CURRICULUM MAP: 10006.map

English Senior Elective: Humor (SCP/GEN) 129, 918
Overview

TIME FRAME: 1 quarter (9 weeks)
GRADE: 12
CONTACT:

         MAP LEVEL: 4
23.1 LANGUAGE ARTS - READING AND RESPONDING

23.1.1.9.4 -- Students will identify, use and analyze text structures.

23.1.1.9.5 -- Students will draw conclusions and use evidence to substantiate them by using texts heard, read and viewed.

23.1.1.9.6 -- Students will make and justify inferences from explicit and or implicit information.

23.1.2.9.4 -- Students will make, support and defend judgments about texts.

23.1.2.9.5 -- Students will discuss and respond to texts by making text-to-self, text-to-text and text-to-world connections.

23.1.2.9.6 -- Students will identify and discuss the underlying theme or main idea in texts.

23.2 LANGUAGE ARTS - EXPLORE AND RESPOND TO LITER

23.2.1.9.1 -- Students will identify the various conventions within a genre and apply this understanding to the evaluation of the text.

23.2.1.9.3 -- Students will explain and explore their own and others’ aesthetic reactions to texts.

23.2.3.9.3 -- Students will create responses to texts and examine each work's contributions to an understanding of human experience across cultures.

23.3 LANGUAGE ARTS - COMMUNICATING WITH OTHERS

23.3.1.9.1 -- Students will use oral language with clarity, voice and fluency to communicate a message.

23.3.1.9.2 -- Students will listen to or read a variety of genres to use as models for writing in different modes.

23.3.1.9.4 -- Students will write to delight in the imagination.

23.3.2..9.1 23.3.2.9.2 -- Students will apply the most effective processes to create and present a written, oral or visual piece.

23.3.2.9.6 -- Students will publish and/or present final products in a myriad of ways, including the use of the arts and technology.

23.4 LANGUAGE ARTS - ENGLISH LANG CONVENTIONS

23.4.1.9.2 -- Students will recognize and understand variations between language patterns.

23.4.2.9.1 -- Students will use sentence patterns typical of spoken and written language to produce text.

23.4.2.9.2 -- Students will evaluate the impact of language as related to audience and purpose.

23.4.3.9.1 -- Students will recognize the difference between standard and nonstandard English and use language appropriately.

23.4.3.9.2 -- Students will demonstrate proficient use of proper mechanics, usage and spelling skills.

23.4.3.9.3 -- Students will use resources for proofreading and editing.




What are the various ways humor is expressed within a specific culture?
What is the function of humor?
What are the major venues for the expression of humor?
What are the major categories of humor?




The senior English elective, Humor, is designed to look at the lighter side of human communication. By examining films, sitcoms, comics and cartooning, children's literature, stand-up comedy, and literature, students will discover the various means of comedic expression and the function of humor.

Throughout the quarter, students will learn about the following concepts: comic distance, cartooning (single and four-frame), slapstick, stand-up, screenplays, the health benefits of humor, the effects of laughter and how humor reflects cultural values.

As a means of demonstrating their understanding of concepts in humor, students will complete many of the following writing assignments: a parody of a children's book, a cartoon, journal entries, analysis essays, a portion of a screenplay, an eccentric family story, a humor-based research project and an international humor poster and presentation projects.




Students in Humor will display the ability to:
-- Discern between the different types of humor,
-- Discern between the types of humor expressed in varying cultures,
-- Write humorously in varying genres,
-- Analyze humor in varying media forms,
-- Research and present the various effects of humor.




All students will:
-- receive instruction on the ways humor is expressed within cultures,
-- Receive instruction on the various functions of humor,
-- Receive instruction on the major venues for the expression of humor,
-- Experience the editing process either by teacher editing or the peer editing process,
-- Read and write in a variety of comedic forms and styles,
-- Be provided with models of various types and forms of humorous writing,
-- Receive instruction on the identification and function of various humor writing techniques,
-- Be given opportunities to utilize research (traditional and electronic sources) to better understand comedy and humor.




Assessment of student performance will include such activities as journal entries, oral presentations, unit tests, class discussion (circle, Socratic seminars), essays (rubric-based, test, research), student- and teacher-generated questioning, and analytical-based class work/homework assignments.




What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedge
Raising Arizona, by the Coen Brothers
I Love Lucy episodes
The Three Stooges (film)
Bill Cosby stand-up
As Good as It Gets (film)
Shrek (film)




This class is offered at the SCP and General level.

This class does not satisfy the literature quarter-course requirement for seniors.