NYC DOE Magnet Program
Districts 25 and 28
School M. S. 217 Robert A. Van Wyck
The Green Magnet School for Career Exploration
Grade 8
Teacher: Mr. R.L. Carroll
Department/Discipline / ELA
UNIT / A Compare/Contrast Written Response to Literature using M.T. Anderson’s novel, Feed plus Herman Hesse’s novel, Siddhartha, and then an oral presentation.
TITLE / The Juxtaposition of Technology with Self and Soul
ESSENTIAL QUESTION(S) / § How do we envision a technological future?
§ Does societal pressure allow us time to discover our own true selves?
§ Who am I, and why am I here?
§ Is life the notion of Descartes, i.e., “I think therefore I am,” or Sartre, “I am therefore I think”?
§ Does technology eventually overwhelm our sense of self and soul?
§ If technology suffocates us, what happens to the repressed self and soul?
SUGGESTED TIME FRAME / 10-12 Weeks
Magnet Standards/
Big Ideas/Theme / Green Magnet Standards: (Inquiry, Sense of Place, Sustainability, and Technology)
CCSS: RL.8.1, RL.8.11, RL.8.2, RL.8.3, RL.8.4, RL.8.5, RL.8.6, RIT. 8.1, RIT.8.3, W. 8.2, W. 8.3, SL.8.4
Self Development, Coming-of-Age, Emotional and Spiritual Growth, and Technology
Essential Question(s)
§ How do we envision a technological future?
§ Does societal pressure allow us time to discover our own true selves?
§ Who am I, and why am I here?
§ Is life the notion of Descartes, i.e., “I think therefore I am,” or Sartre, “I am therefore I think,”?
§ Does technology eventually overwhelm our sense of self and soul?
§ If technology suffocates us, what happens to the repressed self and soul?
Unit Name / The Juxtaposition of Technology with Self and Soul
Mini-unit Titles / Envisioning a technological future
Self-discovery vs. societal pressure
Who am I, and why am I here?
Is it, “I think therefore I am” or “I am therefore I think”?
Technology, a force that eventually overwhelms our sense of self and soul
If technology suffocates us, what happens to the repressed self and soul?
Unit’s Culminating Project (Brief Description)
The student will create, with proper MLA Bibliography and End Notes, a syntactically-correct 6-page typed (9 pages in ink) essay/research paper to analyze and critique both Feed and Siddhartha. The student will then orally present the paper to the class.
Standards-Based Learning Goals
Green Magnet Standards: (Inquiry, Sense of Place, Sustainability, and Technology)
Common Core State Standards (CCSS): RL.8.1. Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. RL.8.11. Interpret, analyze, and evaluate narratives, poetry, and drama, artistically and ethically by making connections to: other texts, ideas, cultural perspectives, eras, personal events, and situations. RL.8.2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text. RL.8.3. Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision. RL.8.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts. RL.8.5. Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style. RL.8.6. Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor. a. Analyze full-length novels, short stories, poems, and other genres by authors who represent diverse world cultures. RIT.8.1. Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. RIT.8.3. Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories). W.8.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. W.8.3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. SL.8.4. Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
Danielson’s Framework for Teaching.
Danielson’s Framework for Teaching Rubrics
Domain 1: Planning and Preparation
· Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy
· Demonstrating Knowledge of Students
· Setting Instructional Outcomes
· Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources
· Designing Coherent Instruction
· Designing Student Assessments / Domain 3: Instruction
· Expectations of learning
· Explanation of content
· Use of oral and written language
· Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques
· Engaging Students in Learning
· Using Assessment/self-assessment in Instruction
Domain 2: Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport
· Teacher interaction with students
· Student interactions with other students
·Importance of the content
·Expectations for learning and achivement
·Management of materials and supplies / Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities
· Reflecting on Teaching · Communicating with Families
· Participating in a Professional Community · Growing and Developing Professionally
Concepts
Big Ideas for this Unit/Magnet Themes:
Self Development, Coming-of-Age, Emotional and Spiritual Growth, and Technology / Vocabulary
