jpveedubs
04-27-2011, 10:49 AM
I am a recent graduate of a teaching program and am currently ironing out some ideas and more for some lesson and unit plans for when I become a teacher. I have several prepared already, but am currently working on an ~8-week unit for 6th-9th grade English/Language Arts classes covering the YA novels "The Giver" and "The Hunger Games".
The focus of the unit is the "essential question" (a concept introduced to me during my teacher assisting), "What is my role in society?".
I have organized the unit into several "subunits" (for example, a subunit on "The Giver" that focuses on answering questions like "What is society?", "What is a community?", and "Can a person's role be different within a community and society?", whereas "The Hunger Games" subunit focuses more upon conflict and character traits) with relevant focus questions and topics, but am looking for some more material to work with; it would be an awfully-bland unit if it only featured two novels.
For example, I have also chosen to feature the short story by Samuel Clemens, "Cannibalism in the Cars" to fit in between the two novels and bridge with focus lessons on groups and cooperation (as well as a little bit about character traits); this, I feel, fits pretty well between the two books since it concerns how people work together, as well as on their own, to make decisions for their own survival - a very prominent theme in "The Hunger Games" (it's also blatant satire, and pretty humorous, if somewhat dark).
I feel like I have the "bones" of the unit, and most of the "meat", but nothing too substantial.
When I did a unit about "What is worth standing up for?" with the book, "Maniac Magee", I included films about civil rights, articles, interviews, and more (even a children's book!) to tie the theme in to more than simply the main body of work I had chosen.
I'm looking for similar things to include in this unit. Nothing that should "stand alone" (like "Cannibalism in the Cars" does), but instead pieces (ie, articles) that can be used alongside at least the two main parts of the unit ("The Giver" and "The Hunger Games"). For example, articles about rivalry and how it can be good or bad, or a film (short film? that'd be awesome) that illustrates how important it is to be able to be independent. Things like that, that can be used to focus on one or two things rather than the broad range of themes introduced in the books.
Any suggestions at all would help! If you'd like to talk to me, I am often on AIM (jpvanwagner) and GChat ([email protected]) and can be more specific about some of my focus questions and the like, and we can even brainstorm together if you would like.
Keep in mind, this is 6th-9th grade, so it should all be accessible and appropriate for these age groups!
The focus of the unit is the "essential question" (a concept introduced to me during my teacher assisting), "What is my role in society?".
I have organized the unit into several "subunits" (for example, a subunit on "The Giver" that focuses on answering questions like "What is society?", "What is a community?", and "Can a person's role be different within a community and society?", whereas "The Hunger Games" subunit focuses more upon conflict and character traits) with relevant focus questions and topics, but am looking for some more material to work with; it would be an awfully-bland unit if it only featured two novels.
For example, I have also chosen to feature the short story by Samuel Clemens, "Cannibalism in the Cars" to fit in between the two novels and bridge with focus lessons on groups and cooperation (as well as a little bit about character traits); this, I feel, fits pretty well between the two books since it concerns how people work together, as well as on their own, to make decisions for their own survival - a very prominent theme in "The Hunger Games" (it's also blatant satire, and pretty humorous, if somewhat dark).
I feel like I have the "bones" of the unit, and most of the "meat", but nothing too substantial.
When I did a unit about "What is worth standing up for?" with the book, "Maniac Magee", I included films about civil rights, articles, interviews, and more (even a children's book!) to tie the theme in to more than simply the main body of work I had chosen.
I'm looking for similar things to include in this unit. Nothing that should "stand alone" (like "Cannibalism in the Cars" does), but instead pieces (ie, articles) that can be used alongside at least the two main parts of the unit ("The Giver" and "The Hunger Games"). For example, articles about rivalry and how it can be good or bad, or a film (short film? that'd be awesome) that illustrates how important it is to be able to be independent. Things like that, that can be used to focus on one or two things rather than the broad range of themes introduced in the books.
Any suggestions at all would help! If you'd like to talk to me, I am often on AIM (jpvanwagner) and GChat ([email protected]) and can be more specific about some of my focus questions and the like, and we can even brainstorm together if you would like.
Keep in mind, this is 6th-9th grade, so it should all be accessible and appropriate for these age groups!