Organizing Units with Literature

Herz, S. & Gallo, D. From Hinton to Hamlet: building bridges between young adult literature and the classics.
Assorted Authors, Blackboard Readings and Handouts.
Probst, Response and Analysis.

Say:

I think this week is a great example of a sample being worth a thousand words. Just like with the multigenre readings from last week, there are theoretical and research-based principles at work in the rationale behind organizing units with literature; also similar to last week is the idea that seeing samples of such units immeasurably helps teachers in figuring out the landscape of literature-based units and essential questions. I liked the variety of examples--there is a big difference between the essential questions and units for English 1 and the gender focus for AP English Lit, but they both reflect the practices of using multiple genres and varieties of text to organize around key themes and topics.

This graphic organizer is a stunning visual representation of the shift in thinking about unit organization. Notice how the organizer is not centered on a text; rather, the unit is centered around a core idea/theme or set of essential questions:


The chapters from Hertz and Gallo offer spectacular information for any teacher wanting to use YA novels to help students access the themes and questions posed by some of the most difficult canonical texts. The authors tackle canonical writers like Shakespeare and Dickens and address high school "required" books like Huck Finn and The Great Gatsby. Hertz and Gallo offer thematic connections to and well-written summaries of numerous YA novels relevant for literature units. I'm glad I did my Resource Collection before doing the reading for this week, because Of Mice and Men was one of the books they used in chapter 4! Haha -- I promise, my RC is of my own invention :) Hertz and Gallo's chapter five discusses entire units of genres, text choices, etc. They even include lists for internet websites, films and possible student activities like interviews! I also ADORE the archetypal ideas listed as possible themes for units -- I use a lot of these archetypes already, but it never occurred to me to structure a unit around the concept. AWESOME. I also like the idea of taking the "author paper" out of the AP classroom I've added From Hinton to Hamlet to my amazon cart; I've got to have this book. It's incredible.



Do:
Resource Collection: Of Mice and Men

Multigenre Musings

Romano, "Blending Genre, Altering Style"
"Create Flow"
Mary Styslinger, "Multigenred-Multigendered Research Papers"
Sara Biltz, "Teaching Literature Through the Multigenre Paper: An Alternative to the Analytical Essay"
Assorted Authors, BB examples, samples, bibliographies, and handouts

Say:
I'm coming back into this entry to revise some of my thinking based on tonight's class, specifically the concept of reader-response being the lining to the critical theories "coat" that Styslinger discussed. She mentioned that she thinks of theoretical approaches to literacy as different "coats" that she can put on as needed. I loved that analogy and will definitely be stealing it for my classroom. Now, obviously, anyone who spends any time with Dr. Sty quickly realizes that reader-response is her foundational approach to literature; she might put on different coats, but the lining of reader-response is always there. The reason I'm adding to this entry is because I realized through our conversation tonight that reader-response is my lining, too! I also think I double-line with formal analysis, but my go-to approach to any piece of reading or writing begins (and often ends) with reader-response. How could it not? Okay, addendum complete.

I had seen the multi-genre paper assignment in the syllabus and was quite reticent and unsure of it before this week's readings. I have never had personal experience with multi-genre, and I was nervous that it might be a challenging technological feat that was going to put me out of my comfort zone. Ha! Much to my delight, this week's readings take the concept of the formal, final assessment writing assignment and twist it full of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking to turn it into the multi-genre paper.

Romano is the expert on the multi-genre, and he argues that it is a more creative and holistic way to access student's authentic learning and processing. Multi-genre approaches assessment as a fluid and reflective process; it is narrative rather than expository or paradigmatic, which (by the way) is closely aligned with both reader-response and transactional theory, and posits that students can demonstrate deep, critical thinking about texts if they are given freedom to express that thinking in a multitude of ways. Rather than completing a typical argumentative five-paragraph essay, a multi-genre project requires students to think about the themes and characters of a text with more precision, focusing in on artifacts and "genres" to convey their critical reflection and connection.

Sty's article describing the use of multi-genre to access student's understanding of gender was fascinating. It really opened my eyes to the usefulness and THOUGHTFULNESS inherent in the multi-genre paper. Perhaps using narrative forms allows readers and thinkers to go deeper than they might go with the traditional expository assignment; because multi-genre distances students from the false notion that "one answer is the right answer," those students can be courageous and free in making meaning from texts. I loved the examples she included and I am trying to figure out how many ways I can use multi-genre in my teaching next semester.

The readings included fantastic samples of multi-genre papers, lists of types of genres to use for a project like this, and possible rubrics to allow students freedom but also provide them with focus. I've downloaded a bunch and saved them for future use. This week was incredibly pragmatic and helpful.

Final Thoughts: The multi-genre combines reader-response, formal analysis, critical theories, gender and race perspectives, and the student-choice prerogative that research has declared so invaluable to authentic learning--these ingredients simmer together, marinating in student creativity and freedom, and eventually become gourmet feasts the likes of which few educators see. (see what I did there?)

