Ken Ealy

Dr. Cope

Educ. 4414

Rationale

This unit plan is designed for an eleventh grade college preparatory English class. This plan covers second three-week unit plan of the school year. The theme of the three-week unit plan is convergence of cultures. The first unit plan explored different cultures and their writings and the characteristics of each of these cultures. The students were allowed to pick different works from different cultures. This unit plan will illustrate what happens when different cultures converge upon other cultures in different situations. The unit plan assignments consist of two rough drafts, (of the assigned paper due at the end) the final draft of the paper, an oral presentation, and numerous class assignments. The third unit will consist of analysis of the two previous units and it will end with the students presenting a documented research paper. Throughout each unit, the class will adhere to the Georgia Quality Core Curriculum guidelines. This unit as well as all of my units will serve as an opportunity for each of my students to grow as readers, writers, listeners, and speakers of the English language.

The first reading of second three weeks (the period this plan will cover) will be To Kill a Mockingbird. Students will be initially introduced to the work. The reading of the novel will begin in class and carried over to homework. That will be followed by two short stories “Advancing Luna and Ida B Wells,” “The Sky is Gray,” “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” The students will also cover the poems “I Hear America Singing,” “I Too Sing America,” “Cry Freedom,” and “Faces In My Dreams.” These readings will be explored to see how they relate to converging cultures.

My philosophy of teaching embraces the individuality that different cultures bring to the learning environment; therefore, different cultures will be represented in the reading selections. I will utilize the whole language approach that Jane Allen discusses in It’s Never Too Late in which students learn in a student centered classrooms were materials have meaning and relevance and teachers look to the class for input into the curriculum (Allen 76). The teacher’s role is that of a facilitator which allow the children to make choices and share in the decision-making. Questions will be asked to generate class discussions and students and students will be encouraged to collaborate with their peers. Janet Allen talks about the way literature affects student in the following quote from Never Too Late:

Questions about love, sex, and relationships are almost always critical to teenagers, and my students were no exception. As they read, thought, and wrote about the various relationships they were experiencing vicariously, they began to articulate their own beliefs about the puzzling events in their own and other’s relationships (161).

My students will be encouraged to engage in conversation with classmates as well as the instructor about the assigned readings. Students will be given the opportunity to effectively and appropriately communicate their responses to reading assignments given in class. The class will consist of group discussions on the readings as well responses to the individual readings done in class. The students will also be allowed to respond in class discussions as well as group discussions. This environment introduces the students to others responses so they will be able to effectively communicate criticisms to a work of literature as well as their peers. The students will read different works of literature and analyze the literature through responses and group activities (LA11.26 and LA11.27). During these activities, the students will be looking at theme and characterization in the work (LA11.31, LA11.33, LA11.36, LA11.38). The activities the students will be involved in will allow them to make predictions about the stories as well as speak on various opinions and interpretations they have about the stories (LA11.39, LA11.42, LA11. 46, LA11.47). The students will also be familiarized with MLA format through activities as well as lessons on grammar as needed (LA11.51, LA11.55, LA11.58, LA11.59, LA11.60).