John's+Terrific+Ten+Lessons

John Lanphear ENGL 409 Summative Unit Lessons

American Counter Culture

Lesson 1: An introduction to American Counter Culture Description: Counter culture in America today is in the media more than it has ever been. With things like the Tea Party movement, the Occupy Wall Street movement, and even those with ideas getting blogs where they can speak their minds are all examples of counter culture, and ones that are very prevalent in today's media. To start our unit off, we will have a brief lecture about some of the counter culture movements that have occurred in America, starting with the one that occurred at the start of our country (the American Revolution), moving through the Civil War, Women's Suffrage, the Civil Rights Movement, the Anti-War Movement right into modern times, talking about things like the Te Party Movement, the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the Gay Rights movement. The lecture will only last for 15 to 25 minutes, and will only BRIEFLY cover the topics listed. After the lecture, the students will be given their copies of //Fahrenheit 451.// The rest of the class will be spent discussing how the book ties into the unit's topic of 'Counter Culture in America..' Homework: Read the first half of the first chapter (The Hearth and the Salamander)

Lesson 2: An introduction to //Fahrenheit 451// Description: Why is //Fahrenheit 451// such a controversial book? This lesson will start with a brief quiz on the first chapter. After the quiz, which should take no more that 5 minutes at the beginning of class, the students will be asked to participate in a lecture and discussion about why the book has been so controversial. Homework: Finish The Hearth and the Salamander

Lesson 3:Counter culture poetry Description: Today's lesson, will be centered around some examples of counter culture poetry that have been written. The primary focus will be the works of some of the traditional works of poets like Emerson, Thoreau, and Frost, however, other poets like Ferlinghetti and Mali will be looked at as well. After a brief discussion about what it means to be a counter culture poet, the students will be given time to start their own counter culture poem. Homework: Read Chapter 2 (The Sieve and Sand) and start writing a poem that would be considered counter culture

Lesson 4: Counter culture non-fiction Description: The primary focus of today will be examples of news articles written by the likes of Hunter Thompson and Bernard Shaw, and comparing them to modern day 'articles' or blog posts. The students will be asked to pick an event and write about it. The event has to be current Homework: Read the first half of Chapter 3 (Burning Bright) and start writing a non-fiction piece. Bring in a book that they feel should be banned from schools do to it's content.

Lesson 5: The one where Mr. Lanphear gets in trouble Description: A big theme in Fahrenheit //451// was censorship by the government. The first part of class will be spent with the students getting into groups with other students and discussing their books. They will need to create a short write up explaining why their books are controversial and why they should or shouldn't be taught in the classroom.

The second part of the lesson will be the students explaining why each of their books are so controversial. They will then burn (either symbolically or literally, depending on if the administration will allow it and the weather). Homework: Finish reading Burning Bright

Lesson 6: An introduction to //1984// Description: After a brief quiz on Fahrenheit //451//, the students will be introduced to George Orwell's //1984//. The main focus of the lecture will be a brief explanation of what the global political climate was in the 1980s. The students will be given the rest of the time to finish up their poems and counter culture writings. Homework: Read 1984 Book I and finish counter culture poetry and other writings.

Lesson 7: Presentation day! Description: Students will be required to share either their counter culture poetry or other writing (or both for extra credit). Homework:Read 1984 Book II

Lesson 8: Art day! Description: The students will be asked to wear clothes they can get messy today. We will briefly look at different examples of counter culture art work, specifically examples form the Occupy Wall-street Movement, as well as from WWII and the Civil Rights Movement. We will then engage in the creation of counter culture paintings, drawings and signs. Their finished artwork will be displayed around the school. Homework:Read 1984 Book III

Lesson 9: Paper day! Description: There will be a short quiz about //1984//. Afterward, students will be given the assignment sheet and rubric to their final paper for the unit, which will be one comparing the topics brought up in the two novels, the articles, and the art work we have seen, against the current global climate. The paper will more or less, be using the readings we have done as a framework through which the students will write about our world today. The rest of the day will be given to students to do research on their own and to ask questions. Homework: Start paper discussing how the issues brought up in Fahrenheit //451// and //1984// are still relevant in today's society.

Lesson 10: What do you think is counter culture? Description: The final activity the students will be given is to bring in examples of things they think are counter culture that we have not talked about. They will have specific eras they are looking for. Each student will be asked to do a short write up (half a page to a full page) about each example they find. They will then be placed into a group, at random. Based on their group assignment will correspond to which example they must present to the class. Homework: Bring in three examples of counter culture writing; one from the past year, one from the past ten years, and one from 50 to 70 years ago.