Do:
Lesson Plan Addendum: This is a lesson that bridged the end of a unit, so students were finishing their papers at different rates. My CT loved the idea of including 3 Mini Projects that allowed students choice and creativity! After reading about the multi-genre papers, I realized that my three mini-projects look a lot like 3 pieces of a multi-genre project, so I added this lesson plan to the Do. Here is the handout I used for the Creative Choice Project.
Sample from Student Poem:

I went looking for more on Tom Romano, because he seems to be the guru for multigenre. The chapter we read this week were from his 2000 publication, Blending Genre, Altering Style, but I wondered if he'd written more. Here is a link to his page on Amazon.com:

The amazon page includes all six of his published books, including one I think will be very useful for my teaching library, a 2013 publication titled Fearless Writing: Multigenre to Motivate and Inspire.  It looks really interesting:

Also, I kept looking and found a Tom Romano that was recently published (October 2015). This work seems to be on the topic of writing, and I'm wondering if it will join the ranks of writers like Stephen King who have written on the craft and practice of writing... Only one way to find out, right?

I'm including these books in my Do this week because I need to make sure I keep up to date on all the research happening in education; I want to keep adding good books to my personal teaching library. Ayers once said that teaching is intellectual, challenging work, and I'm determined to continue learning beyond the confines of this graduate program. 

Informational Texts

Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Michael W. Smith, and James E. Fredericksen: Get It Done!: Writing and Analyzing Informational Texts to Make Things Happen

Say:
Having spent several years teaching English 101 and 102 classes, I find it interesting that the first few chapters discuss "informational/ explanatory texts" using categories like cause-effect, compare/contrast, and definition. In my experience, these were all categories used to assign argument papers to first year college students. Arguments of definition papers involved debates about "marriage," what constitutes a "fair" judicial system, and whether certain leaders were "evil." Arguments of cause-effect might trace the influence of the past or argued that the road of today would lead to a certain kind of future. Arguments of compare and contrast evaluated and made cases for "the best" in sports, music, politics, or argued for a side in the age-old book vs. movie debate. My point is -- the three colleges at which I taught always focused the Freshman English assignments on argument, and used these categories to explain them. Until I started reading this book, I never considered these categories as anything but argument, although I can see now how they can be taught as informational/explanatory and why that approach would be useful. This book has given me a new perspective on something I thought I already knew pretty well. I love it when that happens.

Inquiry excites me. I love that this book gets into essential questions as the context for inquiry. The authors say that "inquiry, as we see it and research offers compelling proof, is the most powerful context for all teaching and learning and for all forms of reading and composing" (45). LOVE. I also see similarities between the book Understanding by Design and this one, because one of the ways we plan using essential questions is to think about what we want the culminating composing task to be, and then work backward to make sure we're preparing our students to be able to do it. Once again, frontloading is crucial, as we need to emphasize practice and make sure to offer frontloading that is both "conceptual and procedural" (49).

Chapters 6-12 are fantastic models of exactly HOW to take each category of informational text and apply it to the classroom. Especially useful for me were the chapters on compare/contrast, cause and effect, and I also really liked the one about lists. As I mentioned before, I'm used to teaching these with a more "argument-centric" approach, and it's incredibly helpful to have the authors describe the how-to's of each so well. There are also some pretty neat graphic organizers included in each chapter, as well as CCSS-aligned lessons. Awesome and useful tool to have for my classroom.

Do:
My CT uses a really neat annotation-practice each week called "Article of the Week." She's frontloaded annotation techniques with her students, and I even saw her revisit some of the frontloading lessons when she felt her students weren't annotating the articles sufficiently. The students are given a contemporary article from a major newspaper or newsmagazine, and they are instructed to read it, annotate it, and answer EOC-style questions about it (as continuing practice for the EOC). I love the results my CT has gotten from these weekly activities, and they've allowed the students to be a part of the ongoing real world discussions happening around sports scandals, scientific discoveries, politics, etc. I include a sample Article of the Week below.

Reading and Writing Argument

Michael W. Smith, Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, James E. Frederickson: Oh, Yeah?! Putting Argument to Work Both in School and Out

True life confessions: this has been my least favorite book so far.

Here's the thing--Smith, Wilhelm, and Fredricksen do a wonderful job explaining the importance of teaching argument in the classroom. They have powerful moments discussing student voice, the necessity of learning to argue and express oneself in a democracy, and they offer very practical ways to get started teaching argument by using popular culture and students' own opinions.

I think I'm  just very, very tired of reading-about-arguments after teaching Freshman English 101 and 102 for so many years; this book is a bit tedious and redundant for me, personally. (Obviously, it would not be redundant if I hadn't already been teaching, so I definitely see its value. I'm just taking a personal, metacognitive perspective on this week's reading--go with me on this.)

First, I'll get a bit confrontational.

Here's something I strongly disagreed with in one of the early chapters (chapter 2, I think):

"it's useful to think about the nature of oral argumentation to understand why it is that young people, who so effectively state their cases in conversation, have trouble doing so when they write" (Smith, et. al, 11).

