October 22, 2010

By: Kwanita W. from Philadelphia, PA
Comments: 27

Posted By: Kwanita Williams
On: 11/19/2008 10:26:17 AM

Hello! Does anyone have any design ideas to implement in a 9th and/or 10th grade high school English class? Thank you.

Posted By: Karen Lennan
On: 11/25/2008 1:06:30 PM

Hello...I teach 9th grade English as well. One design idea we had was to have the students study an environmental issue around water, and then study the Lorax by Dr. Seuss. Students were to design their own children's book around their water issue. They will study current environmental books and see what need there is. They are focusing on practical solutions for safer water that young kids could do. I am searching for other ideas with older kids myself. Please let me know your thoughts. thanks, Karen Lennan

Posted By: Karen Lennan
On: 12/15/2008 9:30:24 AM

Right now my 9th graders are reading Anthem by Ayn Rand. As part of the study of individualism versus collectivism the students are designing their own personal flag and anthem. We studied national flags and their design as part of the collectivist thought, then they had to apply design for a flag on a personal level to represent the power of individualism. Karen Lennan

Posted By: Peter Weiss
On: 12/26/2008 6:54:12 AM

I'm doing this in 12th grade, but it could be done in 9th. I'm using a book set in the city I teach in and we are taking a trip to the setting to see what it looks like. We're then going to work on how a writer crafts a setting, how it compares to what you see, or might have seen in the time of the work, and how it has changed. We are mapping the area for a tour, and going to explore it and the people and finally adapt it all to current times, if the themes are still significant and if the actual demographics now change the notions of relevance of setting and theme. It's great fun. Peter Weiss

Posted By: Phyllis Santiago
On: 12/28/2008 8:42:08 AM

Greetings from Philly! I am using a great non-fiction book set in L.A.'s Skid Row. I like the idea of having the students reading and connecting it to real world expereinces.

Posted By: Phyllis Santiago
On: 12/28/2008 8:47:45 AM

I'm wondering if anyone has worked around issues of mental illness and homelessness from a social justice prespective. I want the kids to research the issues throughly and uncover or discover short-term and long-term solutions to the problems that people on the streets face everyday.

Posted By: Peter Weiss
On: 12/29/2008 6:04:55 PM

We spend so much time in social justice, me too, so don't get me wrong. I'm older and come from the civil rights era and the Viet Nam war era. We haven't done much in terms of social justice over my lifetime and that is all together, pretty disappointing, I must say. My lesson plans, although about setting, really deal with being human. I am obsessed with that as a teacher and person and so no matter where I start from and how I enter into it, that is where I go. Maybe it is just getting older, but I still feel 18. I wonder about so many things, especially when I feel about rap music like my father felt about the Four Seasons and Sherry on AM radio. Are we getting worse or just way out there in the electronic age with everything exposed. Real questions for me. We have such potential and it seems as if we are squandering it. Election of Obama shouldn't be anything more than election of a person like every other election. That it is talks to how we are as humans. Boy I could go on and on. There is such greatness in us and it comes with our evil and how to temper the one and promote the other is our job as educators and especially the job of literature. Happy New Year to all.

Posted By: Kathleen Melville
On: 1/2/2009 3:01:16 PM

Kwanita - I'm a ninth grade English teacher too and have been puzzling over how design can possibly help us reach our goals in the Philly school district. My students read Animal Farm this year (which I think is technically a tenth grade book) and seemed interested in how the animals were manipulated and duped by the rhetoric of the pigs. I used that book to teach propaganda and satire but never went as far with it as I would have liked. For next year, I'm thinking of having students design a political campaign (using propaganda/satire/rhetoric) for one of the animals in the book. This might be applicable to other books too. I spoke to another teacher at FLC who used a photo essay project to teach the idea of theme. After reading the selections in the unit on theme (war/anti-war) in the 9th grade Elements of Literature text, students created photo essays with an anti-war theme. I modified this somewhat and had students design their choice of photo essay, film festival, or themed concert that presented an anti-violence theme that might reach the youth of the city of Philadelphia. It's definitely a challenge. Good luck!

Posted By: Ken Foster
On: 4/25/2009 7:16:28 AM

Wow...I really love the ideas on this list: the political campaign for Animal Farm is really terrific!

Posted By: Justin Jones
On: 4/25/2009 8:05:46 PM

I am having my students rewrite their favorite plays in a modern version. After they write them they will act them out. It's a fun assignment.

Posted By: cheri Bedard
On: 4/27/2009 6:09:17 PM

Rewriting the plays for modern times, sounds like a lot of fun. Reminds me of the remake of Romeo and Juliet. I am sure the students will have a great time with it.