West Introduction This unit designed for American Literature courses integrates several elements of multiculturalism.

Students learn historical, economical, and social context for several of the foreign wars America was involved in ranging from Korea, Vietnam, WWI, WWII, the War In Afghanistan, and the

War in Iraq. This unit will cover these major American conflicts from both the perspectives of Americans and foreigners using short stories, letters, poems, songs, and speeches. Students will be exposed to ideas, beliefs, opinions, drives, and lasting effects of those involved. Objectives This unit will strive to educate students on the elements that cooperatively lead to foreign conflict as well as to critically think about American foreign influence, the purpose and effects of war on all parties involved in conflict, and how these major historical events have molded American values and ways of life. Multiculturalism In terms of multiculturalism, the unit hopes to expand students' horizons through the realm of foreign conflict. Students will be exposed to various cultures, beliefs, and ways of life. They will be able to experience what they read in American history books through the eyes of an American civilian, but soldiers, civilians in foreign countries, political leaders, as well as those who tried to continue life as normal as possible upon returning home. By taking a multicultural approach to this topic, students encounter a more accurate depiction of American foreign involvement, and hopefully allow students to explore various degrees of tolerance, understanding, and acceptance of others who are different; while determining what indeed are adequate reasons for war and conflict in today's global society.

West American Foreign Involvement Unit Week One Day 1 Introduction to American foreign involvement & Historical Timeline of Major American War; Quick-Write: based on what you presently know, was American involvement necessary? Days consist of one 50 minute class period. Day 2 Focus: Korea & Vietnam Historical and Literary Context What is Communism? Notes on Asian Literature - war, wounds, chaos, and tragedy. Reading Assignment: "Introduction from Retrieving Bones" Day 3 Focus: Point-ofView and Author's Purpose Compare/Contrast American Perspective vs. Vietnam Perspective with graphic organizer Read Dear America Soldier's Letter Read Aloud: Extended Passage from Novel Without a Name (Focus on Internal Conflict) Day 8 European Perspective: Collection of Poems by John Masefield, Robert Bridges, and Wilfred Owen Reading Assignment: "Schoolboy Into War" Day 13 Motives for 9/11Terrorist Attacks Quotes from Osama bin Laden American Perspective on Terror The 9/11 Stories Weve Never Told Anyone Personal Response Activity Day 4 Reading Assignment: Excerpt from The Things They Carried with guided reading questions (in class)

Day 5 "Ode for the American Dead in Asia" (poem) Critical Essay Reading Excerpt from "The Rise and Fall of the AntiVietnam Movement in the US" (focus on argument, support, and organization in writing) Reading Strategy Annotations

Week Two

Week Three

Day 6 Focus: WWI Causes and Effects of The Great War Literary Focus Propaganda Literary Context Common Topics for WWI Literature Day 11 Fact/Opinion Essay Essay Organization Difference Between Fact and Opinion Writing Prompt: Choose
one of the historical wars read and discussed about so far in class. Determine whether or not entering the war was worth the effects it caused in both America and the other country involved.

Day 7 Focus: Ernest Hemingway WWI writings Jigsaw Groupings - 4 Hemingway pieces (differentiated reading levels) Common Themes in WWI literature Day 12 Focus: Terrorism and the Middle East Web Search Activity

Day 9 Focus: WWII (Pearl Harbor) "Pearl Harbor Speech" by FDR watch the YouTube video of the speech to Congress Reliable Sources: Pearl Harbor Conspiracy, The Truth About FDR Day 14 Afghanistan during the rise of Taliban rule Excerpt from A Thousand Splendid Suns Literary Focus: Point-of-View

Day 10 Literature Focus: Atomic Bomb Literature (Japan) Notes on Japanese literature after atomic bombings Reading Assignment: Excerpt from Black Rain (focus on Imagery) Day 15 Assign MultiGenre Research Assignment and possible topic to choose from relating to themes, groups, and events introduced throughout the unit.

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Multiple Intelligences

Verbal

Linguistic/

Visual

Spatial/

Kinesthetic

Bodily/

Interpersonal

Naturalist

Intrapersonal

Lesson

Historical Timeline of American Involvement in Foreign Affairs Post-War Asian Literature Comparing American and Asian Perspective The Things They Carried Anti-War Efforts Critical Essay Reading Historical Context of World Wars Hemingway Jigsaw Groupings European Perspective of WWI Pearl Harbor Address & National Conspiracy? Japanese Atomic Bomb Literature Fact/Opinion Essay Terrorism Web Search Personal Responses to Stories and Motives A Thousand Splendid

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

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Suns

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Multi-Genre Project Introduction and Requirements

