RATIONALE
 

         Writing for a public audience is an area I have not often dabbled in. To make this assignment more doable for me, I added in an important component: my passion. I love teaching and will be teaching after graduation in May. For this reason, my goal in this blog was to take works or ideas we used in this course and think about a lesson I would use to teach that piece or that content. All of these lessons are created for high school age students, as that is what I will be teaching. They vary in difficulty of the assignment, being as I do not know what age I will be working with. For these reasons, this blog would be best suited for fellow teachers who are struggling coming up with fun and innovative lessons. Even if they never use these books they will have the ability to spin-off these assignments to meet their needs.

         It is no secret that this was an assignment for me in a Women in Literature course here at UofL. However, I was able to meet the requirements for this assignment in several ways that actually benefit my blog further. First, and most easily, all of my blogs meet the basic requirements. Each blog is between 500-750 words. While this was criteria for the course, it is also a good length for busy teachers trying to quickly come up with ideas! Additionally, each has a link connected and some other form of multimedia, whether it be an image, worksheet, or video. These serve different purposes. In the blog about intersectionallity there is a quick video to explain what intersectionallity is to students who might be struggling; other posts use images to show examples of products I would expect from my students at the end of an assignment. The links I included serve different purposes. Some of them link to assignments I found on the internet that would enhance the lesson, making them available if needed. Others lead to PowerPoint that teach the basic content. In the post about theme and short stories, for instance, the link leads to a PowerPoint on  theme that you could share with your class if you are looking for a quick recap of theme!

       Going past the basics, however, I was able to keep a consistent topic throughout all my blogs by focusing on how I would teach the topic. In each piece I have a basic introduction, varying in length depending on how much background information I feel fellow teachers will need on the topic. If, by chance, you would like more information on any of these feel free to comment! I follow this with the actual lesson I would teach. One thing to notice is all of the lessons include group work and many include class discussion. It is my belief this is how students learn; not by doing a worksheet.

These lessons are much better suited for a teacher who believes in group work as well. These exact lessons may not work in your classroom personally, but hopefully some version of the lesson can be used!

     I was able to follow the content of the class I am taking, though I did this in different ways depending on the lesson. For instance, I explicitly used "The Liar's Club" by Mary Karr, to discuss how I would teach intersectionallity. In this case I used both a novel we read and a key topic of the course. Next, I used Mcloud's chapter on how to understand closure in a way that was very similar to how we used it in class. For "Station Eleven", I used a text from the course but looked more so at how I would introduce the content to a group of high school kids. As a spin off on an anticipation guide, I think this interactive version is more engaging! This could be used for any dystopian novel if edited slightly. For the last two topics I discussed, poetry and short stories, I looked at types of literature we discussed in class, but not necessarily the pieces we looked at. These two lessons would be the easiest to "grab and go", if you will. These lessons could be used for any poem or short story, though I will warn they require more effort than the others.

     Though these lessons were based on my course, my hope is you can find fun ways to incorporate them into your classroom! Feel free to spin them as they are best suited for you and your class! Also, comments are always welcome. I have not taught all of these lessons, so let me know what you like or do not like. To save some time, here is a list of the topics discussed in each post!

1. Theme in short stories
2.Station Eleven anticipation Guide (dystopian novel)

3. Poetry boxes (introducing a new poem) 

4. Teaching closure in graphic novels

5. Teaching intersectionallity

TEACHING THEME IN SHORT STORIES

 

 

Theme can be difficult for students to pick up on for students new to the idea. Often times students get mixed up because they think a smaller plot to the story is the main point the author is trying to get across. To help students with this concept, I suggest looking at short stories instead of a full novel, as a novel has a lot of smaller plots that can make students confused on one main purpose. While looking at the poetry boxes, I came up with a project based idea that would help students learn theme when working with short stories. Let me know what you think!

 

THE LESSON

 

First things first, you have to teach students what theme is! Click here to find a powerpoint that goes through theme.

Moving on, you know how students sometimes create dioramas to show a specific scene or the overall general idea of a text? Well, my idea sparked from this. Typically speaking a diorama is created in a shoebox and gives a very general idea of what a book is about. The lesson I have created would ask students to create a "diorama" of sorts, but in an Altoid box. Why an Altoid box, you ask? Well, I want students to give me a very specific theme, not the overall plot of the story. This will allow them a very small amount of space which will make them think carefully about what they want to put in the box.

 

This will likely have to be a project that has to be completed at home, but I would initiate the process in class. In my class, one of the short stories we read was Triffles, so as an example, I would read Triffles out loud to my class. While we were reading, I would ask students to fill out this version of Freytag's Pyramid:

This is one of the versions I really like, but there are hundreds on the internet to choose from. This would benefit the students because it would help them remember the story and would give them a step-by-step of what the story is about.

 

 

I would ask students to take this home and think of what they think the theme might be. The next day in class we would discuss their answers. At this point I would allow them to pick a short story to create a pyramid on and to create their box. I could not find any examples of theme represented in Altoid boxes, but I found items that would give students an idea of what they would create. These boxes were made by artists to display an idea, but the same could be done for theme. Students would be asked to create a box like this, with one sentence within to summarize the theme of the story they found. I think this is a fun way for students to creatively show the theme they found within the story while also challenging them to find new ways to convey this theme!

