Today in our small groups, we spent some time talking about unit ideas for organizing our curriculum. Personally, I find this to be a really great way to teach both my required content and the content I want to share (nonviolence and peace). It also helps students make connections between works of literature, often in meaningful ways, as opposed to simply being able to list characteristics of a particular time period's literature. Anyway, the group asked that I share the units and essential questions, so here they are.
At the start of the year, I ask my students what shapes who they are. They brainstorm for a few minutes, and then we share out. As they share their answers, I write their responses on the board. I'm doing it strategically, though, although they don't know this. Without fail, every answer can fit into one of three categories: Community, Self, or Family. And these are the units senior year is centered on, and the overall theme is "The Roots of Self."
Community Unit Overview
Over the course of the term, we will discuss the following works:
The Visit by F. Durrenmatt
Various speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Long Night's Journey Into Day (film)
“The Things They Carried,” “Love,” “Speaking of Courage,” “Notes,” “In the Field,” “Good Form,” and “Field Trip” from The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
As we read/view these works, we will consider how each one illuminates issues of community. Review the “Essential Questions” (EQ) below. These questions will guide our class discussion of the stories.
Essential Questions
1. What is a community?
2. What communities are represented in the story? Which are communities of choice? Which are involuntary (by reason of circumstance)?
3. What is valued by the community? Who determines the values?
4. What does the community provide to its members?
5. What does a member lose by being a part of the community?
6. How important is exclusion of others to the sense of community?
7. What are the responsibilities of the individual to his or her community?
8. What are the responsibilities of the community to the individual?
9. What happens when an individual faces competing demands from two communities to which he or she belongs? What happens when the demands of the community are in opposition to the individual’s beliefs?
10. How do you restore a broken community?
Family Unit – Overview
During our study of family in literature, we will consider the “leashes” that our families put on us, and those we may put on them. In this unit we will study poetry by various authors and Death of a Salesman, a play by Arthur Miller.
Consider the questions below as we read and discuss these works. Essential Questions:
1. What is a family?
2. What does an individual need from his or her family?
3. What are the potential sources of conflict and stress in a family?
4. What strengths and weaknesses arise out of family conflict and stress?
5. What do individual family members owe each other?
6. How do our families shape our identities?
7. What are our expectations of each other in a family, and what happens when those expectations are not met?
8. How, when, and why do we choose between responsibility to ourselves and responsibility to our family members?
Self-Unit Overview
In this unit we will be exploring the forces that shape individual identity, both external and internal, and we will continue to look at the consequences of an individual’s choices both on his or her own development and on the world around him or her.
We will read and discuss the following works:
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
As we read, we will consider how each one illuminates issues of the self. Review the “Essential Questions” (EQ) below. These questions will guide our class discussions.
Essential Questions
1. What is “self-fulfillment?”
* Does the idea of “self-fulfillment” vary among cultures?
* What experiences are necessary for a “fulfilling” life?
* What is the difference, if any, between fulfillment, happiness, and success?
2. What is “self-identity?”
* Are there “steps” one must take in order to find self-identity? If so, what are they?
* Is there a gender difference in the self-identity journey?
3. What part(s) of one’s identity is within one’s control? What is outside of one’s control?
* Why is this (the idea that some parts of one’s identity are involuntary) important to consider?
* Can you change your identity?
4. What choices most significantly shape one’s identity?
* What role do others have in the shaping of your identity? (e.g. their perception of you)
* Who and what outside of the individual are affected by the choices he or she makes?
5. Does reading constitute experience? Can you be affected by something you read or are taught in the same way as you are by your own direct experience? Can teaching or reading permanently affect you, or does it just affirm a path you are already on?
