After spending some time thinking about the ways in which education is being personalized in schools across the world, I started thinking about how I might be able to incorporate a little of that in my own classroom. Although the school in which I teach is more traditional than the Danish school in our reading, I still felt as if the autonomy in educating students might be encouraging to those who excel and are ready to move at a quicker pace. Likewise, for my students who struggle, this might also afford me the opportunity to work independently with them during class time to assist them in their learning. I really appreciate Sam Peterson’s comment in his article, “4 Big Shifts That Can Personalize the Learning Journey.” He quotes Dr. Scott McLeod when he states, “When students have ‘ownership and control of what, how, when, where, who with, and why they learn,’ the promise of relevant learning becomes real,” (Peterson 2018). This idea of autonomy in student thinking and student work is something we, as educators, work to instill in our students in efforts to prepare them for the “real world.” So, after much thought, I took a unit plan designed for my sophomore class and created a personalized playlist. My hopes were to create something meaningful that would encourage students to work in a way that truly shows their understanding and growth in each of the concepts presented.
1001 Arabian Nights
You will be given 3 weeks to complete the reading and tasks listed below.
| Watch introduction video to 1001 Arabian Nights | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKRop0EJfj4
|
| Read chapter 1 of the novel | Check in with Mrs. While |
| Watch video explaining what a frame tale is | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjJszH88J8A
|
| Read chapters 2-5 of Sinbad the Sailor | Check in with Mrs. While |
| Explain what lesson Shahrazad is trying to teach her husband through the story of Sinbad the Sailor. | Written response should be at a least a paragraph in length |
| Watch the imagery powtoon. When finished, write a description of your favorite room in your house using your 5 senses in the description. | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWIGhi0lVmw
|
| Extension activity: Use imagery to draw the giant described on page 26 | Giant described on page 26 |
| Read chapters 16-17 | Check in with Mrs. While |
| Foreshadowing is used in chapters 16-17. Watch the powerpoint explaining what foreshadowing is and how to identify it in a text. Afterwards, identify 3 examples of foreshadowing in the text by finding 3 quotes showing foreshadowing, an explanation of how these quotes shows foreshadowing and what event is being foreshadowed. | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIgtz_EXx3Y
|
| Read chapters 23-26 | Check in with Mrs. While |
| Watch the video describing direct and indirect characterization. When finished, select a character from chapters 23-26 and write a description of this character’s personality traits using indirect and direct characterization. | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCshdu8loDo
|
| Extension Activity: Draw a picture of your character using characterization from the text. | |
| Read chapters 33-34 | Check in with Mrs. While |
| Symbolism is present in these final chapters. View the examples of symbolism found in movies on the video, and write a paragraph identifying 2 symbols in chapters 33-34. Explain what they symbolize and how it deepens the meaning of the story. | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc7Qt5sGPeg
|
| Read chapter 35 | Check in with Mrs. While prior to completing the final task. |
| Write a response to the text including the following:
· Explain how the frame tale of King Shahryar and Queen Shahrazad ends—what foreshadowing was used to hint at this ending. · Create a chart showing what lessons each of the stories you’ve read teaches King Shahryar. · Using direct and indirect characterization, describe the King and Queen using imagery in your response. · Identify the symbol used in the frame tale and explain how it deepens the meaning of the text. |
Submit final task on Google Classroom |
I love that you want mentioned the quote from Dr. McLeod. I feel like the quote gets at wanting to find a way to help students find their passion for learning. I think that once a student has found that passion they have more intrinsic motivation in the classroom. This motivation allows them to work more independently and have more focus. I think all teachers want to find a way to help our students find that joy in learning. I am not a high school teacher so I am not familiar with much to do with teaching high school outside of my own learning experiences as a high school student. So I am wondering, what in this lesson have you decided is going to help excite the students or help them to find that joy in learning?
You pose a good question. The text assigned to the students is filled with individual stories that are connected by one main story. Therefore, I tried to select stories they may already be familiar with. Likewise, my hope is that with the amount of freedom they have to work at their own pace, as well as having some freedom in selecting what they do for their final project.
Hello!
I really loved your personalized playlist for your sophomores. I like how you break it down into chapters due to some being able to handle just a few and slow down the students who may want to fly through the book. As a fast reader myself in high school, I always wanted to get through a book and finish all my homework. This breaks it down to have students slow down their reading and comprehension to create more meaning in their work. This would have helped me apply what I was reading instead of focusing on the grade. I also really like how you included different types of media for students. Instead of just worksheets and a book, you included videos and other ways for them to apply their book.
Thanks for sharing!