DOCUMENT RESUME ED 119 181 CS 202 401 AUTHOR Spann, Sylvia, Ed.; Culp, Mary Beth, Ed. TITLE Thematic Units in Teaching English and the Humanities. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, PUB" DATE 75 NOTE 180p.; Some material removed due to copyright restrictions prior to pagination AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Rd., Urbana, Illinois 61801 (Stock No. 53739--loose leaf $4.95 non-members, $4.50 member; Stock No. 53720--with binder $6.95 non-member, $6.50 member) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.83 HC-$10.03 Plus Postage DESCRIPTORS Death; *English Instruction; Film Production; Folk Culture; *Humanities Instruction; Lesson Plans; Literary Genres; Mass Media; Older Adults; Poetry; Secondary Education; Teaching Guides; *Thematic Approach IDENTIFIERS Utopia ABSTRACT This book is dedicated to the use of a humanistic, thematic approach to the teaching of English. The chapters deals with such topics as teaching poetry, teaching American folklore and tradition, and helping students achieve greater self-knowledge and self-understanding through using the "speaking voice" in oral and written communication. The book also contains units on filmmaking, media and the representation of life, death, utopia, the concept of the hero, individual conscience versus established authority, growing old, the world of the occult, sports literature, and the future. Each unit is written by a different teacher and contains the teacher's comments on the unit as well as an overview, the general objectives of the unit, and measures for evaluating the objectives of the unit. A daily lesson plan is delineated and resources for the unitsare listed. (TS) *********************************************************************** Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished * materials not available from other sources. ERIC makes every effort * * to obtain the best copy available. Nevertheless, items of marginal * * reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality * * of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not * responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original. * *********************************************************************** U.S. DIEliAllt.TMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS SEEN REPRO- DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN- ATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS Thematic STATED 00 NOT NECESSARILY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF Units EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY 4_4 CO inTeaching r i l 4 English Ca U./ and the Humanities 2 Edited by Sylvia Spann and Mary Beth Culp Committeeon Thematic Units National Council of Teachers of English 1111 Kenyon Road Urbana, Illinois 61801 Committee on Mary Beth Culp and Sylvia Spann, University of South Alabama, Co-chairs Thematic Units inBetty Blanchard, McGill-Toolen High School, Mobile, Alabama Literature and theMaxine Crawford, Baker High School, Mobile, Alabama Humanities, Janine Edwards, Chalmette High School, Louisiana 1974-75 Jane S. Everest, McGill-Toolen High School, Mobile, Alabama f:larilyn Kahl, Bassett High School, La Puente, California Kay Kimbrough, University of South Alabama Kurt Leonhard, Abramson High School, New Orleans, Louisiana Zora Rashkis, Culbreth School, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Juanita H. Schroeder, New Orleans Public Schools Helen Wood, Mobile, Alabama Paul O'Dea, NCTE, ex officio NCTE Editorial Charles R. Cooper, State University of New York at Buffalo Board Evelyn M. Copeland, Fairfield University Bernice E. Cullinan, New York University Richard Lloyd-Jones, University of Iowa Frank Zidonis, Ohio State University Book Design: Rob Carter PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS COPY- FLGHTE0 MATERIAL. HAS BEEN GRANTED BY National Council of NCTE Stock No. 53739 (loose leaf) Teachers of English NCTE Stock No. 53720 (with binder) TO ERIC AND ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH THE NATIONAL IN STITUTE OT EDUCATION FURTHER REPRO Copyright © 1975 by the National Council of Teachers of English. (=DON OUTSIDE THE EPIC SYSTEM RE OuIRES PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. OWNER Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title: Thematic units in teaching English and the humanities. Includes bibliographies. 