Kristin+Sutton

Performance Expectations Guide

Floating Down the River

Understanding Huckleberry Finn in a contemporary setting

Overview: You are going to become an author! Starting today you will begin to think about and work on creating a scene from Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn set in today’s society. You will create a short (3-5 pages) narrative in which you modernize Huck Finn. You must use language specific to today’s common speakers and you must address at least one problem America is facing today. Your narrative will foster an understanding of language specific to a group of people and an understanding of a social or political problem which faces today’s American citizen.

Game Plan: We will begin studying Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which focuses on the relationship between Huck, a young white boy, and Jim, an escaped slave. Through this relationship, Twain addresses issues of slavery, racism, and humanity. As a class we will discuss these issues and how they are addressed in the novel, as we discuss the novel begin thinking about what issues the nation and its people face today. Think about how Twain might have depicted these in a novel if he were writing today. Once you pick a problem to focus on, think of a scene in Huck Finn that you could manipulate to portray that issue. Write a brief 3-5 page narrative depicting that scene.

Standards Being Addressed:
 * Students will be able to develop narratives to reflect real or imagined circumstances
 * Students will be able to create clear and effective writing samples
 * Students will be able to evaluate their writing through revision processes
 * Students will be able to create pieces of writing which adhere to standard writing conventions
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students will be able to understand how literature reflects a time period

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Calendar: (Make this more General)

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Evaluation Standards: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students may make an A on this assignment if:
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Week One:
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Watch clips of the documentary of Mark Twain and discuss the context in which he wrote Huckleberry Finn.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Discuss his choice of language and dialect within Huck Finn and begin reading the novel.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As we read incorporate class discussions about the social context of Huck Finn as well as the dialectical issues at stake
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Week Two:
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Continue reading Huck Finn and begin discussing the social and political issues:
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jim as an escaped slave who is fleeing South
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Huck’s general disregard for Jim’s safety
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Is Huck growing more compassionate?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Are Huck and Jim really friends?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Have a class discussion in which we create a list of possible problems that students may choose to focus on in their own narrative:
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Begin with a journal activity asking students to list some of today’s social and political problems.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Put students into groups of 2-3 and have them discuss the problems that the came up with
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ask each group to share 2-3 problems that their group came up with that might be addressed in their narratives.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As a class discuss briefly each of the problems and how it may be addressed in the narratives.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Take good notes today! You’re going to want these when you start writing.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Week Three:
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Finish reading Huckleberry Finn and discuss how/if Huck grew up by the end of the novel.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Does he feel differently about slavery as a whole? Does he feel differently about Jim?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students will have time to write in class.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Come with ideas and use this time to ask any questions you may have or to get help from myself and your peers!
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students will write over the weekend and turn in their narrative on Monday/Tuesday (A/B days).


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">____ Turn in an at least 3-5 page narrative
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">____ Address an approved social or political issue facing Americans today
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">____ Display in their writing an understanding of dialect and language
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">____ Correctly incorporate dialogue into their text
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">____ Writing is clear and well organized
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">____ Writing contains detail about setting

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Monday: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wednesday: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Friday: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tuesday: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thursday: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Monday: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wednesday:
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Watch clips of PBS documentary on Mark Twain and discuss the time period in which he wrote and set The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Discuss Twain’s use of dialogue and language in his novel.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Briefly Discuss the social issues addressed in this novel
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Begin reading first chapters.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Read first three chapters on own.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Discuss the language used in Huck Finn: how is the dialect appropriate?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What does Huck’s treatment of Jim in the early chapters of the novel tell us about him?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What does it tell us about the view of white Americans during this time period?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Keep in mind that though this is a work of fiction, it is reflective of a time period.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Read through chapter 5 for homework.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Discuss the function of the Duke and the King as they interact with Huck and Jim.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reflect briefly and write a short (1-2 page) journal entry on the evolution of Huck and Jim’s relationship
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Are the friends at this point?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Does Huck see Jim as something other than a slave?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Think-Pair-Share reflection about Huck and Jim
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Read through chapter 9 for Tuesday.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Journal entry: If Mark Twain were writing in 2012 what problems would he potentially address?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pair into groups of two or three and share the problems that each member came up with
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As a class compile, organize, and discuss the issues that each group discussed.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Take good notes! You’re going to want this as you work on your project.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Draft time in class!
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Come prepared with your ideas, prewriting, and any questions you need answered.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You will spend today’s class working on your draft!
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The due date is fast approaching! Work hard!
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Discuss the end of Huck Finn
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Did Huck grow by the end of the novel?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How, if at all, does Huck’s opinion of Jim and of African Americans as whole change?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Is this a novel about Huck or about Jim?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Remainder of class will be spent of writing.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Your final draft is due on Wednesday, spend this time working on finishing your narrative.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ask and final questions at this time.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Turn in your narrative at this time!


