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}aclyn Buii
Nichigan State 0niveisity "#$%&'( )'*+,-./ 0#121&#1 3.%4,#.5 "# 67255&- 8,9.5
:$#6"3 ;#6#2#(7#$)
Kiavei, }eialuine K. "Engenueiing uenuei Equity: 0sing Liteiatuie to Teach anu Leain Bemociacy." 8:, 0#17&5:
;*%'#27 96.6 (2uu7): 67-71. Web.
Bevinish, Alan. "Antigone on the Night Shift: Classics in the Contempoiaiy
Classioom." 8,2-:&#1 0#17&5: &# .:, 8<*=>,2' 6*77,1, 27.4 (2uuu): 4u7-41S. Web.
Buike, }im. "Teaching Biamatic Texts: Shakespeaie vignette." 8:, 0#17&5: 8,2-:,'?5
6*@A2#&*#. Poitsmouth: Beinemann, 2u1S. Piint.
0stenson, }onathan & Elizabeth uleason-Sutton. "Naking the Classics Nattei to
Stuuents thiough Bigital Liteiacies anu Essential Questions." 8:, 0#17&5: ;*%'#27 1u1.2 (2u11): S7-4S. Web.
<2/7%&7#$=>%2/%#1&#$) ?&$7"$$&'( @ A"3%&.#-&/ B7%&4&%&#$
B#.&-&A2.*'( C'*%A D&5-%55&*#5 E F%,5.&*#5 - Befoie each play, we engageu in anticipatoiy
uiscussions - taigeting impoitant themes anu iueas that weie to come (social noims, genuei ioles)
G*%'=6*'#,'5 D&5-%55&*# H We enueu each play with a uiscussion of this soit,
asking stuuents to iesponu main chaiacteis' effectiveness in challenging
social noims.
3*-&27 I*'@5 &# J,4&2 8*42( - I showeu stuuents vaiious viueo clips fiom
television shows anu movies in oiuei to uiscuss social noims that aie
ieflecteu anu challengeu by touay's "uiama." Subjects incluueu masculinity
in )2'K5 2#4 L,-',2.&*#, FeminismSexism in J24 J,#, the "antiheio" anu
complex piotagonist of M',2K&#1 M24, homosexuality in J*4,'# G2@&7(, anu
satiie of the social noims of high-school giils in J,2# C&'75.
<2/7%&7#$=>%2/%#1&#$) C2&%&(1
)*5. ". B-.&N&.( - Stuuents weie given 2 post its.
0n one, they wiote something oi someone
that they woulu "stanu up foi." 0n the othei, they explaineu :*< they
stanu up foi theii beliefs.
O#7&#, D&5-%55&*#PQD,#5, F%,5.&*#5R H Stuuents cieateu anu
iesponueu to questions that incoipoiateu elements of text, woilu, anu
self. They posteu these to oui online uiscussion foium.
S,..,' .* 3.,',*.(A,5P3*-&27 L*7,5 H In light of the Noia bieaking out of
hei iepiesseu "iole" in B D*77?5 T*%5,, stuuents consiueieu the ioles
.:,( occupy in society - fiom iace anu genuei to being a teenagei.
They then wiote letteis to this "iole" - uiscussing theii own inuiviuuality anu how they shoulu not be
categoiizeu anu expecteu to fit a molu.

D%8#2 B7%&4&%&#$) Chaiactei Letteis, B#.&1*#, Fakebooks, Reauing 0ut Louu, Watching Film veisions of Plays

E#/-&(1 "F %' %8# :(&%
B$$#$$.#(%$)
-Aigumentative Essay
-Social Noims in Cuiient
Neuia Speech
-Nultiple Choice
Assessment


>%"-#(%$ G>%/(- :F5 H'2I
"animal iights, women's iights,
family anu fiienus, the uisableu,
loyalty, equality, the
enviionment, anu theii own
selves"
JK."expiessing theii opinions,
talking to people, posting on
facebook, being active citizens,
anu tieating people equally"
E#%%#2 LM/.F3#$: "I am not a neiu just because I weai glasses anu am smait. I am
not a hippie anu antipatiiotic just because I uon't believe in wai. Am not a
mannequin foi you to tell how to be, what to believe, anu foi whom I shall fight"

