ENGL 611
The Teaching of Literature
Spring
2015 M 7-9:30 pm
Professor Betsy
Klimasmith Classroom:
Wheatley 6/047
Office Hours: M 5-6
and by appointment Email:
betsy.klimasmith@umb.edu
Office: Wheatley
6/089 Office
Phone: 617.287.6760
Class Blog: http://engl611s15.blogspot.com/
Designed for prospective and practicing teachers, this seminar is an
investigation of how and why we teach literature in the secondary school and
college settings. We will read literary texts from a teacher’s perspective,
analyze educational research, create unit plans, demonstrate lessons, and
respond critically to each other’s work. To clarify and reassess the goals of
literature pedagogy, we will attempt to strike a balance between developing
practical tools for classroom use and examining theories about teaching
and learning. We will address teaching literary genre, teaching canonical and
non-canonical texts, teaching poetic and narrative form, and teaching with
unexpected materials. In the spirit of collaboration, the seminar will draw on
our collective interests, expertise, and experiences to identify
useful resources and strategies that will assist our 21st century-students
in their responses to literary texts. Students will be expected to teach a
lesson to the class, generate
practical materials including syllabi, assignment sheets, and lesson plans,
reflect upon and write about their developing pedagogy, and
develop a curriculum unit to teach a literary text to a specific student
audience.
Literary Texts:
Anderson, M. T. Feed.
Hurston, Zora
Neale, Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Orwell, George, 1984.
Shakespeare,
William, Macbeth.
Pedagogy Texts:
Blau, Sheridan. The Literature Workshop:
Teaching Texts and Their Readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2003.
Scholes, Robert. The Crafty Reader. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.
Smith, Michael W. and Jeffrey D. Wilhelm.
Fresh Takes on Teaching Literary
Elements: How to Teach What Really Matters About Character, Setting, Point of
View, and Theme. New York: Scholastic, 2010.
Grading Student
Papers: https://cte.umd.edu/teaching/resources/GradingHandbook.pdf
(This pdf and selected articles/chapters will
be available through the Healey Library website and/or linked to the course
blog: http://engl611s15.blogspot.com/. You must have a Healey Library barcode to
access the library’s resources from off-campus.)
§ Blau, Scholes and Smith should all be
available at the UMB bookstore. These
and the literary texts may also be available (new or used) at other area
bookstores or online.
§ I may hand out additional readings in
class, email them to you as pdfs, or upload them to the course website.
Therefore,
§ You need to check your UMB email
frequently or link it to your active email account so that you will receive
messages and updates sent via WISER.
WORK: Graduate education relies upon and
builds your capacity for both independent and cooperative learning.
Everyone in a 600-level course must carry his or her weight: I expect you to
prepare all assigned reading thoughtfully and scrupulously, hand in work on time,
and show up with something to say, with or without explicit prompting from me.
These are your most basic responsibilities.
Thus, I expect
you to have done your reading and/or written work by the time you get to class
(often you will need to email written work to me BEFORE class starts). I expect that you will be prepared to discuss
the work you have done. If you are
confused by the reading or feel that you are in over your head, be prepared to
ask questions or come to see me during my office hours.
Generally, you
will submit assignments via email by the Monday morning our class meets, which
gives me time to assemble your responses before our class meets on
Thursday. I will respond to most of your
assignments electronically.
Short
papers: Much of the
writing you will do for this class will be short papers (1-2 pages, single or
double-spaced) due by 9am on Mondays.
Hot
Topics: you will write
six “Hot Topics” papers on ONE of the two “hot topics” listed for class
discussion below. The topics for these 1-2
page papers vary, but whatever the topic my expectation is that these will be
thoughtful, polished pieces of writing.
In my own work, I find that writing short, pithy work helps to develop
my writing and thinking muscles like nothing else. I hope to pass that
discipline on to you. These will be awarded
full credit or returned to you with comments so you can rewrite them for
credit. Hot topics papers are due on
Monday mornings, unless you are teaching your model class or writing your model
class reflection; more on that below. Late papers (received after 9 am) will
not receive credit.
Model
Class Reflection: Reflective
paper on your model class. How did it go? What worked? What didn’t? What
surprised you? What was the biggest challenge for you? What might you change if
you were to teach this again? This 1-2 page reflection is due on the Monday
following your Model Class.
Pedagogy
Statement: You will
write a 2-3 page (single spaced) Pedagogy Statement that lays out your beliefs,
goals, and approaches to teaching and learning.
Model
Class: You will teach a 30-minute literature class in which you, as the teacher, teach the class, who
play the students. Your lesson should
help to illuminate some aspect of the novel, play, or poetry we are reading
during that section of the course. The
lesson will be followed by a debrief in which you can talk about what you hoped
to get across to the students, and the students (now back in colleague mode)
give you feedback on your lesson. You will then write a short paper reflecting
on the experience.
