Taylor Culjan ELAN 7408 Smagorinsky Fall 2004 A Different Dimension: Fantasy, Folktales, Myths and Legends • Primary Texts The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis The Smallest Dragon Boy by Anne McCaffrey Aunty Misery: A Folktale from Puerto Rico by Judith Ortiz Cofer Strawberries retold by Gayle Ross Prometheus retold by Bernard Evslin • Rationale The unit rationale below will be based on the National Board Standards for teachers of early adolescents and adults in the subject area of English Language Arts. I have incorporated these standards in the explanation of my unit because they encompass the goals, beliefs, and philosophies that I hold as a teacher of children and language. The standards I have chosen reflect various activities, themes, topics, and assessments that are a part of this four to six week unit. At the end of my rationale, there is also a list of the Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) standards that will be met at the completion of study. I. Knowledge of StudentsAccomplished Early Adolescence/English Language Arts teachers systematically acquire specific knowledge of their students as individuals and use that knowledge to help develop students' literacy. At the beginning of this unit, I will have the students engage in an activity that will allow me to understand their level of acquaintance with the fantasy, myths, and folktale genres as well as their acquaintance with the theme, “A Different Dimension.” In August, I give my students a general inventory that asks which novels they have read, how they learn best, in which settings are the most comfortable to read, and other questions pertaining their learning styles. Therefore, I will not have to go as in depth with this unit as I did during my months of student teaching in 2003. The first activity that will help me to assess my students’ acquaintance with the genres will be a brief questionnaire in which I ask questions that relate to the themes and messages of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I will also include items that allow me to assess their knowledge of the genres we will be studying during these few weeks. Through the responses I receive, I will be able to decide how much time I need to spend introducing these genres. A couple of my classes may be more acquainted than another, and I anticipate a difference in the inventory responses. The next activity will be one to “hook” the student and also provide me with a small window into their imagination. Students will be asked to create a map of an alternate universe or realm. This will be an in-class activity that allows the kids to use their artistic side. The students will have the opportunity to present their finished map if they choose, and I will ask permission to hang them up around the room. Teachers spend so much timeassessing objective quizzes and tests; I feel it is important to assess creativity as well. Not only will this assignment provide an outlet for creativity, but it prepares the students for the culminating assessment, which is explained later in this rationale. III. Engagement Accomplished Early Adolescence/English Language Arts teachers engage students in language arts learning and elicit a concerted academic effort from each of their students. IV. Learning Environment Accomplished Early Adolescence/English Language Arts teachers create a caring and challenging environment in which all students actively learn. VII. Instructional Decision Making Accomplished Early Adolescence/English Language Arts teachers set attainable and worthwhile learning goals for students and develop meaningful learning opportunities, while extending to students an increasing measure of control over setting goals and choosing how those goals are pursued. It is sometimes believed that genre literature is for dummies. For example, romance and mystery novels are written for readers seeking pure entertainment. These types of novels are not at all challenging, and they do not require the reader to think critically about a text. Fantasy often falls into the same category. These claims, however, are often asserted by those who have not taken the time to study these genres and read a variety of the texts available in each.Some parents may argue that they do not want their children spending all their academic time reading about “Never, Never Land.” I feel that the Fantasy genre speaks to real life the majority of the time. Lewis’s novel, in particular, is rich with metaphor and symbolism that mimics issues and ideas of our own world. The novel proves appealing to the rampant imaginations of young adults and holds their interest. The questions and prompts that I pose within the reading log assignments require the students to think critically about Lewis’s novel and its relation to the world today. Throughout this unit, students will engage in a variety of activities that promote learning in areas of vocabulary building, reader response, critical thinking, creative writing, and multimedia. The majority of the activities I have chosen are student-centered, thereby allowing the kids to do most of the work and learn from that experience, rather than sitting there passively and trying to absorb information from the teacher. I thoroughly explain the culminating project and Reading Response Log in other areas of this rationale; thus, I would like to explain another activity choice, the Body Biography. I first learned of this activity during my student teaching from Peter Smagorinsky’s text, Teaching English Through Principled Practice. I used it with ninth and eleventh graders and had great success. I also used it last year with my seventh graders during the reading of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, and the children adored the activity. I have chosen the Body Biography because it is, in my opinion, one of the most effective creative group activities available to teachers. As seventh graders, my students often struggle to remain focused in group activities. They are still quite immature, and they need a specific, interesting, and entertaining task to keep them on track. This activitydoes just that. I have the students choose among main characters in the novel, and depending on the number of groups, I usually encourage the groups to choose a character that another group is not already doing. Using quotations from the text, symbols, and an illustration of the character, the students create a product that illustrates their