Reinsch+and+Slawinski


 * The Self **


 * Caroline Reinsch and Sarah Slawinski**


 * Grade Levels**: 9-12 English
 * Length**: 3 weeks in a 90-minute block schedule; to be done at the beginning of the school year

The unit theme is Discovery of Self, for which we will use Linda Christensen’s “Reading, Writing and Rising Up” as a guide. We will work with several pieces of literature including novels, short stories, and poems focused around this theme. The first week the students will focus on themselves as individuals, their personalities, and their personal histories. Students will begin working in literature circles where each group will read a self discovery themed work. They will also write a short 1-2 page narrative focused on an important part of their personal history. During the second week, our focus will shift to the appreciation of other’s uniqueness and how we balance individuality with equality. Student writing and reading projects this week will be centered on writing and viewing the world from another individual’s point of view. Finally, in the third week of the unit we will explore the connection of the self to the world as a whole. We will consider the various roles that we fill in society and what other roles may be like. As a culminating project, students will compile a portfolio of written works completed throughout the unit. The written responses and assignments will be a mixture of self-reflective works and reading-based responses. Once the portfolios are finished, students will present their favorite pieces to the class as a whole. Ideally this unit will be done in the beginning of the year, to help students become comfortable in the classroom and accustomed to basic class practices.
 * Unit Overview**

· In “Reading, Writing, and Rising Up,” Linda Christensen supports our theme of Discovery of Self through creating a series of lesson’s and activities that help students analyze and express themselves. She believes “People who lack reading and writing skills have difficulty expressing who they are. Their words are strangled and they learn to be silent. Their lack of literacy becomes internalized self-hatred.” By encouraging students to write about the self, we will simultaneously build each student’s self-confidence and sense of value. · Also, by using Professor Cheryl Almeda’s Showcase Portfolio Rubric as a general guideline we will be able to achieve organization and a clear goal for the student portfolios.
 * From Theory to Practice**

Too often students are discouraged from bringing their personal lives into their writing. We believe that by allowing students to express their individuality, they can mature both academically and personally. letting students work on something personal increases the chances that they will become passionate and involved in the learning process.
 * Student Objectives**

Students will… - be able to effectively communicate and work with peers in a small group. - become aware of a variety of self discovery themed literary works. - create written works in various forms (e.g. poetry and narrative) that utilize in-depth self expression and discovery. - realize connections between themselves and others. - learn to appreciate others, including their gifts, troubles, culture, and heritage. - gain insight into their role in the world. - compile works into a final showcase portfolio.

· CE 1.1.1. – CE 1.1.8., CE 1.2.1. – CE 1.2.4., CE 1.3.1., CE 1.3.5. – CE 1.3.9., CE 1.4.1. , CE 1.4.5., CE 1.5.1., CE 1.5.4. – CE 1.5.5. · CE 2.1.1. – CE 2.1.2., CE 2.1.4., CE 2.1.7., CE 2.1.11. – CE 2.1.12., CE 2.2.1. – CE 2.2.3., CE 2.3.1. – CE 2.3.3., CE 2.3.5. – CE 2.3.8. · CE 3.1.1. – CE 3.1.7., CE 3.1.9. – CE 3.1.10., CE 3.2.1. – CE 3.2.2., CE 3.2.4. – CE 3.2.5., CE 3.3.3. – CE 3.3.4., CE 3.3.6. · CE 4.1.1., CE 4.1.3., CE 4.1.5., CE 4.2.3.
 * Michigan ELA Content Expectations**



General Outline

Literature Circles – Teacher Instructions Recommended book choices (other recommendations are welcomed for review) These books are chosen to open students to a new world that may be hard for students to relate to. -“Indian By Choice” – Amit Dasgupta -“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf” – Ntozake Shange -“Boy Meets Boy” – David Levithan -“To Kill a Mockingbird” – Harper Lee -“The Red Badge of Courage” – Stephen Crane -“Jane Eyre” – Charlotte Bronte -“Their Eyes Were Watching God” – Chaneysville Incident and David Bradley
 * Day 1 (Detail plan) **

The first half of class: Literature Circle Introduction

Students are encouraged to choose a book that interests them, but may not necessarily relate to their own lives.

Students will get a list of the book options. They will each select their top three choices. It should be made clear to the students that they may not get their first choice this time, but they will get one of their top three.

Teachers should have each book on hand and give students a brief summery of each book to help them make their decisions. (20 min)

Collect student choices. (2 min)

Introduce the idea of Literature Circles (10 min) Explain that they will be working in a group with other students to better analyze and share ideas and opinions of the book they are all readying together at the same pace. Students will be responsible to have each book finished at the end of this three week unit, but daily reading responsibilities and preparations will be decided by the group.