 

(P.S. I would likely have Altoid boxes and supplies on hand so students could stay after school one evening and work on these if they needed additional help or did not have the supplies needed at home!)

STATION ELEVEN ANTICIPATION GUIDE

 

For those of you who have not read Station Eleven, it is about a post-apocalyptic society trying to get by without the luxuries they once had. The lesson I propose is an anticipation guide to introduce the students to the complexity of what society coming to a standstill would really mean.

 

THE LESSON

I would begin the class by having the students do a bellringer. I would ask them in what ways they think the world would change if a disease wiped out a majority of the human race. This would be in the form of a journal entry, and would give the students the opportunity to think about ways in which their life would change and what they take for granite. It is my belief students will underestimate the ways their lives would change. For instance, I think few would realize they would loose social media, lights, etc.

 

For the next component of class I would create two stations. The stations would be set up as follows:

 Station one would be a decision making station. The students would be presented with a scenario and a list of items they have. They would then work as a group to decide the order of importance on the items. They have to work together to determine this. Upon finishing, I would provide them with the answers to see how they would make out in the wilderness. They would then answer the following questions:

1. What was the most difficult part about making the decisions?

2. Do you think you and your group would have lived based upon the decisions you made?

3. Do you think survival would have been easier for you if you did not have to work as a group and could have worked as an individual or as a pair? In what ways? Would you choose to work on your own or with others if you ended up in this situation?

Here is the link to this worksheet and scenario! http://scoutingweb.com/scoutingweb/SubPages/SurvivalGame.htm

 

Station two would ask students to think of items they would put in a museum to show future generations what our generation was about. This future society does not have any knowledge of our society, except for what they find in this museum. Each of the groups would have to pick a minimum of 5 items in each of the following categories: children, teen, adult. By this I mean, what are five items you would include in the museum to show what children today wear, play with, etc. Groups are invited to create lists of as many items they can think of after the five. For the first five items in each groups students should come up with a brief reasoning on why they chose what they did.

 

At the end of the class, I would pull everyone together for a discussion on what they came up with! I would end class with the following clip

 

 

 

This short clip gives a quick introduction to the theme of the movie, building on topics we would have just discussed!

 

 



TEACHING POETRY

          It is no secret students do not love learning about poetry. There are  many reasons for this. Students fear what they do not understand, and to many students poetry feels unreachable. Our goal when teaching should be to teach poetry in a way that makes it seem fun, reachable and exciting. Poetry can be a wonderful tool to say old things in a new way, but making students understand the beauty can be a daunting task. Today I will discuss a fun way to teach poetry to hesitant students.

 

POETRY BOXES

     A friend of mine presented the idea of poetry boxes to my methods class and that is what I want to share with you all today! Poetry boxes are a unique way to introduce poems to students in a fun and unique way. I will say the creation of the poetry boxes is a lot of work upfront for teachers, however you can use it for years to come.

 

     To begin, you will need to choose the poems you wish to teach to your class. You would want to pick 4-5 poems so you can split the class into groups. My friend used this idea on Sylvia Plath's poetry, which could potentially be difficult for younger grades. I am going to show examples of the poems by Plath, but be sure to pick poems that your students will both understand and love!

 

 

     First, the idea of the box is to make a diorama of sorts. This should not give away too much on the poem, but should make be interesting and fun.

The following link connects you to poems by Plath:

 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/sylvia-plath#about

This box was created for the poem "The Moon and the Yew Tree"

 

 

    At this point you are ready for the actual lesson!

 

THE LESSON

 

           Split the students into groups of 3-4. Each group should have their own poetry box at the center of their table. There are several ways to do this, but I think the best way is to not give the students the poems ahead of time. Give the students a list of questions to answer including the following:

 1, What do you notice about the box? What colors are used and what objects are present? What could these mean?

2. What do the things in the box have in common?

3. Brainstorm themes you can find in your box. What topics do you think your poem could be about?

 

 

Next, have the students read the poem a couple of times. Give them guiding questions as followed to discuss it.

 

 

1. What do you think your poem is about?

2. What do the poem and the box have in common? What from the box helped you identify the theme of the poem?

3. What benefits do you find in brainstorming themes ahead of time?

 

After the students have worked with their groups have them share out to the class. First, students should show their box and discuss what they brainstormed. Then, one of the students should read the poem aloud to the class. The group should then explain to the class the connections between the poem and the box they first viewed. 





 

Understanding How to Read a Graphic Novel

    Today I am going to discuss how to teach students how to read a graphic novel. It is well known that some students become uncomfortable when they are asked to work with a new medium. Many students have not been asked to read graphic novels in the past, so as a teacher it is important to make sure students have the tools to do so!

IMPORTANCE???