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Rationale Rough Draft: **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One of the things that makes English as a content area so powerful is its ability to influence and build upon the other content areas. English is unique in its ability to go hand in hand with those other content areas and can enrich the education gained in other classrooms. HIstory and English, especially, work well with one another to inspire wisdom in students. Part of what the book Teaching Literacy for Love and Wisdom focuses on is a student’s ability to connect with a text. Teachers can give students the opportunity to closely connect with a text by making it relate to knowledge that they already have. When teachers use literature to build upon prior knowledge of the students, those connections to the text and to the original knowledge base become much stronger. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> I think part of creating students who are literate in our content area entails strengthening their literacy in other areas as well. A thorough study of literature can provide students with an understanding of other cultures, of past times, and of issues facing the world even today. A novel like Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can help students better understand an important part of American history. Additionally, the study of informational texts, of US documents ties in with both English and history. Students must learn to read these types of texts and to understand them. America is a nation that is run by its people, so it is the job of teachers, even if high school seems early for this, to ensure that students are educated enough to read important documents and draw their own conclusions. This is one reason that the new literacies are so important. Times are changing to where novels and articles, though still useful and extremely important, are not the main sources of information. The ideal goal is to create students who are well versed in navigating and undersanding multiple types of literacies. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> With this “A Troubled Young Nation” unit I hope to enable students to use a variety of text, both informational and fictional, to create connections with the historical context in which they were written. Working with informational texts such as Abraham Lincoln’s “The Gettysburg Address” will help students learn both how to read and interpret speeches and also serve as a primary source for the history of their nation. Students gain double out of a unit like this on the one hand they read new texts and learn to make meaning from those, on the other hand they get to glimpse into a culture and a time period that have long been gone. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Ultimately, I want my students to take from this unit an understanding of their Nation’s troubled past, but more importantly I want them to understand that though we may have overcome one of this nation’s darkest times there are still problems with America today. For this reason, I will have the students create, at the end of the unit, a storyboard, script, or narrative in which they take a scene from Huckleberry Finn and modernize it. They will set the characters into today’s society and have them deal with the problems that they (the students) think America is dealing with today. This will cultivate the students writing and creative abilities as well as display the level to which they understood the meaning of the text. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The power of the English content area can be seen everywhere; English is truly a base on which all other content areas must be build. With history, however, English goes hand in hand and these two can be used to enhance each other. English provides students a closer experience with the history that they likely have already studied. Reading Abraham Lincoln’s speeches and Huckleberry Finn allow students to get much closer and in depth with history. As students interact and connect with the text, they are also connecting with the past.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Objectives:

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RSL


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students will be able to analyze evolution of themes throughout a text.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students will be able to apply a text to it’s historical context
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Huckleberry Finn as in relation to informational texts

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RSIT


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students will be able to analyze the impact of a speech in its given time period
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students will be able to compare and contrast the effective methods of multiple speakers
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students will be able to analyze a nineteenth-century US document of historical significance

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RSW


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students will be able to develop narratives to reflect real or imagined circumstances
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students will be able to create clear and effective writing samples
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students will be able to evaluate their writing through revision processes

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RSSL


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students will be able to create meaningful class discussions

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">LS


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students will be able to create pieces of writing which adhere to standard writing conventions

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My final enterprise involves having the students rewrite a scene from //Huckleberry Finn// and set it in the present. They will incorporate what they think the troubles of our nation today are. Do you think I need to have them also write a short response/explanatory paper of how they arrived at these problems?

