Unit 5: A Walk in Other's Shoes: Exploring Asian Culture and Storytelling Through Collaboration
Fall 2013, 15 Days
Rationale:
This the unit that students have been working towards the entire semester. Due to the limited time and the vastly differing cultures of the Asian continent, students will be put into groups based on different countries. This way, students will be able to explore a specific country in depth without losing time. This unit is different from all of the others simply because this unit will be almost entirely student led. I chose this unit to be student led because of the vastly important self management skills that students will learn in this type of a classroom. Therefore, the primary purpose of this unit is to not only explore different aspects of Asian culture, but to also teach students necessary life skills such as collaboration and time management. This focus on these skills is emphasized in the Common Core State Standards. It states students should be able to, "Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively". Therefore this unit is preparing students to work successfully work in environments both inside and outside of the academic world. Skills that they will exercise in this unit will be skills that they will be guaranteed to use in the workplace.
In this unit, students will be given a list of texts as well as a movie that their group will be in charge of watching/reading. The inclusion of a movie as well as text based readings is intended to give students a wider view of their country's culture. It will seem like a lot of work at the beginning, but students will then be given an opportunity to approach the workload in whichever way their group decides. This is intended to give students an opportunity to approach the workload in whichever way will work best for them. This will also give students an opportunity to discover which approach to a high workload with which they are most comfortable. Aside from figuring out their best approach, another essential aspect of this project will revolve around collaboration. If students wish to be successful in this unit, they will have to work well with their group mates. Essentially, this unit will be focused not only on the cultural texts of Asia, but the development of transferable real world skills.
Grammar Focus: Phrases and Clauses
China
Movie:
House of Flying Daggers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yDfAR6QoXU
Text:
"O Oriole, Yellow Bird" from The Book of Songs (from World Literature Textbook)
"What Plant is not Faded?" from The Book of Songs
Bei Dao's "Requiem" (from World Literature Textbook)
Excerpt from Confucius's Analects (from World Literature Textbook)
Excerpt from the Tao Te Ching by Laotzu (from World Literature Textbook)
Lieh-tzu's The Missing Axe (from World Literature Textbook)
Ha Jin's Ocean of Words (from World Literature Textbook)
India
Movie:
Lagaan
Text:
Night from the Rig-Veda (from World Literature Textbook)
Excerpt from the Bhagavad-Gita
Piece on Mohandas Gandhi (from World Literature Textbook)
Rama and Ravana in Battle from the Ramayana (from World Literature Textbook)
R. K. Narayan's An Astrologer's Day
Excerpt from Vikas Swarup's Slumdog Millionaire
Japan
Movie:
The Twilight Samurai: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l-NlkGBWPc
Text:
Lady Ise's "A Flower of Waves" (from World Literature Textbook)
Ono no Komachi's "Though I go to you" and "Doesn't he realize" (from World Literature Textbook)
Excerpt from Sei Shonagon's The Pillow Book (from World Literature Textbook)
The Zen Parables (from World Literature Textbook)
Yasunari Kawabata's The Jay (from World Literature Textbook)
Cambodia
Media:
Traditional Cambodian Music
Text:
Patricia McCormick's Never Fall Down
Calendar: 15 Days
This the unit that students have been working towards the entire semester. Due to the limited time and the vastly differing cultures of the Asian continent, students will be put into groups based on different countries. This way, students will be able to explore a specific country in depth without losing time. This unit is different from all of the others simply because this unit will be almost entirely student led. I chose this unit to be student led because of the vastly important self management skills that students will learn in this type of a classroom. Therefore, the primary purpose of this unit is to not only explore different aspects of Asian culture, but to also teach students necessary life skills such as collaboration and time management. This focus on these skills is emphasized in the Common Core State Standards. It states students should be able to, "Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively". Therefore this unit is preparing students to work successfully work in environments both inside and outside of the academic world. Skills that they will exercise in this unit will be skills that they will be guaranteed to use in the workplace.
In this unit, students will be given a list of texts as well as a movie that their group will be in charge of watching/reading. The inclusion of a movie as well as text based readings is intended to give students a wider view of their country's culture. It will seem like a lot of work at the beginning, but students will then be given an opportunity to approach the workload in whichever way their group decides. This is intended to give students an opportunity to approach the workload in whichever way will work best for them. This will also give students an opportunity to discover which approach to a high workload with which they are most comfortable. Aside from figuring out their best approach, another essential aspect of this project will revolve around collaboration. If students wish to be successful in this unit, they will have to work well with their group mates. Essentially, this unit will be focused not only on the cultural texts of Asia, but the development of transferable real world skills.
Grammar Focus: Phrases and Clauses
- Students will learn the difference between phrases and clauses as well as the different types of each one (ex. Appositive, gerund, etc.).
- Students will complete this grammar focus through the editing of passages of text as well as creating their own examples.