Why should we bother teaching graphic novels, you ask? Well, there are several reasons it is important to introduce students to this medium while still in high school. First of all, since I have been in college I have been asked to read graphic novels multiple times. This was not something I ever had to do in high school which put me at a disadvantage. As a teacher, it is our job to prepare students for what they will run into in college and this has real potential to pop up in their future careers. More importantly, however, graphic novels peak the interest of students who may not like to read. The more students we can get to have a passion for reading, the better, right? Thus, graphic novels allow students to realize there is more than the "normal" fiction and non-fiction text.

HOW DO WE TEACH STUDENTS TO
UNDERSTAND SUCH NOVELS???

Scott Mcloud wrote a graphic novel called "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art". This book does a great job showing students how to read a graphic novel the correct way. I would suggest focusing on Chapter 3 of the book. This chapter is called "Blood in the Gutter." It shows students how to make sense of image jumps. The difference between graphic novels and a real novel is clearly the way pictures and words interact to create the story. With that being said, those pictures allow the author to leave things unsaid. This is the hardest thing to understand when reading a graphic novel. Using this Chapter, I will show how "Blood in the Gutter" can be used to teach the idea of closure and further students understanding of reading graphic novels!

 

THE LESSON I SUGGEST

     Closure- The way our brains make connections to complete a thought despite us not having 100% of the information presented to us.

The following link may be helpful to students on the rhetoric on graphic novels.

http://members.cruzio.com/~zdino/bookReviews/McCloud.understandingComics.htm

To make students understand graphic novels, we must first make sure they understand closure, as this is a key component. Mcloud does a great job describing what closure is in his piece. Below is an excerpt of the first few pages of the chapter.

 

 

  The first thing I would have students do when they walk in the class is individually look through and make comments on the comics. There should be guiding questions on these comments. For instance, the bell ringer might say:

        Read through the following comics. Comment on the way the pictures work with the words to create the definition of closure. Then, come up with your own definition of what closure might mean. 

Follow this bell ringer by pulling the class together to come up with different definitions presented by the students. Once a final definition has been created as a class, split the class into groups of 3-4. Ask the students to come up with examples of closure in their everyday lives. Each group should come up with 5-7 examples of times we  use closure. Once again, have the groups share out 2 of their ideas to make sure everyone is on the right track. 

The final step of this process is creating a comic strip using their own ideas on closure in the real world. Using the ideas they just came up with as a group, students should make a comic with a minimum of 4 frames to successfully convey their example of closure. 

As an exit slip, have the students go back to working as individuals. Have them answer the following questions to make sure they have grasped the concept:

1. What is the definition of closure? 

2. How does closure work in our day to day lives?

3. In what ways does closure in life differ from the closure we use when reading a comic strip?

Use this to see how well the students are grasping the concept and to see if they are ready to start reading their first full graphic novel!             



Intersectionallity in The Liar's Club

Teaching Intersectionallity in The Liars Club 

Why is it important to teach intersectionallity??

The best way to start this discussion is to identify what exactly intersectionallity is. If you don't already know, intersectionallity is: the theory that the overlap of various social identities, as race, gender, sexuality, and class, contributes to the specific type of systemic oppression and discrimination experienced by an individual. 

 

As a teacher it is important to teach intersectionallity as a lens because it shows students the way multiple components of our lives make up who we are. For instance, if you are an African American student, that is not all you are. You are a diverse make-up off all life experiences, not just the color of your skin. For this reason, intersectionallity is relevant to students and can easily be taught while also teaching characterization. (Gotta stick to this standards!) 

The following link has a Prezi that goes through the pros and cons of teaching literature using intersectionallity. This could be used if wanted. 

https://prezi.com/xxs9-kqvn4f2/intersectionality-in-literary-studies/

 How to teach it:

 There are a million ways to teach this idea, but today I am going to focus on the use of body maps. Body maps are a fun way to teach students characterization, and also offer the teacher a lot of flexibility in the lesson.



This is an example of some of the questions students can answer, but as the teacher you can adapt them to suite your needs!

Using the above general idea, split the kids up into 5 groups.

Group one will focus on class.

Group two will focus on addiction.

Group three will focus on gender.

Group four will focus on mental illness.

Group five will focus on Mary's overall character.

As an example, the students with mental illness as the theme might answer some of the questions as follows:

What significant events has Mary experienced? Mary's mom was known as Nervous, which caused here to act rash at moments. She stood at the door of Mary's room and held a knife out. She tried to drive the car off the road into the river and kill Mary, her sister and her father. These experiences harmed Mary's ability to trust others.

Each question would be answered in this manner. To spark some creativity and increase engagement, do these on a large poster and have the students actually draw out the character. This also makes for a really cool product to put on the wall!!

The students will answer the questions solely on their focus. Each of the groups will present their version of Mary to the class, based only on their section of her life. Then the last group will show the overall character map. This will show 2 things. 1. It will show the way each of these components individually effect Mary's life, and 2. The way all of these things work together to make the final, and real Mary!

At the end be sure to discuss the way each of the individual parts worked together to create the Mary of the story! Remind the students that people are a unique makeup of a million parts of themselves. This can used to spark a class discussion, or can be used at face value to teach the intersectionallity!

Feel free to leave comments and tell me what you think! Have a way to make this better? Let me know!