Unit Plan Unit 4: Conflicting Perspectives—War and Its Rhetoric

Context This Unit Plan has been designed around an 11th grade honors English class

at Littleton High School in Littleton, Colorado. Located in the heart of Littleton, LHS receives a wide variety of students within its enrollment of about 1,400. While the schools is majority white, there is a moderate enrollment of ELL students, multicultural students, and students born outside the U.S. Outside of white students, Hispanic would be the other ethnicity represented most at LHS, though not all Hispanic students at the school were born outside the U.S. many of the Hispanic students have parents from outside the U.S. and live in a home where Spanish is spoken regularly. Many students also open enroll from surrounding districts in order to participate in Littleton’s I.B. program.

Due to the fact that Littleton High School accepts students from a wide territory in Littleton, as well as surrounding areas such as Denver, Englewood, and Highlands Ranch, the student population covers a wide range of economic levels. At the top end of the scale there are students whose parents are doctors, lawyers, CEOs, and small business owners due to the close proximity of the economic heart of Littleton, Downtown Littleton. There is the “middle class” student (generally the majority) whose parent’s occupations may range from software engineer to mechanic. Many students who fall into these top two category may have parents that work in the Denver Tech. Center located approximately twenty minutes from the LHS campus. Finally, there is the lowest end of the economic scale whose parents work in construction, food services, retail sales, ect. According to the school website around 15% of the school qualifies for free and reduced lunch.

Littleton High School, located in a mixed political suburb of Denver that typically votes in favor of additional school funding in elections, offers students many opportunities to participate in a wide variety of extra curricular activities including: athletics, the performing arts, student government, business clubs, art clubs, and many more. The surrounding town of Littleton offers students a rich culture as well. From Historic Down Town Littleton with art museums, clothing outfitters, and great restaurants, to the many surrounding parks and recreation areas near by that students commonly visit on the weekends and off periods such as the South Platt River. In the 2012 presidential election Arapahoe County voters gave the edge to President Obama by nearly ten percent of the vote. Additionally, voting liberal in all House and Senate races in 2012 (http://data.denverpost.com/election/results/county/arapahoe/2012/). Because a majority of voters in Arapahoe County currently, or in the past, have had students attending the many public schools in the area Littleton Public Schools often receives great support in Mil Levy votes to increase public education funding. In the past twenty years Littleton Public Schools has passed five Bonds or Mil Levies for a total of approximately 144 million in funding. (http://www.littletonpublicschools.net/Default.aspx?tabid=303). Course description- Eleventh Grade Honors English is focuses on reading comprehension, literary criticism (analysis and interpretation), grammar and usage, writing genres, techniques and structures, processes, research and documentation,

media analysis, reading aloud, and organizational methods, (http://scholarsenglish.wikispaces.com/file/view/11th+Grade+Syllabus+2012-2013.pdf).

Throughout the semester students’ study of the English language will be centered by our guiding question and overarching concept: What does it mean to be human? Literary critics, especially those in the field of Linguistics, argue that the largest difference between humans and animals is language, our ability to share, record, and respond. Using literature as a record of human experience students will examine many of the essential qualities of being a human through various genres and approaches to literature including: novels, short stories, poems, songs, and political cartoons, as well as various texts from the field of new media. Our study of the question “what does it mean to be human?” will be shaped by six individual units dealing with different aspects of human nature, virtually all humans face at some point or another. We will begin the year by examining how friendship helps to define our human experience and deconstruct the idea of what it means to be a true friend; from their we explore how family relations change from person to person, and culture to culture, exploring the implications our families have on our daily lives; and unit three, the last unit of the first semester, is centered on adolescents coming of age and identity shaping, students will be asked to explore a personal example of a time they feel helped define or construct themselves as individuals. After returning from break students will jump into a study of war, and the many different types of rhetoric produced by war, exploring how war, like many human issues, can be portrayed from conflicting perspectives; our fifth, and perhaps most intriguing unit explores the role of power relations in our daily lives, and the implications this has on our human autonomy; we conclude our study of human nature with a unit on Existentialism that seeks to explore how we find purpose for our lives and find purpose in our actions. Overarching Concept

Why Study What Does it Means to be Human?At some point in every teachers career they will be asked the dreaded

question, “why do we have to learn this stuff?” and specifically in the field of English Language Arts, teachers hear “why do we even have to read this?” In my opinion the best answer to this question comes directly from the introduction of Arnold Weinstein’s book, A Scream Goes Through the House: What Literature Teaches Us About Life, “literature and art provide us with a reservoir of shareable human feelings and experiences, a storehouse of emotions and insights about body and mind, a storehouse where we can visit and take from via the elemental magic of reading, of encountering works of art,” (xx). My hope is by engaging with the literature in this course students will realize that art, especially literature, has the capacity to, “illuminate us, enlarge our field of operations, enables us to have a bigger, richer, nobler take on things—things such as self and reality,” (Weinstein, xxi). By having students read novels, short stories, poems, and many other types of text that center around themes and issues common to the students own personal lives, my hope is that the students will soon realize they are not alone in the struggle

to find their own self identity, and make sense of the complex world in which they are situated.

Additionally, at the heart of why students will be asked to study literature to answer the overarching concept, what does it mean to be human? Is the ideology that contemporary students can learn a great deal about themselves and society from different historical perspectives and fictional characters, as Professor William Harris of Middlebury College writes, “This relationship of reader to book is very private and personal, but one which calls for some lateral awareness. A great deal of learning and acuity is demanded, but the footnotes and historical details will finally melt into the background as the reader grasps the poem (any text) with a kind of spiritual lunge. Considering the complexities of the human brain and the wide scope of human knowledge, recognition of this sort may be much more complex than we think, but if reader can "grasp the meaning" in a flash, that will be sufficient for the moment.” One of the main reasons I chose to frame this course around the exploration of what it means to be a human, was that I wanted students to have a wide variety of literary materials to review in relation to their own lives, while trying make important decisions in their own lives. I want students to be able to think back to texts they have read in this class when trying to determine important characteristics like what does it mean to be a good mother, father, brother, or sister; or think back to the words of Emerson, Whitman, and Hemmingway when trying to figure out how they will find purpose in their lives.

