Scratching the Surface of Literacy and Life Issues, Coursework Example

Abstract

During the course of this unit, the students in Year 10-11 will analyse literary technique, critical thinking, and personal interpretation through the examination of the short poem “Telephone Conversations” by Wole Soyinka. This unit will consist of seven lessons employing various theories, methods, and strands to produce a diverse and cohesive multimodal unit on the subject of poetry.

Introduction

In the course of this unit, the following lessons will all revolve around Wole Soyinka’s poem, “Telephone Conversations”, students of diverse capabilities and interests will explore the mechanics of the literature, its personal relation to them and to their peers, and various mediums (Soyinka, 2001). This will occur over the course of seven lessons, which are specifically designed to embrace the diversity of modern learners and the resources available for their education. After completing the unit, the students should understand and use language and visual representations of theme, organize, collaborate, and communicate their information according to individual technological selection, integrate and apply appropriate vocabulary, appreciate theme and literary devices, and understand how society and culture affect perception.

Lessons

The seven lessons of the poetry unit will build upon each other in a chronological order. First, the students will watch a muted YouTube video which graphically illustrates the action of the poem (Block TC, 2009). This lesson is intended as a low-pressure assignment which allows the students to build their own hypothesis about the action of the poem- without the fear of giving the “wrong” answer. These visual clues should assist the students as they begin to make personal theories regarding- and connections with- the poem. Essentially, these hypotheses and predictions will serve as a personal point of reference for their understanding of the material. The second lesson will follow this line of inquiry by asking students to describe a color. They will not be allowed to point at an object- but may only use subjective descriptions, similes, and metaphors. The teacher will need to model this process initially by saying “Yellow is…” – like the sun, a primary color, the middle of an egg, etc. The third lesson will be the last in the unit before the reading actually occurs. It will give a short synopsis of the history, context, and literature of Nigeria, as a backdrop for the action of the poem. (More historical tidbits can be added during the reading- as needed.)

During the fourth lesson, the poem, which all of the lessons in the unit revolve around, will finally be read. The first reading of the poem should be non-stop, because the poem is only thirty-five lines in length. The students should also take notes, so the speed of reading should be moderate. The students will draw their own conclusions- independent of teacher and peer interpretation. After the reading and note-taking are complete, they will be grouped into stations, according to class size, composition, behavior, etc. Each group station will have an audio recorder. One at a time, the students will read their notes verbatim and explain which lines their notes refer to. After every group member has finished, they will together decide which aspects should be included in their group’s summary of the poem’s important points. (The broad term “important” allows for a variety of styles and approaches, which could be personal or social, subject-based, and/or interdisciplinary.) The groups’ important points should include at least one detail from each student. These points should be presented (by the student groups) to the class and should utilize a combination of  auditory, visual, and kinesthetic approaches.

To allow for time to review and compile the tapes, the next unit will explore the use of vocabulary. Many of the words are not very common and are used in atypical ways. For example, the use of the description “West African sepia” creates a link between this lesson and the previous lessons on subjectivity and color, history, and retelling. This conversation could easily be led by student interest to any number of relevant sub-topics, such as imagery, metaphors and similes, critical analysis, irony and sarcasm, repetition or many others. If the students do not seem to be engaged, an icebreaker might be a non-threatening, open-ended question. For example, for a lesson on connotation and denotation, the students might be asked to explain an instance where silence is ill-mannered, as in line 15 of the poem (Soyinka, 2001).

In the final lesson of the unit, the students will listen to audio clips from their classroom. These audio clips will highlight some of the vital and insightful points made by the students. This should provide some student confidence. The teacher should conscientiously try to include at least one good point from every student who made an honest attempt at analysis. After this audio recap, a classroom discussion should be opened. Near the end of class, a hand-out featuring old and new information about the poem (and all supported by student quotes written on the paper) should be distributed.

