Hayley+Kennedy

Hayley Kennedy English 409 William Tucker February 16, 2011 ** Formative Unit Plan: American Born Chinese ** ** Rationale: ** __ American Born Chinese __ by Gene Luen Yang, is a text that is beneficial for any students, parent or teacher to read regardless of age, sex or gender. Through reading the text students will acquire both literacy and thematic elements. The ability to read and comprehend a graphic novel, and define characteristics of a genre is a major literary skill that students will achieve through reading this text. __American Born Chinese__ also includes many thematic elements such as discrimination, prejudice, stereotypes, self- awareness, reflection, and teaches acceptance of your own personal cultural heritage. __American Born Chinese__ is a graphic novel that will be taught alongside Scott McCloud’s __Understanding Comics__. These texts taught in tandem will constitute a genre study that focuses on graphic novels. Through reading the two texts, students will learn important characteristics and elements of graphic novels. As students learn about graphic novels they will also learn how to analyze specifics aspects of a genre. The ability to recognize the characteristics of a genre is a skill that students can apply to any genre they read such as poetry, short stories, novels, micro-fiction etc. Standard 3.1 of the English Language Arts curriculum includes close and contextual literary reading. Exploring the characteristics of a graphic novel, as well as close reading of the text and its themes fall directly into this standard. The genre of a graphic novel will help struggling and reluctant readers. As a non-traditional genre, graphic novels include illustrations, which may help aid in students’ comprehension. Studies have proven that low-level readers increase comprehension and improve vocabulary when reading a graphic novel. Not only will a student have context clues to help them figure out a difficult or new word, but additional illustrations that can convey the meaning. Even without the text, the illustrations can help guide the students in the correct direction or the meaning. Struggling readers are also more likely to be interested and enjoy a graphic novel because of the illustrations. This text will also appeal to students who are visual learners. The themes found in __American Born Chinese__ will be applicable and relatable to young students, especially middle school students who are going through a period of adjustment and self- discovery. The text addresses a young boy and his struggle with his ethnic heritage and the pressures to assimilate. The English Language Arts curriculum’s Strand Three is entirely devoted to Literature and Culture. This strand includes responding to a number of genres (such as graphic novels), as well as using history, traditions and theory to analyze the meaning of a text. A unique aspect of this novel is the style in which it is written. The novel has three overlapping narratives. These narratives include the Monkey King, which is a traditional Chinese folktale. This section of the novel will also give students the opportunity to look at the genre of a folktale, and analyze its specific characteristics as well. The second narrative addresses the story of Jin Wang and his struggle to adapt and fit into American culture while growing up in a house with a strong ethnic heritage. The third narrative addressed Danny and his acceptance of his stereotypical Chinese cousin, “Chinkee.” In a surprise twist you learn that all three narratives are interwoven, and in fact, the same story. The over-arching themes found in each section such as stereotyping and prejudice are important to address with students. Students need to understand how stereotypes can hurt others, and how stereotypes can be misleading and false. Students will also learn the power of prejudice and how it harmful it can be. The text also focuses on the coming of age story, unrequited love, and acceptance of self. Teenagers may find solace in the book, and understanding that they are not the only ones going through a difficult period in their life. Overall, the text __American Born Chinese__ serves many important features and facets that traditional, or canonical texts do not include. This novel is of great benefit for any students to read and understand. || Understand || It has been proven that through the use of illustrations found in graphic novels, it is easier for students to use context clues to understand new meanings of words when new vocabulary is accompanied by illustrations. || || Analyze || American Born Chinese has a unique style, which evokes three overlapping structures of a narrative point of view. This style of writing in any other text found in the 8th Grade curriculum. || || Evaluate || Students will evaluate their own