Sources: Arnold Weinstein http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=pGmQZkO-

tW4C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=literature+teaches+us+to+be+human&ots=gYf0K1oHy_&sig=E4Xb3TWFuLitt-cnOXqy63MvpIc#v=onepage&q&f=false

William Harris http://community.middlebury.edu/~harris/Classics/OnLiterature.html

Each of the six units selected this semester has a specific correlation to answering the guiding question of our study: What does it mean to be human? Unit One Friendship—Deconstructing Friendship: unpacking the different qualities, functions and, influence friendships have on literary characters -We will begin the year with a unit examining friendship. Guided by the classic Of Mice and Men by, John Steinbeck, students will be asked to examine the different roles involved in a friendship, what characteristics make a good friend in relation to our own human experiences, and finally students will be asked to explore whether Georges decision to kill Lenny at the end of the novel was an act of friendship of not. Unit Two Family—A literary study into the similarities and differences of family across cultural lines- In high school students often find themselves between to conflicting groups that mean each mean a great deal to the students, friends versus family. Guided by our anchor text The Kite Runner by, Khaled Hosseini, students will explore the roles of family in an individuals life, and the different sets of expectations the two groups, friends and family, have for an individual hopefully enlightening students on how to best negotiate the tight wire act of honoring your family and friends. At the

conclusion of this unit students will be asked to draw on a variety of sources textual, personal, and hypothetical to provide an extended definition of what family means to each student in relation to their own personal worlds.Unit Three Coming of Age and Self identity—Understanding how I becomes I- Often times high school can be the first time students really feel a sense of independence from their families: they learn to drive, decide what activities from their youth they want to continue, and ultimately what track to take after graduation college, work force, or military. The magnitude of these decisions, coupled with many other self-defining factors that change from students to student can make it very overwhelming to truly know who we are as individuals. The third unit of our study, guided by House on Mango Street by, Sandra Cisneros, explores teenage coming of age experiences and identity shaping. At the conclusion of this unit students will be asked to create a personal narrative depicting a time in their past that helped that student create their self identity, or come of age. Unit Four Conflicting Perspectives—War and Its Rhetoric- Whether we like to admit it or not we live in a nation and world saturated in war. For many individuals war can often have as big of an effect on the human experience as any other event or ideology: it changes individuals, families, entire nations. War extends far beyond the field of battle however, turn on the news and you will be hard pressed to not hear one story from the middle east, countless songs, poems, and political cartoons flood our popular culture each offering a new perspective and opinion. This unit aims to explore the many different attitudes reflected towards war from many different perspectives including soldiers, political leaders, authors, and musicians. The conclusions of this unit will lead to students generating a multimedia presentation expressing conflicting views of war. The guiding text for this unit is The Things They Carried by, Tim O’Brien. Unit Five Power/ Power Relations—Understanding how different forms of power operate and influence individual autonomy- In shade of Michel Foucault, the fifth unit of study in our year examines the importance of power structures and power relationships have on an individual’s autonomy towards life. Guided by Things Fall Apart by, Chinua Achebe students will examine the different types of power relationships that impact our human experience such as family, religion, laws, and various other cultural influences. After reading Achebe’s novel and many other texts students will be asked to produce a formal argument, using literature to analyze to what extent our paths are self-determined and to what extent they are predetermined. Unit Six- Existentialism—How and where do we find meaning in an indifferent world?- Perhaps the most vague of all the units, the sixth and final unit of study centers on the concept of Existentialism, how humans are able to find meaning and purpose in life. Centered around Hemmingway’s classic, The Sun Also Rises students will grabble with the all important question: what is the meaning of life? Students will explore the work of authors, philosophers, and musicians to deconstruct how many different types of people find a purpose, or make sense of the world. At the conclusion of this unit students will be asked to generate a multimodal representation that draws on any of the literature studied this year that aims to answer the question: what does it mean to be human?

I would argue that each of these six categories play an essential role in helping us understand and answer the question, what does it mean to be human? By the time students have completed all the units this year they should have ample material and background knowledge to answer the overarching question: what does it mean to be human?

Unit Overview (taken from above)Conflicting Perspectives—War and Its Rhetoric- Whether we like to admit it or not we live in a nation and world saturated in war. For many individuals war can often have as big of an effect on the human experience as any other event or ideology: it changes individuals, families, entire nations. War extends far beyond the field of battle however, turn on the news and you will be hard pressed to not hear one story from the middle east, countless songs, poems, and political cartoons flood our popular culture each offering a new perspective and opinion. This unit aims to explore the many different attitudes reflected towards war from many different perspectives including soldiers, political leaders, authors, and musicians. The conclusions of this unit will lead to students generating a multimedia presentation expressing conflicting views of war. The guiding text for this unit is The Things They Carried by, Tim O’Brien.

Unit Rationale Spanish historian and philosopher George Santayana once said, “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” While most Americans are already familiar with Santayana’s famous words, they provide a perfect rationale for why it is so important to teach English students about war and its rhetoric. It is a strong social need for students of the current generation to learn from the experiences, both positive and negative, of previous generations who fought in wars of the past. Learning about the responsibilities, and often times tragedies, which result from combat experiences helps increase students’ civic awareness about the negative repercussions of war that can often be overshadowed by the medias sensationalistic coverage. For example, the startling and saddening fact that 10-30% of all combat participants suffer from PTSD. On the other hand, a unit on war and its rhetoric can also teach students the importance of standing up for what they believe in, and not backing down from important values. Such as, standing up for an oppressed population although it may lead to your own demise, think of the many powerful books about the Holocaust.

Although we may not like to think of ourselves in this light, we cannot deny the fact that we as Americans are a nation surrounded by war. From the time we landed on the continent and fought the British for our independence, to present day and our involvement in the Middle East, America has been involved in wars or conflict for nearly all its existence. Thus, teaching a unit of war and its rhetoric to high school students is highly important to increasing and building students’ cultural literacy. Argo, Lincoln, and Zero Dark Thirty. Each of these three movies were nominated for multiple awards at this years Academy Awards, released in 2012, and represent a large part of the multi-billions dollar movie industry this year.

However, viewers of each movie would be relatively lost while viewing the movies without a sufficient understanding of the conflicts that surrounded each film. Therefore, studying war and its rhetoric in school gives students a base to understand significant cultural artifacts, as well as the implications of each of these events to the larger story of America.

