an introduction into the way that American society began by giving them a starting point to reflect on how society has changed from this time period to the modern affairs unit. Students will transition from this unit into the transcendentalism unit because transcendentalism magnifies the way that society shifted from strict, puritan traditions into a larger focus on “the self”. As we read the three main transcendentalist texts of this unit, students will gain a knowledge of what transcendentalism means as both a cultural and political movement in American society. Next, students will transfer into the World War I unit. This is a smaller unit that uses only a few short stories from an Ernest Hemingway text to show the effects of this war.