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Overview: This lesson will give students an understanding of a dark time in this Nation’s history. As time passes it becomes increasingly difficult for students to understand the extreme racism and cruelty that existed in the slave era. With this unit students will begin by studying a brief lesson on the historical period in which Mark Twain set his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This historical study will include informational texts such as “The Gettysburg Address,” “Up from Slavery,” “ Ain’t I a Woman,” as well as several others. Students will read Twain’s novel Huck Finn after viewing parts of the documentary of Mark Twain. The documentary will help the connect with the author and understand how this novel came to be. Students will be asked to consider why this novel is considered to be one of the greatest American novels of all time. After reading they will write a reflection in which they share their opinion of whether or not this novel deserves that title, and they must defend that opinion in this short paper. Students with read this novel along with a compilation of other short stories, speeches, songs, and movies dealing with this time period and the issues of slavery. Students will work toward the ultimate goal of understanding a troubled time in this Nation’s history. They will understand both the events that marred this time and the efforts that had to be made to move this country forward. At the end of the unit the students will rewrite a scene from //Huckleberry Finn// which will be set in contemporary and will deal with what they believe are the major problems of our decade. They will also write a short response to this activity in which they explore the idea of whether or not we have emerged completely from the troubled times of our past.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Kristin Sutton <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">19 October 2012 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Bailey <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">EdSec 424 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Philosophy for Teaching <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Every child can learn. I think this is the most important thing for a teacher to remember. It is wonderful for a teacher to be an expert in his or her content area and an expert in teaching, but it’s not enough. All of the theories and studies in the world won’t help a teacher much if they forget this. In every class there will be students who struggle or who don’t want to do the work, but they can learn. If a teacher looks at those students who are struggling and thinks that they can’t do the work, then they are handicapping them. If a teacher looks at the student who refuses to do the work and assumes they are lazy, then they aren’t considering the hundreds of other possibilities. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> One of the most important things for teachers to remember, is that a student who is struggling isn’t incapable of doing the work. Teachers have to consider the ways that they are teaching the students. Maybe some students don’t have the prior knowledge required to understand examples that or being given or references that are being made. If a student isn’t adequately prepared, then it makes no difference how well you teach the lesson. One of the biggest mistakes I think we could make as teachers, is assuming that students already know everything we need them to know. Especially in a content area like English where so much of what they read has a historical context as well. We are not just teaching them English. For example, when you teach a novel like Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn you are teaching about a culture, about a period of time in America. It is a history lesson as well as an English lesson. It may seem absurd to us to consider that a student in one of our high school classes has little to no knowledge of the Civil War or of the times of slavery, but it is possible that they have made it this far without knowing that. If they didn’t have that prior knowledge then this novel wouldn’t make sense to them. If a student feels disadvantaged from the very start, the no they are not going to do the work. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> When something like this happens, it is not the student’s fault. It is the fault of the system who passed a student along without ever making sure they had the knoweldge he or she needed. Also, it is the fault of the teacher for not making sure that every student knew what they needed to know to understand what was being taught. It would be like asking a student to read a story of football and remember the important facts, but the student has never watched a football game. They just can’t do it. Therefore, it is not enough for a teach to be an expert in his or her content area, they also have to know their students. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Teachers see their kids for 90 minutes every other day, then for the rest of the time they know little or nothing about what happens in the students’ lives. Those 90 minutes may be all the time that we have a chance to make an impact on a student. We don’t know what we send them home to, so while they are in the classroom we have to give them the best possible chance to succeed. If that means going back and teaching something that we think they should already have learned, then that’s what we have to do. We can’t move on with the next lesson, essentially giving them no choice but to fail, and expect anything to change. It is not our job to say “you should have learned this,” it is our job to say “you didn’t learn this, so let me teach you.”

