The Fountainhead – Unit Plan (Grade 12)
November 9, 2009 by Brad W · Leave a Comment
In this unit, students direct their own study of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead through literature circles. In their discussion groups, they prepare a portfolio of their learning. Individually, students prepare a narrative essay of the reading experience.
- Level: ENG4C/4U (Grade 12 College / University)
- Timeframe: 18 classes, including a test period
Unit Outline
- Lesson 1: Introduction to Literature Circles and The Fountainhead (1 period)
- Lesson 2: Literature Circles pp.1-694 (15 periods)
- Lesson 3:Portfolio Conferences (1 period)
- Unit Test
The unit outline [PDF] includes a summary of curriculum expectations plus a sample calendar.
Lesson Plans
Unit lesson plans [PDF] provide detailed steps to covering each of the unit topics, relating them to the corresponding expectations and teaching strategies.
Assignments
Reflective Blogging (20 marks)
Students post reading notes on their blogs, publishing at least four reflective posts and six comments on classmates’ blogs. Students evaluate their learning using the blogging self-evaluation rubric.
Literature Circle Portfolio (50 marks)
Working in assigned groups, students are responsible for the completion of a daily literature circle role. The record of individual contributions is compiled into an electronic group portfolio. Learning is assessed using self and peer evaluation, as well as the literature circle portfolio rubric.
Reading Narrative Essay (50 marks)
Using their reading notes, students develop a 500-800 word narrative of their reading experience. Learning is assessed using the reading narrative rubric.
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Image by torontodailyphoto
Literature Circles and The Fountainhead
February 23, 2009 by Brad W · Leave a Comment
Last year I tried using virtual literature circles with some success; this year, with my Grade 12 University level students, I’m returning to face-to-face versions of the same as the foundation for our study of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead
I wondered before we started if this might be a bit… ordinary for the students, but so far we’ve all been enjoying and learning from the format. I’ve assigned student groups and asked them to organize their schedule so that each person performs each of the literature circle roles twice over the few weeks of our novel study. For each day’s reading, roles include:
- Facilitator – keep the discussion on track and bring three discussion questions
- Storyteller – summarize the plot
- Investigator – look up background information
- Illustrator – create an image representing a passage or theme
- Connector – make connections between the reading and other parts of the text, other texts, personal experience, and the world.
- Curator – find three significant quotes
Over the first week, discussions have been interesting, lively, and are spilling into our online discussions on the class blog. However, doubting that this format could be sustained for the duration of a novel as dense as The Fountainhead
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Photo by Rodrigo Paoletti
Lesson Debrief: Virtual Literature Circles (Part 2)
March 18, 2008 by Brad W · Leave a Comment
The wiki-based virtual literature circle experiment is continuing, and I feel that almost daily I’m learning from yet another mistake. I remain grateful for my long-suffering colleague who is collaborating with me.
What I like
- I’m glad that I had a Code of Conduct (based on the Wiki Warranty by TeachersFirst) published and reviewed with students before they started using the wiki. Today I had my first vandalism experience, with a couple of students putting inappropriate content on other students’ pages. I took the opportunity to review the Code of Conduct with the whole class and then spoke individually with the offending students. It wasn’t a highlight, but the students seemed to accept and understand why they would be banned from the wiki for the rest of the unit.
What needs work
- I wish that I had set every student up with a wikispace account ahead of time. That way I would know and control their passwords, which are prone to being lost and shared.
- I wish I’d known about the gmail-plus option for setting up multiple addresses linked to the same gmail account when I’d started. Kim Cofino first introduced me to the idea of linked gmail accounts; Sean Deasy gives a quick summary of this cool gmail feature. Next time I’ll use linked gmail accounts to sign students up for our class blog and the class wiki just for my own sanity’s sake.
- Trying to incorporate two novels into this experiment has been a bit much. College-level students can’t reliably read novels independently, so I plan to read aloud any novel we study. This gets tricky when I have two groups of students reading different novels in the same classroom. We’re surviving, but next time I do this with a college-level class I’ll just use one novel.
Two weeks left of the literature circle experiment …
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Lesson Debrief: Virtual Literature Circles (Part 1)
March 4, 2008 by Brad W · Leave a Comment
I’m technically cheating here, doing a series of lesson debriefs on what is really a unit. But since I’m making the rules, I imagine that breaking them is allowed.
I’ve mentioned before that I am collaborating with a colleague in a wiki-based, cross-class literature circle experiment. The long descriptor there gives a pretty good sense of just how complicated it feels sometimes. We’ve decided to have each class break into literature circles and choose to read either The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravtiz or The Catcher in the Rye. Our in-class literature circles are quite standard, with members assuming roles and completing related handouts.
Each in-class literature circle is teamed up with another lit circle from my colleague’s class to form a larger virtual literature circle. That virtual team is expected to summarize and extend their respective discussions online via our class wiki. The end goal of all of this is for students to compile a detailed portfolio of the novel that they can use to create a book trailer.
What I like
- I enjoy collaborating with a colleague in my department. While I appreciate the connections I make online, and the learning that happens here, it’s great to be trying out ideas with someone who I can visit with in the hall.
- I’ve honed the literature circle role sheets that I use and they seem to be working well for this grade level. Students are using them to get a fresh perspective on the novel.
- The two novels – Catcher and Duddy Kravtiz – work really well together. Reading them, I frequently laugh out loud.
What needs work
- When a circle is missing students, then the discussion aspect suffers. This is a unit that is particularly hampered by absenteeism, which is a bit odd since so much of it is being taken online. It seems that if there isn’t some face-to-face conversation immediately following a reading, then it’s more challenging for students to summarize ideas and extend them online.
- Although a wiki is a straightforward tool, I should have had students complete more activities with it prior to beginning this fairly intensive unit. Some students are still learning how to work with the technology rather than spending their time on content. (Having said that, working with the technology is one of the goals here, so I’m pleased to see progress.)
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