Rationale

Textual Basis

In Mosaic of Thought, the authors wrote that “one of the most effective ways to improve comprehension is to ‘activate mental files’ before reading” (Keene & Zimmermann, 1997, 51). Beers (2003) describes several useful pre-reading strategies. Our first lesson, featuring the muted YouTube video of the poem, combines the anticipation guide and probable passage lessons into one. Because the video heavily channels pop art, a muted viewing will supply very literal imagery but will also visually present an accurate tone and pace for the poem itself. However, this strategy alone does not draw heavily enough upon students’ prior knowledge. They will form their own summary of predictions, as described in the Probable Passage technique which Beers again describes. The combination of these two approaches is specifically targeted to struggling and/or dependent readers who “often struggle because they don’t predict what the selection might be about, don’t think about what they already know about a topic, and don’t form images” (Beers, 2003, 87). If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the YouTube video will save many precious minutes of class time.

According to Shea (2006), new knowledge which aligns itself with past experience or knowledge is easier to assimilate. Introducing the concept of colors presents common knowledge as debate. How one person would describe a color will vary and draw upon their own prior knowledge. It will also activate themes of racism, history, and personal memories– among other possibilities. This also subtly introduces reading strategy. Students are often told to think before they speak, but the Think-Aloud approach allows students to hear in their own words their analysis (Beers, 2003). This process is usually subconscious, and thus often goes undeveloped. Shea (2006) compares the reading comprehension process to using a decoder ring to decode messages in children’s law enforcement role play. In the same way, “cat, cloud, dishwater, hair” makes no sense unless the student possesses the decoder ring: the color “gray”. In this lesson’s discussion of color, several areas of the brain will be involved, as well as personal association and engagement with areas of independent interest.

For assessment, select a strategy (CIREC, KWL, or SQ3R, for example) and guide the student through its application to the text. Once the student is comfortable with the process, the student and teacher will reverse roles. The student will guide the pace, steps, and questions of the assignment and analyze the teacher’s responses. There are guidelines, steps, and ideas for this type of assessment strategy included in Shea’s 2006 book.

Student engagement and interest can be particularly challenging in the third lesson, which emphasizes the context and setting of the poem. Most modern students are only vaguely aware of the social issues which once plagued- and which continue to plague- Nigeria. Additionally, most students will not care about a country which seems to occupy a different reality. As an introduction to context and setting, a teacher can ask the students to imagine what a village in Antarctica would be like. After a brief discussion, ask what the schools would be like. Repeat these steps with the Nigerian context. Vacca, Vacca, and Mraz (2008) recommended acknowledgement of differences- even in educational practice- as a mark of a culturally responsive classroom. Throughout the discussion of the Nigerian context, the student will have a prediction against which to compare the reality.

The fourth lesson, the reading and independent and cooperative retelling, is the pivotal lesson of the unit. Because these retellings will be recorded and will involve retellings with and without the input of peers, a running record could be an invaluable tool for understanding multiple components of the students’ various reading abilities. Fluency, strategy, comprehension, and cooperation are just some of the possible aspects to be studied. Furthermore, these audio clips will be utilized in the last lesson. Students like to know that every lesson has a goal. The same is true for the individual and group retellings (Shea, 2006).

If it were a scientific experiment, the individual notes would be the pre-test, the group feedback and discussion would be the experiment, and the group’s final notes would be the post-test. For guidance, write the steps of the CIREC (Connections, Interpretations, Reactions, Evaluations, and Conclusions) strategy on a class board (Shea, 2006). This brings the information full-circle and eases the synthesis of the new information. Vacca et al. (2008) recommend the similar-but-brief directed reading-thinking activity (DR-TA). The DR-TA would better serve as guidance for the independent student notes, because the strategy often focuses on individual perceptions of setting and the action. Primarily, it makes a chronological narrative form easier to achieve. Carson (2009) does caution educators to expect vast differences in the efficacy and subjectivity or objectivity of written notes.

An understanding of vocabulary is one of the most understated aspects of reading in general. A simple freewriting exercise provides a telling glimpse into the interests, cognitive processes, and personal connections of the student. Because this lesson could cover many subjects, it is the perfect opportunity to provide the students with a structured bit of independence. After the teacher restates the meaning of each of the words, the students will inevitably begin to direct the conversation, the academic dialogue. This is a sign of engagement and confidence (Vacca et al., 2008).

While this development is promising, it should not serve to undermine the flexibility of this lesson. The teacher should have a list of potential sub-subjects for further instruction, but the students will create their own interest or select their lesson by default. Giving the students a choice ensures that they have the option to cater to their own personal strengths and weaknesses. If it has not already occurred, then a brief learning styles inventory can be taken- the application of which would help the teacher to “engage our students, to be reflective teachers, and to make education a dynamic transition” (Carson, 2009, 101).

