Weekly Unit Progress - Warren and Tatiana

Hey everybody,

This week Tatiana and I planned on working on, bringing in, and discussing our unit rationales. In particular, we wanted to go over the first two points that the rationale is supposed to cover: Describing the course and describing the students, class, and community we have cultivated. Also, we decided to create lesson plans that would focus on reading comprehension and utilizing a reading strategy.

I feel I am getting along pretty well so far, and have found constructing a unit map to be especially helpful in what kinds of overlying themes and concepts students could explore through the texts. I am planning to design the reading comprehension lesson around Melville's Bartleby, The Scrivener, and thought I would use a What-How-Why chart as a graphic organizer. I got this idea from one of my mentor teachers at Washington who is teaching The Great Gatsby now, and felt that it could be used to teach Bartleby, also. The chart is divided into three columns, the What section having the specific quote or passage, the How section addressing the type of language being used (thematic, characterization, simile, imagery, etc.), and the Why section explaining how each passage is significant in reference to the overall theme. The students at Washington are using these charts to record how hope and despair are shown throughout the novel. For Bartleby, I would consider using the chart to have students focus on how the narrator conveys generosity toward others, or how generosity and beneficence may be exploited or futile.

At this point, I think my unit generally addresses the potential challenges of managing one's own personal desires to find a place in society. One of the biggest feats I have encountered, and will probably continue to, is thinking of how to make writing prompts based on the readings that will engage students with various interests. The methods text I chose, as well as one of the readings assigned for ED 432 this week, talk about how students become more engaged when the work they do gives them feelings of competency. Imagining that students in a full class will have various skill sets and interests, I think it will be especially challenging to think of various writing activities that will allow each student to build on his or her particular skills and interests. However, I think the unit would be highly relatable for many adolescents and present questions from which the texts would present many interesting perspectives to explore. In turn, I think having content that will interest students will be instrumental in developing multiple ways for students to build competency in various forms of writing.