CURRICULUM MAP: 10012.map

English Senior Elective: Science Fiction (SCP) 165
Overview

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

         MAP LEVEL: 4

23.1 LANGUAGE ARTS - READING AND RESPONDING --- 23.1.1.9.2 --- 23.1.1.9.5 --- 23.1.1.9.6 --- 23.1.2.9.1 --- 23.1.2.9.2 --- 23.1.2.9.4
23.1 LANGUAGE ARTS - READING AND RESPONDING --- 23.1.2.9.6 --- 23.1.3.9.2 --- 23.1.3.9.3 --- 23.1.4.9.1 --- 23.1.4.9.2
23.2 LANGUAGE ARTS - EXPLORE AND RESPOND TO LITER --- 23.2.1.9.1 --- 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
23.3 LANGUAGE ARTS - COMMUNICATING WITH OTHERS --- 23.3.1.9.2 --- 23.3.1.9.3 --- 23.3.1.9.4 --- 23.3.2.9.1 --- 23.3.2.9.3 --- 23.3.2.9.6
23.4 LANGUAGE ARTS - ENGLISH LANG CONVENTIONS --- 23.4.2.9.1 --- 23.4.2.9.2 --- 23.4.3.9.1 --- 23.4.3.9.2 --- 23.4.3.9.3




What techniques and characteristics define the genre of science fiction?
How has the genre evolved since its inception; what has remained the same?
How accurate has science fiction literature been in predicting the future?
How does science fiction literature help readers to better understand contemporary society?




This class provides students with the opportunity to read and analyze a number of classics in the genre of science fiction. Designed for those with an interest in the fantastic and science, students will read and explore these works with the assumption that the future and fantasy worlds projected in this literature provide a measure by which the real world of the present may be understood and evaluated.

Students will examine texts to assess whether the predictions made have been accurate to date. Students will engage in class discussions, individual and group presentations and writing activities in response to the ideas presented by the authors. Students may have the opportunity write creatively in the science fiction genre, making their own predictions about their world.

Students will read in a genre of interest to them, providing teachers with the ripe opportunity to build language arts skills. Students will build thinking skills while studying the relationship between the present and the future as it is presented in the literature.





The learner will:
-- Read for comprehension and appreciation,
-- Develop an understanding of the relationship of science fiction themes and details to the reality of the contemporary world,
-- Demonstrate an understanding of the material under study through the planning and writing of a number of formal essays or other appropriate writing assignments,
-- Exercise and improve effective writing techniques through the editing and revision of writing assignments,
-- Attack problems of grammar, usage, spelling and punctuation as they occur in his/her writing,
-- Confer with his/her teacher on a regular basis on the processes of writing and revision,
-- Extend his/her own interest in contemporary science fiction wherever possible through the reading of supplementary material,
-- Understand and identify the concepts of bias and objectivity when it comes to evaluating articles/editorials in news media (printed),
-- Define and recognize stylistical elements of a science fiction,
-- Identify the elements of a well-organized, well-written essay,
-- Recognize and rationalize the differing approaches a writer has toward a contemporary topic/theme.







All students will:
-- Be instructed in active, critical reading strategies and skills
-- Be instructed in the literary terms, devices, and structures necessary for reading comprehension of various materials,
-- Be given the opportunity to respond to literature both orally and in written formats,
-- Be taught the numerous skills required for successful research and research writing,
-- Write a researched paper in MLA format,
-- Write a minimum of three papers following the complete writing process from the following modes: description, narration, exposition, persuasion, literary analysis, creative,
-- Complete 10 pages of written material (excluding tests and journals) by the end of the semester,
-- Deliver a speech/debate/dramatic reading/presentation in front of the class,
-- Be instructed in effective techniques and skills for public speaking,
-- Be guided in effective discussion strategies for circle/double circle discussions and Socratic seminars,
-- Be instructed on the skills and strategies necessary for interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating a visual communication,
-- Be instructed on audience decorum and appropriate responses.





Assessment of student performance will include such activities as journal responses, essay tests, essay assignments focusing on persuasive and critical/thematic topics, circle discussions, Socratic seminars, independent literary projects, and researched papers/projects and presentations. Students will also write an original science fiction piece (7-10 pages).





The Time Machine, H.G. Wells
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
A contemporary science fiction film

** Throughout the course, various supplementary materials will be used such as short stories, poems, and plays gathered from anthologies of science fiction**





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