Lakewood High School

POWER OF LANGUAGE MODEL

Curriculum Document

PROFILE Lakewood High School is a comprehensive four year high school with a total enrollment of 2,200 students drawn from a diverse, densely populated first ring suburb of 56,000 residents. The high school houses the West Shore Career Technical District and Lakewood City Academy (on site conversion charter school option), as well as programming that provides for a multitude of student needs. LHS has over 100 students who receive services for English as a Second Language, offers16 A.P. courses, and had an incoming freshmen class of 575 students, 1/3 of whom were on an I.E.P. Therefore, a curriculum document has been crafted that provides for multiple text options and a variety of instructional activities with the individual classroom teacher empowered to provide resources that meet the student’s needs. Lakewood is a community that has had a long history of supporting education and providing for the needs of the student population. Lakewood, an aging suburb, is experiencing a renaissance of sorts, and continues to reinvent itself. RATIONALE The document we colleagues developed: Embraces the learning style of the Millennial Generation Incorporates rich materials and methods that help make timeless ideas relevant to our students Embeds Technology Standards with Academic Content Standards and reaches out in interdisciplinary directions Emphasizes Constructivist principles and Assessment for Learning, evident in rigorous semester and capstone projects as well as portfolio development Our students’ capstone project will be nourished by interim assignments as the year progresses. By the end, each should have developed and be ready to craft an essay and record an oral performance: ―This I Believe.‖ As we complete this initial Program Model year, this is what we teachers believe: We believe literacy brings the power to fulfill the promises of democracy. And we join Andrew Lam, author of Perfume Dreams, in asserting we believe that language has the power to render the temporal eternal: “Precious things lost are transmutable. They refuse oblivion. They simply wait to be rendered into testimonies, into stories and songs.” We pledge to continue our quest to connect students with their linguistic and literary heritage and to teach them to create their own legacies. TEXTS Literature and the Language Arts/Experiencing Literature (EMC Paradigm) Writer’s Inc., 2001 (Write Source/Houghton Mifflin Company) RESOURCES

Facing History and Ourselves Image Grammar - Using Grammatical Structures to Teach Writing

Harry R. Noden

1999

Document prepared by tenth grade ELA teachers Brian Biermann, Jane Blackie, Barbara Comienski, Jamie Cure, Dave Gannon, Becky Havel, Lisa Schaffer-Gill, Shane Sullivan, Sean Wheeler, and Melanie Wightman. Supervision provided by PCT members David Bruce and Barbara Israel with support provided by grant funding made available through the Ohio Department of Education. With the approval of Lakewood City School District Board of Education members Linda Beebe, Ed Favre, Charles Geiger, Betsey Shaughnessy and Debra Sweeney.

LHS Power of Language Model

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THEME / ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

The Power of Language

TEXTS

1st Quarter

“Insider/Outsider”

Summer Reading:

Each quarterly unit is designed to guide students through a series of texts and activities that are relevant, rigorous, and connected to their lives as members of the Lakewood community. Skills have been scaffolded in preparation for an authentic assessment project at the end of the first semester and a culminating Capstone project.

As students begin their work with American Literature, they will need to deal with the following essential questions that have to do with the concepts of ―Insiders/Outsiders‖. Our study will begin with a personal inventory concerning student views of the schooling process, their role as stakeholders, and the ways by which they can become more actively engaged as self-advocates in their learning process.

Gaines – A Lesson Before Dying

The quarterly design also allows the Ohio Academic Content Standards to be interwoven in such a way that students explore English Language Arts through three lenses:

Introduction to the Year Questions - What is the explicit reason we are in this room? - Do you feel disconnected from school? If so, why? If not, how so? - What does someone who has given up/not given up look like? - What/Who/Where do you want to be in ten years? - Whose life are you living? - What are the important things you have learned? - What are the rules of ―doing‖ school? - What happens when your brain gets ―turned off‖? - To what standard do you hold your teachers? Insider/Outsider Questions? - What makes a group? -

LHS Power of Language Model

What are characteristics of groups?