As a Junior at Clemson University, I am working toward becoming a high school English teacher, with hopes of one day becoming an English professor. I have a deep love for literature and hope to foster literacy and a passion for English in my future students. I believe that a true love of reading can open so many doors for students. I love reading almost anything I can get my hands on, and I feel that love of reading is something that has become far to rare in students today. I am generally a very outgoing and passionate person and I hope to bring these traits into my classroom both now, as a student, and in the future, as a teacher.

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//Kristin Sutton 9/1//
I feel that teaching literacy for love and wisdom is possible. However, that is not to say that it is in any way easy. Literacy is not something that can be learned simply through studying and repetition. Literacy requires a deeper understanding, it requires students to learn a new way of thinking. To inspire this in students a teacher must have a true passion for the art of reading and writing. Without feeling that passion themselves a teacher will never be able to inspire passion in his/her students. Even if a teacher is passionate about their subject and about their students, inspiring students to feel that passion is still a difficult task. I think that so many students today approach literature with the idea that they are not going to enjoy it. They see it as a boring subject, something that they must get through as students. In order to teach for love and wisdom a teacher must find a way to turn this idea around. Literature allows for some room in making things relatable to students because so mch of the understanding is based on personal experience. If a teacher can get a student to the point of being willing to try, almost anyone can find personal meaning in literature. Reading literature is as of much an art form as writing it. Once a teacher gets students to this realization, then the idea of teaching literacy for love and wisdom becomes much more concrete rather than abstract.

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//Kristin Sutton 9/8//
What is English? Please share in your own words how the field of high school English has evolved over the years. What were the major conferences and/or leaders who have influenced the field. What is it today? Do you think we should change the title of our discipline to Personal Studies? Why or why not? What would you like to see the field of English become in the years ahead?

Defining the concept of English will always be an area of difficulty, specifically among educators. The idea of finding a definition that encompasses all that the study of English serves to promote seems to prove an impossible task. The study of English includes a myriad of components that when lumped together create the field in it's entirety. English includes, and must include, the study of the language itself. As a foundation for all else that the field has to offer an understanding of the language must come first. An understand of the grammar rules and the purpose of syntax and diction. Without the basic, fundamental rules a student has no foundation upon which to build a stronger understanding and appreciation of the subject. However, the other aspects of English are important, perhaps more important. In studying English and literacy students learn to be thinkers. They can take a text or a subject and form their own opinions about it. This is where English stands apart from the other core subjects. There isn't necessarily a right and a wrong in English, it is about creating meaning. I think that is what is most important in the field of English, not standing in front of a classroom and telling students what a text means but allowing them to come to it on their own. If students can learn to think through problems for themselves then I think that the teaching of English has been a success.

I think the idea of creating meaning has become a much more important idea in English in recent years. Less importance is placed on the grammar and style type of English and more importance is placed on fostering the ability in students to think. I'd like to see this increase over the years ahead. I can see no greater importance for the field than to promote thinking and reasoning ability. Any student can regurgitate information on a test, but a student who can think and create a meaning out of some piece of work has learned something worth learning. The Dartmouth conference and the subsequent books and reviews have done much for the field of English in expanding its importance and focus, however I think these are only stepping stones. There is still a long way to go. If the idea of teaching for love and wisdom is going to be a real possibility then I think as teachers we have to veer away from teaching grammar and spelling as early as possible. That is not to say we can ever abandon these concepts, merely that I think the importance is to focus on true literacy. We must focus on student response, on getting them to interact and relate to literature, and most imporantly we must get them to think! Perhaps changing the name to Personal Studies is appropriate, however it matters not what we call the field, it matters what we do with it.

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//Kristin Sutton 9/15//
What is meant by the evocative dimension of a literary transaction? Explain what this is and give examples. Then, begin to imagine at least two ways that you could encourage the evocative dimension within your future English classes. Do you see any evidence within the field that the evocative dimensions is being encouraged within literary transactions and instruction? Please share.