Unit GoalsBy the end of this unit the student will be able to:

1. Critically analyze and understand both the short and long term implications of a nation entering an armed conflict.

2. Critically analyze and interoperate different/conflicting perspectives and responses to one issue (i.e. war).

3. Produce a multimedia project depicting opposing viewpoints of one issue using a variety of media and cultural artifacts.

Unit CalendarJanuary 2013

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

1No School winter

break

2No School

winter break

3No School

winter break

4No School

winter break

7No School

winter break

8(Start of unit)Day 1

Unit intro Pulitzer photo Vietnam KWL

9 10Day 2

Perspective & conflict criteria

Drawing Summaries

Intro final assignment

11

14Day 3

PTSD PTSD

literature TTTC visual

aids

15 16Day 4

Quiz Nation

Building Nation

Building imitation

17 18Day 5

Class discussion TTTC

Protest and counter culture as art and media.

21 22Day 6

Editing Skills Storyboarding

23 24Day 7

Filming and editing group work

25

28 (End of unit)Day 8

Project/unit reflection

Viewing party

Unit conclusion/ review

29 30 31

Daily Lesson Plans and Time Breakdowns

Day One (Beginning of Unit)Lesson Focus—Introduction to unit, and The Things They CarriedLesson Goals—

1. Understand the context of the Vietnam War- build background knowledge as needed.

2. Analyze photographs as a historical text. Lesson Common Core State Standards

Standard 2 Reading For All Purposes, Concept 2 Ideas synthesized from informational texts serve a specific purpose, Benchmark bii “Use text features and graphical representations to complement comprehension and enhance critical analysis of a text.”

Standard 2 Reading for All Purposes, Concept 1 Complex literary texts require critical reading approaches to effectively interpret and evaluate meaning, Benchmark biii “Explain the influence of historical context on the form, style, and point of view of a written work.”

Homework Assigned—Read Ch.1-3 The Things They Carried (p.1-38)Day 1 activities and time breakdown

1. (25 min)—Free Write. The topic for today’s free write is war, the students can write whatever comes to mind when they think about war, or use the prompt for inspiration.

Prompt—“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime,” Ernest Hemingway. War is an ugly matter; however, sometimes it appears that there is no other option. Do you think that wars can be justifiable? Why or Why not?

2. (5 min)—Ask for one or two volunteers to share their responses or thoughts with the entire class.

3. (30 min)—Pulitzer Prize Photograph Activity. Students will split into groups of three and use the fallowing questions to analyze one photograph relating to war, or war protests. (Note-These questions will be displayed on the screen, students will share with the class their answers)

Who is taking this picture? From Where? Why is the photograph taken? What is the message? Where is the photograph found? What is absent from the photograph? Was the photograph staged?4. (20 min)—KWL on The Vietnam War. Students will be given a KWL handout.

(Note this could either be whole or an individual activity.) The kids should be familiar with how to do a KWL at this point in the year. I will start by asking students what they know about the Vietnam War. I will fill out a class copy on the computer as we go, but the students need to fill in their chart too. After figuring out what the students know, we will figure out what we need still need to know. We will read an article individually about the Vietnam War, and complete the “Learned” section of the KWL chart.

(10 min)- Distribute books to students and give them reading assignment for next class. Explain that Tim O’Brien is a Vietnam veteran; the book is based partially on his own experiences, and partially made up, a style called meta- fiction.

Day Two Lesson Focus—Introduction to final assignment, and begin examining perspective in relation to conflict.Lesson Goals—

1. Establish criteria for perspective, and conflict in relation to final assignment.2. Learn a new reading comprehension and summary skill.

Lesson Common Core State standards Standard 2 Reading For All Purposes, Concept 2 Ideas synthesized from

informational texts serve a specific purpose, Benchmark bii “Use text features and graphical representations to complement comprehension and enhance critical analysis of a text.”

Standard 3 Writing And Composition, Concept 2 Elements of informational and persuasive texts can be refined to inform or influence an audience, Benchmark bi, “Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.” (note- establishing criteria is the first step in writing informative text. Thus, this lesson begins to fulfill this standard.)

Homework Assigned—Read ch.4-6 (p. 39-66).Day Two activities and time breakdown

1. (15 minutes)—Free write. Prompt- “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see

is a perspective, not the truth.” Humans form perspectives on issues everyday without taking the time to consider how we arrive at that perspective, or what perspective even is. Please explore what is perspective, and what factors contribute to forming a perspective.

2. (15 minutes) –Establish class set of criteria for perspective. Pull up a word document in front of the class with “what is perspective?” written at the top. Ask the class to share some ideas from their free write that answers this question. After a few minutes of general sharing the discussion the conversation should narrow and the discussion should become, “What criteria must be met for an individual to form valid perspective on an issue?” This criterion should be save as a class set, and students can use these criteria to frame the perspectives discussed in their final video.

3. (15 Minutes)—Small group work, establishing criterion for conflict. In groups of about five students will be instructed to develop a set of criterion for the concept of conflict. Give the groups seven or eight minutes to develop their criterion, they can use the this question to spur their thinking, “what similarities must an event share in order to be

considered a conflict? What events can be considered conflicts?” Spend the next seven or eight minutes discussing as a class, what each group came up with. Pull up a word document and create a class set of criteria for conflict.

4. 20 (minutes)—Drawing Summaries mini-lesson (see below).

5. (15 minutes)—Distribute final assignment sheet (see under assessments), discuss any questions. Ticket out the door—in one sentence explain why Vietnam meets the criteria of a conflict, and in one sentence explain two possible perspectives one could have on the issue.

Drawing Summaries min-lessonSkill: reading comprehension and summary.Context: 11th grade Littleton High SchoolState Standard: 11th grade Reading For All Purposes, Concept 2, Benchmark bii:“Use text features and graphical representations to complement comprehension and enhance critical analysis of a text.”Rationale:Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is a popular war novel comprised approximately twenty short stories. Because students may not have much practice reading texts that switch point of view, time frame, and setting so regularly I want to take time and give students a strategy they can use to help them remember what the key takeaways were from each chapter, in a more fun way than having to right one paragraph summaries for each chapter in the novel as well as other poems and short stories covered in this unit. Furthermore, at the conclusion of this unit students will be asked to make a multimedia video exploring two opposing sides of one conflict; thus, students may choose to use any of the images they create while using this strategy in their final multimedia production. Activity:

1. Pass out drawing summaries template to students, and explain the purposed of this activity: monitoring reading comprehension, and summary skills.