The Golden Compass The Secret Life of Bees More Than You Know Fallen Angels

Print: -

Of Mice and Men (N) Sojourner Truth ―Ain’t I a Woman?‖ The Great Gatsby (N) ―The Outcast of Poker Flat‖ (Brett Hart) Thoreau – ―Civil Disobedience Suzanne Vega – ―Left of Center‖ MLK – ―Letter from the Birmingham Jail‖ J.D. Salinger – ―Catcher in the Rye‖ Joan Didion – ―Slouching Towards Bethlehem‖ The Who – ―BaBa O’Rielly‖ Harlem Renaissance Poets Dunbar – ―We Wear the Mask‖

INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES Ongoing language skills: • reading • writing • speaking • listening • viewing • researching Multiple Intelligence Learning Inventory -

Begin semester with MI learning inventory along with American Scholar, WHY (wo)man, questions

Amerian Scholar Multiple Intelligence Translation Project. -Migrant Workers webquest -Photo Gallery of dustbowl; can use Library of Congress Photo Gallery -Create your own Photo Gallery; students take their own pictures to illustrate within the school and community what it means to be an insider/outsider -Hard Copy e-mail -Newspaper Ad find print examples of status

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LHS Power of Language Model

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What groups are we are part of?

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What groups do we see among us?

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Is there a hierarchy of groups?‖

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Why do people have a difficult time accepting difference in others?

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What/Who is the ―other‖?

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How do we treat ―others‖?

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Is ―otherness‖ transferrable? (contextual nature of group formation)

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How does America deal with those it considers outsiders?

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In what way are the labels of ―insider‖ and ―outsider‖ transferrable?

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What is common between groups that perceive each other are ―others‖?

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What do ―outsiders‖ do?

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What do ―insiders‖ do?

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((one man’s outsider is another man’s insider – b.b.))

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Where does hate come from? Is it inherent?

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Can a society exist without the ―other‖?

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Wolfe – ―Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test‖ - ―Friday Night Lights‖ - Beat Poet Excerpts (Ginsberg, Kerouac, etc.) - Ginsberg – ―Howl‖, America‖ - Zora Neal Hurston – ―Their Eyes Were Watching God‖ - Native American – Wounded Knee - Tennessee Williams – ―The Glass Menagerie‖ - Melba Patillo Beals – ―Warriors Don’t Cry‖ - Ralph Waldo Emerson – ―The American Scholar‖ - Kate Chopin - ―The Story of an Hour‖ - Go Tigers – intertext w/ Friday Night Lights - Dr. Seuss – ―The Sneetches and others‖

-Facing History Materials Line activity

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The aim of the units and lessons in this section is to make the literary texts relevant to the actual experiences of our students as Americans during this exciting time of self-discovery and formation. Students will be using authentic experiences as a means to guide them through a literary text, as opposed to a literary text that drives them to make sense of their experiences. The suggested unit plans each employ a rigorous approach to examining the power of language as a means to form conceptions of those who are perceived as either inside or outside of various groups. 2nd Quarter

The quarterly design allows the Ohio Academic Content Standards to be interwoven in such a way that students explore English Language Arts through three lenses:

LHS Power of Language Model

Clashes/Conflicts Students will investigate the nature of conflict and develop an awareness of the historical context of conflicts within American literature ( very rough) - What is conflict? - How is conflict created between individuals/groups/states/nations? - What are the likely outcomes of conflict? - What tools are used to avoid conflict? - What tools are used to defuse conflict? - What conflicts tend to be universal? - What conflict are you experiencing? (home/school/friends/work/community) - What can be learned from conflict? - Historically, what are the significant conflicts that have existed in America? - Is there a ―viral‖ nature to some conflicts? - At what level do we involve ourselves in conflicts?

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Print: Wounded Kneee Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Twain’s Moral Cowardice essay Lecture to a Missionary ―I Will Fight No More Forever‖ – Chief Joseph Red Jackets Lecture to the Missionary‖ More Than You Know Slaughterhouse 5 Whitman Civil War (Glory) ―Masters of War‖ – Bob Dylan ―Catch 22‖ J. Heller Chapter 1 of ―People’s History of America‖ –

-Conflicts in the News Compile a list of news articles or podcasts of news reports that highlight International, National, and local conflicts -Conflict Notebook record observed and experienced conflicts -Conflict Resolution Role Play Is it different for insiders and outsiders? Students write and perform scripts that include characters from fiction and nonfiction readings. Require multiple endings: violent, peaceful and stalemated.

