*This is a full year course divided into four separate and individual parts (units). Each course is self-contained, allowing students to enroll in any course at any time or take all four courses consecutively (or in any order that they choose) for a full semester experience.  Please note that while individual courses may be taken without any previous knowledge and in any order, units 1-3 do involve reading four books from a novel series; therefore, students are encouraged to either take courses 1-3 in order, or, if enrolling in course 2 or 3, encouraged to read the previous novels covered from the series.  Courses in the series will be scheduled consecutively. Students wishing to continue the course will need to enroll in each unit separately.

**This listing is for UNIT 1 ONLY!! Please note that this course description contains information and a brief description for the entire 4-unit series/semester course; however, this is only a listing for "Steampunk ELA Unit I: Fight Like a Lady."

**Course Video is for the first book.  Please see teacher profile for teacher video.

Top-hats, waistcoats, Victorian dresses, and pocket-watches….

There is something about the steampunk fashion that is undeniably cool and a lot of fun, but there’s a lot more to steampunk than just looking the part. It is a part of our pop-culture as well as a literary genre far more encompassing than one might think. Originally the genre was defined by futuristic elements and technology in an alternate history powered by steam rather than any other fuel source, and typically sent in Victorian Europe or the American wild west. But the genre has gone way beyond those limits now.

To be honest, I didn’t know much about steampunk when I started creating this course. A parent was simply looking for a steampunk course for her daughter, and since I like the clothes, I figured I could make a class just as stylish.  With so many options I decided to focus on more on the Victorian style of steampunk, allowing me to combine novels with history, pop-culture, and fashion. I also decided to focus on heroines, because the only thing cooler than the clothes are the girls in the books kicking butt in those clothes.  

More than just clothes.
Daggers, crossbows, werewolves, vampires...

In this middle-school/early high school English course, students will dive into the steampunk genre, reading novels and studying modern pop-culture and the Victorian Era. Courses may be taken independently or combined to create a full semester course.

“Steampunk ELA” is designed as an alternative to traditional middle school English courses. This course is aligned with common core standards for grades 7-10. While this course does focus on the steampunk genre, in many ways the genre itself is a vehicle to promote interdisciplinary learning. The books read in this course are of high interest to students that are fans of  the steampunk genre. This opens the door for us to incorporate a variety of skills and knowledge including reading comprehension, literary analysis, critical thinking, and creative thinking, while at the same time studying the Victorian Era, both in terms of history and literature, technology, and modern pop-culture.  In addition to the readings, students will actively engage in group discussion and complete a variety of projects to further promote their learning and understanding of the texts and society.

This is a full semester course divided into four units. These four units can be taken as individual courses or can be combined to create a full semester experience with optional grading.


Course Structure
Students will read independently and complete a guided-reading packet for each novel.  This packet will be used to develop further understanding of the texts and literary devices, and to assist in promoting insightful class discuss. In addition, students will work to complete three projects with every unit. Class time will primarily be spent discussing and analyzing the novels as well as presenting and evaluating student project.  Each unit will follow the same structure and will identify, analyze, and teach a variety of literary devices as they arise within the novels. In addition, each unit will have a separate literary focus shared by the three novels within the unit.

In this course students will…
-determine theme;
-analyze plot and its various phases;
-examine how literary elements affect plot progression, assist in character development, and convey meaning, including: motif, symbol, foreshadowing, echoing, flashback, opposition, metaphor, irony, foil, choice of language; 
-understand the mono-myth (Hero’s Journey) and character archetypes;
-understand the qualities and characteristics of steampunk;
-develop an understanding of life in the Victorian Era;
-develop an understanding of modern pop-culture.


Project Overview (three projects per unit)
Each unit students will complete an ongoing course project, a mini-project, and a major unit project.

1.The Ongoing Course Project
Throughout this course, students will work to create a “Character and Costume Portfolio.” Each week students will be assigned two characters or historical figures. These can be characters from the novels, significant fictional characters from the Victorian Period, or historical figures (either specific or nonspecific) from the Victorian period. For each character, students will complete a character description as well as a costume/fashion design.  Templates will be provided; however, students are not required to use the template. Students may draw their own or us an app or online program to create their costume/fashion designs. Students can draw and color them I a simple fashion or can choose to make it a more elaborate project by incorporating fabric and other materials or creating a digital 3-D portfolio. 
Estimated time: 30-180 minutes per week (depending on student interest and detail)

2.Mini-Projects
Mini projects are designed so that students may spend a short period of time each week working on a specific thematic idea in order to achieve a final and well finished project. Each unit will feature a different mini-project as it relates directly to the novels read.
Estimated time: 30-60 minutes per week

3.Major Unit Project 
Each unit will conclude with a final project. This project will have a direct tie in with both the novels read and the mini-project. Students will present these projects to the class on the final day of the unit.  In addition, they will also critique and analyze the work of their peers.


Unit I: Fight Like a Lady

Literary focus: Students will learn to analyze a hero, specifically the role of a heroine, how she is portrayed, and the phases her character goes through. We will discuss the hero's journey and character archetypes and how they apply to both literature and us as individuals.