2. Read a preselected passage, one chapter, from The Things They Carried. 3. Ask the students to individually draw what they believe a summary,

takeaway message, or theme of the chapter was in the space provided on the template. The students should relay mostly on images to complete their summary, but short words and phrases can be used in support of the image.

4. Ask for one or two people to share what they drew, and what part of the text inspired the drawing.

5. Repeat the task for one or two poems depending on time. Because poems may use more on emotions than images to convey a message it is okay if students summary, takeaway, or theme relies more on a symbol and phrases than concrete images.

Closing:Remind students of the initial purpose of this activity, giving them a comprehension and summary skill to use while reading O’Brien’s book so they can keep track of how individual chapters relate to the unity of the book in the end. The students don’t

have to use this skill if they have a different comprehension summary skill they prefer.

Drawing Summaries Template

As we begin reading Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried I’m sure you will notice that many of the chapters have different settings, characters, and functions within the novel. It can be quite overwhelming trying to keep track of what happened to whom throughout the novel without a summary strategy in mind. To help you keep the events of the book straight after you have finished each chapter, draw a summary, or theme you take away from that specific chapter. Your drawing may be a specific event that unfolds in the chapter, or it may simply be a symbol relating a theme expressed in the chapter. You may also use words and phrases to support your drawings, but the focus should mostly be on your drawing.

Book: The Things They CarriedChapter Title: “Stockings”

This same strategy can be used when reading and comprehending poetry. (See back side of page for poem)

Poem: “The War in the Air”Poet: Howard Nemerov

Day Three Lesson Focus—Study Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, review TTTC thus far with physical representation. Lesson Goals—

1. Understand the causes and symptoms of PTSD.2. Examine literature as a reflection of PTSD3. Review and analyze important characters and settings in The Things They

Carried. Lesson Common Core State Standards—

Standard 2 Reading For All Purposes, Concept 1Complex literary texts require critical reading approaches to effectively interpret and evaluate meaning, Benchmark bi, “Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or

language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful.” Standard 2 Reading For All Purposes, Concept 2 Ideas synthesized

from informational texts serve a specific purpose, benchmark ai “Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.”

Homework Assigned—Read ch.7-9 (p.67-116).Day Three activities and time breakdown

1. (10 minutes)—Free Write on traumatic events. Prompt-o Examine a tragic event from your past that has made a

monumental impact on you. Explain what happened and how the even still affects you today. If you do not wish to write about a personal trauma write a fictional story of someone recounting a traumatic experience.

2. (10 minutes)—Unpacking and understanding PTSD. As a class we will read a short article explaining what PTSD is, what the symptoms are, and the challenges of living with PTSD.

3. (20 minutes)—Examining PTSD in small literature groups. Break the class into groups of about five. Distribute two poems “Peace” by Rupert Brooke, and “Survivors” Siegfried Sasson. The Groups should work to fill out the TPCASTT template provided (See Below). If the group finishes analyzing both poems before the twenty minutes is up, ask them to discuss how PTSD relates to The Things They Carried to this point.

4. (30 minutes)—Using visual aids to understand The Things They Carried. Using the groups that the students are already in, have each group create a visual aid to show comprehension of TTTC so far. Have one group create each of the fallowing:

Body Biographies for (Tim O’Brien, Jimmy Cross, and Kiowa)

Setting Backdrop for (Vietnam, Tim’s farm in the U.S.)

Note: At this point in the semester the students should be familiar with both of these activities, do remind them that their visual aid should be based of a specific section of the text, provide textual evidence, and offer some sort of analysis of the character or significance of the setting.

5. (20 minutes)—Visual aid explanation/informal presentation. After the groups have had time to complete their assigned visual aid they will give a short, informal presentation of the work. Note: these presentations will be graded and viewed as a formative assessment. Grades will be given as I listen to the presentation. Full credit, 10 pts., will be awarded to groups who clearly explain the choices they made in their visual aid, provide textual evidence, and offer an analysis of why the groups specific character or setting contributes to the meaning of The Things They Carried so far.

TPCASTT Templatewww.ncarts.org/elements/docs/pol_teachers/TPCASTT_Template.doc

TPCASTT: Poem Analysis Method: title, paraphrase, connotation, diction, attitude, tone, shift(s), title revisited and theme

Title Before you even think about reading the poetry or trying to analyze it, speculate on what you think the poem might be about based upon the title. Often time authors conceal meaning in the title and give clues in the title. Jot down what you think this poem will be about…

Paraphrase Before you begin thinking about meaning or tying to analyze the poem, don't overlook the literal meaning of the poem. One of the biggest problems that students often makein poetry analysis is jumping to conclusions before understanding what is taking place in the poem. When you paraphrase a poem, write in your own words exactly what happens in the poem. Look at the number of sentences in the poem—your paraphrase should have exactly the same number. This technique is especially helpful for poems written in the 17th and 19th centuries. Sometimes your teacher may allow you to summarize what happens in the poem. Make sure that you understand the difference between a paraphrase and a summary.

Connotation Although this term usually refers solely to the emotional overtones of word choice, forthis approach the term refers to any and all poetic devices, focusing on how such devices contribute to the meaning, the effect, or both of a poem. You may consider imagery, figures of speech (simile, metaphor, personification, symbolism, etc), diction, point of view, and sound devices (alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, and rhyme). It is not necessary that you identify all the poetic devices within the poem. The ones you do identify should be seen as a way of supporting the conclusions you are going to draw about the poem.

Attitude Having examined the poem's devices and clues closely, you are now ready to explore the multiple attitudes that may be present in the poem. Examination of diction, images, and details suggests the speaker's attitude and contributes to understanding. You may refer to the list of words on Tone that will help you. Remember that usually the tone or attitude cannot be named with a single word Think complexity.

Shift Rarely does a poem begin and end the poetic experience in the same place. As is trueof most us, the poet's understanding of an experience is a gradual realization, and thepoem is a reflection of that understanding or insight. Watch for the following keys toshifts:• key words, (but, yet, however, although)• punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis)• stanza divisions• changes in line or stanza length or both• irony

• changes in sound that may indicate changes in meaning• changes in diction

Title revisited Now look at the title again, but this time on an interpretive level. What new insight does the title provide in understanding the poem.

