CURRICULUM MAP: 10011.map

English Senior Elective: Recreational Reading I & II (GEN) 185, 186

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

         MAP LEVEL: 4

23.1 LANGUAGE ARTS - READING AND RESPONDING --- 23.1.1.9.1 --- 23.1.1.9.2 --- 23.1.1.9.3 --- 23.1.1.9.5 --- 23.1.1.9.6 --- 23.1.2.9.1
23.1 LANGUAGE ARTS - READING AND RESPONDING --- 23.1.2.9.2 --- 23.1.2.9.3 --- 23.1.2.9.4 --- 23.1.2.9.5 --- 23.1.2.9.6 --- 23.1.3.9.1
23.1 LANGUAGE ARTS - READING AND RESPONDING --- 23.1.3.9.3 --- 23.1.3.9.4 --- 23.1.4.9.1 --- 23.1.4.9.2
23.2 LANGUAGE ARTS - EXPLORE AND RESPOND TO LITER --- 23.2.1.9.4 --- 23.2.2.9.1 --- 23.2.2.9.2 --- 23.2.3.9.1 --- 23.2.3.9.2 --- 23.2.3.9.3
23.3 LANGUAGE ARTS - COMMUNICATING WITH OTHERS --- 23.3.1.9.1 --- 23.3.1.9.3 --- 23.3.2.9.3 --- 23.3.2.9.4 --- 23.3.2.9.6




What skills and strategies are necessary for active reading?
What is good literature?
What effective devices, techniques, and organizational structures do authors use to communicate their ideas?
How does literature connect to the real world?




Recreational Reading I & II will provide students who have reading difficulties with a variety of reading materials geared toward their interests. The primary goal of these two courses is to develop the reading skills and habits of students who don’t regularly read. Students will read contemporary works, as well as classical literature. The focus of the class will be on the development of basic skills.


The following is the scope and sequence of the class:

Week 1-2: Unit 1 – “The Two Dead Girls.” This unit will focus on understanding the basics of the story – plot, setting, characters, and conflict. Students will study means of characterization, and the impact of setting on the plot.

Week 2-3: Unit 2 – “The Mouse on the Mile.” This unit will focus on the developing plot details, new characters, understanding symbols, and recognizing foreshadowing. Students will complete journal entries on several of the social issues raised in text.

Week 4: Unit 3 – “Coffey’s Hands.” In this unit, students will discuss the theme of appearance vs. reality and how it is exemplified in the text. Key symbols will be identified and connected to characterization of Coffey. Students will write a creative interview with one of the story’s characters.

Week 5: Unit 4 – “The Death of Eduard Delacroix.” In this unit, students will recognize and understand the function of flashbacks, character foils, and echo scenes. Students will write a newspaper article reporting on the execution of Delacroix.

Week 6: Unit 5 – Research Project. This unit will focus on research, writing, and sharing information. Students will take a fieldtrip to a local jail (Brooklyn or Coventry). They will view clips of Dead Man Walking. They will research the topic of capital punishment. They will write position papers based on their research and present their opinions in an open debate forum.

Week 7: Unit 6 – “The Night Journey.” For this unit, students will predict outcomes for the novel and reexamine the characterization of Coffey. Upon completion, students will write persuasive arguments to be used in a mock trial of Coffey.

Week 8: Unit 7 – “Coffey on the Mile.” In this unit, students will explore the themes of justice and the right to die. Students will evaluate the novel as a whole. Students will create a scrapbook for Coffey’s life.

Week 9: Unit 8 – Film. Students will view, critique, and compare the film to the novel.





Students enrolled in Recreational Reading I & II will:
-- Develop and improve his/her working vocabulary,
-- Write at least 3 papers in at least 2 of the following modes: description, exposition, narration, literary analysis, creative, persuasive, research,
-- Utilize research (traditional and electronic sources) to better understand social issues,
-- Develop an awareness of various social issues (prejudice, racism, economics, mental illness, capital punishment, turrets syndrome, justice, right to die),
-- Develop effective class discussion skills,
-- Respond to literature in meaningful ways, both orally and written,
-- Identify elements of the plot in a piece of fiction,
-- Identify themes through the understanding of figurative language, setting, characterization, and plot,
-- Identify characters, understand how an author creates characters (techniques of characterization), and understand the relationships between characters,
-- Call upon his/her prior knowledge to inform his/her reading,
-- Make predictions when reading,
-- Understand and utilize methods for evaluating a literary work,
-- Demonstrate organizational skills necessary to express him/herself,
-- Use direct and indirect documentation whenever appropriate,
-- Develop effective oral presentation skills,
-- Share his/her own written work with others, and accept and provide constructive criticism in the spirit of collegiality,
-- Use a variety of creative formats in reaching conclusions,
-- Address a small or large group appropriately,
-- Recognize, identify and employ appropriate non-verbal communication,
-- Demonstrate the organizational skills necessary to express themselves,-- Recognize and express the relationship between man and his environment,
-- Recognize and identify the importance of the arts in the development of the humanistic individual,
-- Acquire knowledge of civilization’s heritage and recognize the interrelationships of aesthetic and cultural development,
-- Engage in activities which provide opportunities to apply knowledge and aesthetic judgment to personal life, home, and/or community.





All students will:
-- Have the opportunity to respond to reading materials in both orally and written formats,
-- Be instructed in the vocabulary necessary for reading comprehension of various materials,
-- Be instructed in the literary terms, devices, and structures necessary for reading comprehension of various materials,
-- Be guided in the reading skills of making predictions, making inferences, drawing conclusions, making connections, recognizing author's purpose, identifying author's bias, and historical and cultural contexts,
-- Be guided in writing strategies that will insure successful communication of ideas.




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.





Teacher may schedule a fieldtrip to the Brooklyn Jail, as time and resources permit.




For Recreational Reading I:
The Green Mile, Stephen King
The Green Mile, film
Dead Man Walking, film

For Recreational Reading II:
Call of the Wild and other stories, Jack London





This class does satisfy the literature quarter-course requirement for seniors. It is offered at the General level.