From Power in Literature, Power in Life: Of Mice and Men

Grade 9

(1) Students will understand the importance of dialogue, foreshadowing, diction, theme, and mood to a work of literature and will use these conversations to inform their own creative and academic writing.

(2) Students will continue to develop their skills as members of a dialogue and other group conversations.

(3) Students will be able to listen and speak in a variety of classroom activities, such as Socratic Seminars and tea parties where they will learn to “get in character” and take on an assigned persona.

(4) Students will complete in-class activities that will push them to critically examine their identities.  They will understand the importance of trust and vulnerability in the classroom.

(5) Students will be able to talk about power not just in the text, but also how it has influence in their lives. They will then be able to make connections between literature and life.

 

From Building Binaries, Constructing Identities: Reading You Don’t Know Me

Grade 9

 (1) Students will be able to find connection between the text and their lives in terms of identifying how people may or may not “know them” as adolescents.

(2) Students will think deeply and critically about making connections between You Don’t Know Me and their own experiences. They will activate memories about instances when they felt misunderstood (in order to write memoir).

(3) Students will continue to build their skills as careful readers, and they will spend more time this unit building skills as careful listeners. We will, for instance, conduct more dialogical activities that require listening and response.

(4) Students will also “live” characters by interviewing and interrogating their classmates who will be in-character. This activity will allow for students to consult the text for key details, formulate rich questions, and carefully listen and respond.

 

From Audition, Assemble, Act: A Streetcar Named Desire

Grade 11

(1) Students will understand the following key concepts and ideas: duality (reality versus fantasy; who is ‘civilized’?; what is ‘proper’? ), themes of loneliness and one’s inability to overcome it, themes of deception and how lies impact lives, and identity formation through others’ perceptions of us.

(2) Students will experience the power of their minds through their being pushed to explore new role choices that draw on the ability to link literature with art, music, drama, business, design, and other disciplines.

(3) Through debriefing sessions, which we can call “Notes” like they do on Broadway, it will be our goal to dive into character motivations. Why did they act or move a certain way in the scene? What changes are they undergoing?