I think that the evocative dimension of a literary transaction is by far the most important. THe ability of literature to evoke feelings, thoughts, and appreciation is in my mind the only reason for literature to exist at all. The evocative dimension of literature is "the life of literature--and the value for life itself that it evokes in us" (77). The textbook talks about frontloading acitivities, which get students to connect with ideas to which they can relate before they begin reading. With these ideas in their mind, they will be more likely to create a personal connection with the book as they begin to read. Once a student begins reading, a teacher must help them to immerse themselves in the story world. One of my favorite ways that we did this when I was a student, was in our reading of //Macbeth//. Our teacher assigned each of us different characters and we held a talk show. It was both fun and helped us get more involved in the story. Without this opportunity to really interact with the text, I doubt that it would still be one of my favorite pieces of literature.

The idea of evoking an appreciation for life and an understand of the values that a piece of literature presents is more difficult. Teachers must show students the impact that they can have on the world. They must show them that if they cultivate their own knowledge, they can help brings something to the table. Literature evokes values and I think that teachers must show students how to take those values and apply them to their own lives.

//I begin my field experience on Tuesday. I will come back to this afterwards and answer the final question.//

=EdSec 324=

//Kristin Sutton 9/22//
Do you agree with the Harold Brodkey quote at the beginning of Chapter 5? Here it is again so that you can copy and paste it into your own wiki page: Reading is an intimate act, perhaps more intimate than any other human act, I say this because of the prolonged (or intense) exposure of one mind to another. Brodkey As you think about this quote, please reflect on how the Connective Dimension of the Aesthetic, Transactional Response relates to it if at all. Please share at least two ways that you might encourage your future students to connect to the implied authors of texts. Are you seeing examples of ways that English teachers help students connect to authors? Please share.

I think Brodkey's idea of reading being an intimate act is incredibly accurate. While I have never thought of it in such terms, it really is the perfect description of reading. While the reader may feel as if they are the only ones actively engaging in the act, they're not. They may be the only ones engaging at the moment but the author has poured so much of himself into what he/she wrote that as a reader you are getting a far greater understanding of who he/she is as a person than you could through mere conversation. However, while reading is certainly an intimate act with the author, it is also an intimate act with yourself. You really can learn a lot about yourself when you step back and examine what ideas and meanings you have taken away from a text. Two people can come away from the same piece of literature with two completely different understandings of it. This doesn't mean that either person is wrong, it merely reflects their different states of mind. On a slightly different level, and this may be a stretch, it is also an intimate act with the subject matter itself. Reading about something is a much different way to learn it than simply learning facts. Literature bring emotion into events, times, places, and people in a way that textbooks cannot. I don't agree that it is the most intimate act of humans but it certainly ranks high on that list.I think that the connective dimension depends on reading to be an intimate act. If a student is not having some sort of emotional, thoughtful interaction with a text then they have little hope of making any real connection with it, and it certainly wont effect their futures.

One idea that occurred to me while reading this chapter was thinking about Julius Caesar. I must admit that I am obsessed with Caesar and his various cohorts, but in reading this I started thinking about why. I though first about Shakespeare's //Julius Caesar// and realized that this is where my obsession first began. Coming away from reading the play I began to read other historical accounts of the real Caesar. This taught me more about Shakespeare than reading any of his plays ever could have. In comparing his version of events to those that actually took place I felt like I gained real insight into Shakespeare as both an author an a person. It allowed me to see, in a sense, what he deemed the important aspects of a person. I could see what he thought made the story interesting. It was really interesting to think about this and I thought that doing something like this in a classroom could be extremely useful in getting students to relate to the authors. Obviously this won't work with all literature, but I think it's definitely something to be used where it can.

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//Kristin Sutton 9/29/11//
After you have read and reflected up "The Reflective Dimension" of the literary transaction, please share how you would encourage the entire literary transactional approach (guiding students through the evocative, connective and reflective dimensions of the literary meaning-making process) for the book Posted! No Trespassing! that you were given in class. How could you begin to develop a unit that would help students connect their personal experiences to the text? How would you help them make connections with the author, the zoology professor at Dartmouth, Professor Griggs? Then, how would you help them use the wisdom they have accrued to transform their worlds? How will you help them "live more artfully and meaningfully in the real world?" Elaborate as fully as you desire. I'm eager to read what you have imagined! Also, don't forget to share ways that your cooperating teacher or other teachers are encouraging the reflective dimension in their literary studies.

