Teacher

"Empower students to become critical thinkers, enthusiastic readers, skillful researchers, and ethical users of information" //-Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Programs//
 * Teacher: **

Practicum Tasks

Reading Enrichment/Enjoyment Unit **Theme:** Relationships/Social Skills **Grade Level:** 10th Grade College Prep/Gifted Level

**Unit Overview:** This unit is geared towards adolescents who are just beginning to date and to desire acceptance by their peers. The three segments all relate to the overarching theme of the unit. The students should enjoy reading the selections and completing the activities because the theme is one that is directly relatable to their everyday lives. They will have the chance to be creative and will hopefully have fun with the discussions and activities.

The unit coincides with the tenth grade Language Arts Georgia Performance Standards. The Georgia Performance Standards state the below rationale for the tenth grade ELA curriculum for Literature and Composition:

//Focusing on a study of literary themes, the student develops understanding that theme is what relates literature to life, and that themes recur in diverse works of literature. The student develops understanding that the interpretation of a work of literature derives from the theme or themes in the work; the student connects the theme or themes in literary texts to his or her life or experience.// There are three reading selections from three different genres: a humorous newspaper article, a poignant short story, and an inspiring novel. All three are fun to read. Each segment focuses on one of the three reading selections: Newspaper article: “Breaking the Ice” by Dave Barry (Miami Herald) Short Story: “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant” by W.D. Wetherall Novel//: Anthem// by Ayn Rand

**Enrichment Activities:**

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Segment 1**

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">“Breaking the Ice” <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Read “Breaking the Ice” on the following website: []

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">After reading the article, the students will get into groups to discuss the article and to come up with answers to the following questions.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> A. Even though this article is about teens who are dating in the 60’s, what are some of the similarities to teens dating today? <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> List 5 similarities. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> B. “Breaking the Ice” is a term used to describe making people relax and feel comfortable in a group. It is a metaphor for <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> breaking down barriers between people. Find a fun activity that can be used to “Break the Ice” at a party.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The groups will share their answers and the fun activity that they came up with to “Break the Ice” with the class. The teacher will lead a class discussion on the main themes seen in the article and how they relate to the students.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Individually, the students will complete the following:

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">C. Research the life of Dave Barry, a famous syndicated journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize in journalism. List 10 important <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> facts about his life. As part of your enrichment, read some more Dave Barry articles. Find another one that you think is <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> humorous.
 * <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Post one fact you find about the life of Dave Barry as well as another article of his that you found humorous to the Wallwisher entitled The Life of Dave Barry at []. Make sure to read your classmates’ posts so you don’t repost the same fact.

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D<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">. Imagine that you have a friend that desperately wants to ask someone out on a date, but needs advice. Write a letter to that <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> friend giving him/her advice about how to ask that person out on a date.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Segment 2**

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">“The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant” (explore [])

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The students will read the short story and then discuss it as a class. The teacher will facilitate a discussion on how the short story is related to the article from the first segment.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">After the discussion, the students will choose one of the writing activities below to complete (A or B).

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">A. Write a journal article about a time when you wanted to date someone or be a friend to someone and were rejected. How did <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> you handle it? <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> B. Write a poem about being in a dilemma, where you have to make a choice, as the boy had to in the story when he had to <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> choose between catching the fish and keeping Sheila Mant. Do you think he made the correct choice? Why? Or Why not?

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The students will think about the short story and will complete the following (they can choose to work in groups or by themselves):

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">C. Create a video of your interpretation of the story and post it on YouTube. (use Windows Movie Maker, Photo Story, Animoto, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> or any tool of your choosing)
 * <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The students will get to take turns showing off their creations to the class

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Segment 3**

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">//Anthem// ([]

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">This segment will begin with the students watching this book talk on Anthem. The book talk will give the students an overview of the novel and will hopefully get them interested in reading it.

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<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">After the students read the novel, the teacher is going to have a book talk/discussion with the students using the following questions as a guide. The teacher will make sure the students understand how all three selections relate to the common theme.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Book Talk Questions:
 * 1) <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">After reading the novel, discuss the similarities between it and the other two selections. How does the tone differ in each?
 * 2) <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The novel //Anthem// has a much wider scope and many more themes than the other two selections. How do the themes of love and acceptance play a role in the novel?
 * 3) <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Have you read any other selection that has a similar theme to the three you have just read?

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">After the class discussion, the students will think about and write a response to the following question:
 * 1) <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">To which character from the three reading selections do you best relate? Why?

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The students will also be given the following task of finding and reading another selection (they can choose the genre) that relates to the overarching theme of the unit.
 * 1) <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Search for other selections that have a similar theme of love and acceptance. Read at least one other one. Create a book talk (similar to the one you saw on //Anthem//) using a Web 2.0 tool of your choice. (Examples of tools you can use: VoiceThread, Go Animate, Prezi, Voki, etc.) Make sure to include how the selection ties into the theme of the unit.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">I created this unit for use in a tenth grade language arts class. I structured it around a theme that the students could easily relate to and enjoy. I chose to have each segment focus on one of the reading selections relating to the theme. Each reading selection is from a different genre. Each segment allows the students to inquire and delve deeper into the themes of the selections in order to relate them to their own lives.

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