A Few Final Notes

Well, I think we should declare the class a success. Students completed and presented their final projects. They wrote beautiful, though somewhat sad, final essays on how significant spaces and places have affected their lives. We wrapped up discussions and reshelved the books.

What started as a lovely idea for a class during a rainy walk in New York City in November, 2007 blossomed into a solid, organized, and culturally relevant class to teach comprehension, collaboration, reflection, discussion, leadership, personal resiliency, and writing skills.

The bibliography for the student independent choice novel assignment also started with that walk in November, 2007 and grew to a lengthy, culturally-inclusive list of works throughout the first half of 2008. All of my students drew from that list throughout the last year (not just for this course). From the first day of school this September, I was recommending the titles to students and teachers, alike. I think it was worth the unpaid curriculum development time and half of my yearly classroom budget to see the right books in the right students' hands. (If you want the bibliography, contact me at my school district email. Sorry, I don't publish curriculum handouts online as others do not always respect the intellectual property of teachers.)

I have some shifting of units to do for next year. The class fits best in an academic quarter that has the highest number of face days with students. Yet, very few students had difficulty staying on top of the reading or doing homework for the class. I am very proud of their efforts.

Thank you to all who participated and supported the course, especially Anna Moss, our school librarian, and parents who made it possible to gather copies of the books on my list. Although it was a very expensive course to develop, it will survive in the curriculum lineup for years to come.

Independent Choice Novels

Students chose to read and reflect on the following books for their final unit of the course:

Dairy Queen -- Catherine Gilbert Murdock
The Burn Journals -- Brent Runyon
Homeless Bird -- Gloria Whelan
Deadline -- Chris Crutcher
Story of a Girl -- Sara Zarr
Sweethearts -- Sara Zarr
How I Live Now -- Meg Rosoff
Caucasia -- Danzy Senna
Right Behind You -- Gail Giles
Touching Snow -- M. Sindy Felin
Into the Wild -- Jon Krakauer
Sold -- Patricia McCormick

Sherman Alexie

Find out more about Sherman Alexie -- his life, books, and poetry.

Click on his picture to go to his official Website.

Lord of the Flies (1963) -- movie trailer

Snaps to my students for their awesome interpretations and articulate discussion sessions about Lord of the Flies. Keep thinking of spaces and places the boys on the island negotiated. Compare them to your own (esp. w/your colony project).

Questions and Highlights

Our discussion on Golding's Lord of the Flies produced the following curiosity questions:

• How would the island activities be different if the children were female or a group of both sexes?
• What is the nature or source of evil?
• How are we defining evil?
• Is negative behavior (evil actions) a product of nature or nurture--or both?
• What is the most effective leadership style in a developing community?

Lord of the Flies -- Reading Schedule

Students need to follow this reading schedule for Lord of the Flies. Chapters should be read in preparation for discussion on the day/date listed.

W 4/1 begin reading
Th 4/2 Chapter 1
F 4/3 Chapter 2

Spring Break (read through ch. 5)

T 4/14 Chap.3-5
W 4/15 Chapter 6
Th 4/16 Chapter 7
F 4/17 Chapter 8

M 4/20 Ch.9-10
T 4/21 Ch. 11
W 4/22 Ch.12

Class Guidelines -- Final Draft -- Quarter Four

Finding Self: Exploring Personal Space and Place in YA Literature
Course Guidelines
Quarter Four -- 2008-09

How do we form our ideologies? What factors around us influence how we think and behave? What affects the choices we make and opportunities available to us? This course will help us consider those questions. We will explore how systems of “space” and “place” shape fictional characters in popular young adult books. At the same time, we will use that exploration of literary characters to understand how the systems in our own lives influence us and how we can empower ourselves through that awareness.

Throughout the quarter, we will: 1) as a whole class, read and critically analyze William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, poetic representations of space and place, and graphic/visual texts by Peter Sis and Shaun Tan.; 2) in smaller literature circle groups, explore Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese; and 3) individually evaluate system influences on characters in a work from a long list of class choice novels.

