Literature Based Language Arts: Tone, Theme, and Technique in the Short Story
In this rigorous three week literature course, students will engage in repeated readings of a short story as we develop analysis, annotation, and argumentative writing skills.
Malikai Bass M.A
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5.0
Number of reviews:(295)
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What's included
9 live meetings
7 hrs 30 mins in-class hoursHomework
1-2 hours per week. Between classes students will be asked to read and respond to excerpts. Students will have time in class for the final project but will need to work on it outside of class as well.Projects
Students will have regular informal assessment through in-class writing as well as the take-home assessment of our final project.Assessment
Students will have regular informal assessment through in-class writing as well as the take-home assessment of our final project.Class Experience
US Grade 8 - 10
Intermediate Level
This is the second course in a year long rotation designed to support twice exceptional learners in developing high school level English Language Arts skills. Texts chosen are available on platforms with dyslexia-friendly options including audiobooks and a variety of writing supports and accommodations are available. Texts are chosen at challenging lexile levels but with age appropriate content and to provide new perspectives unlike books students might self-select. Scaffolding is provided for new or non-literal language. The course is taught by a neurodivergent educator. In this unit, students will engage in repeated readings of the short story St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell to develop annotation and analysis skills as we focus on the relationship between characters and themes. We'll do a variety of writing including analytical and creative writing, discussions, presentations, annotations, and essay writing.
Learning Goals
RL.9.10.1:
I can cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support my analysis of what the text says explicitly and make inferences drawn from the textRL.9.10.2:
I can determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details.
Syllabus
Curriculum
Follows Teacher-Created CurriculumStandards
Aligned with Common Core State Standards (CCSS)9 Lessons
over 3 WeeksLesson 1:
How do characters support theme and meaning in fiction?
We will launch our unit by introducing our central question, class goals, and primary text the short story St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russel. We'll do a close read of the first section of the story and discuss epigraphs. For homework, students will do an initial read of stages two and three and complete a quick write prompt. 50 mins online live lesson
Lesson 2:
How do character actions support a developing theme?
In this lesson, we'll introduce our character tracking tool and focus on how the actions of characters drive plot development in stage four and five of the short story. For homework students will annotate stage 1 and focus on how the author develops the pack as a character. 50 mins online live lesson
Lesson 3:
How does characters relate to the central idea of a text?
In this lesson we will begin our repeated focused readings to strengthen our analysis, annotation, and text comprehension skills. We will focus on tracking the development of the central idea throughout the beginning of the narrative and highlight the use of epigraphs as a technique to support that development. 50 mins online live lesson
Lesson 4:
How do character descriptions relate to the theme of a text?
In this lesson, we'll compare and contrast the description of characters within the text and annotate accordingly to understand how character development relates to the theme. We will use the jigsaw strategy to focus on individual characters and then generalize to understand the whole story. For, homework students will annotate stage two in the text and apply their character focused skills to the narrator. 50 mins online live lesson
Other Details
Learning Needs
This course is designed and taught by a 2E educator to include 2e and ND students
- careful font selections
- graphic organizers
- transcripts of video content
- lined writing spaces
- ability to dictate written work if needed
Parental Guidance
We will use Nearpod. Students must click a link to join but no personal information other than first name is collected.
Pre-Requisites
Learners should be able to read and analyze texts at an early high school level. Learners should be able to write a multi-paragraph essay.
Joined April, 2021
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295reviews
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Teacher expertise and credentials
I have been involved in classical literature and mythological study since I was a small child. I have always loved looking back into the past and using it as a mirror to examine today's ideas both as a benchmark for progress and an inspiration for further improvement.
I began reading at the age of three and have averaged multiple books a week since. I have a honor's in discipline in English from East Tennessee State University where my focus was on middle grades and young adult literature. I was a peer tutor for four years teaching college level English including preparing students to take the GRE for an additional two years. I have been teaching online book clubs for two years online and last year my average student who took standardized pre-post tests (The NWEA MAP Growth exam) improved their reading placement by two grade levels.
I completed my undergraduate thesis on the subject of middle grades literature and won local and state wide awards including having the honor of presenting at a statewide conference for outstanding undergraduate research.
Relevant Coursework:
Read 3100 Teach Read for K-6. This course is exceptionally relevant to this course as it provided a foundation in the science of reading approach which provides explicit, direct, and accurate phonics based instruction to support all readers. This is utilized in this course despite the difference in age ranges through optional spelling activities to support learners who may have lagging skills in reading and spelling.
Read 3200: Teaching Writing and Language Arts. This course provided frameworks and strategies for teaching writing in motivating ways to students and for understanding the development pathways of writing and language arts.
Eng 3118: Honor's Lit Focus. In this focus I explored representations of American History, focusing on the complex history of California, through a variety of literature for adolescents. This class also modeled engaging ways of teaching literature for this age group and dealing with complex subject matter.
English 4077: Literature For Adolescents This class focused on the teaching, critical analysis, and exploration of literature for middle school students. It explored methods of education and dealing with complex subject matter as well as strategies for evaluating texts both academically and developmentally. Reviews
Live Group Course
$48
weekly or $144 for 9 classes3x per week, 3 weeks
50 min
Live video meetings
Ages: 11-14
2-6 learners per class