Theme What is the poem saying about the human experience, motivation, or condition?

What subject or subjects does the poem address? What do you learn about those subjects? What idea does the poet want you take away with you concerning these subjects? Remember that the theme of any work of literature is stated in a complete sentence.

Day FourLesson Focus--How do countries build support for armed conflict? What is Nation building.Lesson Goals—

1. Diagnostic quiz to see how class is doing with unit concepts, and reading thus far.

2. Understand the rhetorical strategies used in Nation Building, especially with visual images.

3. Create a visual image, poem, or commercial script that imitates the types of Nation Building strategies studied.

Lesson Common Core State Standards Standard 3 Writing and Composition, Concept 1Stylistic and thematic

elements of literary or narrative texts can be refined to engage or entertain an audience, Benchmark aiv “Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.”

Standard 2 Reading For All Purposes, Concept 1Complex literary texts require critical reading approaches to effectively interpret and evaluate meaning, Benchmark bi, “Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful.”

Homework Assigned—Read ch.10-15 (p.117-155)

Day Four activities and time breakdown1. (15 minutes) Diagnostic Quiz. (See under assessments)2. (15 minutes) Free Write.

Prompt- “The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy, but a love of one's country deep enough to call her to a higher plain.” George McGovern. What does it mean to be a patriot? Is patriotism naturally built into a citizen, or is it taught?

3. (20 minutes) Examining Commercials as a nation-building tool. Using the projector system various military commercials will be brought up and as a class we will analyze what rhetorical devices are used to create a favorable image of war and patriotism. After each commercial is played I will prompt the students to talk with a partner and discuss each of the fallowing

questions one at a time. (Note- students will be told the questions before the first commercial, and are encouraged to take notes as they view each commercial).

Who is the intended audience of the commercial? What types of words and phrases stood out to you? What types of visual images can you remember? What is the overall tone of the commercial?

Commercial links http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brG-4WvYz1Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq-ZVIZJaI8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEtZ5r0CIYI

4. (20 minutes) Analyzing patriotism posters from previous wars. After analyzing contemporary commercials that build patriotism, students will examine old war posters used to build patriotism in the past. The students will be grouped in four or five, and given a packet containing three posters as a group they should discuss the fallowing questions for each poster:

Who is the poster’s intended audience? What is the posters call to action? What types of words and phrases does the poster use? What types of images? How effective do you think this poster would have been? Why?

Poster Links http://www.sonofthesouth.net/uncle-sam/images/war-poster.jpg http://www.presidiacreative.com/wpcontent/uploads/

2011/12/We-Can-Do-It1.jpg http://i1-mac.softpedia-static.com/screenshots/WarPosters_3.jpg

5. (20 minutes) Ticket out the door. Nation-building imitation. Working individually each student will create his or her own example of a nation-building strategy we examined today. Students may create a poster, write a script for a commercial, or even write a poem if they choose. (Note this activity will not receive a grade in the grade book, but will show if students understand nation building.)

Day Five Lesson Focus—Protest Movements and Counter CultureLesson Goals—

1. Discuss O’Brien’s The Things They Carried2. Examine the anti-war movement via artwork, music, and media.3. Identify language strategies used to create anti-war messages in poetry.

Lesson Common Core State Standards— Standard 2 Reading For All Purposes, Concept 3 Knowledge of

language, including syntax and grammar, influence the understanding of literary, persuasive, and informational texts, Benchmark ai “Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for

meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. (CCSS: L.11-12.3). Vary syntax for effect, consulting references (e.g., Tufte’s Artful Sentences) for guidance as needed; apply an understanding of syntax to the study of complex texts when reading.”

Standard 1 Oral Expression and Listening, Concept 2 Validity of a message is determined by its accuracy and relevance, Benchmark ai “Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. (CCSS: SL.11-12.1)i. Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.”

Homework Assigned—Read ch.16-19 (p.155-188)Day Five activities and time breakdown

1. (15 minutes) Free Write- Protest/Counter Culture.Prompt-“To sit by in silence when they should protest, makes cowards of men,” Abraham Lincoln. As a country founded in freedom of speech, America has seen its fair share of protest movements. What are your experiences with protest? Do protest movements indicate a free society, or an oppressed society? What if protesting wasn’t allowed.2. (20 minutes) Whole class discussion of The Things They Carried. I will

prompt the class with these discussion questions, students are invited to share their own questions as well.

What items that the characters carry surprises you the most? O’Brien often foreshadows at the beginning of a chapter as to

whether or not the chapter has a happy ending or not. What is the effect of this? Do you like this strategy?

A few days ago we studied PTSD, where do you see PTSD in the novel so far? What does it suggest about O’Brien’s opinion of the war?

Which chapter has been your favorite so far? Why? What character besides Tim, do you think plays the most

important role? Why?3. (25 minutes) Partner work—analyzing political cartoons as a record of

counter culture. Adapted from Gallagher Deeper Reading ch.9. I will pull up this political cartoon for the class (http://en.academic.ru/pictures/enwiki/80/Proud_of_what_8.gif). I will then present the fallowing questions one by one for the partners to discuss, after giving the partners a minute to discuss I will ask for one pair to share. I took these questions and steps directly from Gallagher p.187.

First list everything you notice about the cartoon. After they have listed everything they notice these questions are

presented one by one:

i. What is the subject of the cartoon?ii. What is the context of the cartoon?

iii. Who is the intended audience? Why this audience?iv. What is the point of the cartoon?v. What is left unsaid by the cartoon?

4. (20 minutes) Class discussion of “Ohio” by Neil Young. First, I will provide students with the background information they need to know about the Kent State shooting. Next, I will distribute handouts with the lyrics printed on them. Finally, as a class we will listen to the song, and then use the following questions to analyze Young’s song:

Who is Young’s intended audience? What is Young’s call to action? What is the tone of Young’s song? What specific words and

sections clue you in to this? What do you believe the effect of the rhetorical strategy of

repetition adds to this song? What other poetic techniques do you notice Young using?