China
Movie:
House of Flying Daggers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yDfAR6QoXU
Text:
"O Oriole, Yellow Bird" from The Book of Songs (from World Literature Textbook)
"What Plant is not Faded?" from The Book of Songs
Bei Dao's "Requiem" (from World Literature Textbook)
Excerpt from Confucius's Analects (from World Literature Textbook)
Excerpt from the Tao Te Ching by Laotzu (from World Literature Textbook)
Lieh-tzu's The Missing Axe (from World Literature Textbook)
Ha Jin's Ocean of Words (from World Literature Textbook)
India
Movie:
Lagaan
Text:
Night from the Rig-Veda (from World Literature Textbook)
Excerpt from the Bhagavad-Gita
Piece on Mohandas Gandhi (from World Literature Textbook)
Rama and Ravana in Battle from the Ramayana (from World Literature Textbook)
R. K. Narayan's An Astrologer's Day
Excerpt from Vikas Swarup's Slumdog Millionaire
Japan
Movie:
The Twilight Samurai: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l-NlkGBWPc
Text:
Lady Ise's "A Flower of Waves" (from World Literature Textbook)
Ono no Komachi's "Though I go to you" and "Doesn't he realize" (from World Literature Textbook)
Excerpt from Sei Shonagon's The Pillow Book (from World Literature Textbook)
The Zen Parables (from World Literature Textbook)
Yasunari Kawabata's The Jay (from World Literature Textbook)
Cambodia
Media:
Traditional Cambodian Music
Text:
Patricia McCormick's Never Fall Down
Calendar: 15 Days
Goals:
Students will learn...
Students will learn...
- the ability to collaborate effectively.
- the process of evaluating a movie.
- the cultural norms of their assigned country.
Reading-Literature
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6: Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature. |
Language
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.3: Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. |
Writing
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.) |
Speaking and Listening
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.2: Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.6: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grades 9–10 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.) |
Country Groups:
Research:
Reading Assignments:
For the Japan group, after reading the tanka poems, students will be required to write their own tanka poem. This will follow the strict rules of a tanka poem.
Example of Reading Activity:
After reading a piece of text, students will be required to bring in an artifact that is connected to an aspect of that culture that was mentioned in the text. This could be something as simple as a ring, as long as it was mentioned in the text that they have just read.
They will then have to draw two pictures. One picture will depict how the object relates to the story they read and the other will depict how the object relates to their own lives.
They will write a short explanation that explores the connections between these two pictures.
Movie Assignments:
Reflection and Participation Statement
The Final Product (Culminating Text)
This assignment brings together every aspect that the students have studied during this unit, background of the country, literature, and movie culture. This will also provide students an opportunity to spread their knowledge to the rest of the class.
- Students will be divided into groups and each student will be assigned a different role within the group.
- These book groups will be entirely student led. These groups will be meticulously created by myself to place students in groups where they will be most efficient. They will have each class period to work on their work. Students will be given participation points for showing up to class and remaining the entire time. I will be working with each group closely and predetermined check in days have been worked into the schedule. This is when each group will meet with me and discuss their progress as well as their expected finished product.
- A game plan for their pacing will be due at the end of their first meeting.
- These groups will last the entire unit. These groups will each study a specific area of Asia. From each country, the groups will be required to watch a movie as well as read literature from that region. The literature will be taken from the World Literature Textbook and the movies are listed below.
- Each group will be responsible for determining their reading/watching schedule. It will be their responsibility to make sure every person has watched the movie. If needed, the movie can be provided by me.
- The Cambodian group is somewhat different. Instead of short stories, they will read a full length novel about the Cambodia genocide as well as focusing on traditional Cambodian music.
- The countries are China, Japan, India, and Cambodia.
- STUDENTS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO ASSIGN THEMSELVES HOMEWORK OVER THE THANKSGIVING BREAK
Research:
- Each group will also be required to find some background information on their country. This shouldn't be am extremely detailed part of the project, but there should be enough background information on the history surrounding the texts and movies.
Reading Assignments:
- Students will also be assigned reading to do from each country. This will primarily consist of short stories. These short stories will be taken from the World Literature Textbook. These readings will consist of poetry, literature, and informational reading.
- For each short story, students will have an assignment or activity to complete to ensure that they did the reading. All reading will be completed by a predetermined date. However, students will decide on how to pace their reading and will be in charge of completing all of it. Almost all of the reading should be able to be completed in class.
- For students in the Cambodia group, they will only be required to read the novel. Again, the pace will be determined by the group on the first meeting.
For the Japan group, after reading the tanka poems, students will be required to write their own tanka poem. This will follow the strict rules of a tanka poem.
Example of Reading Activity:
After reading a piece of text, students will be required to bring in an artifact that is connected to an aspect of that culture that was mentioned in the text. This could be something as simple as a ring, as long as it was mentioned in the text that they have just read.
They will then have to draw two pictures. One picture will depict how the object relates to the story they read and the other will depict how the object relates to their own lives.
They will write a short explanation that explores the connections between these two pictures.
Movie Assignments:
- As well as completing the reading, students will also be required to watch a movie from their country. These movies are each roughly 2 hours in length. They may choose to watch this during class or after school, depending on their group’s decision.
- To ensure the movie had been watched, students will be required to write a movie review as a group giving their opinion of the movie and justifying their reasoning. They will also have to address cultural norms that they witnessed during the movie.
- For the Cambodian group, students will not be required to watch a movie (this is because there aren't any Cambodian movies that I could find). They will be required to do a little research on the traditional music of Cambodia as well as listen to some. They will then write a newspaper article presenting the information.
Reflection and Participation Statement
- At the end of the unit, each student must complete a ½ page reflection. In this reflection, they will also report to me if any of their group members did not participate as much as the others.
The Final Product (Culminating Text)
- Students will then have to have a day where they “teach” (15-20 minute presentation) the class their country. They will include material from the readings that they did as well as the movie they watched.
- This will be their final project for this unit.
This assignment brings together every aspect that the students have studied during this unit, background of the country, literature, and movie culture. This will also provide students an opportunity to spread their knowledge to the rest of the class.