As September moves to October and as the semester is already
somehow nearing its halfway point, I find myself more and more concerned about
developing content and lessons for my current students and my future students.
As Randy Bomer says it, “[t]he notion of design – of carefully combining
elements to achieve a particular response – is crucial” (12).
While I may not have all the answers right now about how to
plan an effective unit, I have many resources that can guide me through
planning to the best of my ability. While my mentor teacher and I seem to have
different outlooks and teaching styles, I know I can use her advice to plan my
five-day unit I will be teaching at the end of this month. She wants me to do a
transition between the semester’s two texts by facilitating a movie viewing of The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete.
I watched the movie, and I liked it; it even made me cry. But how should I
incorporate it as a transition between two memoirs written by two completely
different people? What should the students be doing while watching the movie,
especially because my mentor teacher told me today that they should not just be
answering questions or filling out a worksheet.
I think it is important for me to first think of the movie
as a text. As Peter Smagorinsky points out in Teaching English by Design, “[a] text is any meaning-laden product”
(116). With that in mind, I think I can move forward in developing my unit as
if I was teaching any other text. Smagorinsky also notes to “giv[e] students an
overall sense of direction and continuity for their learning” (123). The
connecting theme of both memoirs the students will be reading is growing up
under harsh conditions and living in poverty. The movie moves the students from
a foreign country to our own, which will transition them to the second memoir,
also set in our own country. If I make my teaching and the reason we are
watching the film transparent, I think students will get more out of viewing
it.
Another great way of viewing film as a learning tool is to
look at it as a “cultural document” (Chen) that allows students to explore
certain “values and social issues” (Chen). This opens up another field of
literary analysis, which I think would be interesting to explore in my unit as
well. What is the best way to break down a film to find the meaning? This may
be what I decide to have the students focus on while actually watching the
movie.
Up to this point in the semester, I have seen a lot of
resistance to reading in my placement class. I don’t know the reason, but it’s
clear that many students are not reading, and if they are, they are not
retaining a lot of what they read. Bomer uses an analogy in Building Adolescent Literacy in Today’s
English Classrooms that I didn’t originally like upon reading it because I
thought it was callous and downplaying the seriousness of eating disorders. He
said, “[the students’] resistance to reading can almost be like an eating disorder
– a way of asserting their control of their own mind and activity” (Bomer 70).
Regardless of the analogy, I think his argument stands. The students in my
placement class are resisting reading, possibly as a way to control their own
life. With that in mind, maybe watching a film to connect one text to the next
will be a good way for them to still learn relevant skills and talk about
important themes, but change the pace of the classroom for a week.
Whatever reason the students have for reading resistance, I
want to keep that in mind while planning my own unit. I must combat resistance
but still “believe in student’s competence and intelligence” (Bomer 22). One of
the most important things I can do while planning is not think about what the
students can’t or won’t do, but think about all they are capable of. I have
been with them long enough to discover the class attitude and individuality,
and I want to make sure to use that in planning a unit that they will not only
learn from but enjoy.
After reading Bomer I know and believe that “[p]rofessional
English educators owe it to their students to use the knowledge of the
profession in order to do the best by their students” (6). I have gained a lot
of knowledge in my English methods classes and through my various observations. While introducing the theme of
poverty, I want to use a value line discussion to get students engaged in the
many issues that accompany poverty. This will get students out of their seats,
something my mentor teacher really pushes, and allow for discussion on a broad
scale without seeming like there is one right answer. I also need to think of
an after-viewing activity that is relevant, one of the most important things
stressed in all of the texts I have read, and engaging for the students. As
long as I keep everything I have learned in mind, an open mind to new ideas,
and remember to breath through any hiccups my lesson may have along the way, I
know my intentions are good and I believe my students will partake in a curriculum
that will widen their knowledge of our world.
Planning can be daunting, but taking everything a step at a
time and using all the resources I have available to me will help ease the
concerns and questions I have.
Bomer, Randy. Building Adolescent Literacy in
Today’s English Classrooms.
Heinemann,
2011.
Chen, Milton. “Reading Movies: Learning How Film
Communicates.” Edutopia, 12 Mar.
Smagorinsky, Peter. Teaching
English by Design: How to Create and Carry out
Instructional Units. Heinemann, 2008.
Hello Kimberly,
ReplyDeleteI like the idea that your unit will be connecting the two texts being read in class. I know that I had some worries before I taught my unit to the sixth graders. Is your mentor teacher planning to look over the unit you create to help give you some feedback?
I think that a good idea to help students understand what they are reading more would be to spend one day reading the text together and discussing it as a class (if there is enough time in your day). I feel like it would help them know what to look for when reading and help the students be more confident in understanding the novels.
I like your idea of looking at the movie as a literary analysis. I have never really thought to look at a movie like that but I think it would help the students learn how to analyze texts.
I cannot wait to hear how your unit goes at the end of the month!
I loved reading this post, Kimberly, and I applaud your plan to design before- and after-reading strategies to accompany the film. You might consider taking a look at Kylene Beers' before-, during-, and after-reading strategies in When Kids Can't Read (CI 616). You might get some ideas for what they can do during the film to think more deeply about it. Perhaps there are a couple spots where you can stop the film and have them reflect, write, discuss, or something else.
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