REPOR TRE SUMES ED 017 483 TE 000 134 A MODIFIED CURRICULUM GUIDE, LANGUAGE ARTS. SAINT LOUIS PARK PUBLIC SCHOOLS, MINN. EDRS PRICE MF -$1.00 HC-$10.36 257P. DESCRIPTORS- *CURRICULUM GUIDES, *ENGLISH INSTRUCTION, *HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, *LANGUAGE ARTS, *SLOW LEARNERS, ENGLISH CURRICULUM, GRADE 10, GRADE 11, GRADE 12, LOW ABILITY UnrWrei nrr"FA?inNAL "IIIAM"; PYTARn" RrALIrR; ArenNnARY EDUCATION, ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA, THE ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA, CURRICULUM GUIDE IS DESIGNED TO MEET THE NEEDS AND ABILITES OF THE LOW 10 PERCENT OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. BACKGROUND MATERIALS INCLUDE--(1) CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFICATION OF SLOW-LEARNERS AND FOR SELECTION OF TEACHERS OF THEM, (2) A CHART SHOWING THE CORRELATION BETWEEN SLOW-LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE TEACHER OF ENGLISH, (3) A STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY FOR EDUCATING SLOW-LEARNING CHILDREN, AND (4) INSTRUMENTS FOR IDENTIFYING STUDENTS' INTERESTS, ATTITUDES, AND READING HABITS AND FOR OBTAINING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION. SOME SAMPLE UNITS ARE PROVIDED FOR USE AT SPECIFIC GRADE LEVELS. THE UNITS ON THE NOVEL ARE "IT'S LIKE THIS, CAT" FOR 10TH GRADE, "LET THE HURRICANE ROAR," "THE LIGHT IN THE FOREST," AND *THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA" FOR 11TH GRADE, AND THE WOODEN HORSE" FOR 12TH GRADE. COUNSELING UNITS INCLUDE A STUDY OF PERSONALITY IN GRADE 10, OF PERSONAL AND EMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE IN GRADE 11, AND OF OCCUPATICAS IN GRADE 12. UNITS ON THE DRAMA AND THE MASS MEDIA ARE SUGGESTED FOR 10TH- AND 11TM-GRADERS, RESPECTIVELY. OTHER DIVISIONS Orinc. GUIDE ARE DEVOTED TO A LIST OF RAPID READING BOOKS, A READING UNIT, POETRY, LISTENING, SPEECH, AND COMPOSITION, USAGE, AND MECHANICS. AN EXTENSIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS OF SLOW-LEARNERS IS APPENDED TO THE GUIDE. THIS GUIDE, RECOMMENDED BY THE NCTE COMMITTEE TO REVIEW CURRICULUM GUIDES, IS NOTED IN *ANNOTATED LIST OF RECOMMENDED ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY CURRICULUM GUIDES IN ENGLISH, 1967." (SEE'ED 014 490.)CRD) asisararagas r - * s.*. , fc] A MODIFIED CURRICULUM GUIDE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ON/HATING IT.POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. lopgeArts "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY 7)7,z, .ed-c,--.14.. A,- ,QA, TO ERIC AND ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH THE U.S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION. FURTHER REPRODUCTION OUTSIDE Only ForExaminatIon THE ERIC SYSTEM REQUIRES PERMISSION OF REMOVE THE COPYRIGHT OWNER." PLEASEDO NOT St. .Couia Pa* Pubic%BA St. .Coui6 Pak, Othatenta. ST. LOUIS PARK SENIOR HIGH "Modified" ENGLISH CURRICULUM FOREWORD % 4 This curriculum guide is the result of a need for knowing what to teach, and how to teach, those students in the St. Louis Park Senior High School who are classi- fied as slow learners. Two basic assumptions served as guides to the English department in this under- taking: (1) all children cannot learn all of the skills outlined in the usual language arts program, and (2) neither is there a need to do so. The job of the teachers of English is now one of deciding which skills will be of most worth to slow learners in their post-high school worlds, and which skills they will be able to develop to an adequate degree. It is our sincere belief that these objectives can be attained without destroy- ing the initiative, originality, and imagination of individual teachers. Several members of the Senior High School English department participated in the preliminary work involved in this curriculum guide, but special acknowledgement for its final form is due Ni'. David Litsey, Chairman of the Senior High School English department. Every member of the writing team subscribes to the philosophy that curriculum evaluation and revision, to be of real and lasting value, must be continuous. This curriculum guide, therefore, should not be looked upon as a completed and final effort. The St. Louis Park School Board is to be commended for its recognition of the need for this publication. The appropriation of necessary funds for its preparation is deeply appreciated by the entire staff. We are confident that this guide will be in constant use and will ultimately result in benefits to the students of St. Louis Park Senior High School through improved instructional practices. Edward Fo 'trier Director of Secondary Education Harold R. Ene3tvedt Superintendent of Schools FOREWORD At St. Louis Park there has long been a feeling that we have been neglecting the bottom range of our English classes. This neglect seems historically to have occurred not from any dislike of orrevulsion toward the slowlearned himself, but rather from a paralyzing feeling of inadequacy andineptness indealing with his