Explain each Literature Circle job. Students may choose as a group to keep the same jobs throughout or they may choose to have different jobs throughout. (13 min)

To view Literature Circle Jobs click __here.__ The second half of class: Practice Literature Circle and Job practice

For any English class: “Help wanted” short stories- Gary Soto To view a copy of these stories click __here.__ For advanced or higher level English classes: “The Scar”- To view a copy of this story click __here.__
 * Recommended short story: **

Divide students into practice literature circles. (2 min)

Hand out a job to each student in each literature group. Students may not all get the job that they desire. (3 min)

Students should each read the story silently, and work on their job for their literature circle. (15 min)

When everyone seems to be complete with their job, students should work together to discuss what they had just read by means of their designated job. (15 min)

To close class teachers should discuss with the students how they thought their Literature Circles worked. Did they stay on task? Did they accomplish what they were assigned? What would they do differently for their book literature Circles? (5 min)

Students should be allotted 20-30 min. 2-3 days a week to discuss with their literature circles. These dates to meet should be made clear to students so that they may be prepared to discuss through their entire time given.

Read “Where I’m From” poem Discuss as a class Pre-writing Activity – make lists of places, things, smells, observations, and people from your home/history Write individual “Where I’m From” poems Share and discuss poems Discuss “individuality” Hand out Lit circle books and assign groups Lit circles meet, set goals, and decide roles for next meeting Homework: Bring in something from home that you have a personal connection with (something of sentimental value or that brings up a specific memory).
 * Day 2 **

Brief recap, making sure that all Literature Circles are on track (5 min) Does everyone know who is in their group and what book they are reading? Did every group decide on a reading goal (how far to get) by the next meeting (Friday)? Review Literature Circle roles and tasks. Does everyone in the group have a role and know what to do for that role?
 * Day 3 (Detailed plan) **

Build a fort! (out of tables, chairs, and blankets) The teacher will need to bring in sheets. This activity is meant to activate students’ memories of their childhoods to help them enter the proper frame of mind to begin the Personal Heritage Narratives. (20 min)

Get out homework items brought in and go in the fort for Pre-writing Activity (5 min) Students write about the items they brought (If they didn’t bring anything, they may think of something or simply write about a childhood memory). (8 min)

Share some pre-writes as a class. (5 min) What are some of the artifacts that you brought in? Why did you choose these items? What kinds of memories are attached to them?

Discuss “childhood” (8 min) What do we define as “childhood?” What ages does this include? Does everyone experience the same things during childhood? What do you think are some commonly experienced things? Who or what is important in your childhood? How does your childhood affect who you become later in life?

Assign Personal Heritage Narrative. (4 min) For this project, students may draw on the pre-writing activity done in the fort, but they may also choose to write about any other part of their personal history. This should be a narrative story written in the past tense about a specific memory, person, thing, or place.

Allow time to begin Narrative (20 min) Students should work silently on brainstorming and drafting the Personal Heritage Narratives. Teacher should circulate the room to monitor progress, answer questions, and provide motivation.

Fort Take-Down. This will be the winding-down activity for the day. We will dismantle the fort and reorganize the room before class is dismissed. (15 min)

Homework: Find out any information about your name (meaning, where it came from, why your parents chose it, whether or not you like it, etc.)

“Name Poems” Students share what they found about their names Share what you found out about your name (teacher) Work on Name Poems Create Name Poem posters to hang in class
 * Day 4 **

Personal Narrative Peer Edit Meet with Lit Circles Explain Portfolio Project Reading/Writing Workshop Time If they didn’t finish Name Poem posters yesterday, must finish today
 * Day 5 **

Turn in Personal Heritage Narratives (2 min)
 * Day 6 (Detailed plan) **

Two Truths and a Lie Game Students will choose a partner. They must choose a partner whom they do not know very well. They will need to talk with each other and come up with three things each to tell the class about each other. Two of these three statements must be true, but one must be a lie. The class will then try to guess which of the three statements was the lie. After a brief moment for thought and/or discussion, the pairs will reveal the truths and the lies. For example, I could say these three things: //I lived in Mexico for 4 months. I do not like carrots. I do not know how to snowboard.// Then, everyone would have to guess which of these statements is a lie (keeping in mind that two of which are entirely true). You would have guessed correctly if you thought I lied when I said I do not like carrots! J I really did live in Mexico and have never learned how to snowboard.

Students select partners (1 min) Introduce and explain the game (3 min) Allow pairs to talk and come up with truths and lies (8 min) Share and guess the lies (12 min)

Write interview questions. (8 min) Students write a list of at least 10 questions to ask while interviewing someone that they do not know well. They cannot be simply “yes-or-no” questions, but must evoke a real response from the interviewee.

Interview a classmate (15) Give students different partners than those from the Two Truths and a Lie Game. They should still, preferably, be people that they do not know well. With their partners, students must go through the interview questions that they wrote earlier. They should take detailed notes, because they will need the information for the “Remember Me” poems coming up next.

“Remember Me” poems (20) Students will use the information that they gathered during the interviews to write poems about their partners. Poems must be kept appropriate and respectful.

