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Why Do We Tell Stories?
Why Do We Tell Stories?
This course is dedicated to the question of fiction. What is it's value? What can it show us about ourselves and the worlds we inhabit? How can fiction be used to affect change? These are big questions. After a year in this course, I hope that every student has grappled with these questions on a regular basis. I hope they will walk away feeling intellectually empowered and ready to engage in discussions of all types about what fiction does for a society.
Reading
Reading
Short stories & excerpts
Designed to practice reading skills
Offers a wide variety of writing styles
Offers frequent "refresh" points, which is much harder with longer texts.
An opportunity to access Shakespeare
Focus on close reading & figurative language
Meant to be enjoyed aloud
Offers many versions to interpret (films)
Oedipus Rex
A quick and frequently referenced story
Meant to be performed
An opportunity to take a humanities approach with Ms. Shea
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Highly accessible novel (reading level & vocabulary)
Offers a first-person perspective, leading to discussions of voice and narrative reliability
Encourages conversations about perspectives and
This year will also include a film study unit in which we "read" Avatar.
Writing
Writing
Creative Writing
Students will spend one unit of study exploring and analyzing flash fiction. This unit is designed to be highly generative and encourage a good deal of writing. Students will write between 10-20 works of short fiction.
Analytical Writing
The bulk of the year focuses on academic writing. I strive to work with students during the writing process rather than after submission. I find that they grow more, and are far more receptive to feedback if it is during the writing process rather than after.
Students will continue to hone their academic voice while analyzing literature, art, and film throughout the year.
Research & Technology
Research & Technology
Research
Striving to mirror similar skills in English and history class, students will be asked to research topics throughout the year, especially during our less-frequent-meeting weeks.
Students will use tools such as NoodleTools to track sources, take notes, and develop annotated bibliographies.
Technology
The technological landscape is changing rapidly in our current environment and LPS is constantly changing it's privacy agreements with various software providers. I strive to use the best electronic tools for the lessons I'm teaching. I also explicitly teach the use of some digital tools, specifically those in the Google suite that we are using on a daily basis.
Students need to use their school-issued Chromebooks when they are in the building and any time they need to take a quiz or test online.
Discussion
Discussion
Small & Frequent
Students are asked regularly to chat with small groups of peers to generate ideas throughout class.
Large & Formal
This course has historically championed formal, academic discussion skills. The goal is to practice discussing material that we may or may not find personally interesting with people we may or may not personally like and/or agree with. Respect for an open discourse is an important part of what we do. This skill, while a huge challenge for some students, serves them well as they grow.
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