Society, Technology and the Individual

UNIT LOGISTICS

SUBJECT/GRADE 

English Language Arts, Grade 9

DESCRIPTION OF STUDENTS 

• General and honors classes

• Several students between the two classes have ADHD which  appears to interfere with writing

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READING FOCUS 
Main text will be Fahrenheit 451, supplemented by news articles on our relationship to technology and the need to expand one’s mind; short stories on dystopias.

WRITING FOCUS 
We will be working on two text types: short (one to two paragraph) personal reflections and explanatory essays. The former is based on the students’ shop experiences; this is a vo-tech school, and students spend the first half of freshman year sampling shops in two-week trials and then choosing one. The latter comprises responses to prompts about character development, theme and literary device in Fahrenheit 451 and other works. While the two text types represent different genres, the English department has opted to frame the personal reflection as a text that follows the structure of an explanatory essay.

The students must have a clear topic sentence that clues the reader into the WHY of the writer’s thinking, gives concrete examples of successes and struggles in shop, and concludes by stating what success in this shop would look like. Certainly there will be wide variation in register features between the two genres—one can expect highly elevated appraisal when a teenager describes how he got zapped in electric shop—but highlighting the similarities in the text types keeps confusion down and allows teachers to focus on commonalities in good writing no matter the genre.

NUMBER OF DAYS/WEEKS 

4 weeks for honors class; 5 for general class, with 15-20% of class time devoted to modeling, writing and revising reflective writing on shop experiences.

USE OF CURRICULUM CYCLE 

Stage 1
Build the field by reviewing literary terms and examples of them in small groups and whole class activities; watch and discuss videos on America in the 1950s, when Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451; begin a series of exercises that prompt students to articulate theme in fables and other short works; discuss how character of Guy Montag begins to change early in the book and why that happens.

Stage 2
Read novel’s text in class and for homework with students annotating on theme and literary devices. Students begin to do two- to three-sentence responses to prompts on theme, literary device, character change, and their shop experiences. Teacher introduces idea of expectations for form and language in these kinds of writing, noting similarities and differences.

Stage 3
Teacher models shop and character development essays; students write drafts of these essays, which are commented on by teacher using a genre/register rubric. Whole class discussion reviews a few of the essays. They are then returned for revision.

Stage 4
Teachers and peers review second round of essays and give feedback. Students self-assess. A second round of short-essay writing follows (this time on theme and literary device and on second shop experience); there is far less scaffolding by teacher in most cases. A multi-modal assessment component is included in which students work in groups to create Facebook pages for main characters of Fahrenheit 451.

Stage 5
Students produce a final, multiple-part composition in which they explain theme, literary device and the interplay between the two to a middle school audience. Part 1 of project is a 1-3 paragraph essay on theme. Part 2 involves a student choice in assessment. See Final Assessment below.

UNIT OVERVIEW/ BIG IDEAS 

• Technology can change who we are and how we relate to others.

• To lead a fulfilling life you need to be more than “entertained.”

• Fiction can help us see our reality more clearly.

• Language is a sneaky thing. Making meaning is about much more than knowing the words on the page and their definitions.

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS (Content) 
 

 Students will…
 

• Understand what a theme is in both fiction and non-fiction text; identify themes and explain how they are developed.

• Compare and contrast the message and development of similar themes across different kinds of texts in both fiction and non-fiction.

• Track character development and understand why that development matters to an author’s message.

• Identify literary devices, understand how and why they work and be able to use them in their writing

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS (Content) 

• How can I figure out what an author is trying to tell the reader?

• How does an author use language in a way that leaves a lasting impression on the reader?

• How do changes in the way a character acts and thinks advance the plot and theme of a work?

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS (Disciplinary Literacy/Skills) 
 

Students will…
 

• Argue with an author’s point of view in a non-fiction piece, citing particular evidence to back up their claim.

• Write a short explanatory essay, with a hook to pull in readers, a clear main idea, supporting evidence and a conclusion that tie main idea to big issues wrestled with in the text or in the “real world” beyond the text.

• Write precisely to convey thinking across multiple kinds of texts.

• Work with a rubric.

• Develop assessment formats and criteria.

• Work in a group to produce and present a text. 

• Use new technologies to expand vocabulary and improve writing.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS (Disciplinary Literacy/Skills) 

• What is good evidence to back up my position? How do I find that evidence?

• What do I need to show to prove that I understand the material we’ve been learning?

• How do I show understanding by means other than a traditional essay? Is that important?

• How can I make certain that my writing is understood by my audience?
   

ASSESSMENTS AND DIFFERENTIATION 

Over the course of the unit students will frequently write short responses to prompts on character development, literary devices, theme and identity so teacher can assess where they are in their writing and thinking and can modify lesson planning accordingly.

In addition, students will complete three graded assessments before a final assessment. In groups of four they will create Facebook pages for the main characters of Fahrenheit 451. The exercise will let students show they understand character development and motivation but also allow them to show their knowledge of literary devices such as symbolism, irony and metaphor as the assessment prompt will remind them that the F451 government is watching their pages so their characters aren’t free to speak their minds directly.

In a more traditional vein, students will write a three-paragraph response to a question on character development soon after the Facebook exercise.

Students will play “The Censor” game, which I developed from the Luisa Valenzuela poem “The Censor” as a way for students to show they can transfer to other contexts their learning about language and theme from F451. See sample daily plans and tools below.