Feed (Tier 2 and 3 words, non-traditional usage of words, and made-up words and tropes) trope, Je ne sais quoi, null, (“I was feeling null.”); unit, (“Stop that, Unit!”); uninsulated, ricochet, burbling, romper-gills, (“At the club were people with romper-gills and metal wings.”); meg, (“I was feeling meg-tired.”); bonesprocket, (“He was a real bonesprocket.”); gravitational, gaga, in mal, (“We decided to go in mal.”); neuron, flat-lining, rumpus, (“He wanted to do rumpus on my head.”); slop-bucket, get-go, fugue, bannered, (“I was getting bannered by the feed”); crystalline, fission, nutrient, stimulus, electrolyte, appetizers, sorority, lesions, diad, (“I thought she and I could be a diad.”); supple, fermion, (“…attracted to its powerful T44 fermion lift with vertical rise of 50 feet per second.”); ergonomically, hysterical, A.P.R., chlorine, hypest, (“Alex Neetham, the hardest, hippest, hypest…”); mousse, slamsuit, (“At the club, she was wearing a slamsuit.”) proteins, banquet, cro-magnon, youch, (“She was totally youch!”); quadrant, suppuration, primus, slouching, tranquility, cranked, rivulets, pinafores, prostheses, weasel-faced, (“Let’s go get weasel-faceroused.”); lobe-reamer, (“You’re such a lobe-reamer!”); ripplechicks, (“He was dancing with the ripplechicks.”); gourds, calamity, squelch, (“We looked really squelch.”); unette, naysayer, anatomical, pretentious, lickety-split,
upcar, ™ , spine-leech, low-key, feedcast, allegations, geezers, earmark, endoscopy, pennywhistle, skip, (“Hey Violet…what a skip kinda day you’ve had.”) ; condescending, fascist, instantaneous, pewter, stringent, feed-sim, contusion, defragging, intercrural, verdure, speakeasies, minuet, debased, interfaced, pictographs, genocidal, psychoeconomy, the limbic system, Trilobites, plankton, magma, hypersite, demographically, and nostalgia.
Siddhartha: (Tier 2 and 3 words and religious terminology) Brahmin, ablutions, sacrifice, contemplation, meditations, Atman, All-Radiant, atonement, Rig-Veda, Prajapati, transient, innermost, consciousness, inhalation, Upanishads of Sama-Veda, enchanting, initiated, profound, insatiable, Chandogya-Upanishads, Satya, Om, unflinchingly, ascetics, blanched, resignation, Samana, onerous, respite, Vedas, reflective, inexpressible, Buddha (Gotama), Sakyamuni, Magadha, abode, Illustrious, sojourn, Jetavana, Anathapindika, pilgrims, renounced, Yoga-Veda, Atharva-Veda, Mara, Maya, ostracized, enlightenment, mortification, ardent, kindle, rejoiced, Vishnu, Lakshmi, incantation, circuitous, irksome, contentedly, unkempt, indolent, desolation, equanimity, covetousness, procurement, Samsara, disillusionment, wretchedness, and pronounced.
Enduring Understandings:
§ Self is more important than technological advancement.
§ Sustainability can be stifled by technological advancement. / Essential Question(s):
§ How do we envision a technological future?
§ Does societal pressure allow us time to discover our own true selves?
§ Who am I, and why am I here?
§ Is life the notion of Descartes, i.e., “I think therefore I am,” or Sartre, “I am therefore I think,”?
§ Does technology eventually overwhelm our sense of self and soul?
§ If technology suffocates us, what happens to the repressed self and soul?
Content and Skills
Content (nouns)
Students will know…1) Poetry about the future; 2) Articles relating to “being” vs. “becoming”; 3) Articles about existential schizophrenia (“This is what I am, this is what they expect me to be.”); 4) Musical lyrics which deal with our unit of thought; 5) Videos which deal with our unit of thought. / Skills (verbs)
Students will be able to…1) Take notes on various ideas of the future by poets; 2) Determine relevant information from suggested websites; 3) Listen attentively to the lyrics of various pieces of music; 4) Read, respond, and compare/contrast various articles; 5) Read, respond, and compare/contrast various videos.
Stage 2- Summative Assessment Evidence
If students understand, know and are able to do the items in Stage 1, they should be able to show their understanding by completing an authentic task found in the world beyond the classroom.
Design the Culminating/Summative Project:
G- (goal): / The student will create, with proper MLA Bibliography and End Notes, a syntactically-correct 6-page typed (9 pages in ink) essay/research paper to analyze and critique both Feed and Siddhartha.
R- (role): / Students will be Literary Critics, Philosophers, Social Critics, Technology Geeks.
A- (audience): / Students will present ideas and final papers to class, and then post them on e-zine.
S- (situation): / In a futuristic society, the people have wrecked the Earth and technology is more important than self or soul. Students will compare and contrast this technological future with a simpler time when self and soul mattered.
