Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones. (Jane Eyre, 362)

Before assigning groups and distributing novels, I hope to show highlights from Amazing Grace (the film about British abolitionist William Wilberforce), read Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, watch Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream, and watch Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address: not for in-depth study, but simply to have this prolonged abolitionist timeline as the backdrop to this novel unit.

Reflective Blogging (Reading Notes)
Because students will be living within only one of the above narratives, analysing relationships between characters in order to determine Pre-Victorian and Victorian perceptions and misconceptions of slavery, servitude, and race, students will need to be reminded that the novel itself is a constructed text and critical questions will need to be asked of its own framework, its own source, its own purpose. To assist with this, I think I will require that students post at least four reflective blog entries during this novel unit. Students should comment on surprises, questions, and predictions regarding the text. At the end of the unit, I could have students evaluate their learning using the blogging self-evaluation rubric.

We were lined up in a coffle of captives, attached by the neck in groups of two or three and made to walk. (The Book of Negroes, 31)

Electronic Portfolio
In past semesters, I’ve always enjoyed having students rotate through an almost-daily literature circle role including: Questioner (Discussion Leader), Summarizer, Researcher, Illustrator, Curator, and Connector. These completed roles for each chapter could be posted on the class wiki as groups build their electronic portfolio and learning would then be assessed using self and peer evaluation, as well as the literature circle portfolio rubric.

The maniac bellowed: she parted her shaggy locks from her visage, and gazed wildly at her visitors. I recognized well that purple face – those bloated features. (Jane Eyre, 311)

Reading Narrative Essay
Using their own reading notes (their reflective blog posts), I’m hoping to have students develop a 500-800 word narrative of their reading experience highlighting major themes of the novel and I could adapt the reading narrative essay rubric that I’ve used in the past.

Only the barbarous and superb woman did not so much as flinch, and stretched tragically her bare arms after us over the sombre and glittering river. (Heart of Darkness, 109)

I’ve got a week to put the finishing touches on this unit, but, from the horror and the tragedy of colonial slavery, to the honour and dignity of cultural identity, I’m hoping that this educational experience prevents racist attitudes in this group of graduating high school students.

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Image by Doug88888

• 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

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, I’ve been bringing ‘surprises’ to the room every few days including observations, debates, readings, and blogging days in the lab. These surprises keep the literature circles fresh… so far.

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Photo by Rodrigo Paoletti

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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Related
Lesson Debrief: Virtual Literature Circles (Part 1)

Lesson Debrief: Virtual Literature Circles (Part 3)

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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Related
Lesson Debrief: Virtual Literature Circles (Part 2)

Lesson Debrief:  Virtual Literature Circles (Part 3)