Unit: Latin American Literature

Liz Tezak November 5, 2008 Design an Assessment

STAGE 1:DESIRED RESULTS

Established Goals/Objectives: Students will be able to: o Recognize various forms of literature o Demonstrate an understanding of critical perspectives o Analyze a variety of texts for cultural voice and purpose o Create an array of personal writing pieces o Interpret aspects of minority literature o Examine the use of short stories, novels, informational texts, poetry, etc. o Demonstrate their ability to research an author or issue

Understandings: Various genres offer multiple options for perspective, interpretation, and purpose. Thus, it is important for individuals to make cross-cultural connections between what they read, and their own personal experiences and prior knowledge. Cultural literature becomes a vehicle for one to be heard and understood

Essential Questions: What does it mean to be a Latin American author? How does our self-identified culture shape our experiences? Whose perspective is correct? How do others’ experiences shape our understanding? How do various types of texts speak to their intended audiences?

Michigan State Standards: CE 1.2.3 Write, speak, and create artistic representations to express personal experience and perspective (e.g., personal narrative, poetry, imaginative writing, slam poetry, blogs, webpages).

CE 1.4.1 Identify, explore, and refine topics and questions appropriate for research.

CE 1.5.4 Use technology tools to produce polished written and multimedia work

CE 2.2.3 Interpret the meaning of written, spoken, and visual texts by drawing on different cultural, theoretical, and critical perspectives. CE 3.1.7 Analyze and evaluate the portrayal of various groups, societies, and cultures in literature and other texts.

CE 3.1.9 Analyze how the tensions among characters, communities, themes, and issues in literature and other texts reflect human experience.

CE 3.2.1 Recognize a variety of literary genres and forms (e.g., poetry, drama, novels, short stories, autobiographies, biographies, multi-genre texts, satire, parody, allegory) and demonstrate an understanding of the way in which genre and form influence meaning.

CE 3.3.4 Demonstrate knowledge of American minority literature and the contributions of minority writers.

STAGE 2: ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE

Performance Tasks: Students will choose one option from the Unit Project Handout. They will turn in a written proposal in advance to approve their topic, project choice, and explain why they chose it. Class periods will be set aside for group workshops, as well as individual working time, including one-on-one time with me. Every project must include a written reflection to explain their thinking process, how they arrived at the finished project, further description or clarification of the project’s aspects, and what they believe they learned more from the text by creating the project.

Other Evidence: o Project Proposal o Reading or Organization Checks/Status Reports o Observation during Workshop o One-on-One Conferences o Project o Written Reflection

STAGE 3: LEARNING PLAN

Learning Activities: o Weekly journaling of readings o Class discussion – Small group discussion o Small group discussion activity for Cisneros’ text – one group/one chapter o Lit circles for novel choice o Advertisement activity to promote critical perspectives o Lessons on how to research and use the media we find o Multi-media workshop o Critical responses to media representations of Latinos o Anticipation guides/KWLs/Silent Discussions (Beers 128) o SWBS activity/Sketch to Stretch/Most Important Word (Beers Ch 8) o Group presentations of author bio/movie bio/short stories/poems

Unit: Latin American Literature

Novels:

Desert Blood – Alicia Gaspar De Alba House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros

Choose One: Dreaming in Cuban - Cristina Garcia Nilda – Nicholasa Mohr How to Be a Chicana Role Model – Michele Serros And The Earth Did Not Devour Him – Tomas Rivera

Short Stories:

“Woman Hollering Creek” – Sandra Cisneros “The Curcuit” – Francisco Jimenez “Speaking in Tongues…” – Gloria Anzaldua “The Cariboo Café” – Helena Maria Viramontes

Poetry:

“To Live in the Borderlands Means You” – Gloria Anzaldua “We Call Them Greasers” – Gloria Anzaldua “Loose Woman” – Sandra Cisneros “Legal Alien” – Pat Mora “Poem For The Young White Man Who Asked Me How I, An Intelligent, Well-Read Person, Could Believe In The War Between Races” - Lorna Dee Cervantes “Jorge the Church Janitor Finally Quits” - Martin Espada Michele Serros’ poetry readings on her MySpace

Movies: YouTube clips Bordertown Historias y Testigos: Ni una muerta mas! Latin American Literature Unit Project

It requires something more than personal experience to gain a philosophy or point of view from any specific event. It is the quality of our response to the event and our capacity to enter into the lives of others that help us to make their lives and experiences our own. Emma Goldman

Looking back at the past eight weeks, the time has come to demonstrate what we have learned. This assignment is intended for you to reflect on your learning and demonstrate your knowledge through all that we have accomplished throughout this Latin American Literature unit. Each prompt offers a variety of genres, intended audiences, and ways of thinking about the content we have discussed in class. Feel free to go in whichever direction you prefer, however be sure to explain the how and why in your proposal.