problems and arriving at any satisfactory solution. But there persisted a faith that in a democracy every child should have the opportunity to progress at his own rate of learning,to find a measure of satisfaction in his own achievement, and to share in a program suited to hisown abilities andneeds. This course of study, however, could become feasible only after a group of teachers were willing to partake in the arduous project. Begun in the fall of 1964 and completed in May, 1965, the curriculum construction involved countless hours of work on the part of Jack Alwin at the tenth grade and Barbara Sraigala and Dave Linnat the twelfth grade. Ishould liketo thank these wonderful people for the invaluable assistance they gave me and for theuncompensated timethey were willing to devote to the work.They assure me they became better teachers in the process. The counseling department, especiallyour liaison, Keith Dawson,provided wise advice and material: aseitutence in the project.The precise nature of the counselors' cooperation is self-evident throughout the curriculum. The teachers engaged in the project decided upon a totally new point of idepartne for the curriculum. It is not a watered-down version ofthe "Standard" Curriculum; rather it has a point of viewbased on the weds andcapacities of these studPats in thearea of communication.In constructing it we tried to begin frost:,avoiding the shibboleths and sacred cows of "English."Indeed, it is, in one,,sense, not an "English" curriculum at all; it is a course of study designed to a/ip thedisadvan- taged student for a demanding modern world. The things one thinks ofwhen one thinks of "English" will not always be found init.The most signalomission will be that of granular and the classics of literature. For the slow learner these have always more or less been the confused product of wishful thinking gleaned from the meadow of easy assumption. There loss should not be mourned. The curriculum has been designed to be used, not to be leafed through.It is suggestive rather than peremptory in design, containing countless helps for the receptive and reflective teacher- -sample units, modelapproaches, and proven mater- la/a. Only the chalk-board pedagogy, which must be supplied by the genius of the teacher, has been omitted. Finally,I should like to thank the administration forits encouragement and help in the project. This help was tangibly demonstrated by the hiring of a semester of teacher-aid relief for myself, and occasionally, for the comaittee members. Also I was permitted to attend the N.C.T.E. Study Group on the Slow Learner at the 1964 Cleveland convention. Itwas here that the impetus was received to forge ahead into a relatively unchartered area. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page General Material A Philosophy for Slow-Learning Children Identification and Selection OOOOOOOOOOO OOOOO . 2 Comparison of Data for "Modified" and "Enriched" English students 4 Realistic and Far-Reaching Goals for the Slow Learner 6 The Teacher cf. the Slow Learner 7 Helping the Slow Learner in English 10 What Can Be Expected of theSlow Learner . OOOOOOOO OOOOO . 18 Suggested Questionnaire forthe First Day of School_ o o e 20 22 Reading Habits Inventory . OOOOO 0 . OOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reading Unit 23 The Novel and the Slow Learner. , . OOOOO . OOOOOO Sample Novel Units 10th It's Like ThisCat. 6110000*****0006006.0 51 11th Let the Hurricane Roar..0 OOOOOO ,.. OOOOOOOOO 56 9 66 The Light in the Forest . , . OOOOOOOO . 0 , . The Old Man and the Sea. t s 2 OOOOOO 0 0 OOOOO 72 12th Th Wooden Horse v r 410t00 0* 77 G I 81 Rcipid Reading Books . o OOOOO a-- 0 C4PC Poetry With the Slow LearrpzOOOOO .. 92 Composition, Usage, and Mechanics Pr-face. , 7 OOOOOOO c . OOOOOOOO . 102 Usage. 40Ga 0 44O OOOOOO 260 OOOOOO 103 SpellingOOOOOOOO . ir 000a 108 Punctuation. 6 2 2 0oC2. 4100.0 Os* lotto 112 113 Capitalization , . 0 .3 c oo 0 Composition Samples. - 3 9 9 9 0 3 114 119 Listening C 0 0 C 2 1 0 0 f Speech, 0 00 4104' 2 0 0 0 9 0 0 6 O 0 6 122 Sample Unit-Counseling 10th Grade-Personality Umt.... 3 134 Grade Peron31 and Emotional Adjustment . 149 -Developing a Philosophy of Life . ,... 0 . 0 . 154 12th Grade- TheWorld of JobsLSee Academic Unit/ Academic Units 10th Grade- .Dramaand the Slow Learner. 157 11th Grade - Mass Media of Communication 189 12th Grade- The World of Jobs. 203 Appendix Bibliography. OOOOOOOOOOOO . 6 r 230 CO 1 ST. LOUIS PARK SCHOOLS A PHILOSOPHY FOR SLOW LEARNING CHILDREN We believe that classes specifically designed for slow learners are extremely important in the lives of the particular children involved.This is because of the unique problems; backgrounds; attitudes_ and values with which thesechildren often approach a learning experience. School personnel should attempt to identify and understand these differences. We believe that the program for these children should recognize the dignity of each child, regardless of his ability level, his past record of achievement and moti.