Novels (Summary provided at bottom of this description)
-"Etiquette & Espionage" (The Finishing Series, Book 1), Gail Carriger
-"Curtsies & Conspiracies" (The Finishing Series, Book 2), Gail Carriger
-"Lady of Devices," Shelly Adina
Film
	-"Hugo"

Projects
Ongoing Course Project: character and costume portfolio
	Mini-project: Postcards: Students will draw and write postcards, highlighting key moments of Sophronia's journey and experiences.
	Unit Project: Scrapbook or Yearbook: Students will create a scrapbook or yearbook for a character of their choice from any of the novels read, highlighting key moments, relationships, and symbols.

1.	-Course intro and rules/expectations
-Introduction to steampunk
-Character and costume portfolio: a steampunk version of you
-Finishing School Packet: Prereading questions and activity.
-Read Chapter 1: Etiquette and Espionage:
-Close reading for this course
2.	Etiquette and Espionage: 
Plot, Setting, characters, and archetypes
Final project assigned
3.	Etiquette and Espionage: 
-Discussion Questions (p4)
-symbolism and motif explained
4.	Etiquette and Espionage: 
-Theme, symbolism, motif, and other literary devices
5.	Curtsies and Conspiracies 
Plot, Setting, characters, and archetypes
6.	Curtsies and Conspiracies
-Discussion Questions
-Theme, symbolism, motif, and other literary devices
7.	Lady of Devices
-Plot, Setting, characters, and archetypes
8.	Lady of Devices
-Discussion, observations, arguments, and theme
9Steampunk wrap up.  Final discussion and analysis.
10. Project presentations

   

***This listing is for UNIT I only. Separate enrollment is required for each unit.  All courses will be scheduled consecutively. For a description of the full series (full semester), please read below 

Full Semester Outline (The 4-course/4-Unit Series)

Steampunk ELA

Unit I: Fight Like a Lady
Novels
-"Etiquette & Espionage" (The Finishing Series, Book 1), Gail Carriger
-"Curtsies & Conspiracies" (The Finishing Series, Book 2), Gail Carriger
-"Lady of Devices," Shelly Adina
Film
	-"Hugo"
Projects
Ongoing Course Project: character and costume portfolio
	Mini-project: Postcards
	Unit Project: Scrapbook or Yearbook
     
Unit II: Supernatural Weapons and Monsters
Novels
-"Waistcoats & Weaponry" (The Finishing Series, Book 3), Gail Carriger
-"Incarnation," Emma Cornwall
-"The Falconer," Elizabeth May
Film
	-"Van Helsing"
Projects
Ongoing Course Project: character and costume portfolio
	Mini-project: Building weapons
	Unit Project:  Create a board game, card game, or RPG
     

Unit III: Think Like a Holmes
Novels
-"Manners and Mutiny" (The Finishing Series, Book 4), Gail Carriger
-"The Clockwork Scarab," Colleen Gleason
-Jackaby, William Ritter
Films
	-"Sherlock Holmes"
	-"Enola Holmes"
Projects
Ongoing Course Project: character and costume portfolio
	Mini-project: Character Bag
	Unit Project:  The Hatter’s Murder Tea Party
     

Unit IV: The Mechanics of Time
Novels
-"Legacy of the Clockwork Key," Kristen Bailey
-"Ticker", Lisa Manchev
-"Steel Lily," Megan Curd
Film
	-"The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"
Projects
Ongoing Course Project: character and costume portfolio
	Mini-project: A novel in photos
	Unit Project:  Steampunk and you. A Styrofoam head sculpture.

 
About the books in Unit I

Finishing School Series (4 book series)
by Gail Carriger (Author)
This young adult steampunk series debut set in the same world as the New York Times bestselling Parasol Protectorate is filled with all the saucy adventure and droll humor Gail Carriger's legions of fans have come to adore.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners—and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage—in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.

Lady of Devices: A steampunk adventure novel (Magnificent Devices Book 1) 
by Shelley Adina  (Author)  
4.3 out of 5 stars    1,094 ratings	
Book 1 of 16: Magnificent Devices
See all formats and editions

It’s 1889, and Claire Trevelyan is expected to do nothing more with her life than catch a rich husband. Unfortunately, her talents lie not in the ballroom, but in the laboratory, where things have a regrettable habit of blowing up. When her father gambles the estate on the combustion engine despite the fact that everyone knows the world runs on steam, Claire finds herself out in the street with nothing to her name but her steam landau and her second best hat. But the embarrassments of her old life just might be the talents that save her now ... and it’s not long before a new leader rises in the underworld, known only as the Lady of Devices…

If you like old-fashioned adventure, brave young women, clever children, and strong-willed chickens, you’ll love the Magnificent Devices series. Fangs for the Fantasy says Claire is “a wonderful main character (one of my favourites in the genre)” and the series has “a great sense of Victorian style and language that’s both fun and beautiful to read.” 


Extension Courses
Addition courses will be available for further study.  These courses are not required but will often connect with the Steampunk ELA course. These courses will include one-time, multi-day, and flex-courses. 1:1 courses also available.

-Literary Analysis Essay Writing (four primary courses offered: character analysis, theme, symbolism and archetypes, and compare and contrast)
-Fractured Fairy Tales and Other Stories (a reading and creative writing course)
-Steampunk Theater Production
-Steampunk Character and Costume Portfolio Expansion
-additional courses to be added as they arise or by request