5. (10 minutes) Ticket out the door. Have students meet with their groups for the final assignment. Together the group should brainstorm possible conflicts they would like to explore in their video. Before leaving each group should turn in two possible conflicts they are considering. The conflicts are open to student selection, but should focus on either an armed conflict past or present, or a political/social intellectual conflict (i.e. a policy, or law trying to be passed) past or present.

Day Six

Lesson Focus—iMovie editing skills, and movie storyboarding.Lesson Goals—

1. Understand and utilize editing skills on iMovie software.2. Discover methods for problem solving software complications.3. Develop and produce video storyboard.

Lesson Common Core State Standards Standard 3 Writing and Composition, Concept 3 Writing demands

ongoing revisions and refinements for grammar, usage, mechanics, and clarity, Benchmark d “Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.”

Standard 3 Writing and Composition, Concept 3 Writing demands ongoing revisions and refinements for grammar, usage, mechanics, and clarity, Benchmark e “Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.”

Homework Assigned—Read ch.20-21 (p.189-218), and work on gathering materials for video as needed for filming day next class.

Day Six activities and time breakdown1. (30 minutes) Today’s class will meet in the computer lab. Class will

begin by explaining that we will be walking through a few iMovie editing skills the students will likely need to use in their final projects. I will tell students that I will be walking through a few skills projecting my screen in front of the class, students are encouraged to either take notes on their handout, or walk through the process with me, whichever they believe will help them learn best. These are the skills I will be presenting to the class:

Adding a picture from iPhoto to iMovie. Simply put a saved photo file into iPhoto, pull up iMovie and click on the camera icon. Drag the desired photo into the project.

Edit the duration a photo or other image is viewed in the movie. Select the clip you wish to edit, right click, select clip adjustment, and enter the desired amount of time.

Inserting a text slide. In iMovie, on the right hand side is T icon, click the icon, select the format you like, type your text, and drag the slide into your project where you desire.

Transitions between clips. Next to the T and camera icon is an icon that looks like an envelope, select this icon preview the different transition options, select an option, drag it in between the clips you want to separate, adjust time.

Imbedding a video clip in your movie. Pull up MacTubes program, and youtube clip, copy the url into MacTube, and hit convert. The clip will show up in iMovie gallery, drag the clip to our desired location.

Adding music. Save the song file as an MP3 file, select the music icon, select your desired song, drag song to the portion of your movie that you want it to play, edit time duration as needed.

2. (10 minutes) Problem solving options (give an example): When in doubt google it. Youtube searches often reveal step-by-step tutorials. Ask a classmate!

3. (50 minutes) Group work time (I circulate the room answering questions). The last fifty minutes of class is workshop time. Groups can play with the editing skills learned, complete the storyboard template that they are given, and research and compile video clips, images, artwork, literature, music, ect. they plan to use in their video. (Note: remind students that the storyboard is a required component of the project and this would be a good time to complete the storyboard, before the filming/editing day next class.) In closing remind the class that we will meet in the computer lab one more time next class session, and this will be the last day they will be given time in class to work on the video.

Video Storyboard template retrieved from http://www.independentmusicadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/music-video-storyboard-template-from-www.independentmusicadvice.jpg

Day Seven

Lesson Focus—Filming and editing day for final videoLesson Goals—

1. Research and select clips, images, music, ect. for video.2. Edit desired clips to form a cohesive final product.

Lesson Common Core State Standards Standard 4 Research and Reasoning, Concept 1 Gather

information from a variety of sources; analyze and evaluate the quality and relevance of the source; and use it to answer complex questions, Benchmark b, “Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.”

Standard 4 Research and Reasoning, Concept 2 Complex situations require critical thinking across multiple disciplines, Benchmark a, “Analyze the logic of complex situations by questioning the purpose, question at issue, information, points of view, implications and consequences inferences, assumptions and concepts.”

Homework Assigned—Finish The Things They Carried ch.22-23 (p.219-246). Finish video as needed.

Day Seven activities and time breakdown1. (10-15 minutes) Today’s class is in the computer lab again. Answer any

general questions the class is having about the movie project. Remind them that today is the last day they will have to work on the film in school, if it is not finished the groups will need to meet on their own time to finish the video before the viewing party next class.

2. (75-80 minutes) The remainder of today’s class is dedicated to group work time. The idea is that by giving students essentially two whole days in the lab few, if any, groups will have to meet outside of class to complete their videos. Students who whish to include original video clips of themselves may use this time to film their clips using personal video cameras, or cell phone cameras. (Note: not all kids have these tools. Thus, including original clips (self-shot) is not a project requirement.) Provided the students do not disturb other classes or faculty, they are free to film in the fallowing locations: the courtyard, the cafeteria, the main lobby, my classroom, and hallways. If complaints are received about any group that group will be brought back to the lav. Groups not filming their own clips can use today to work in the computer lab as their project dictates.

Day Eight (last day of unit)

Lesson Focus—Project/group reflection, viewing party.Lesson Goals—

1. Thoughtfully reflect on the process of creating a multimodal video.2. View classmate’s work and offer helpful, productive feedback.

Lesson Common Core State Standards Standard 1 Oral Expression and Listening, Concept 2 Validity of a

message is determined by its accuracy and relevance, Benchmark b, “Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.”

Standard 1 Oral Expression and Listening, Concept 2 Validity of a message is determined by its accuracy and relevance, Benchmark aii, “Critique the accuracy, relevance, and organization of evidence of a presentation.”

Standard 3 Writing and Composition, Concept 2Elements of informational and persuasive texts can be refined to inform or influence an audience, Benchmark b Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content:

o i. “Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.” (CCSS: W.11-12.2a)

o ii. Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic. (CCSS: W.11-12.2b)

o iii. Use appropriate and varied transitions and syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts. (CCSS: W.11-12.2c)

o iv. Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic. (CCSS: W.11-12.2d)

o v. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing. (CCSS: W.11-12.2e)

o vi. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).

Day Eight activities and time breakdown1. (20 minutes) Video project and group reflection. TO begin class I will

ask students to individually reflect on their experiences creating the video. Students will write on their own paper, and will use the fallowing questions to prompt their reflection (placed on the projector):

What was your process for selecting the conflict you chose? How did you determine who would be responsible for selecting

what portions of the video? How fair was the division of labor in your group? What was your biggest individual contribution to the group? What was your biggest struggle as a group? What are you most proud of with regards to your final product?