To encourage the "entire literary transactional approach" for the book Posted! No Trespassing! I think the connective part could perhaps be the most important. This book is a glimpse into a place that most students won't have seen. So before they begin reading it is extremely important to give them a basic understanding of the what they will encounter in the book. While most students likely won't have had such thorough experience with wild animals, many of them will have limited experience. I think you could begin by asking them to draw on their encounters with wild animals, whether it be as drastic as a bear or as mild as encountering a wild rabbit. You could ask them to draw a picture to go along with the encounter. I think this is the beginning of helping them connect their personal experiences with the text, but more of that will come as they actually begin to read the text. Additionally you could begin a discussion on the rights of humans to invade animal habitat. I think if you begin the discussion before reading the book and then come back to it after reading you might actually see a change in the way students approach the topic.

This book definitely lends itself to the evocative dimension of reading and makes our jobs as teachers easier. The way the book is illustrated alone adds a certain level of emotion. Asking students to think about the illustrations and what effect they have on reading would be a great starting point. The way the illustrations are drawn without definition of lines is itself a reflection of the story and the way that the animals mark off their territories with similar roughly drawn lines. Additionally continuing the discussion of protecting animals and their homes would be a useful tool. Asking one group of students argue in favor of the animals and the others to argue in favor of people, without letting them choose their side, will force them to really think about the subject.

In teaching the reflective dimension, you could ask the students to write a summary or discuss how they feel about this book. Did they feel that the animals were being mistreated because of the changes that were taking place on their habitat? Did they that the humans had more right to the land than the animals did. Did the discussions perhaps change their views of animal rights? Ask them to write their own story, and illustrate it in their own way depicting their views on the rights of humans to use land for their own purposes.

To get them to connect to the author I would have them write a letter. I would ask them to explain their feelings about the book. Did they think the changes being made to the animals homes were fair. Who did they feel really had the "deed to the land." Whether the letters are sent or not this type of activity will get them thinking about what it is the author was saying. It will get them to decide if they think he was on the side of the animals or the side of the people, or perhaps they will decide that they don't think there were sides. Whatever they choose the important thing is that they really think about the work and the intentions behind it. In getting them to form opinions you are leading them to using what they have learned in their worlds. If they realize that they think this is a problem help them to see what they can do to help. Teaching this book can show that literary devices, even a picture book, can be used to make a difference. If they see that these kinds of things have power to create change they will become more meaningful to them. Students will see how they too can use this art form to make changes that they think are necessary.

In the classrooms I've been observing, my teacher is having her students write short stories about their own experiences in lives. She asked them to write a short script for something funny that has happened to them and to present it to the class by having other students help act it out. The students got really into this because it was an opportunity for them to express themselves without much pressure. They didn't have to make up and entirely new idea, they just had to find a way to express something that happened to them, it was non threatening and got them to write without really realizing it.

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//Kristin Sutton 10/6//
In the chapter on Aesthetic Education, what were the qualities of the four teachers who were striving to teach for love and wisdom that you most admired and would like to embody? Please explain.

I think one of the most important qualities in being able to teach for love and wisdom is passion. If a teacher has passion for both her students and her subject, then everything else will come as a result. Drawing on my own experience in the school system there are classes where I can hardly recall the teachers face, and certainly can't bring to mind anything important that I learned. This results primarily from a teacher who has never felt any real passion for teaching and for their work, so they can't convey any importance to the students. I most equate this type of teacher as one who stands in front of the room and reads for the powerpoint, never asking for any input from the class. If I remember anything from these types of classes, it was the frantic cramming before tests due to not really learning in the class. However, when a teacher has passion, learning is made easier. When a teacher is excited about what he/she is saying students will begin to get excited about it as well. A passionate teacher will get the class engaged rather than leaving them to silently copy notes. The classes that I most remember are the ones where we not only took notes and tests, but also had engaging discussion and did fun activities that helped us relate to the material. A teacher who wishes to teach for love and wisdom must, in my opinion, balance a passion for his/her students and for the subject that they are teaching. Passion for these will lead to all the other qualities that I think are most necessary for teaching for love and wisdom.

