Reading:9-10 Humanities Year of 2006-7
Goals:
To understand how fear affects our live and how it can “move” a group or a nation
To develop our reading/writing /speaking skills
To create a haunted house!
Focus question: What scares us? What is fear, and how does it affect our actions and decisions? Many kinds of fear affect us—from fear of physical danger to psychological fear of the unknown, and we will touch on many using a variety of readings and activities. Though this is a question to focus on during the first trimester, it will be one that reverberates throughout the rest of the year in Humanities as we delve into issues of scapegoating, prejudice, Us Vs. Them, Heroes, and the wild decade of the 1960’s.
It will also be a trimester to focus on academic literacy, with an emphasis on writing and speaking clearly, listening to others, using research to answer questions, and making connections between periods in history and overall themes.
Reading:
The Outsiders, SE Hinton
Speak, Laurie Anderson
Edgar Allen Poe stories
Stephen King story & novel excerpts
Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (reading & viewing film)
Historical text on the Puritans
1950’s Red Scare/ McCarthyism
Essay, “Why do We Crave Horror movies?”
Plus: scary book list to choose from
Some Assignments:
You will write in journals; read lots of fiction and non fiction; take vocabulary quizzes; write poems, a ghost story, personal essays and literary responses; watch a film, take notes, take a test on Puritan and witchcraft history; research 1950’s Red Scare and McCarthy; discuss readings; and we will culminate, with a creation of a Haunted House—in Westminster Village. BOO!
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Trimester 2: Julia’s class
Dates of this unit: 1/3-2/7
This trimester, you will have class with both me and Phil, for about 4 weeks each. Each of us will teach a unit that provides a nice “bridge” to our final unit, 3rd trimester, on the 1960’s. This unit also relates to what we were looking at last trimester—the theme of fear and standing up for what one believes is right. Here is a description of what you will be doing with me:
Focus Questions and Themes:
Reading:
Writing*:
*Any of these assignments could be included in your Writing Collection and/or your portfolio, but especially, the memory essay and TKM Essay Exam
Other assignments to show understanding of the reading and themes:
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Focus Question:
What really happened in the 1960’s? What is the truth about Vietnam, the civil rights movement, and the so-called “hippie movement”? We will focus on this decade to understand this crucial period in US history, but also as a way to make further connections to the other questions we have asked this year about fear, truth, justice, courage, and boundaries.
Possible Texts:
Various texts and novels—choices given:
Fallen Angels, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The Secret Life of Bees
Born on the Fourth of July ( film)
Eyes on the Prize (documentary series)
History texts, novels, and non fiction about 1960’s
Activities/Assignments:
Note-taking, reading responses; journaling, vocabulary; grammar; visuals; interviewing people who lived in the 1960’s; debate: Was violence necessary to win civil rights? 1960’s living museum; Read about current war in Iraq and ask similar question: what is really going on and is war necessary?
Skills Emphasized: Critical thinking: question & inquiry, information handling, making connections; Communication: writing, public speaking; and Community Involvement/Collaboration
