Brittaney's+Book+Rationale

Brittaney Gardner Engl 409

Unit Rationale The Lincoln Consolidated school district is a mixture of Caucasian and African American students, with the exception of a few Hispanic, Asian/pacific islander, and American Indian/Alaskan native students. The high school specifically is below the state average of Caucasian students and above the state average for AfricanAmerican students. Also, there are a large number of bi-racial students compared to many other districts in the state. The school is located in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan. As of 2010, the township had a population of 53,362. The racial and ethnic makeup of the town follows Lincoln High School closely with a population of 58.4% Caucasian, 32.8% African American, 0.4% Native American, 2.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.6% from some other race and 4.6% from two or more races. 4.6% were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The median income for a household in the township was $46,460, and the median income for a family was $55,131. Therefore, the population is a mixture of middle-lower class and lower-class. Taking a closer look at Lincoln High School, it is apparent that the majority of high school students come from the middle-lower class. This was evident in the fact that only 10% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, compared to the state average of 42%. In addition, the students’ attendance rate is above average at 96%. However, the MME scores for 11th grade students at Lincoln High school for reading and writing are not as encouraging. The reading test scores for 2011 are 52%, compared to the state average of 63%. Also, the writing test scores for 2011 are 28%, compared to the state average of 47%. This means that a change in the curriculum is necessary at this point, in order to not only raise the scores dramatically, but to raise the student’s overall understanding and comprehension of the English core subject. I plan on teaching a single-genre poetry unit for 11th grade students. I plan to introduce the students to various forms of poetry and have them write their own poetry at every opportunity. Since poetry is often a difficult subject for students, we will start out by exploring simpler poems by new and older authors, gradually building to the more difficult texts. However, the difficult texts are also crucial to add into the curriculum in order to ensure the student’s readiness for college level English expectations. Poetry encompasses many of the same literary devices of prose and drama, and then some, which will inevitably build the students’ overall knowledge base of the subject area. Therefore, I believe this unit is appropriate for the age level because it is an upper-grade level, and all students will benefit from this area, whether they are college-bound or not because poetry is largely about exploring oneself. I am hoping to accomplish the students’ taking ahold of their autonomous self, as much as an appreciation of the subject. Students will not only explore various poetry forms, but make their own poetry choices. The community’s demographics show that the majority of students are Caucasian and African American, which is a great opportunity for students to explore poets outside their own demographics in order to learn more about other cultures, compared to their own. However, it is also crucial that they are introduced to poets of their same cultural identity, so that they can relate to the text. On top of that, the large number of bi-racial students will add an interesting twist in the classroom as well. Perhaps, the discovery of other bi-racial poets will spark their interests in a way that prose never did. The summative assessment will be to write an analytical essay of a chosen poem and to present one form of poetry to the class, in addition to its history. I am hoping to accomplish the student’s understanding of the genre and its concepts, as well as, giving them a chance to present to the class in their own unique manner. The various texts they read will be half teacher-selected and half student-selected, in order to keep their interest peaked and to help them keep their sense of autonomy, which is crucial in a poetry unit because up until this point it is likely that they have had bad experiences with poetry, due to the lack of engaging texts they have been introduced to. Students will explore poetry online, and in numerous texts the teacher brings to the classroom. Some of those texts will include poems such as “Death in Leamington” by John Betjeman and “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks. Poems such as these two range from sad and realistic to fun and silly. Overall, the students will have an opportunity to grasp important poetry concepts, as well as, find self-worth and success in their own poetry writings.