Grammar lesson – active verbs Introduce the activity (5 min) Put up pairs of sentences one-by-one on the board or projector, one which uses an active verb and one that uses a passive verb construction, but that both say the same thing. Ask students which one sounds better. Direct them to notice that the main difference lies in the verb choices made in the sentences. Using these sentence examples, demonstrate to students the differences between active and passive verb constructions. Sample Sentences: Johnny got into bed. Johnny collapsed into bed. John washes the dishes The dishes are washed by John. The car was repaired by Laura. Laura repaired the car. He said, “Leave!” He screamed, “Leave!” She left the room. She fled the room.

Give students a list of verbs (including active and passive verbs). Have them choose one or two from the list to draw. They should draw something to fit the image that comes to their mind when they hear or see this word. (8 min)

Verbs List: be do zip appear feel throw haunt sit wobble taste turn divert break attach cling eat lie love keep interrogate open peel prove thrive seek rejoice have use wring sound

Share and discuss the drawings that the students made. (5 min) What verb(s) did you choose? Why did you choose the word(s) that you did? What made that word interesting to you? What did you draw to represent that word? Hang drawings up in the room. (3 min)

Meet with Lit Circles Reading/Writing Workshop Time
 * Day 7 **
 * Must get at least two peer reviews done today or Friday (Day 12) **

Instruct students to generate a list roles in which they fill in their own life. Have students’ brain-storm or jot down their ideas first. (2 min) Then allow each student to write their most unique role on the board in front of the classroom. (2 min) Have a class discussion on the importance of the roles we each play every day. (10 min)
 * Day 8 **

Role Playing Activity: From a prepared list of characters and scenarios have each student draw a role to perform for the class (students will be performing these roles with the other students in their same scenario. (i.e. the “teacher” will be role playing with the “angry parent” in the teacher/parent conference scenario with a given situation, such as the parent is angry for the teacher flunking their son). Students will be given time to reflect on what it may be like to have to fulfill that role, and how they may respond to the situation they are given. (7 min)

Each scenario will perform a skit for the class taking on the persona of the role chosen (about 3 min each) (33 min)

Discuss the importance of every role being filled, even the not-so-appreciated roles in life. Discuss roles of self and others in the world. What did we learn from the role playing? (5 min)

Read and discuss “Jorge the Church Janitor Finally Quits” Ask students to read the poem, and encourage them to read it in both languages. This validates Spanish speaking students and locates writing in the broader linguistic world. (5 min)

Discuss the poem. Possible questions: Who is the narrator? How do people treat Jorge? What evidence in the poem tells us that? What does he compare the mop to? What does Espada want us to know about Jorge? How do we learn that? (5 min)

Ask students to make a list of “invisible workers” they know whom they could make visible, for example, the school janitors or cafeteria workers, hotel maids, migrant workers, etc. Ask for a few students to share their lists to help their classmates come up with ideas if they are struggling. (2 min)

Direct students to write their own appreciation poems, using Espada’s poem as a model. (15 min)

Share what we have written. Expect students to listen and take notes on what they liked in the pieces, focusing on the incident/story, the use of metaphor, the illumination of injustice or a person who is invisible, the use of language, and/or a particular line. (4 min)

What are ways we can damage another person’s self development? Read “Oliver Button is a Sissy” by Tomie DePaula Students draw a reaction to the story Write a letter to a person that you have hurt or who hurt you
 * Day 9 **

Meet with Lit Circles Reading / Writing Workshop Time
 * Day 10 **

Take Meyer-Briggs test On-line Discuss the results Do you think your results are accurate? Why do you agree or disagree? Do you think that you might get a different result if you took the test on a different day or at a different time of day? Students choose their own 4 words to describe their personalities Create a visual representation of either your Meyer-Briggs results or the 4 words you chose Make and decorate folders for portfolios
 * Day 11 **

Literature Circles should have finished reading their books.
 * Day 12 (Detailed plan)**

Students should refer back to their Literature Circle Rubric which they were given at the beginning of the project.

Have a short discussion with students about the expectations for their Literature Circle Final Presentation which is 20% of their total grade for this project. (5 min) Students may choose to present their Book in different forms but they must be able to connect the story they read with the idea of “self discovery” which had been discussed in the 11 days prior. This project is a group effort, and should be presented as a group. Students may create a power point presentation, lead a classroom activity, give an oral presentation, write various poems about the self-discovery of the characters in their book, then read, and discuss them, a performance, a dramatic reading, etc. Students must all be prepared to answer peer and teacher questions at the end of their presentation.

For the remainder of the first hour of class allow students to work together in preparing for their presentation. (55 min)

Bring the class back together (1 min)

Students should refer back to their Portfolio Rubric which they were given at the beginning of the project. (2 min)

Students will be given this time to re-visit any of their written work, get any final peer edits, or to work on their portion of the Literature Circle Presentation. This time should be relatively quiet. (27 min)

Literature Circle Presentations
 * Day 13 **

Work on Portfolios Do Literature Circle group and individual evaluations Hand out Portfolio Self Reflection Sheet
 * Day 14 **

Present Portfolios Read favorite piece to the class
 * Day 15 **

​ **Unit Resources and Teacher Preparation:**