P- (purpose and product): / Powerpoint, Websites, Music, Video, Poetry, Rap (For all homework and presentations)
Culminating Project must be written research paper (parameters listed above)
S- (standards for performance): / SEE ABOVE
Culminating Project
(Write the Task as the students will see it)
Student Task
Please create, with proper MLA Bibliography and End Notes, a syntactically-correct 6-page typed (9 pages in ink) essay/research paper to analyze and critique both Feed and Siddhartha. Be sure to include at least 3 different aspects from both novels which can be compared and contrasted. (After the final draft has been accepted, you will stand in front of the class and orally present your paper.)
Rubric
Little Self-Awareness
1 / Skip/Eyes Beginning to Open
2 / Youch/Can Distinguish Between Self & Ego Games
3 / Meg Youch/
Enlightened
Being
4
Syntax/Proper Mechanics / Student has little or no understanding of subject/verb agreement, alignment of verb tenses, and capitalization and punctuation. / Mostly correct subject/verb agreement, alignment of verb tenses, and capitalization and punctuation. A few mistakes. / Correct subject and verb agreement, alignment of verb tenses, and capitalization and punctuation. No more than 2 mistakes. / Correct subject/verb agreement, alignment of verb tenses, and mechanics. Students has taken chances with the syntax and pulled it off.
Parameters of Assignment:
Length of paper, Bibliography, End Notes, at least 3 Compare/Contrast Aspects / Much less than 6 typed or 9 written pages, no Bibliography and (or) End Notes, less than 3 compare/contrast aspects. An overall perfunctory effort. / Less pages than required, but close. An attempt was made with the Bibliography and End notes, although some inaccuracies may exist. 3 compare/contrast aspects discussed. / Required amount of pages are present. Bibliography and End Notes are mostly correct. 3 compare/contrast aspects are well-discussed. / Required pages are present—perhaps more than required. Bibliography, End Notes are totally correct. At least 3 compare/contrast aspects are thoroughly discussed.
Overall Idea of the paper. Supporting Details and Sequence of Ideas / Compare/contrast is not developed well. Few if any details. The paper overall is a perfunctory effort / Compare/contrast is fairly well-developed. A number of details, but a few more would be nice. / Compare/Contrast is well-developed. Plenty of details. Overall paper is very good, yet lacks a certain Je ne sais quoi. / Compare/Contrast
Is excellent. Loads of details. Overall paper is just plain excellent!
Oral Presentation / Poor delivery/eye contact. Overall perfunctory effort / Takes the oral presentation seriously, few aspects lacking / Good oral presentation, just not quite as good as it could be. / Excellent and entertaining oral presentation
7
Mini-Unit Plan.
7
Mini-Unit Title / Big Ideas of the mini-unit / KnowledgeImportant content to know about mini-unit (nouns) / Skills
What should students be able to do?
(verbs) / Vocabulary / Possible Essential and Focusing Questions / Mini-Unit
Assessment / Benchmarks, Scaffolding Towards Culminating Project
Envisioning the Future
How will the Earth look 100 years from now? How will get our information? How will our automobiles look? / “I’ve seen the future, and it’s murder,” Leonard Cohen
8 Poems about the Future: www.poetseers.org/poem_of_the_day Too much technology: good or bad?
Poetry:
…/
Novels:
Passages from Orwell’s 1984: www.online-literature,com/orwell/1984
Passages from Vernes’ From Earth to the Moon: www.gutenberg.org/83
Nonfiction articles:
“Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us,” Bill Joy: http://wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.html A Future with no Bananas?: www.newsscientist.com/article/dn9152-a-future-with-no-bananas.html
Music (lyric sheets provided): “Blows Against the Empire,” Jefferson Starship
“1984,” Spirit
“Space Oddity,” David Bowie
Paintings: A look at a few paintings envisioning the future by Picasso and Dali
Architects with a view of the future: Examine some of the futuristic buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright
Video:
Teacher Powerpoint on the Future
Eddie and Wally discussing the future for 10 minutes in an episode of Leave it to Beaver
“Tomorrowland” at NYC 1939 World’s Fair
Clip from 2001: A Space Odyssey (when HAL goes nuts)
Clip from Soylent Green (A future with limited food supply, and no social security/medicare benefits, so people are happy just to die at an appointed time.)
Clip from Planet of the Apes (How genetic engineering may go awry in the future.)
Clip from War Games (How a computer may take over and force war in the future.)
The Twilight Zone, “The Monsters are on Maple Street.” (Technology stops working, and people start accusing each other of being from another planet, and killing each other.)