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Mythology Across Time and Borders: Online Workshop
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OVERVIEW
This curriculum unit can be adapted for students as young as grade
6 or 7, and as old as grade 12. Additional materials will need to be added to
hold the attention of students above grade 10, however. The unit integrates
writing process instruction, storytelling lore, mythology, and arts instruction
and is in support of standards defined by the Consortium
of National Arts Education Associations and the National
Council of Teachers of English. Approximate times are given for implementation
with a standard grade 8 or 9 class of 20 students.
Students will explore their own cultural identity while learning vital aspects of the writing process. Many students either leave out or do not understand the step of revising their original drafts. They try to jump to correcting mechanics, without any attention to improving content or the communicative quality of their work. By acting as an author and writing about another student in the class, the idea of consulting an authority for content and researching before writing and during revising will become clear to the students. By acting as a topic for another student's writing, each student will simultaneously have an opportunity to explore his or her own cultural identity by providing facts to inform his or her writing partner's draft.
Basic readings on the writing process are provided in the Teacher Reading section. These will help teachers prepare for implementing this unit and will be especially useful for new teachers or for those not generally charged with writing instruction. These include several classics in the field, as well as some newer pieces. In the Background Materials section, handouts are provided for review or basic instruction on the writing process and on the components of a story such as characterization, setting, or theme. Student Handouts are provided wherever required and several optional choices are available.
EQUIPMENT
& MATERIALS
This unit was designed to be implemented through a blend of traditional
classroom writing process instruction and Internet exchange. Therefore, it would
be best to have a computer in the classroom with Internet access and input capability
for all student authors. This can be handled in a number of ways. During class
time in the classroom or in computer labs, at home, or by dropping in during
free time to the class or lab to key in the stories. All reference
materials for the teacher, background
materials for the students, and handouts
are provided on the web site. These materials will print cleanly and quickly
as simple text and will not include the web page graphics in the printout in
the interest of saving time. The materials can also be used within a classroom
without the Internet component, but we encourage teachers to take advantage
of the opportunity to have their students interacting with published authors
as mentors.
ESSENTIAL
QUESTIONS
Essential
questions serve to organize lesson preparation and to drive instruction. They
guide the teachers in developing a unit from a group of lessons. They also guide
the students in constructing conceptual knowledge from the instruction provided
by the unit. The questions underlie all material in the unit, and all students
will be able to be answer them in depth by the end of the unit:
1. What is a cultural group?
2. How is culture expressed?
3. What place do stories play in cultural groups?
4. How are myths and storytelling related?
5. How can storytelling sustain culture?
Consortium of National Arts Education Associations:
Standard 2: They (Students) should be able to communicate proficiently in at least one art form, including the ability to define and solve artistic problems with insight, reason, and technical proficiency.
Standard 3: They should be able to develop and present basic analyses of works of art from structural, historical, and cultural perspectives, and from combinations of those perspectives. This includes the ability to understand and evaluate work in the various arts disciplines.
Standard 4: They should have an informed acquaintance with exemplary works of art from a variety of cultures and historical periods, and a basic understanding of historical development in the arts disciplines, across the arts as a whole, and within cultures.
Standard 5: They should be able to relate various types of arts knowledge and skills within and across the arts disciplines. This includes mixing and matching competencies and understandings in art-making, history and culture, and analysis in any arts-related project.
National Council of Teachers of English:
Standard 3: Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
Standard 4: Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
Standard 5: Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
Standard 6: Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
Standard 7: Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
Standard 9: Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.
Standard 10: Students whose first language is not English make use of their first language to develop competency in the English language arts and to develop understanding of content across the curriculum.
Standard 11: Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
Standard 12: Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
Students will:
Students will interact during a variety of assignments and activities, developed with the intention of having students internalize the writing process, develop a respect for diverse cultures, and gain an introduction to storytelling and mythology:
Author
Lynne Boone Clement
Virtual Exhibits || Storytelling || Lesson Plans || Music Exchange || Online Resources
a special
project of