2. (55 minutes) Viewing party. The class is made up of 25 kids, so there will be seven groups of three, and one group of four. Each video is between two and four minutes; this, 8(groups) *4(minutes)=32 minutes of video (extra time accounts for switching from group to group). As the students view the other group’s videos they will fill out the peer response form for each group (see below).

3. (15 minutes) Unit closing/inventory. After the class has viewed all the videos we will spend the remaining time reflecting on the unit we just completed. I will ask the students to take out a piece of paper an free write using the following prompt:

“We have spent the fast few class session examining conflicting perspectives of armed conflicts in The United States. Based on what you have studied, why do you think it is important to consider multiple perspectives of a conflict before reacting, or attaching to one side?”

(Note: this reflection will not be entered into the grade book, but will serve an evaluation of my own teaching. Hopefully, students answers prove that this was a worthy unit of instruction, and applicable to their lives.)

Multimedia Video Peer Response

Directions: Please fill out one response for each video viewed.

1. Group Members______________________________

Video Strength:

Constructive Criticism:

Comment:

2. Group Members______________________________

Video Strength:

Constructive Criticism:

Comment:

3. Group Members______________________________

Video Strength:

Constructive Criticism:

Comment:

Abbreviated Lesson Plan (Day Three)On the night before the third day of our unit, the principal announces that there will be a surprise pep-rally at school tomorrow. Littleton High School has a set bell schedule for assembly days, and each class is shortened approximately 20 minutes. Because I was well educated in lesson planning, and always complete my lessons a few weeks prior to teaching them all I will have to do is shorten what I already had planned by twenty minutes.

Lesson Focus—Study Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, review TTTC thus far with physical representation. Lesson Goals—

4. Understand the causes and symptoms of PTSD.5. Examine literature as a reflection of PTSD6. Review and analyze important characters and settings in The Things They

Carried. Lesson Common Core State Standards—

Standard 2 Reading For All Purposes, Concept 1Complex literary texts require critical reading approaches to effectively interpret and evaluate meaning, Benchmark bi, “Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or

language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful.” Standard 2 Reading For All Purposes, Concept 2 Ideas synthesized

from informational texts serve a specific purpose, benchmark ai “Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.”

Homework Assigned—Read ch.7-9 (p.67-116).

Day Three activities and time breakdown1. (10 minutes) Informal class discussion about what is PTSD, and what the

students know about it. Students may be familiar with PTSD from relatives and other classes, so I will only fill in information as needed.

2. (10 minutes) Examining PTSD impact on literature. Instead of having each students analyze two poems, as was originally planned, they will only be examining one. Half the groups will be given “Peace” by Rupert Brooke, and the other half, “Survivors” Siegfried Sasson. The Groups should work to fill out the TPCASTT template provided (see below). If the group finishes analyzing both poems before the twenty minutes is up, ask them to discuss how PTSD relates to The Things They Carried to this point.

3. (30 minutes)—Using visual aids to understand The Things They Carried. Using the groups that the students are already in, have each group create

a visual aid to show comprehension of TTTC so far. Have one group create each of the fallowing:

Body Biographies for (Tim O’Brien, Jimmy Cross, and Kiowa)

Setting Backdrop for (Vietnam, Tim’s farm in the U.S.)Note: At this point in the semester the students should be familiar with both of these activities, do remind them that their visual aid should be based of a specific section of the text, provide textual evidence, and offer some sort of analysis of the character or significance of the setting.

4. (20 minutes)—Visual aid explanation/informal presentation. After the groups have had time to complete their assigned visual aid they will give a short, informal presentation of the work. Note: these presentations will be graded and viewed as a formative assessment. Grades will be given as I listen to the presentation. Full credit, 10 pts., will be awarded to groups who clearly explain the choices they made in their visual aid, provide textual evidence, and offer an analysis of why the groups specific character or setting contributes to the meaning of The Things They Carried so far.

Adaptation Explanation—To shorten the lesson plan I began by removing the free write for the day. Students are given time for free writing the two previous days, and the two fallowing days, so missing one ten minute free write should not create to big of a whole in the curriculum. Additionally, I substituted reading an article about PTSD as a class for an informal discussion where I will be able to monitor the conversation to make sure students still receive the information about PTSD that is critical to our unit of study. Making these concessions and other time adjustments allows for the day to still focus on the original purpose, exploring PTSD and the diseases influence on literature, as well as checking students comprehension and analysis of The Things They Carried to this point in the unit.

Additional Handouts Referred to in Lesson Plans (sequential order)

Assessments1. Multimedia video assignment sheet

Conflicting Perspectives Final Informational Multimedia VideoAssignment Sheet

Overview---Over the course of the next two weeks our class will be studying literature and rhetoric produced as a result of the U.S. involvement in armed conflict. As you will see, whenever a nation is engaged in a conflict of any type conflict there are generally two responses from our society. The first is a pro-government stance, which supports the actions the government stance. The second position is that of the counter culture often known as protest movements. Both sides produce an extensive amount of rhetoric (literature, film, art, photography, and music) in hopes of persuading citizens to align their personal ideologies with whatever side the speakers represent.

Your Task--- In groups of three you are to select a conflict, past or present, which involves the U.S. Using iMovie, and the editing skills learned in class, you are to make a 2-4 minute multimedia video which seeks to inform your audience of two opposing perspectives held by U.S. citizens concerning this conflict. The conflict your group chooses is up to you; the type of conflict may be armed conflict, political conflict, social conflict, or intellectual conflict. Your video can use film you shoot yourself, clips from youtube, music, photographs, artwork, or any other type of rhetoric produced as a result of the conflict.

Requirements--- 2-4 minutes in length Contains at least two different types of media Clear introduces the conflict from the beginning Document where your media comes from

Due Date---The expected due date for this project is Monday January 28th. You will be given two days to work in the school computer lab all other work must be completed outside school.

Grading--- As always you will be provided with a scoring guide as we approach the due date. This project is worth 55 points.-----------------------------------end of assignment sheet----------------------------------------

2. Quiz:The Things They Carried and War Rhetoric Quiz

1. What war is O’Brien’s novel set during?

2. Who does the narrator consider to be his best friend in the group? Describe him.

3. List three items that you can recall any of the soldiers carrying to this point. Which of these items surprises you the most? Why?

4. Please list two criteria that we determined all “perspectives” share. Give an example of a hypothetical perspective one might hold toward the war in Iraq.

