Dystopian Unit Lesson Plan
During the course of my English 444 Literature in Secondary Schools class, I developed a six week unit plan as part of the a Teaching Demo. This unit was developed and taught with Henry Parson. Below is the conditions under which the development was developed and taught as well as the goals and rationale for the unit:
This unit is created with the intention of being taught to a 9th grade classroom that meets five times a week for 50 minutes each period. This class will be team taught by two teachers, Henry Parson and Gabrielle Thompson. The classroom will consist of desks that are in a circle. This will encourage students to participate in discussion and share their ideas. To increase student and parent participation, there will be a classroom blog for this unit. It will provide students and parents with information about the unit such as an outline of all the texts for the unit with brief summaries, discussion questions, and useful links. The students will be familiar with such texts as The Giver by Lois Lowry, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and other texts that deal with morally gray issues. This unit will take place towards the end of the first semester of 9th grade English. The six week unit plan will be an introduction into the topics of issues within government and societies which will lead into morally gray issues as well as topics such as censorship and banned books. Students will know basic information about dystopias such as the basic definition, as well as, examples of dystopias. The main goals of the unit are as follows: 1. After the six week unit, students will be able to define and list examples of dystopias. 2. Students will be able to read fluently. 3. Students will be able to compose their thoughts into coherent and cohesive essays. 4. Students will be able to read critically and relate the text to real life. It is important for students to be able to read and think critically. By delving into some of the morally gray topics presented in the material, students will learn to analyze both sides of an argument and evaluate possible outcomes. They will gain an understanding of how to deal with difficult decisions and opinions through this analysis. They will also gain a sense of tolerance, for by understanding both perspectives of an argument, students will be able to comprehend the motivation of both perspectives and respect both opinions. By dealing with the text in a hands-on way, the students will learn how to relate the text to their individual lives and future situations they might be in. Through traditional essays, the students will learn how to compile their thoughts into a comprehensive and cohesive essay that will allow them to write developed thesis statements, as well as, analyze and synthesize the material. |
As part of the Teaching Demo, Henry Parson and I developed an interactive blog for the students which you can find here.
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