Blooms Taxonomy Knowledge Students will show knowledge of material during the classes focusing on the historical, social, and economic forces contributing to Americas involvement in foreign wars. Also, students will be exposed to new information about different issues covered in literature created after various conflicts. Comprehension Students will show appropriate reading comprehension through various reading activities and skills including annotations, compare/contrast worksheets, guided reading questions, various graphic organizers, group discussions, independent reading, personal written responses, and small group participation. Application Students will apply prior knowledge as well as historical, economic, and social context to the short stories, poems, speeches, and novel excerpts included in the unit. In addition to daily readings, students will apply prior knowledge, research skills, knowledge of reliable and valid information, as well as information discussed throughout the three-week study to the creation of their multi-genre research project to close the unit. Analysis Students will analyze all written work for appropriate literary language elements. For short stories, students will be able to identify and critically analyze character, setting, plot (to a

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degree), point-of-view, and theme. For creative writing pieces, students will consider figurative language, word choice, and various poetic devices that all contribute to overall tone and mood of a piece of war literature. Finally, for nonfiction, critical, and position essay readings, students will analyze the piece in terms of purpose, support, organization, and effectiveness. Synthesis Students will have several opportunities for individual creation. Students will produce short written responses based on prior knowledge, a fact/opinion essay based on information introduced in readings, and a multi-genre project asking students to compile various images, poems, short story, nonfiction element, and a brief informational section on one of the major themes, groups, or events in one of the wars America has been involved in. Evaluation Students will evaluate several pieces of literature for reliability, validity, effective arguments, and accuracy of information. Students will read a conspiracy theory, critical anti-war essay, speeches asking to engage in warfare, motives from the enemy, and determining reliable information from the web. By evaluating various writings, students will be exposed to both sides of controversial issues and be able to make educated decisions and think critically about historical and present issues in their world.

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Lesson Plan Day 7 50 minute class period Objective Students will successfully read and check for accurate reading comprehension through retelling the story in their own words. Nebraska State Standards LA 12.1.4 Fluency: Students will read grade level texts fluently with accuracy, appropriate pace, phrasing, and expression LA 12.1.6 Comprehension: Students will extract and construct meaning using prior knowledge, applying text information, and monitoring comprehension while reading grade level text. LA 12.3.1 Speaking Skills: Students will develop, apply, and refine speaking skills to communicate key ideas in a variety of situations. LA 12.3.2. Listening Skills: Students will develop, apply, and refine active listening skills across a variety of situation. Necessary Materials For this lesson, the classroom will need a computer, Promethean/ Smart Board, Access to YouTube and the video Mini Bio Ernest Hemingway, reading note worksheet, and printed copies of Ernest Hemingways Soldiers Home, In Another Country, A Very Short Story, and Now I Lay Me. Rationale Todays lesson includes several independent and small group skills necessary in successfully participating in a high school classroom. Students must develop independent reading skills, reading comprehension skills, verbal expression skills, and social skills when working with others. Todays lesson also exposes students to one of the American Greats. Through this process, students will be exposed to not only one of Hemingways WWI stories, but four that all deal with surviving in a foreign land during a time of intense conflict. Focus of Content Students will focus on WWI writings by one of the most well-known WWI writers, Ernest Hemingway. They will identify similarities within four stories by comparing and contrasting in small groups with their classmates. Finally, students will identify central themes found in Hemingways writing and how he characterizes the Great War. Teaching Strategies This lesson is centered around the jigsaw grouping method. Students are separated into four small groups. All groups will consist of students at similar reading levels. Each group will be assigned one of the four stories that they will become experts on. As a small group, students will

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read their story, identify key events, themes, ideas, and conflicts and list them in the appropriate box on their graphic organizer. When all groups have completed their story, the groups will be mixed up like a jigsaw puzzle. The newly formed groups should consist of at least one person from every other group so all four stories and contain students of all different reading levels. Each member will retell the story in his/her own words to the group emphasizing the themes and important ideas within each story, as if they were teaching to the story to their classmates.

Differentiation Now I Lay Me low performing students A Very Short Story average performing students Soldiers Home average to high performing students In Another Country high performing students Lesson Design Anticipatory Set (10 minutes): Mini Bio- Ernest Hemingway. A brief informational video addressing the life, works, and WWI experience the author. As a class, students will brainstorm predictions on what experiences and elements of Hemingway's life they may encounter in the stories for class. Instruction: Briefly introduce all four stories to entire class. Explain the process of jigsaw groupings. Give instructions for graphic organizer. Guided Practice and Modeling: As initial groups read aloud and cooperatively work together, I will pace the room providing probing questions for each story and helping with small group discussion. Check for Understanding: Students will be evaluated for understanding as they fill out their graphic organizers for comprehension of plot, themes, and important information. Their level of comprehension will be determined and easy to identify when they retell and teach key points of their story to their classmates. Closure: The entire class with regroup for the last five minutes of class share their groups' findings of similarities and common themes, topics, and experiences present in WWI stories. Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on their class participation, group contributions, and the accuracy of their worksheet completion.