I alter the questions slightly every year, but I've really enjoyed teaching the senior curriculum through this lens. And I think these EQs are ones that can be adapted for the younger grades; in fact, some of them probably don't need adapting! :) I hope this helps in some way. Thank you, group, for asking! :)
At the start of the year, I ask my students what shapes who they are. They brainstorm for a few minutes, and then we share out. As they share their answers, I write their responses on the board. I'm doing it strategically, though, although they don't know this. Without fail, every answer can fit into one of three categories: Community, Self, or Family. And these are the units senior year is centered on, and the overall theme is "The Roots of Self."
Community Unit Overview
Over the course of the term, we will discuss the following works:
The Visit by F. Durrenmatt
Various speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Long Night's Journey Into Day (film)
“The Things They Carried,” “Love,” “Speaking of Courage,” “Notes,” “In the Field,” “Good Form,” and “Field Trip” from The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
As we read/view these works, we will consider how each one illuminates issues of community. Review the “Essential Questions” (EQ) below. These questions will guide our class discussion of the stories.
Essential Questions
1. What is a community?
2. What communities are represented in the story? Which are communities of choice? Which are involuntary (by reason of circumstance)?
3. What is valued by the community? Who determines the values?
4. What does the community provide to its members?
5. What does a member lose by being a part of the community?
6. How important is exclusion of others to the sense of community?
7. What are the responsibilities of the individual to his or her community?
8. What are the responsibilities of the community to the individual?
9. What happens when an individual faces competing demands from two communities to which he or she belongs? What happens when the demands of the community are in opposition to the individual’s beliefs?
10. How do you restore a broken community?
Family Unit – Overview
Sometimes Fern thinks she thinks too much about family. She lives, it’s true, in a time and place of rampant psychotherapy (in which she spent several years herself), but even so, she cannot help looking at people in a perpetual context of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters. Especially brothers and sisters.
Often, she imagines herself wearing several leashes, each quite long but held by another member of her far-flung family. She senses various pulls and tugs at various times, never feeling altogether free.
-from Three Junes (Glass 304)During our study of family in literature, we will consider the “leashes” that our families put on us, and those we may put on them. In this unit we will study poetry by various authors and Death of a Salesman, a play by Arthur Miller.
Consider the questions below as we read and discuss these works. Essential Questions:
1. What is a family?
2. What does an individual need from his or her family?
3. What are the potential sources of conflict and stress in a family?
4. What strengths and weaknesses arise out of family conflict and stress?
5. What do individual family members owe each other?
6. How do our families shape our identities?
7. What are our expectations of each other in a family, and what happens when those expectations are not met?
8. How, when, and why do we choose between responsibility to ourselves and responsibility to our family members?
Self-Unit Overview
In this unit we will be exploring the forces that shape individual identity, both external and internal, and we will continue to look at the consequences of an individual’s choices both on his or her own development and on the world around him or her.
We will read and discuss the following works:
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
As we read, we will consider how each one illuminates issues of the self. Review the “Essential Questions” (EQ) below. These questions will guide our class discussions.
Essential Questions
1. What is “self-fulfillment?”
* Does the idea of “self-fulfillment” vary among cultures?
* What experiences are necessary for a “fulfilling” life?
* What is the difference, if any, between fulfillment, happiness, and success?
2. What is “self-identity?”
* Are there “steps” one must take in order to find self-identity? If so, what are they?
* Is there a gender difference in the self-identity journey?
3. What part(s) of one’s identity is within one’s control? What is outside of one’s control?
* Why is this (the idea that some parts of one’s identity are involuntary) important to consider?
* Can you change your identity?
4. What choices most significantly shape one’s identity?
* What role do others have in the shaping of your identity? (e.g. their perception of you)
* Who and what outside of the individual are affected by the choices he or she makes?
5. Does reading constitute experience? Can you be affected by something you read or are taught in the same way as you are by your own direct experience? Can teaching or reading permanently affect you, or does it just affirm a path you are already on?
I alter the questions slightly every year, but I've really enjoyed teaching the senior curriculum through this lens. And I think these EQs are ones that can be adapted for the younger grades; in fact, some of them probably don't need adapting! :) I hope this helps in some way. Thank you, group, for asking! :)
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