"Beai Racism, I am sick anu tiieu of people telling me what I shoulu be oi what I
will tuin out to be when I giow up, just because of my iace. They say that I am going
to uiop out of school oi maybe not even tiy to woik haiu. Well maybe I want to uo
goou" in school anu go to college. Why shoulu I follow the paths of wheie most
Bispanics have gone. Why can't I be uiffeient anu tiy to succeeu in life."
Step 1: Revolving aiounu an ESSENTIAL Q0ESTI0N: "Bow uoes uiama ieflect oi challenge social noims."
;#63#7%&'($ @ H&(-&(1$: I conuucteu an anonymous
uoogle poll in class. Aveiage stuuent engagement scoieu
"moueiate" anu above. They citeu engaging activities of using
meuia anu ieauing alouu as helpful in allowing them to see
the ielevancy of the plays, anu weie able to poweifully
convey the iueas .:,( took fiom the unit.
>"../2K '6 :$#6"3 N#78(&O"#$)
;#4'34# %8# %#M%$ /2'"(- / PQ&1 O"#$%&'(R %8/%
F#2%/&($ %' $'7&/3 S"$%&7# &( $'7&#%K
T(7'2F'2/%# ."3%&.#-&/ &($%2"7%&'( /(-
-&$7"$$&'( '6 P7"22#(% .#-&/R %' 2#3/%# %'=#(1/1#
L(7'"2/1# -&$7"$$&'( U 2#1/2-&(1 F3'%V 7'.F3#M
78/2/7%#2$V /(- $'7&/3 ('2.$ &( '"2 $'7&#%K %'-/K
>%2&4# 6'2 F#2$'(/3 7'((#7%&'( /(- P%/0&(1 /7%&'(R ,&%8 $%"-#(% #.F',#2.#(%
-'/' !/' 0&1' 0#.2'"# 3',4&",', #& #5' 0./6'78
C8/% ,/$ %8# A'$% +#3F6"3 E#$$'(=B7%&4&%K9
9'##'/ #& 0#'/'&#74'8 PI felt it maue me ieally unueistanu the
uepth of the stoiy. By connecting it to my own life maue it
easiei to unueistanu Noia's issue"
0:'"' 3';</$#',8 "I get to act out the chaiactei anu put them in
my image as if I weie him".."It was a lot of fun anu helpeu to
unueistanu the play in a mouein context"
='2$> ?*$4,8 "It ieally got me thinking on oui social noims now
in touay's society"."I likeu the YouTube viueo about slam
poetiy. It helpeu me see how people ieact to steieotypes"
01>** @/&.4 )$,:.,,$&"8 "qualifying each othei views of how
we inteipieteu the quotebook"."I leain a lot moie when we
uiscuss anu I get othei people's opinion on the same thing."
>"24#K ;#$"3%$)
scale: 1 = not at all, S = moueiate, S = veiy much

+', ."78 8/$ %8# 6'33',&(1 &.F2'4#- /6%#2
%8&$ "(&%) Awaieness of Social Noims: S.7
Thinking About Bow We view 0theis: S.S
0nueistanuing of Complex Chaiacteis: S.S

Bow much uiu you Relate Peisonally: S.1
Bow helpful was uiscussion: S.S
Bow helpful was wiiting.: S.1
D4#2/33 L(1/1#.#(%) WXW
>"11#$%&'($ @ T.F3&7/%&'($) Kiavei's "0sing Liteiatuie to Teach anu Leain Bemociacy" helpeu me use steps of
incieasing level of uepth with the cuiiiculum - beginning with suiface engagement, moving towaiu peisonal
connection, anu then finishing with the push foi social change anu stuuent agency in society. Noieovei, as my
stuuents ueemeu "uiscussion" as the most helpful vehicle in helping them unueistanu the themes within the text, it is
impoitant to iemembei to incoipoiate much class time foi this, as well as woik to fostei A'*4%-.&N, anu thought-
piovoking uiscussion. Scaffoluing these "classic" texts with cuiient events anu pop-cultuie examples that engage the
unit questions to show ielevance to touay, but I still hau issues with uisengagement anu uisbelief in ielevance. I also
attempteu to iemain emotionally open with stuuents anu pioviue my own examples of passion anu ciitical thinking -
in oiuei to expect the same "iisk-taking" anu uepth of analysis fiom the stuuents.
By using ciitical peuagogy to ielate "classic" texts to stuuents' lives anu to push foi ueepei thinking about
the woilu in which we live, oui stuuents can use theii engagement to bettei uevelop skills of textual analysis anu
aigument wiiting, oi any stanuaius being taigeteu. Auuitionally, they will hopefully finu the voice anu empoweiment
to look ciitically at themselves anu the woilu aiounu them anu stiive to impiove society.
!"#$%&'($ N8/% ;#./&()
When planning cuiiiculum, how uo we choose the '&1:. "essential question" foi the unit. - 0ne that will
ielate to many stuuents in oui specific contexts, especially in a uiveise classioom.
Bow uo we ueal with issues of non-ielevance to specific stuuents. (Foi example, stuuents who answeieu
suivey questions with: "I uiu not ielate to this unit because I am not a giil" oi "sexism is not an issue heie"
Bow uo we balance specific engagement anu leaining styles between classes. At times, when my fifth houi
woulu engage stiongly in a lesson, my 6
th
houi woulu laigely uisengage anu fail to meet stanuaius on the
same lesson.
I founu that stuuents' #(1/1#.#(% 2'$# as I incoipoiateu "active" anu ."3%&.#-&/ activities anu
-&$7"$$&'(X Stuuents' "(-#2$%/(-&(1$ '6 %8# "(&% %8#.#$ ,#2# $%2#(1%8#(#- when they 7'((#7%#-
chaiacteis, plot, anu iueas to %8#&2 ',( 3&4#$ anu the ioles they occupy in society. This coinciueu with
oui unit leaining goal of "iuentifying an /(/3KY&(1 $&.&3/2 %8#.#$ between vaiious texts," anu helpeu
them bettei move towaiu ieaching F2'6&7&#(7K &( '%8#2 $%/(-/2-$, like /21".#(%/%&4# ,2&%&(1V
2#/-&(1 6'2 &.F3&7&% .#/(&(1V F/2%&7&F/%&(1 &( #66#7%&4# -&$7"$$&'(X
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