1.English philologyStudy and teaching (Secondary) 2. Language arts (Secondary)I.Spann, Sylvia. II. Culp,Mary Beth. PE65.T5 420'.7'12 75-37626 ISBN 0-8141-5372-0 ring binder ISBN 0-8141-5373-9 loose leaf 3 Preface For many years we have grappled with a way of expressing in specific, concrete terms our philosophy of teaching English. Each time we attempted to defend or promote our ideas we wound up by saying, apologetically, "It just seems right." We began units and lesson plans with rigid structure, specific objectives, tests already made to evaluate those objectives, and then found ourselves going in directions the students took us, feeling it was right, excited by the unexpected learning outcomes, but nagged by the guilt that we weren't exactly following the unit plan. Now with the confidence and assurance that comes with experiencewe have come to realize what is for us a basic fact: When an activity feelsas though it is valuable or worth doing, it is worth doing. We have learned that the sensing of a situation is oftentimes more trustworthy than the justification the intellect provides. We also are dedicated to the use of a humanistic, thematic approach to the teaching of English. We have experimented with other approaches and have dis- cussed the advantages and disadvantages of each, but in our experiencea con- cern with values has been the most successful way of getting students involved in English the way they are involved in life---zquestioning, reflecting, probing,won- dering, and sometimes rebelling. An English program whichuses language arts as a vehicle for exploring the problems and questions inherent in the human condition seems to us the most valid as well as the most practical approach. Our feelings are not, however, based merely on our personal preferences and philosophies; they derive also from our observations of society and ofour students in particular. Any perceptive teacher has observed that adolescentsare attempting to develop values in a confusing world. A thematic approach gives them an opportunity to integrate all of the language arts in relation to a theme or a problem, as they do in real life. In answer to the charge that in a thematic approach a student missessome of the classics and is exposed to "inferior" literature,or non-literature, simply because it happens to fit the theme, we would reply that no.one book willsave a student, help him grow up, or teach him the valuable' lessia 'of life; the habit of careful and thoughtful reception and transmission of communication concerning values is possibly the most valuable skill our students will need. In the world of future shock such a skill assumes more and more significance. These points of view have led us to gather units that lend themselves toour particular philosophy of teaching English. They are units whichuse the humanis- tic approach in that an outcome of each should be the development ofsome important values through the study of literature and language. The units have an open-ended structure. The length of timemay be easily adapted so that any one unit can be expanded, if the interest of the students justifies it, or shortened, if time is a factor. The materials suggestedare illustrative rather than prescriptive and may be used merely as a point of departure for the individual teacher. Similarly, the ideas and activities sketched outmay be used as a springboard for another's originality and creativity. The units should be used primarily for direction and shculd never be considered rigid. The units include a listing of general objectives but no specific ones be- cause we believe specific objectives are too personal and individual to be dic- tated. Teachers must know their students (that is, in a humanistic senseas well as a psychometric one) before deciding on specifics. 4 For similar reasons, evaluation techniques for each unit are suggested rather than prescribed. The direction a teacher takes in formulating specific objec- tives from the general objectives preceding each unit will necessarily determine the evaluation techniques to be used. Both specific objectives and measurement techniques should be dictated by students' needs and interests and by the direc- tion and emphasis within the considered topic. Since the units are project and activity-oriented, evaluation may assume a variety-of forms, of which pen and paper testing may serve as simply one. The units are intended for the general secondary level. Outside that broad spectrum there is no particular audience suggested. The ideas and activities are such that they could be adapted within a span of several grade levels, and we prefer not to restrict the studies to any one age or group. Some of the units in our collection have been used successfully at both the middle school and high school levels without adjustment for age differences. We are certain that the essential value of our collection of units lies in the fact that the ideas are not those of one or two people but of a variety of teachers with differing backgrounds, experiences, and approaches. Some units are by stu- dents involved in their first laboratory experience; some are by student teachers: Some are the efforts of new teachers, and others of teachers who have been in the profession for years. There are units included that represent collaborative workperhaps written by a graduate student and taught by a student teacher under the supervision of a cooperating teacher and revised and commented on by all three jointly. But no matter the origin of the plans themselves, they all share the commonality of having been actually taught and revised, and they all embody our philosophy of teaching English.