All students must challenge themselves to be highly focused during class time and motivated to read, write, and think creatively and cooperatively. All students must participate in discussions, group work, presentations, and individual assignments. Assignments will include journal entries, short quizzes, visual articulations, poetry, presentations, and a longer personal essay.

Writing expectations: Moderate.
Reading Level expectations: Easy.
Behavioral expectations: Hard.

To earn ¼ English credit in this course, you will need to meet:

Behavioral Goals:
1. fulfill the Shabazz attendance requirement (2nd period class / no more than 6 absences; 3 tardies = 1 absence).

2. spend every class period reviewing/reading/responding to materials and actively working on assignments in a focused manner FOR THIS CLASS.

3. actively participate in full-class and small group discussions. Dig deep for your focused interpretations of what you read and for your participation in class discussions.

4. do reading & writing homework for this class.

5. Meet assignment deadlines. See note on back side of this page.

6. return all materials checked out for this or any other English Department class. Most of the materials for this class are expensive and have been obtained through non-traditional sources (eBay, donations, used book stores). They are irreplaceable. In order for the course to continue, we must respect all of our resources.

Reading & Assignment Goals:
7. complete character/setting analysis, journal reflections, reading quizzes, and colony group project for Lord of the Flies

8. complete journal reflections and creative piece on Frost, Riis, Sis, or Tan books

9. participate in literature circles, carry out assigned group role, complete journal entries on Alexie or Yang text

10. select, read, and complete journal entries on choice novel from class list

11. complete individual book choice presentation

12. complete final personal space/place essay


Students must meet both behavioral goals and reading/assignment goals at an averaged “achieved” level to earn credit in the course.

Course Schedule:
Week One: Guidelines / Definitions & Disc / Lord of the Flies
Spring Break
Week Two: Lord of the Flies
Week Three: Lord of the Flies
Week Four: Poetry and Visual Representations (Frost, Crisler, Tan, Sis)
Week Five: Literature Circles / Dual Consciousness in Alexie and Yang
Week Six: Literature Circles
Week Seven: Independent Choice Novel Reading / Journals
Week Eight: Independent Choice Novel Reading / Journals / Personal Essay Writing Project
Week Nine: Independent Choice Novel Reading / Personal Essay Due / Presentations
Week Ten: What you have learned? / Evaluations / (possible visual piece)


Missing and Late Written/Project Work:

• Students must complete all project and writing assignments in this course to be eligible for credit. Assignments must average out to an “achieved” level to earn credit.
• Assignment due dates need to be firm. Students will lose a % of “credit” with each late assignment.
• All students are responsible for knowing the due dates on assignments. Look at your assignment handouts and the whiteboard reminders. Ask a classmate. Consult your calendar/organizer.

Special Needs:
Students with documented special needs must have a dialogue with me about those concerns in the first week of the course. A triad consultation with the student’s case manager may need to occur during the first two weeks of the quarter if significant accommodations are necessary. Permission for extensions must be in line with a student’s IEP and requested in advance of the due dates.


Technology Issues:
Students are responsible for all work completed on computers. In school, students should save all course work under their personal ID #. That means you must always log onto a computer using YOUR ID# and password. If there are problems with your logins, you must tell your instructor immediately. We can call the Helpline to get it fixed (usually in a matter of minutes). Students have access to computers very early in the morning, during lunch, and after school if there are problems with computer use at home.

Backup Plan: Ask Denise for the classroom PenDrive to save your work.


Attendance Requirements:

• If you are absent, you are still responsible for what you missed in class. Ask a fellow classmate what was done the day before.
• The Shabazz attendance policy will be strictly enforced in this class. Students will no longer be eligible for credit after their 6th absence. Remember that all tardies are accounted for (3 tardies = 1 absence). No make-up time opportunities will be given. (If an emergency arises, inform Denise and the office immediately.)

Book Returns:

Students must return all books checked out for class to be eligible for credit. If a book is lost, talk with Denise about where you can find a replacement copy or arrange for payment for the text.