5. Please list two criteria we determined all “conflicts” share. Give an example of a present day conflict you can recall from the news.

6. What is Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder?

7. What are two symptoms of PTSD?

_____________________________end of quiz___________________________

3. Description of visual aids presentation—

On the third day of the unit students will be creating and presenting visual aids that represents comprehension and analysis of The Things They Carried. Students are familiar with the visual aid they are asked to make, but they should include these qualities:

Based of a specific section of the text, Provide textual evidence, Offer some sort of analysis of the character or significance of the setting Clarity of presentation

Evaluation Multimedia video checklist—

Conflicting Perspectives Multimedia Video Check List

Group Members:__________________________________________________

_____/10pts Length 2-4 minutes.

_____/10pts Clearly introduces selected conflict, and two perspectives to be explored from the beginning.

_____/10pts Contains at least two different genres of media

_____/10pts Project and group reflection

____/ 10pts Evidence of preproduction planning (storyboard)

_____/ 5pts Credits sources of media

Impressions and Comments:

-------------------End of video checklist------------------

TTTC and War Rhetoric Quiz answer sheet

The Things They Carried and War Rhetoric Quiz

1. What war is O’Brien’s novel set during?

Vietnam War

2. Who does the narrator consider to be his best friend in the group?

Kiowa. He is very quiet, and thinks things through.

3. List three items that you can recall any of the soldiers carrying to this point. Which of these items surprises you the most? Why?

Letters, gun, tobacco, marijuana, pantyhose, bible, and more.

4. Please list two criteria that we determined all “perspectives” share. Give an example of a hypothetical perspective one might hold toward the war in Iraq.

This will be dependent on what the class comes up while having class discussion. Perspectives: pro-war and anti-war, fighting for democracy and fighting for oil, ect.

5. Please list two criteria we determined all “conflicts” share. Give an example of a present day conflict you can recall from the news.

This will be dependent on what the class comes up while having class discussion. As long as the conflict is real the students receive full points.

6. What is Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder?

A severe anxiety disorder, triggered by stress or a traumatic experience.

7. What are two symptoms of PTSD?Flashbacks, hallucinations, nightmares, aggression, numbing of emotions.

Visual Aid Presentation Evaluation____/2pts. Drawing is clearly based of a specific section of the text ____/2pts. Provide textual evidence and citation _____/2pts. Offer some sort of analysis of the character or significance of the setting_____/2pts.Clarity of presentation_____/2pts. Answer any questions

Total: ______/10 pts.

Texts and Pictures for unit: Pulitzer Prize PhotosBurst of Joy, Sal Veder

Nick Ut, Double Negative

Kevin Carte, Famine

Oded Balilty

Joe Rosenthal, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

Texts:

Novel: The Things They Carried, Tim O’BrienPoetry: “Peace,” Rupert Brooke

“Survivors,” Siegfried Sasson“The War in the Air” Howard Nemerov

Music: “Ohio,” Neil YoungArticles: “Vietnam 101: A Short Introduction,” Kennedy Hickman

“What is PTSD” Retrieved from http://www.ptsd.ne.gov/what-is-ptsd.html

Note: Hard Copies of the poems, articles, and song lyrics can be seen in a separate PDF on the weebly.

Reflective Commentary

How did you develop ideas?I began by selecting one unit from my year long plan, I chose this unit because I thought it would be the unit I would enjoy teaching the most, because of my own personal interest in literature generated by war. Next, I thought about what a good frame for the unit would be, and I came up with examining the rhetoric produced by conflicting perspectives of an issue. Then I thought about what kind of final product would work well with this unit, deciding on a video. Finally, I planned my daily lessons in a sequence that would help move students from knowing little about

rhetorical devices used in conflicts, to the point where they could select and evaluate war rhetoric on their own.

How did you make decisions as you planned?As I mentioned above my planning started very broad: first a unit theme, then a focus, then an end result, and finally breaking the unit down into small chunks that I thought would help lead the students to being able to produce their own conflicting perspectives video. When I first started the daily planning I just drafted on pen and paper different lesson ideas for each day. Then I narrowed down my lesson ideas to those that I thought were most important to helping students be able to analyze conflicting perspectives, eliminating days that seemed to just be filler days. Next, I had to order the lessons in a progression that would makes sense students and continue to present new ideas and concepts to them. Thus, may days start out broad with an introduction, to learning about specific perspectives held, to ultimately letting the students go out on their own and use the skills practiced in class to analyze a conflict of their choosing.

How did you address questions –including lingering questions?In general when I had questions they usually came up when I was doing my daily lesson plans and activities, such as would this make sense to students? Or commonly is this too much information for the purposes of this lesson? To answer these questions, and others, I found myself calling on my own experiences as a student. For example, I was not exactly sure how many texts to include on days that we studied nation building, and counter culture. However, I remembered how I used to be overwhelmed as a student when we would look at a ton of examples, as opposed to carefully breaking down only two or three examples. Additionally, I wasn’t sure when I should introduce my final assignment, but I remembered that my biggest pet peeve as a student is when your given an assignment sheet too late in the unit. So I made a point to give students their final assignment as early in the unit as possible.

A lingering question that I had as I moved from YLP to unit plan arose when I had to shorten my actual unit plan from the outline I had in the YLP. In the YLP I had mapped out much more time for the unit than I ended up needing. However, I did not want it to seem like I was shorting the kids with less days of study. I brought this up with you in a conference, Pam and your advice was very helpful: be true to what the unit calls for.

How do you think this unit will play out in the classroom?I think this unit would work very well in the classroom. First, I think that the topic would interest the students because it is very relevant to their lives past, present, and future. Second, I designed this unit to include lots of time for group work, and individual interpretations, which I believe honors students appreciate in a class. And lastly, I think the final video allows the kids to learn and display skills they can use outside school as well, and speaking from experience, that is always nice.

Anything else you want to share?I really just wanted to acknowledge that I am very grateful that you allowed us to use a lesson plan format that worked best for us. When we discussed the lesson templates in class I never felt a real connection to them, the language and organization confused me, and I knew that my use of these templates would be very artificial. By having the freedom to use a more linear type of lesson plan I think I was better able to capture the separate of my unit, and show how each day build upon one another until the conclusion of the unit.