The audio recap and discussion lesson, the final one in the unit, is meant to develop trust and confidence and reiterate the main points of instruction. The danger lies in the students’ typical response of ‘tuning out’ during summarization. If there is time and continued interest, it may even be helpful to take some highlights or unusual discussion points from the audio of other classes. This keeps the information personal and the engagement level high, encouraging what Beers dubs an “aesthetic response” (2003, 268). Namely, this response allows the student to live the role- much as we discussed in word decoding earlier. In this case, though, it allows for different perspectives and puts the student in a role of more control, as an actor instead of a code breaker. Beers (2003) also writes that in the fourth stage of literary appreciation (approximately Year 11) readers begin to search for broader life answers. Encouraging that search is an appropriate outlet for the analysis of this poem.

Incorporating Exceptional Learning Practices

The lesson plans will incorporate aspects which are intended to also facilitate ease of learning for students with dyslexia or ADHD. Some of these accommodations are hardwired directly into the content of the lesson, while others will be conveyed through the appropriate consideration of learning environment.

Both dyslexia and ADHD have the potential to obstruct the learning the students are capable of. With these two unique challenges, the levels of intelligence will be diverse and difficult to distinguish. A reading lesson is especially trying-and even “traumatic and nightmarish”- for a dyslexic student (Madigan, 2007, 360). Providing opportunities for individual encouragement and confidence-building are crucial to a dyslexic student’s attitude upon entering the class. They benefit from having individual attention to writing (when it does not single them out), simply written information which reiterates or guides, and from lessons which are spoken, drawn, or acted out. In class discussions of writing, it is crucial that the teacher is mindful of the questions which they ask. As confidence builds and embarrassment lessens, questions requiring higher levels of critical thinking and interpretation may be presented. Initially a teacher may choose to ask questions regarding these visual forms of education or regarding the mechanics of the literature, because “dyslexic students focus on mechanics over content and ideas” (Madigan, 2007, 363).

A successful approach to accommodating ADHD demands that the teacher facilitate an environmental support. The necessary actions will not detract from the lesson for any student. Firstly, brief, direct communication will serve the teacher well in communications with the child and the parent. In addition, a teacher may model the assignment to avoid confusion throughout the classroom. The use of movement, interaction, and change are all key elements in the uninterrupted engagement of a student with ADHD (Mulrine, Prater, & Jenkins, 2008). For these reasons, an active learning environment, lessons tailored to kinesthetic learning styles, and cooperative learning in small groups are all factors in the entire class’s academic enjoyment and success.

Students with ADHD need variety and an active classroom. Mulrine et al. (2008) provide several useful tips for the adjustment of the learning environment. The situationally-relevant tips include: a) Move around as you teach, b) Have the students collect and distribute papers, c) Don’t allow you students to stand or sit for more than 30 consecutive minutes, and d) Allow the students a structured change of scenery- through important errands and occasional outside excursions. Another non-curricular adjustment to ADHD will require the establishment of close communication lines with the parents, who are often the student’s- and the teachers’- best line of defense if the student’s progress backslides (Mulrine et al., 2008).

References

“Block TC”. (2009). Telephone Conversations. You Tube. Internet. Retrieved November 8, 2010 from <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFRHZL3OIeM>.

Beers, K. (2003). When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Carson, D. (2009). Is Style Everything? Teaching that Achieves Its Objectives. Cinema Journal 48 (3): 95-101.

Keene, E. & Zimmermann, O. (1997). Mosaic of Thought. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Madigan, T. (2007). Thinking, Writing, Talking: A Discourse Analysis of Writing Instruction for Boys with Dyslexia. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 23(4), 359-416. doi:10.1080/10573560701501594.

Mulrine, C., Prater, M., & Jenkins, A. (2008). The Active Classroom. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40(5), 16-22. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Shea, M. (2006). Where’s the Glitch? Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Soyinka, W. (2001). Telephone Conversation. Reading and Writing from Literature: 750. Ed. John E. Schwiebert. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Vacca, R.H., Vacca, J.L., & Mraz, M. (2008). Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum. 10^th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.