The Neighborhood Several of the texts that we have encountered deal with characters that live in neighborhoods (Nilda, Esperanza, the women in Garcia’s novel, the young boy in Rivera’s novel). With this in mind, create an elaborate map that represents the life that surrounds the character you choose. Then, create a map of your own neighborhood. Your map should depict the things/people that surround you, and how this affects who you are as an individual. Your reflection should include how the comparison of the maps furthers your understanding and connection with that character and text. (254)

Social Issue While some problems in the world may make one individual feel helpless, we must understand that words have power. Just by bringing awareness to those around you (friends, family, classmates), you are forcing others to become conscious of the problems that affect the people we care about. This project asks that you further research the issue brought up in Desert Blood or another issue that you can connect with one of the characters in any of the texts (gay rights, political intervention, Cuban relations, etc). You will then create a website, film a media segment, write a letter to congress (or something you propose) that will bring awareness of your topic.

Author/Character Bio While applications such as Facebook and MySpace may be spaces for fun outside of the classroom, they may also be useful tools in learning. This project asks you to create a Wikipedia site, Facebook, or MySpace page for a character or author that we have discussed. This may sound easy, but beware! You will be graded on the depth and breadth of your knowledge and personal connection with the character/author. This should further your understanding of one text and will explain this in your reflection as well. Perspective Taking Write your own short story or poem that illustrates an identity struggle that either you struggle with or have insight about. Be wary not to stereotype a culture in which you are not fully versed! Your text could also mirror that of Dreaming in Cuban, where you offer multiple people’s points of view on a similar topic. Although the majority of this project is writing, you must also turn in a written reflection on how you chose your topic and how it connects to the texts.

Graphic Novel Choose any of the short stories that we have discussed and create a graphic novel to represent its topic. Much time and thought should be placed on how and why you represent the characters in the ways that you choose. This project offers the freedom of creativity that many of you potential artists will enjoy.

Latin American Voices In the form of an interview that will be audio recorded or video recorded, you will assume the role of the media interviewer. Imagine that you are crossing the country to gather the voices of many Latin Americans. Whether it is through written or oral interviews, the final product will be in some form of media. Once again, the reflection will connect your findings to themes throughout the texts. (361)

Collage/Montage Whether it is on a poster or made digitally, you will create a representation of the themes found throughout any of the texts you choose. You may use clip art, movie clips, sound bytes, pictures, text, etc. to represent the themes and issues relevant to Latin American men and women. Your reflection will connect your creation, thinking, and the texts.

Propose Your Own! The directions are just that! You will need to meet with me ahead of time to work out the parameters of your project and how it connects to the material from class. I am open to anything and everything; so don’t be afraid to come to me! This is an excellent outlet for your creativity and personality to shine through. Design an Assessment Reflection

I have attached a bulleted description of my unit on Latin American literature, however I edited it from the original found on my curriculum map. I specified the poems and short stories, swapped some of the novels, and added pieces of media as well. Also, I decided to make the unit last eight weeks, rather than six. While reflecting, I noticed that there is a lot of reading to be done for this unit. This unit may work well with an honors or higher level course. Alternatively, I have offered an option for the final four novels. Students will choose one of the four novels and then work in lit-circles to give summaries of themes and main points to the class in groups, based on which book they chose. In this way, all of the students will understand the various themes that cross each of the texts, while eliminating a few hundred pages worth of reading.

I feel as though my Backward Design outline and student assignment handout are self explanatory of the assessment I plan to implement for this unit. My main concern was to create a set of optional projects for students of multiple intelligences to find their niche in this unit. In the end, I want my students to walk away from this feeling as though they have found a meaningful and personal connection between their prior knowledge and the content of these texts.