culture in comparison to the Chinese culture through supplemental tradition Chinese texts and stories. || || Analyze || Shows through the three overlapping narratives and analysis of the drive and motivation for each main character and their desire and wishes. || || Understand || Students will need to evaluate how each plot in the three narrative overlap, and how each section of the novel works and aids the meaning and value of the other sections. || || Analyze/ Evaluate || Students will evaluate how the author portrays each character and shows views of stereotypes, specifically those of Danny and Chinkee, and evaluation of Wei-Chen and Jin’s heritage. || || Analyze || Students will evaluate how each character (such as Danny and Chinkee) fits within their community and how there are viewed by their community. Students will also reflect on how they fit in within their own community. || ** Planning Intertextual Studies: ** ** Course: ** Eighth Grade English Language Arts ** Unit: ** Genre Study: Graphic novel ** Texts: ** American Born Chinese- Gene Luen Yang Excepts from Understanding Comics- Scott McCloud ** Form of Intertextual Study: ** Genre Study- Graphic Novels ** Purpose: ** Students will gain an understanding of different cultures, ethnic values, and beliefs through reading and understanding graphic novels written by authors of a minority race. ** Essential Questions: ** 1. What graphic novels or “comics” are students familiar with? 1. What characteristics define a graphic novel? 2. What is the purpose of a graphic novel? 3. How are graphic novels more, or less effective than a traditional text? ** Unit Questions: ** 1. Is each text an effective graphic novel? 2. How does each text follow the criteria of a graphic novel? 3. What have we learned about Chinese culture and history? 4. Have these novels affected our feelings and opinions about stereotypes? 5. How has each character progressed or changed throughout each the novel? Do we see self- actualization or self-discovery? ** Unit Assessments: ** 1. Students will take one comic cell and rewrite the events using only words, working on their descriptive language. 2. FINAL ASSESSMENT: Students will create their own short graphic/ comic strip related to culture, race, or ethnicity. ** Learning Activities (Specifically activities related to American Born Chinese): ** In addition to reading the novels and participating in class discussion: 1. Students will write a college application from the perspective of Jin and Danny. Students will compare and contrast the similarities and differences. 2. Students will practice multiple short graphic/ comic strip drawings, which may help students with their final assessment of creating their own graphic/ comic strip. 3. Students will create a Facebook entries for a main character (Jin, Danny, Amelia, Wei Chen or Susie) with a photo or drawing of the character and noting important characteristics, hobbies, common interests, etc. 4. Based on the Youtube picture of Jin and Wei Chen, students will find an APPROPRIATE Youtube Video or Song that would apply to each of the nine sections of the novel. 5. As a final wrap-up of text, students will create a readers note to the author, discussing their feelings about the book, and addressing any questions they still have.
 * American Born Chinese Standards: **
 * ELA Standards  ||   Level of Thinking: Bloom’s Taxonomy   ||   How Criteria is Achieved   ||
 * CE 2.1.3 Determine the meaning of unfamiliar words, specialized vocabulary, figurative language, idiomatic expressions, and technical meaning of terms through context clues, word roots and affixes, and the use of appropriate resource materials such as print and electronic dictionaries.
 * 2.2.1 Recognize literary and persuasive strategies as ways by which authors convey ideas and readers make meaning (imagery, irony, satire, parody, propaganda, overstatement/ understatement, omission, and multiple points of view).
 * 2.2.3 Interpret the meaning of written, spoken, and visual texts by drawing on different cultural, theoretical and critical perspectives.
 * 3.1.2 Demonstrate an understanding of literary characterization, character development, the function of major and minor characters, motives and causes for action, and moral dilemmas that characters encounter by describing their functions in specific works.
 * 3.1.3 Recognize a variety of plot structures and elements (story within a story, rising actions, flashbacks, foreshadowing, cause and effect relationships, conflicts, resolutions) and describe their functions in specific works.
 * 3.1.7 Analyze and evaluate the portrayal of various groups, societies, and cultures in literature and other texts.
 * 3.1.9 Analyze how the tension among characters, communities, themes and issues in literature and other texts reflect human experience.