The planning/activities you do for your
model class may comprise part of your Unit Plan. The reflection may find its
way into your Pedagogy Statement.
Unit
Plan: You will develop a ten-lesson unit plan for teaching one of
our course texts in the middle, high school, or college classroom. This assignment isn’t especially difficult,
but it will require a good deal of time. You will want to start work on it
before the middle of the semester.
Further instructions will follow.
Grading:
Short papers: 25%
Model Class: 20%
Final Portfolio (Unit
Plan plus Pedagogy Statement): 35%
Participation (Feed minilesson, daily participation):
20%
Assignment Distribution: We
will read and discuss your responses to course assignments frequently this
semester. Sometimes distribution of responses will happen via WISER; other
assignments will be posted on the class blog.
Do pay attention to the specific instructions for each written
assignment as they will vary over the course of the semester.
Communicating:
· I look forward to meeting with you to discuss
your work in the seminar. I am available to meet with you during my scheduled
office hours and by appointment. You can
schedule an appointment with me via the English MA wiki: http://english-ma-program.wikispaces.umb.edu/Appointments. I am on campus on most Mondays, Wednesdays
and Thursdays, though this may change as the semester progresses.
· Email is generally the most convenient way to
reach me, especially over a weekend. Please let me know if you will be unable
to attend a class. If you miss several
classes and/or assignments by midterm, I will suggest that you drop the course.
· I will post any announcements or changes to the
assignment calendar on the class blog and via email. Emails will come to you through WISER, which
mails to your umb.edu account. If you don’t check your umb.edu account
regularly, you should set up forwarding from the umb.edu account to the account
you actually use. You should also sign
yourself up for updates (text, phone etc) from the University regarding campus
closures—just in case!
Disability Accommodations:
Section
504 and the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 offer guidelines for
curriculum modifications and adaptations for students with documented
disabilities. Students may obtain adaptation recommendations from the Lillian
Semper Ross Center (617 287-7430). They must present these recommendations to
each professor by the end of the Add/Drop period.
Plagiarism and Academic
Honesty:
The University Policy on
Academic Standards and Cheating, which includes a lengthy definition and
explanation of plagiarism and its consequences, may be found at the UMB
registrar's web page (http://www.registrar.umb.edu/). In brief, “students may not solicit or use
unauthorized material or assistance for their own benefit and may not offer or
give such assistance to another student. Every written report or similar class assignment
must indicate fully the sources from which the information used is obtained,
and any verbatim quotations or paraphrases must be clearly indicated as such
and properly credited to the source form which they were extracted or adapted.”
If you are at all uncertain about the meaning of plagiarism, please be sure to
discuss it with me.
What follows is a brief
outline of the term’s assignments, which I will amplify as the semester
progresses. Assignments will also be
posted/updated on our class blog: http://engl611s15.blogspot.com/. Please be sure to check your email before you go to
class to be sure that you haven’t missed any updates.
Before Week One: Read Feed by M.T. Anderson
For Monday, February 23: Re-read Feed.
Read Blau,
“From Telling to Teaching” (34-59) and Smith/Wilhelm “Putting Theory Into
Practice” (153-196).
HW: Short Paper 3: Pick an idea or two from the Blau or Smith/Wilhelm
readings for this week that you find particularly compelling, surprising,
useful, or objectionable. Write a short (1-2) page paper thinking about how
this idea resonates with your own experiences or philosophies of teaching and
learning about literature. We will use
this as the basis for class discussion.
Please email Short Paper 3 to me by 9 am
on Monday, February 23
Prepare: Your Feed minilesson.
M Feb 23: Feed
mini lessons; reflections in light of Blau/Scholes/Smith readings.
Discussion of
Model Classes, Hot Topics, and Unit Plan.
Read: 1984, Blau, “Writing Assignments in Literature
Classes” (151-186).
Prepare: Your lesson plan and/or Hot Topic
paper. For the Hot Topic paper, choose
ONE of the two topics for next week’s discussion, and, if appropriate, refer to
class readings (or do some research to find an article that addresses the topic
to refer to in your paper). Please email Hot Topic paper to me by 9 am on
Monday, March 2.
You may also
want to start planning for your unit plan.
FICTION
M Mar 2: 1984. Hot topics: “Owning” the
Text/Reading Journals (in any media)
Model Class and
Discussion: Danielle, Tyler
HW:
Write Hot Topic Paper or Prep Model Class. Please email Hot Topic paper
to me by 9 am on Monday, March 9.
Read: Smith/Wilhelm on setting (Chapters 6 and 7); read Blau, “What’s
Worth Saying About a Literary Text?” (123-150).