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//Kristin Sutton 10/13//

 * In the chapter on Aesthetic Democracy, the opening quote is this, "I've never been in a classroom that was a real community before. Is this your situation? Why or why not? What would it take for the "third space" to come into being, a space "in which the students took in one another's life"? Be as detailed as you can be at this point in your career. How do we help students move the third space from the inward to the outward world? Explain (if you dare).

It's hard for me to think about this question. When I think back to my own high school days I can think of the classes that I most loved, but I cannot decide why. While I loved these classes, teachers, and the work in general, I do not think the class itself was like a community. I can recall the texts we read and even some of the activities that we did. However, I have much more difficulty recalling the other students in the class. I remember the ones that I knew well, but not the strangers. I think that part of making a class like a community is getting the students to interact with everyone! The talk about a third space is fascinating. The idea of finding a way to stop students from looking at their peers with judgement, and to get them to merely take in their views and opinions, not necessarily to adopt them but just to consider them, is amazing. The book mentioned anonymous reading. I like this idea because it allows students to be completely honest in their writing, without fear of being judged for what they say. I don't think I have seen this much in the classrooms that I've been in this year. The other day I saw the students doing peer editing. For those who had actually done their work, they were very hesitant to hand their essays off to a classmate. I noticed that while they were shy about handing their essays to randomly assigned par How do the teachers cited within the chapter "What Can English Become?" try to help students relate to and love authors? How will you help students do this within the context of your proposed unit? tners, they were even more hesitant to hand them to their friends. This just highlighted their fear of judgement. Students today are so afraid to step outside of the norm that they will hide their own views if they differ from the crowd. It is an amazing feat to get students to let down their guard in classroom and give their honest opinions. Much of that will come from making them as comfortable as possible in the environment. If they are comfortable, slowly that fear of judgement will fall away and they will open up more. If we can achieve this in the classroom, then the hope is that as they move into the real world they will take that new confidence with them. They will understand that while others may disagree with their opinions, they need not worry about their judgement.

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//Kristin Sutton 10/27//
How do the teachers cited within the chapter "What Can English Become?" try to help students relate to and love authors? How will you help students do this within the context of your proposed unit?

The teachers in this chapter have several ways of getting students to realize that the texts they are reading didn't simply appear one day. Some of them have the students do think aloud activities to get the students talking about the book. I particularly liked the idea of getting the students to play the part of the author. I think that would really get them to think and relate to the author in a real way. For our unit i think author relation is a very important concep. Particularly thinking about the texts relating to discrimination and racism. Several of our texts focus on ideas such as slavery and discrimination of other kinds. With several of these being first hand accounts and nonfiction sources understanding the author is vital to understanding the text. I think activities that highlight the unfairness of discrimination based on skin color could really help. The Dr. Seuss activity we did in class earlier this semester would be excellent for this idea. I also thing getting students to self reflect through writing. This way we could get them to think back about times that they have dealt with discrimination, whether against themselves or against others. Writing responses to the texts as well, maybe writing to the author would also be good tools for getting them to think more about the author as a person.

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//Kristin Sutton 11/3//
How could you use the //Dynamics of Writing// structured process approach to teach for love and wisdom? Please explain in rich detail. Also, explain how you might use this approach in your forthcoming unit? Begin to brainstorm. Finally, are you seeing bits and pieces of the structured process approach to writing within your field experience? Please explain.

