First Semester Project: From BEOWULF to CANTERBURY TALES

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Objective

SWBAT demonstrate comprehension of a major literary work through writing and video production.

Big Idea

"All meanings, we know, depend on the key of interpretation." ---George Eliot

Lesson Author

Elizabeth Watts Bromery, Ph.D.

Pembroke Pines, FL

Grade Level

Twelfth grade

Subjects

English / Language Arts

Iliad

Writing

Writing Process

Standards

RL.11-12.10

By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

W.11-12.3

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

SL.11-12.1

Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Lesson Overview and Note to Teachers

My classes meet in 100-minute block sessions. The lesson below outlines activities for the first semester project. Students can work collaboratively or individually to create a project that shows their mastery of one of the major works we have explored first semester.

Introduction

10 minutes

We have explored excerpts from Beowulf, the Iliad, and The Canterbury Tales this semester. Since our school promotes project-based learning, my instructional team of senior teachers decides to use a project to assess student mastery of one major literary work explored this semester.

I introduce the project as an opportunity for students to showcase the literacy abilities and content knowledge they have acquired this semester. We discuss the Big Idea, and I reiterate that their interpretations are valid as long as they are accurate to the text. When explaining the four project options for the assignment (Assignment: Honors First Semester Project), I point out that students must submit their stories, which is the last project option, through turnitin.com. I use turnitin to help students understand the importance of original written work. It provides an originality report to students prior to submitting their work, and it checks submitted work against the Internet, including work submitted at my high school.

I allow students to confer with one another on which project they would like to complete. They may work in groups, but they must sign up for a project and a literary work.

Project Work

90 minutes

Reflection

Once students sign up for their projects, I allow them to engage in the following activities:

Students can work with their selected group members to discuss, write out, and create their video reenactments.
Students can access laptops available in my class today to access graphic novels and comic strips online to get examples of how their projects can look. I allow them to create their projects electronically or in hard copy.
Students can begin writing their stories from the viewpoint of a character other than the main character from their chosen literary selection.

I notice that they use their chosen literary works to verify their interpretations in individual and collaborative work settings.

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