Resource Collection

Articles used:

• Herz, S. & Gallo, D. (2005). From Hinton to Hamlet: building bridges between young adult literature and the classics, Building bridges: getting students from wherever they are to where the curriculum says they should be.
• Richison, J. Hernandez, A., & Carter, M. (2006). Theme sets for secondary students: How to scaffold core literature.

Say:

High school teachers face an uphill battle with their students whenever they introduce a canonical text in their classrooms.  I remember this happening many times throughout my high school career.  I can still hear the collective groan when Romeo and Juliet or Animal Farm was being introduced, despite my teachers' best efforts at being enthusiastic about the book.  The million dollar question seems to be how to get our students equally enthusiastic about reading the classics.  Going along with Herz and Gallo in their idea that these classics are best taught in units where instead of the one book being analyzed to death, and thus causing "readicide", multiple works need to be brought in to pique students' interest in the overarching theme.  In my DO, I was required to find multiple resources to bridge the gap between the oft-studied Animal Farm and the modern world.  I strongly believe that when students actually see and experience how these old books are still relevant today, their enthusiasm really shows.  Again, it goes back to the fact that students need to understand the purpose of something in order for them to be interested in it in the first place.  Herz and Gallo did a fantastic job of showing how The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn still relate to today's high school students by listing several examples of young adult literature that have similar themes to Huck Finn.  These in turn draw our students in and help them not only draw personal connections to the novel but it also shows them that a book as old as Huck Finn is still relevant today and the importance of it being studied.  Another point which is brought up by Richison, Hernandez, and Carter is similar to that of the Socratic circle.  They paint a picture of a high school hallway between classes and how students are engaged with each other in whatever topic they are discussing and as soon as the bell rings they depart from each other to go to class despite the fact that they would rather not.  How wonderful would it be if our students were this engaged in our English classes?  I get excited just thinking about it!  Of course, the authors also bring up the fact that our students enjoy talking about hot topics with each other which can then be translated into the classroom via the classic text they are reading.  According to the authors, if we as the teachers can get our students talking about controversial issues in the book, their interest will take off in the classroom!  It almost seems too easy but luckily for us, many of the canonical texts are filled with controversial issues just waiting to be debated and explored by our students.  These same authors have also provided fabulous resources in how to implement hot topic themes into our core texts, such as the migrant family in Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and the dystopia in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.  No matter what the core text is, there is always someway a student can draw personal connections to it.  This is one of my favorite things about literature: it does not matter how old a book is or who wrote it, there is something for everyone.

DO:

Resource Collection for Animal Farm by George Orwell

Theme: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” –Sir John Dalberg-Acton

Essential questions:

1.      How does “absolute power corrupt absolutely”?

2.      Where is this seen in modern times? (Think current events, television, movies)

3.      Does corruption always involve the government?

Canonical text: Orwell, George. (1945). Animal farm. London, England: Secker and Warburg.

Young adult novels:

·         Roth, Veronica. (2011). Divergent. New York, NY: Katherine Tegen Books. (At-risk students)

·         Dashner, James. (2009). The maze runner. New York, NY: Delacorte Press (At-risk students)

·         Collins, Suzanne. (2008). The hunger games. New York, NY: Scholastic Press (At-risk students)

·         Westerfeld, S., Cummings, S., & Grayson, D.K. (2005). Uglies. New York, NY: Simon Pulse. (At-risk students)

·         Lowry, Lois. (1993). The giver. Boston, MA: Hougton Mifflin. (At-risk students)

Music:

·         Weinrib, G.L., Lee, G., Peart, N., & Lifeson, A. (1976). The temples of syrinx. On 2112 [Vinyl].  Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Anthem. (1975).

·         Meloy, C. (2005). The bagman’s gambit. On Picaresque. [CD]. Portland, OR: Kill Rock Stars. (2004).  

·         Waters, R. (1979). Another brick in the wall part II. On The Wall. [Vinyl]. Los Angeles, CA: Harvest/EMI

Informational/Explanatory/Argument texts:

·         Brown, Spencer. (1955, February 1). Strange doings at. Commentary Magazine, XIX, 155-161.

·         Stossel, John. (2010, February 10). Increasing government power threatens freedom. Real Clear Politics. Retrieved from http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/02/10/governments_increasing_power_threatens_freedom.html

·         Keane, Tom. (2013, May 19). Big government is watching you. Boston Globe. Retrieved from https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2013/05/18/the-overreaching-power-government/0NVX3NAI5nEmUguKhp5Q0J/story.html

·         Gaylord, Scott. (2013, July 17). States need more control over the federal government. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/07/16/state-politics-vs-the-federal-government/states-need-more-control-over-the-federal-government

Movies:

·         Batchelor, J., Halas, J. (Producers), Batchelor, J. Halas, J. (Directors). (1954). Animal Farm [Motion picture]. United Kingdom: Halas and Batchelor.

·         Silver, J., Wachowski, L, Wachowski, A., & Hill, G (Producers), McTeigue, J. (Director). (2006). V for vendetta [Motion Picture]. United States: Warner Bros. Pictures.

·         Sato, M., Okada, M., Kamaya, T., & Kayama, T. (Producers), Fukasaku, K (Director). (2000). Battle Royale [Motion picture]. Japan: Toei Company.

Art:

·         Lipton, Laurie. (2010). Surveillance [drawing]. Retrieved from http://www.superpunch.net/2010/08/dystopian-art-by-laurie-lipton.html  (ELLs)

·         Unknown. (2004). No name [political cartoon]. Retrieved from http://sadredearth.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/ThePartyOfLimitedGovernment.gif

·         Foldvari, David. (2009). No name [drawing]. In Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption. Retrieved from http://www.themontrealreview.com/2009/Invaiatura-Short-story-by-Joel-Burcat.php  (ELLs)

Poetry:

·         Battle, M. (2015). Senza titolo. Retrived from http://allpoetry.com/poem/12380722-Senza-Titolo-by-Broken-Phoenix

·         Lathrop, R. (1864). Power against power. Retrieved from http://www.poetrycat.com/rose-hawthorne-lathrop/power-against-power

·         Dickinson, E. (1891). I took my power in my hand. Retrieved from http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-took-my-power-in-my-hand/

Short stories:

·         Bradbury, R. (1953). The flying machine. In Golden Apples of the Sun. New York, NY: Doubleday Publishing. (High achieving)

·         Jacobs, W. W. (1902). The monkey’s paw. In Our Lady of the Barge. United Kingdom: Alan Rodgers Books. (At-risk students)

·         Faulkner, W. (1930). Red leaves. In These Thirteen. London, England: Chatto and Windus.  (High achieving students)

Graphic novel:

·         Satrapi, M. (2000). Persepolis. Paris, France: L’Association. (High achieving, at-risk students)

Picture book:

·         Gerson, Mary Joan. (1995). Why the sky is far away: a Nigerian folktale. New York, NY: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. (Special needs, at-risk students, ELLs)