Welcome to the English Language Arts & Literature Guide- The four pillars of Global Education are Investigating the World, Recognizing Perspectives, Communicating Ideas, and Collaborating by Taking Action. Any curriculum and grade-level standards lend themselves to this progression. The progression of texts and standards below begins with an investigation of literature regarding genre, content, and standards. Allowing students choices to read selections that interest them only deepens their engagement and understanding of other cultures. Students engage through reading and writing workshops from the basic story-telling-a literary form as old as time to the art of written and visual persuasion. Investigating the World Essential questions to guide lessons... How does the author introduce the reader to his characters? Why did the author choose specific literary devices to convey the message in his narrative? What motivates the characters to act within the context of a specific setting? What motivated the author to tell this narrative? What response did the author generate from his audience? How do the events in the narrative relate to our culture? How do readers determine accuracy, validity, and credibility of this author's reflection of events? What alternate perspectives of these narratives exist? How do conflicts develop in the narrative? What elements converge to resolve them? What divergent paths would create different resolutions?
These are by no means the only essential questions to drive the inquiry. These questions further discuss perspectives, choices, and bias in fiction and nonfiction genres. The goal is to accept and respect variances in perspectives- even when they clash with our cultural paradigm. Students read a variety of short stories representing all sub-genres of fiction. The story collection represents varied cultures and periods. Viewing conflicts and environments through the eyes of the characters prompt exploration of places and events that shape our global community. Readers become writers as students create original narratives, memoirs, travel articles, and ABC picture books to demonstrate their understanding of the variety in our global community. (SC ELA Middle School Curriculum alignment and Resources document below.) Recognizing Perspectives
In exploring the narrative, students travel vicariously through the protagonists to different parts of the world. A variety of settings provide glimpses of the life lessons and universal truths common to all people in all cultures throughout time. Students discover that traditions, routines, opportunities, and daily life build different perspectives among us. Through research, which encompasses all learning, students analyze the authors' purpose and common themes. Stories passing from one generation to the next comprise the genre we know as myths and legends. The oral tradition taught the earliest lessons to the young. Before the written word, lessons about family, honesty, work, charity, deities, and vice were told and retold to instill the beliefs and values. As time passed, societies became more complex, more advanced in technology and education. Cultures retained their stories and beliefs. Vast movements of people and goods created conflicts among the cultures. Many of these conflicts can be traced to current events, while other disputes seem locked in a time warp from centuries past. Knowing the origin of these perspectives plants a seed of communication. (SC ELA Middle School Curriculum alignment and Resources document below.)
Communicating Ideas
The third aspect is communicating ideas from various perspectives. Students learn to state a claim, defend it with sound logic, appeal to the audience's pathos, and use the ethos of a position. A study of select poetry, speeches, commentaries, and editorials provides structure, context, and content models. Students analyze iconic pieces such as Langston Hughes' protest poetry of the pre-Civil Rights era, Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream," and "Letter from Birmingham Jail." The study of rhetorical devices enables students to communicate effectively through oral and written mediums. The lessons of the rhetorical device connect to the advent of propaganda techniques and devices in the 20th century. The technological age enabled retailers and political entities new venues to affect the ideas and lifestyles of citizens. Students analyze television and print ads for method and audience. Propaganda techniques employed by Adolf Hitler as he rises to power lays the foundation for our novel study of Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayers. The atrocities of the Holocaust lead students to question, could it happen again? Has genocide been relegated as a part of our collective dark history, or does it still occur? (SC ELA Middle School Curriculum alignment and Resources document below.)
Taking Action
The genocide research project begins with stories of individuals from around the globe fleeing atrocities painfully similar to those studied in the Parallel Journeys unit. Students investigate ways the global community provides basic needs for people unable caught in the violence of power struggles. Drawing on the previous units of study throughout the year, students identify one of the sustainable global goals outlined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform. The inquiry process drives the student's plan of action, asking questions about people and places affected by the issues, determining the stakeholders and the organizations already engaged in finding solutions and connecting them to the global community. Students may create a project of their choice that reaches an audience with a specific purpose. Students must research, connect with a group directly involved in the issue, propose and undertake a plan of action to address the issue. (SC ELA Middle School Curriculum alignment and Resources document below.)