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(―drama‖‖ vs. ―engagement‖)? - What escalates conflict? -

------------------------------------------------------------Power/Fear Students will investigate the use of power and fear as concepts that influence American literature and living. power - What does it mean to have power? - What types of power exist (political, economic, sexual, emotional, physical, etc) - How is power acquired? (earned, inherited, taken, etc) - How is power maintained? - In what way do insider/outsider status impact power? - In what way can we become empowered? - How does one overcome feelings of powerlessness? - What happens when power overrides justice? - Does the individual have power within a collective? - Does language have power? - Do our actions have power? - How is power lost? (evolution, corruption, dispersion) LHS Power of Language Model

What is fear? How is fear created? What are the symptoms of fear? How is fear overcome?

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Zinn Hemingway  Nick Adams ---------------

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9/11 Commission Report

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Poe

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Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

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Twain, ―Letters from the Earth‖

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Twain, ―The War Prayer‖

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Short Story cornered

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―Lambs to the Slaughter‖

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A Lesson Before Dying

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? – graphic novel

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The Raven

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Maus

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The Crucible

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Bowling for Columbine (brief history of the usa)

-List of “What Should we Fear Today?” Watch the news/read the newspaper and list the Fear du Jour. Every day for a week. Make a class list.

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3rd Quarter The quarterly design allows the Ohio Academic Content Standards to be interwoven in such a way that students explore English Language Arts through three lenses:

When is fear good or bad? In what way are we motivated by fear? What is the relationship between fear and power?

American Personality -

What is an American? What is American about your life? What is American about …? What do you think the worldview is concerning Americans? Has the American personality shifted? How does the American personality affect the world around us? (environment, politics, gender, science, etc? What do Americans value? What is required of Americans?

*** Persona vs. Personality *** Discuss as whole group ***

LHS Power of Language Model

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Crash

- One Bad Cat - emerson – Self Reliance - City on a Hill - Hucklebery Finn - The Things They Carried - Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman - Patrick Henry Speeches ―I Will Fight No More Forever‖ - The Great Gatsby - The Grapes of Wrath - A Christmas Story Native American - Trickster Tales/Bugs Bunny - The Autobiography of Ben Franklin - Poor Richard’s Almanac - ―A Brief History of USA – (bowling for coumbine) - ―How it feels to be Colored Me‖ Hurston Alice Walker Essay in Response to Hurston - Robert E. Lee - Frederick Douglas - Harlem Renaissance - Malcolm X - Horatio Alger Stories/

-The Brown Bag Project -Who Am I today Make a video that illustrates who each student is today. Use website boostup.org -Invent a Product to meet a modern need -American Archetypes Webquest the 12 major mystic, visionary, philanthropist, rebel warrior, entrepreneur etc. -Create a pamphlet/questioner “Which American Archetype are you?”

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The American Personality Create a magazine based on Vanity Fair, Cosmo, Rolling Stone etc. that highlights traits of several Archetypes and includes advertisements, news, photos etc. 6

Raps that say ―I’ve made it‖ Hughes ―I too Sing America‖, ―I hear America Singing‖ Whitman - White Heron - ―America‖ Ginsberg - Cowboys

American Journey - What happens on a journey? (Joseph Campbell) - What defines a journey? (physical, spiritual, emotional) - Why does the road beckon? - Why go? - Running from vs. Running to? - What has been America’s journey? - How have America’s journeys been recorded? - America as place vs. America as idea - If America is on a journey, what is the desination? - Journey as experience vs. Journey as destination - What does the West represent in America?

LHS Power of Language Model

- Huckleberry Finn - The Secret Life of Bees - Travels with Charlie - A Worn Path , Welty - Wizard of Oz - On the Road - Call of the Wild - Grapes of Wrath - Into the Wild - Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? - Smoke Signals - The Almost True Autobiography of a Part Time Indian - Two ways of Looking at a River.