Week 6
M Mar 9: 1984. Hot
topics: Group Projects/ Writing Workshops
Model Class and
Discussion: Leanne, Catherine
HW:
Write Hot Topic Paper or Model Class Reflection, or Prep Model Class. Please
email Hot Topic paper to me by 9 am on Monday, March 23.
Read: Blau, “Where do Interpretations Come From?” (97-122); Ravitch,
Diane, “Common Core Standards: Past, Present, Future.” Profession (22 January 2014)
http://profession.commons.mla.org/2014/01/22/common-core-standards-past-present-future/ ; Graff, Gerald, “Clarifying College
Readiness: The Common Core State Standards.” Profession (22 January 2014)
http://profession.commons.mla.org/2014/01/24/clarifying-college-readiness/
M Mar 16 Spring Break: Individual
conferences.
Over the break, read Their Eyes Were Watching God; Maybe
also work on Unit
Plan. I will be around over spring break. If you want preliminary
feedback on your unit plan--or just want to discuss it, please make an
appointment to meet with me over the break.
M Mar 23: 1984. Hot
topics: Building Presentation Skills/Writing and the Common Core
Model Class and
Discussion: Erik, Sarah
HW:
Write Hot Topic Paper or Model Class Reflection, or Prep Model Class. Please email Hot Topic paper to me by 9 am on
Monday, March 23.
HW: Read Smith
on Point of View (Chapters 8, 9, 10), Grading Writing (4-22).
M March 30: Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hot
topics: Planning Writing Assignments/ Grading Writing.
N.B. This class
will be held at my house.
Model Class and
Discussion: Tiril, Erica
HW:
Write Hot Topic Paper or Model Class Reflection, or Prep Model Class. Please
email Hot Topic paper to me by 9 am on Monday, March 30.
Read:
Grading Student Papers
(20-23), Karen Manarin, “Reading Value: Student Choice in Reading Strategies” Pedagogy
(2012) 12(2): 281-297.
M April 6: Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hot Topics: Plagiarism//The bottom 10%
Model Class and
Discussion: Rebecca, Christian
HW:
Write Hot Topic Paper or Model Class Reflection, or Prep Model Class. Please
email Hot Topic paper to me by 9 am on Monday, April 6.
Read: Poems
TBA
Re-Read:
Blau, “Which Interpretation is the Right One?: A Workshop on Literary Meaning”
(60-78), Scholes, “Reading Poetry,” (1-75).
M April 13: POETRY
Hot Topics: How
is the literature class different from this one?/ “Problem-solving” teaching
Model Class and Discussion: Gemma, Jessica
For our next class, read: Macbeth,
Smith/Wilhelm on Characters (Ch 2, 3 and 4), Folger
Shakespeare library Macbeth curriculum
guide: http://www.folger.edu/documents/Folger_Macbeth_cg.pdf
M April 20 NO CLASS: Patriots’ Day Holiday.
If you
want feedback on your unit plan, submit drafted material to me by Friday, April
24.
For class on April 27, please read: Macbeth, Smith/Wilhelm on Characters
(Ch 2, 3 and 4), Folger Shakespeare library Macbeth curriculum
guide: http://www.folger.edu/documents/Folger_Macbeth_cg.pdf
AND
Write Hot Topic paper (Incorporating
Performance/ Difficult Language), Model Class Reflection (Gemma, Jessica), or
prepare model class (Adam, Sarah Grace). Please email Hot Topic/Model Class
Reflections to me by 9 am on Monday, April 27.
DRAMA
M April 27: Macbeth. Hot
Topics: Incorporating Performance/ Difficult Language
Model Class and Discussion: Adam, Sarah Grace
For 5/4: Read Blau The Foundations of
Literary Knowledge (187-218), Simon Mah’s Macbeth Unit Plan:
http://education.library.ubc.ca/files/2011/06/11Simon-Mah-Macbeth-Unit-Plan.pdf
(Pay particular attention to the writing assignments). AND
Write Hot Topic Paper
(Creative”
Assignments/ Cultural capital in the classroom), Model Class Reflection (Adam, Sarah Grace) or prepare Model Class
(Sidonia). Please email Hot Topic/Model Class Reflections to me by 9 am on
Monday, May 4.
M May 4: Macbeth. Hot
Topics: “Creative” Assignments/ Cultural capital in the classroom. Model Class
and Discussion: Sidonia
HW: Read: Smith/Wilhelm, “Looking
Back, Looking Forward” (197-202).
Write Model Class Reflection (Sidonia). Please
email to me by 9 am on Monday, May 11.
Draft Pedagogy Statement; work on Unit Plan.
M May 11: Pedagogy Statements: These should be 1-2 page
single space statements articulating your philosophy and priorities in the
literature classroom. Bring the drafts to class on May 11. We will share our pedagogy statements in roundtable
format. We will also discuss the Final Portfolios.
Th May 14: Reflective Seminar/Evaluations/Final
Portfolios Due.
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