WHAT?! Um, no. I could NOT disagree more. As a general rule, students canNOT state their cases in conversation -- that's why students who can are so delightful to encounter! It is not the norm. The students who CAN back themselves up in conversation can also, I have found, do it in writing. I know my experiences are not the only experiences, but I am honestly confounded and dismayed by what seems to me to be a ridiculous supposition. Have the authors taught outside of the 11th and 12th grade AP and honors system?  Geesh.

Now, some positive reflection:

I loved the precise, focused discussions taking place in chapters 7 and 8 on teaching literary argument and focusing on form. The authors take some of the most challenging aspects of teaching argument and break them down into examples and specific explanations I can use in the classroom. Obviously, argument takes reader-response level opinions and challenges students to explain and defend them with logic and rationale. These are critical skills on so many levels. Chapter nine has some really solid ideas for assessment, and I liked that the authors included rubrics to help us make sure our assignments fit our essential question purposes.

Do:
There are a LOT of graphic organizers to help students organize their argumentative essays. A lot of them are sort of cheesy and styled in ways that I'm not sure would appeal to high school students. I love infographics, so I went on a quest to see if I could find a good one to use with my students. I found this one on a lifehack page and I love it. Click on the image to get more information:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/infographic-teach-you-the-hacks-write-argumentative-essays.html

Close Reading and Reading Like a Writer

Asst. Authors, Blackboard Readings: Rigor, Close Reading, Defining the Signposts,
Asst. Authors, Blackboard Readings: Reading like Writers, The Craft of Writing, Organized Inquiry, Craft Inquiry
Daniels and Steineke, Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles

This week's reading covers the sometimes controversial ideas of defining rigor and determining what constitutes close reading. Once again, we see the importance of knowing research, rather than relying on political propaganda or trendy, popular culture catch-phrases. Rigor, the darling term of many well-meaning politicians, does NOT refer to the difficulty level of texts. Rather, it "resides in the energy and attention given to the text, not in the text itself." A terrible example is given of an English teacher choosing the least accessible and most difficult version of Beowulf for her students to read. I found myself both disgusted by and condemning of such actions, and I was reminded of my passionate disdain for those who call themselves professional educators but behave like idiots.
In rigor as well as close reading, engagement is key. The text on rigor asserts that the "essential element in rigor is engagement"; this brings us full circle to Rosenblatt's theories on the power of reader response. Likewise, the full circle of responding to texts, moving into the formal analysis of texts, and then incorporating the critical synthesis of texts seems echoed in the readings this week, as "a classroom that respects what the students bring to it, what they are capable of and interested in, and that welcomes them into an active intellectual community is more likely to achieve that rigor."

I think close reading lends itself very nicely to Socratic Seminars because of the emphasis on shorter passages and the focus on using the text to support a reader's individual response. Students can help one another discuss a short passage and, hopefully, bring themselves closer to the text.

Defining the Signposts: I loved this explanation (reminds me of why we use "purpose" in our lesson plans): the signposts appear "not only in texts but also in our lives." These moments "show up in novels because they show up in the world," and the author points out that questions are only helpful to notice if the students can also learn to ask the right questions.  When teaching the signposts, "it's the question that moves students into deeper thinking."

* Contrasts and Contradictions: Why would the character act (feel) this way?
* Aha Moment: How might this change things?
* Tough Questions: What does this question make me wonder about?
* Words of the Wiser: What's the life lesson and how might it affect the character?
* Again and Again: Why might the author bring this up again and again?
* Memory Moment: Why might this memory be important?

Explaining the Signposts offers practical ideas for introducing each signpost into your classes, what texts might work best in teaching them, and how to organize mini-lessons that will help students add these strategies to their reading repertoire. Authors recommend teaching one at a time, but I liked the idea one English teacher had to teach all six at once, then read A Christmas Carol with her class. She used "Think Aloud" strategy to explain which of the six she was noticing as she read, and soon they were all chiming in. Apparently, A Christmas Carol is replete with all 6 signposts, and what a great way to introduce something new at the end of the first semester!

The beautiful truth regarding reading like a writer is that helping students find their voices will help US find ours as their teachers. The idea that one has to be a perfect writer in order to teach a student how to be a great writer is baloney -- we just need to collect examples of already powerful writers and allow our students access to them! Also, we need to let our students learn to read AS writers, which connects literacy to identity and empowerment. The craft of writing is a beautiful way to approach the teaching of writing. To indulge in reading the artful constructions of master writers and then construct our own writing in their image is to both enjoy and produce better quality writing. So many of these chapters echo our readings this summer about writing purpose, engagement, emulation and enjoyment. Shared reading, guided reading, inquiry craft exercises -- they all serve to empower our students to become more confident people as they become more confident writers and readers.

DO:

I used Pinterest to search for some Signpost bookmark ideas, and I hit the jackpot! I added links to each graphic, so click on the bookmark to go directly to the source! Here are some of my favorites:

1. A bookmark with short descriptions of each signpost.

2. A bookmark with annotation ideas! 

This allows students to take note of signposts without interrupting the flow of their reading.

3. This great bookmark includes the questions students should ask themselves with each signpost...