A structured process approach in teaching wisdom can be used to teach love and wisdom in several ways. The idea of getting students to do a task and think about how it's done can only lead to this. Students will be forced to think and work on a different level than merely writing a three page paper and being done with it. They are forced to learn and understand (which is the most important part) some new idea or concept. The type of writing discussed in the chapter forces students to create their own ideas and beliefs rather than simply summarizing what they have read or heard elsewhere. This concept is the basis of the whole idea of teaching for love and wisdom. If students are not creating beliefs and values that they will carry with them in some way throughout their lives then you aren't teaching for love and wisdom, you're just teaching. That is not to say that merely teaching isn't a perfectly admirable role, but why, if you are capable of doing more, would you settle for less?

The chapter goes on to highlight the need for various forms of writing. A teacher must incorporate opportunites for students to write various types of compositions such as: free writes, short stories, arguments, comparisons, etc. The writing style must suit the situation. It also highlights the importance of teaching students to write for an inteded audience. In this way they must think about other people; they must consider how what they have to say will be perceived. Teachers must scaffold the students first guiding them and slowly allowing them to work more and more independently. Teachers designs activities and provide materials while also letting the students interact with them as they may. Letting them come to their own conclusions will help them grow far more than putting the argument or idea into their head for them.

All of these ideas promote teaching for love and wisdom because they allow the students to think for themselves. Students are not being told what is correct or incorrect, they are being given a situation or a task and completing it by themselves. For our unit their are a lot of concepts that students will need to spend time with to truly understand how they view them. With so much of our unit focusing on the different forms and effects of discrimination, there are may concepts with which students may have some difficulty. They are heavy topics to undertake and simply stating to students that discrimination is wrong is not enough. Students must think for themselves and come to terms with the history of the human race. They must understand in their own way what discrimination and racism have and will mean in their own lives. Giving students the opportunity to write reflectively can help with this. Perhaps giving them the opportunity to compose an argument defending or condemning someone they encounter in a text. Any task that gets them actively involved with the concept will be extremely useful in this unit.

In my field experience I have not seen the students do too much writing. They are younger, freshmen, so they don't have as many writing assignments, at least not that I have gotten to see. For the little writing they have done they have gotten to think about the text in a different way, but haven't dealt to heavily with an serious topics so far.

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//Kristin Sutton 11/10//
When I begin my teaching career I hope to be teaching upper level high school students. Preferably they will be in grades 11 and 12 and likely from a mixed background. Their social economic status is less important to me as I hope to be able to reach and help students of all levels. I would hope to be able to inspire a desire to learn and participate in my classroom. I would hope that my students would respond to structured instruction. I feel that structured instruction provides the perfect level of guidelines that allows students some ability to explore on their own but provides clearly outlined expectations. I would hope to create an environment in which students can write freely. That is not to say I want to assign them free writes all of the time. I think that writing freely can apply to all types of writing formats; argumentative, persuasive, etc. I think that writing provides a lot more freedom for students to express themselves than asking them to speak aloud in class. If a student is comfortable enough they will be able to write without fear of judgement. I would like to allow my students some freedom to make their own decisions in their writing. I will point them in a direction and then allow them to go with that where they will. I want to see what they can come up with, not have the regurgitate information that I have given them. I think it is important to let students make their own meaning of things. If we just tell them what to do, then they aren't cultivating in values or beliefs that will carry into the rest of their lives.

I think it is very important for students to study the works of other writers, So much of what we learn comes from the knowledge that others have already cultivated. While I want them to become their own style of writer, emulating the talents of great authors is a great beginning step to that. I think one of the greatest aspects of writing is allowing students to choose their own topic. In doing so we really encourage imagination, we encourage them to think and consider what is important to them. If a student writes about what they care about, then the outcome is going to be far more impressive if they are exploring an assigned topic about which they have no interest. I like the idea of students-teacher conferences because it helps create ideas and know that they aren't completely on their own. They have enough independence to work on their own, but it is important to know they have support to fall back on. I like the idea of them turning in a proposal and then meeting with the teacher to discuss the topic in more detail and exchange some ideas.

I would hope to create an environment where students are comfortable enough to write honestly. I think that if students are too afraid of making mistakes, then their writing will suffer. What is important to me is not if they know where every comma should go, but what they are thinking, that's what I care about.