Wendy's+Draft+1

** Introduction: **  I have entitled this unit “Think for Yourself, It Could Save Your Life”. I chose this title because I want the students to have the ability to think for themselves and create things with minimal influence of others. While I know outside influences are a part of life I want my students to not be afraid to step outside of their comfort zones. I want my students to become adventurous readers and writers that are not afraid to take risks. This unit will be used for a seventh grade language arts class. It will be modified as needed to accommodate for students with special needs or exceptional abilities. I discussed my unit with my CT, my mother (an itinerate teacher for the hearing impaired in Wake County) and Nada Wafa.   I want the students to be able to think for themselves, no matter what. __The Hunger Games__ provide a perfect platform to discuss freedom to think for yourself. Also, in this highly political age it gives an opportunity for students to think about the future of government and voice their own growing political voice. Students can explore this through poetry and propaganda in addition to the novel. The students will learn about taking risks in their writing to create the best works possible. Looking at different ways that the government and civilian organizations try to sway people can show students different ways of interpreting the world around them. Showing them how to become their own people and not to simply follow the path laid out for them by society is a great gift. Along with a good education giving them the gift of forging their own paths into life are the great gifts we can give our students.   The main focus of this unit will be the novel __The Hunger Games__ by Suzanne Collins. It is the first book in the trilogy and is fairly widely read by seventh grade classes in Wake County. It is a novel about what happens when the government in the United States becomes a tyranny and splits up the country into districts. After a rebellion by the people the government sends a yearly reminder of their power my requiring one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to enter into the hunger games competition. Only one child comes out alive. Enter the main character and narrator, Katniss Everdeen. Her adventure gives the reader a clear picture of the structure of the government and their propaganda techniques. Her story illuminates the idea of thinking for yourself and how that can better your life and the lives of those around you. Her quick thinking and ingenuity provides a perfect platform for students to come out of their own comfort zones and analyze what they would do. Reading this book will allow the students to really see an example of what thinking for yourself can do. While it is an extreme example, it is an example of what thinking outside of the box can do.  Reading this book reaches more students than some other more traditional texts. The text contains action and conflict that will draw in the boys and has a strong female character for the girls. It also has some similarities in structure with books like the Percy Jackson series. This book can draw students who normally aren’t readers in and give them a story to be excited about. There is even a movie of it coming out at some point in the future. Since there is no release date for the movie yet it is not included in this unit.    How can you connect Robert Frost’s // The Road Not Taken // to the novel?  What ways do governments use to change what people think?  What uses of propaganda can we see in the past and in the present?  What are some “writing risks” we can all take as writers?  What impact does propaganda have on our lives?   I want my students to come away from this unit with a strong sense of their own power in the world. I want them to be able to speak their minds and create what they want, rather than what “the man” tells them to create. I want my students to see a part of the world they might have missed if they stayed within traditional confines. I want my students to take a literary journey into the world and question what they see. I want my students to truly discover what they can find out for themselves if they only take the time to look. Middle school is the time when students really begin to discover their inner selves. They begin to pay more attention to the basics of politics and begin to form opinions on issues. I want my students to be able to form those opinions on their own personal beliefs, morals and thoughts rather than believing what their parents, their church or any other institution tells them to believe. Giving them this ability will make them better writers because they will write what they are passionate about. It will make the better readers because they will be able to choose books that they are truly interested in, not just the latest trendy text. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> 1. Students will be able to explain what propaganda is. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> 2. Students will be able to name two major uses for propaganda <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">3. Students will be able to discuss the ways in which Americans choose to think for themselves <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">4. Students will be able to identify the role propaganda has played in their own lives <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> ** <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Affective Unit Objectives: ** <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">5. Students will be able to participate in debates regarding topics with political context, elements of the novel __The Hunger Games__ etc. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> 6. Students will be able to work in groups to create representations of propaganda <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> 7. Students will be able to value the opinions of others <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> 8. Students will be able voice their opinions in a respectful manner <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> ** <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Performance Unit Objectives: ** <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> 9. Students will be able to create their own propaganda posters <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> 10. Students will be able to present material they have created orally <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> 11. Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of the usages of propaganda <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> 1.03 Interact in group settings by: <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">responding appropriately to comments and questions. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">offering personal opinions confidently without dominating. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">giving appropriate reasons that support opinions. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">soliciting and respecting another person's opinion <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> 3.03 Study and create arguments that evaluate by: <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">understanding the importance of establishing a firm judgment. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">justifying the judgment with logical, relevant reasons, clear examples, and supporting details. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">creating an organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, and context. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> 4.03 Develop the stance of a critic by: <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">considering and presenting alternative points of view or reasons. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">remaining fair-minded and open to other interpretations. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">creating a critical response/review of a work/topic. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">6.03 Describe the effects of over-specialization and evaluate their impact on the standard of living. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">9.01 Trace the historical development of governments, including traditional, colonial, and national in selected societies, and assess their effects on the respective contemporary political systems. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> General Materials: <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -Poster board* <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -Markers, pens, pencils* <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -Tape and glue* <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -Construction paper* <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -Rulers* <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -Scissor* <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -Felt and/or cloth <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Texts: <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -A class set of __The Hunger Games__ by Suzanne Collins* <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost* <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -A range of propaganda from a variety of locations and time periods* <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Multimedia: <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -Flip camera* <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -YouTube (student created video will be uploaded here, if I have consent forms) <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -Computer lab <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -Overhead or document camera* <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> -__The Hunger Games__ movie trailer
 * Part I **
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Theme: **
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Content Focus: **
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Organizing Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Goals:  **
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">General Unit Objectives: **
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Cognitive: **
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">North Carolina Standard Course of Study Objectives for Language Arts **
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">North Carolina Standard Course of Study Objectives for Social Studies **
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Possible Unit Materials and Supplementary Texts: **