Students will produce a two-part final assessment. Part 1 is three-paragraph essay in which they analyze theme in “The Pedestrian,” a short story written by Bradbury that is in some ways a precursor to Fahrenheit 451. This will allow students to take on their first analysis of theme without throwing them into a text style with which they are totally unfamiliar while at the same time giving them the opportunity to show they can transfer what they’ve learned in 451 to another text. Part 1 will also include a quiz on identifying and using literary devices.

Part 2 is a student choice in which they will demonstrate their knowledge of how theme and literary devices work together. They can write a poem in which they show their understanding or put together a play-list of song lyrics. Students participated in creation of the assessment options.

DIFFERENTATION 
Giving all students the best shot possible at showing their learning is the reason for the two-part assessment above. A student who doesn’t shine at essay writing can still do well on the final assessment.

In addition, because this unit is taught to an honors and a general ed class there is differentiation not only in this assessment but in other work over the course of the unit.

• Students in the general class have the option of using a graphic organizer to produce their writing

• More of the book is read together aloud in the general class than in the honors class

• Assessment questions during the course of the unit are more direct in general class than in honors class;

• More time is spent reviewing assessment directions in the general class

Finally, students who show trouble “getting started” with writing, whether or not an IEP in place to address a disability, work with teacher, typically by dictating first couple of sentences of any written assessment while teacher transcribes. This support is lessened over course of the unit.

COMMON CORE (Standards this unit addresses) 

Mass./CCR Reading Standards Literature 1-5
 

1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn.

2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development.

3. Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop;

4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.

Mass./CCR Writing Standards 2-6 

2. 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.

3. Demonstrate understanding of the concept of point of view by writing short narratives, poems, essays, speeches, or reflections from one’s own or a particular character’s point of view.

4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

5. 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.

6. Use technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

Mass. /CCR Speaking and Listening Standards 1-3 

1. Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners.

2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats

3. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.

Mass. /CCR Language Standards 1-3,5 

1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

3. 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.

4. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

SAMPLE LESSON PLANS AND TOOLS 

Co-Taught Class on “The Censors”
 

DO NOW 
Get into your Fahrenheit 451 groups, take out “The Censors” and skim it briefly.
 

1. Purpose Objective/Student Outcomes
Students will:

a. Learn a perspective from outside the United States and place a work in its historical and cultural setting (Mass./Common Core Reading Standard 6)

b. Work in groups productively and respectfully to produce an unconventional composition. (Speaking & Listening 1, 3 and 6 and Language 3)

c. Analyze how language is used to convey meaning: Students will think about meaning as a combination of what is said and what is inferred; they will use literary devices to convey meaning. (Reading 4)

2. Materials Resources/Technology


a. Video exploring the 1970s/80s dictatorship in Argentina http://www.ahctv.com/battles­history/videos/argentinas­dirty­war/

b. “The Censors,” a short story by Luisa Valenzuela


c. Stationery to write letters


d. Notebooks and pens

e. Instructions to letter writers and censors
 

3. Instructional Strategies

a. Break students into 3 groups (ones already picked for Fahrenheit 451), have them skim text of “The Censors,” which they read last night, review what we’ll be doing today and introduce guest teachers from Springfield who will assist in this project. (5 minutes)

b. Students will watch video on the historical context for “The Censors.” We’ll instruct them to listen with their jobs in mind. We can interrupt with salient points from time to time. (5 minutes)

c. Each group gets explicit instruction in what their jobs will be. Each group of letter writers has to convey a message (I’m unhappy in this school; I want to get out of this school) to the other group that won’t run afoul of censors. The censors have to come up with plan for what they will and won’t let through. (Censors should know that they have to let a lot through; they can’t simply wipe out everything. We should stress with writers that figurative language has a much better chance of sneaking through.) (5 minutes) 

d. Groups get 15 minutes to compose a letter and for censors to come up with their list of banned words and ideas. Groups will then try to get first letters by censors. Then follow up with a second letter using a different strategy. Teachers work with groups to keep them on task and help if they get stuck. (25 minutes)

e. Censors review the letters and cross out anything they think does not pass muster. (We’ll keep a clean copy as well. NB: Take picture with phones. ) Then groups get 5 minutes to figure out what each other meant in their writing. (10 minutes)

f. Reading groups and censors say what they thought the letters meant and writing groups and censors explain the choices they made in constructing and censoring. Teachers scaffold discussion about use of figurative language to convey meaning, about how you sometimes need to search beyond the words on the page to find meaning in the text, and to make connection between censorship and satire in Bradbury’s and Valenzuela’s texts. (10 minutes)

ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION 

• Students will receive a speaking & listening grade based on their contribution to the project.

• Whole class debriefing will check for understanding.

• Please note, as per students’ IEPs, accommodations will be made to this plan as necessary. 

   

REFLECTION/SELF ASSESSMENT 
Did students reach the objective of the lesson? The kids did a fine job with the project, coming up with creative ideas for how to pass the letters through the censors, who themselves articulated a clear list of what they would let through and then evaluated letters honestly according to their “rubric.” Teachers underestimated difficulty of the task so we never got to finish round 2, which we then reviewed in class the next day as we debriefed the project. In retrospect, I should have let that debriefing go on longer than I did. It just got going when I ended it to move.