-Create your ideal Roadtrip map and itinerary -Create a musical Playlist to accompany you on the roadtrip -Go on a scavenger hunt of Lakewood -Create a storyboard of your life’s journey

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4th Quarter The quarterly design also allows the Ohio Academic Content Standards to be interwoven in such a way that students explore English Language Arts through three lenses:

Visions of America - What do you see as the future of America? - What do you hope is the future of America? - What is the potential of America? - In what ways do we fall short/achieve this potential?

―City on a Hill‖ Winthrop ―What is an American?‖ Crevecouer Declaration of Indep.

-Write a New Constitution for your own city persuading classmates to join you as a part of your own new City on a Hill -Design an Advertisement for recruits to your City on a Hill

Monroe Doctrine Iroquis Constitution X Red Jacket’s Lecture to a Missionary Political Speeches on Exporting Democracy. The Audacity of Hope Obama’s speech on Race

This American Life/Experience -

LHS Power of Language Model

What is YOUR American life? Where do you fit in with all of this? What do you see as the quintessential American life?

Capstone Project = This American Life This American Life podcast Roadtrip! This American Life podcast What I learned 8

from TV. Act ii Sarah Vowel Pilgrims

CONNECTIONS CURRICULAR DESIGN Ohio Academic Content Standards Instructional Activities 1st Quarter ACTIVITIES Ongoing language skills: • reading • writing • speaking • listening • viewing • researching

Vocabulary

Reading

Writing

Research

Communication

1,6

RP 1-5

WP 1-16

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1,5,6,7

Preparatory reading Autobiographical sketch of classmate

WC 1-6

RP 1-5

WA 1 a,b,c

Literacy Surveys/Big Paper Sharing Literacy narrative LHS Power of Language Model

Technology/Arts/Media

1,9 WA 6 9

Letter to self (Who am I? Goal setting)

WA 1,6

Design/Write a self-architecture (metaphor) HipHop/Biography Lyrics

TECH

RA-Lit 10

FINE ARTS

2,3

Gothic Gallery/Art Show/Tech Gallery

RA-Lit 1,2,3,4,5, 6,8,10,11

Field Trip (Trinity Cathedral)

FINE ARTS

Coffee House

RA-Lit 10

Deconstructing print ads

RA-Info 7

LHS Power of Language Model

1,4,6 2,3

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Instructional Activities 2ND Quarter ACTIVITIES

Vocabulary

Dynamic/static characters

Reading

LHS Power of Language Model

Communication

Technology/Art/Media

WA—2 RA—Lit 7

Reflective Essay/relating to a character Choose a new role (letter to self from beginning of semester; now at end of semester, are you a dynamic character—or not?)

Research

RA—Lit 1

Character vanity plates Choose your own path/ending

Writing

WA 2, 4b WP 17

RA—Lit 1

11

Mask/Shield Project/Midterm

4,5

RA—Info 2,3

WA 2 WP 17

2,4,7

1,5,6,7,8

Reading

Writing

Research

Communication

RA—Info 1,2,3,4,5,6,8

WA 4 a,b,c,d,e

1,2,3,4,5,6,7

8 a,b,c,d,e 10 a,b,c,d,e

TECH FINE ARTS

Instructional Activities 3RD Quarter

ACTIVITIES

Vocabulary

Technology/Arts/Media

I-Search project on an injustice: Information Literacy -Where do I go to get my information? -How do I use that information to express myself to different audiences?

LHS Power of Language Model

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Instructional Activities 4TH Quarter ACTIVITIES

Vocabulary

Reading

Writing

Research

Communication

School class mascot/crest contest

FINE ARTS TECH

Letter of advice to incoming freshmen This I Believe -writing -review of one they like -podcasts Mini-Community Service Project -H20 Service Group -self-selected

LHS Power of Language Model

Technology/Arts/Media

WA 3 a,b,c,d,e 5 a,b,c,d RP 2

5,6,7, 10 a,b,c,d,e

WC 1-6 WP 17

WA 6

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