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WWI Writings Author Focus: Ernest Hemingway Four Short Stories Name _______________________ Period _______
Now I Lay Me

Date _________________________
Soldiers Home

Common WWI Topics, Themes, and Experiences

____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

In Another Country

A Very Short Story

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Other Possible Handouts and Assignments

Name ____________________________ Guided Reading Questions for The Things They Carried
Chapter 1: The Things They Carried Answer the following questions as you read the first chapter of the novel "The Things They Carried." Make sure you answer all of the questions thoroughly and in complete sentences using specific examples from the text in your responses.

1. In the list of all the things the soldiers carried, what item was most surprising? Which item did you find most evocative of the war? Which items stay with you?

2. In what sense does Jimmy love Martha? Why does he construct this elaborate, mostly fictional, relationship with her: What does he get out of it?

3. Why do the soldiers tell jokes about the war, about killing?

4. How is the idea of weight used and developed in the story? How do the soldiers carry both physical and emotional weight?

5. How has Jimmy changed by the end of the story? How will he be a different person from this point on? What has he learned about himself? Or to put it another way, what has he lost and what has he gained? Annotation Reading Bookmarks

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Annotating Text
Making critical or explanatory notes and markings in the text Before Reading: Look at the front and back cover Read the title, headings, and subheadings, Not the way the text it set up (book, newspaper, diary, dialogue, short story) During Reading: Mark the Text Headings Main Idea Supporting Ideas Key Vocabulary Important Facts Write in Margins Opinion OP Questions ? Inferences INF Ah-has ! After Reading Write in the Margins Reread annotations Draw conclusions Make connections Examine patters/ possibilities Decide what the title might mean

Annotating Text
Making critical or explanatory notes and markings in the text Before Reading: Look at the front and back cover Read the title, headings, and subheadings, Not the way the text it set up (book, newspaper, diary, dialogue, short story) During Reading: Mark the Text Headings Main Idea Supporting Ideas Key Vocabulary Important Facts Write in Margins Opinion OP Questions ? Inferences INF Ah-has ! After Reading Write in the Margins Reread annotations Draw conclusions Make connections Examine patters/ possibilities Decide what the title might mean

Annotating Text
Making critical or explanatory notes and markings in the text Before Reading: Look at the front and back cover Read the title, headings, and subheadings, Not the way the text it set up (book, newspaper, diary, dialogue, short story) During Reading: Mark the Text Headings Main Idea Supporting Ideas Key Vocabulary Important Facts Write in Margins Opinion OP Questions ? Inferences INF Ah-has ! After Reading Write in the Margins Reread annotations Draw conclusions Make connections Examine patters/ possibilities Decide what the title might mean

West Multi-Genre Project Rubric

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Name_______________________________________

Informational and Creative Writing Elements Point System 20Impressive! The piece is extremely informative a. The writing and other elements of the composition show original thinking and depth, specificity of detail, effective organization and word choice, and accuracy. For creative writing, the piece contains figurative language and applicable narrative and fiction elements. It all works together! 15A good paper. It was informational but is missing some necessary support, detail, organization, or accuracy. Creative writing is original but lacks figurative language or other essential elements of creative writing or narrative. 10.The paper is complete, but does not effectively address the topic. The format is unoriginal and lacks required elements of informative or expository writing. It appears the creation was rushed. 5..The piece is incomplete or illegible. 0..The piece is missing or contains plagiarism. Title Page Comments: _______/5 Table of Contents _______/5 Introduction to Project _______/10 Informative Element 1 page minimum _______/20 Poetic Element 10 lines minimum _______/20 Short Story Element 2 page minimum Comments: Comments: Comments: Comments: Comments:

_______/20 Image or Graphic Element Comments: 5 images minimum _______/20 Fact/Opinion Essay Element Comments: 5 paragraph minimum _______/20 Multicultural Element 1 page minimum _______/20 Comments:

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__________ Copy-Editing 10 8 5 3 Contains very few errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling. Contains several errors but meaning is not seriously affected. Contains many errors but the reader can still learn about the topic. (and below) Contains enough errors that it makes it nearly impossible to read and understand. __________ Visual Effects 20 Project is visually appealing. Text is welcoming, not cramped together or of overly small print. Font and writing is easily readable. Illustrations or visual elements are meaningfulenhancing the readers learning, understanding, and appreciation of the topic and content. 10 Text is easy to read. Font and writing is legible. One or two pieces are difficult to read because of poor writing, small type, or overuse of elaborate fonts or bold print. Visual elements are more like frill, adding little meaning or impact. 0-5 Little attention has been paid to the look of the paper. More than a few pieces are hard to read for one reason or another. Visual elements, if present, are nothing more than clip art.

___________ Research Folder 20 Folder contains printed copies of all five sources with evidence of reading, various notetaking strategies, and organization of information. 10 Folder contains printed copies of three - four sources, or the folder is missing reading notes or proof of organization of information 0-5 Folder is missing proof of several sources, reading notes, or proof of organization.

Total Score __________/200