Lesson Plan

Unit Title : The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao 11th grade English
Lesson Plan #1
Day Title : Discussion/writing of Oscar Wao
3-30-10

Standards :

1.4 Develop and use the tools and practices of inquiry and research — generating, exploring, and refining important questions; creating a hypothesis or thesis; gathering and studying evidence; drawing conclusions; and composing a report.

2.3 Develop as a reader, listener, and viewer for personal, social, and political purposes, through independent and collaborative reading.

Lesson Outcomes: Students will walk away knowing:

- Having a respect for multi cultures.
- How different cultures present different expectation
- Awareness for sexual identity
- How to construct a thesis/question

Needs:
- Book
- Pencil
- Paper


Launch (10 min total):

(2 min) – Ask the class to get into groups of four. Students can pick who they group with.

Ask the class this discussion question:

“Throughout the novel, Spanish words and phrases appear unaccompanied by their English translations. What is the effect of this seamless blending of Spanish and English? How would the novel have been different if Díaz had stopped to provide English translations at every turn? Why does Díaz not italicize the Spanish words (the way foreign words are usually italicized in English-language text)?”

(8min)Give students a couple of minutes to discuss question and get acquainted with their group.

Learning Activity #1 (25 min):

(12min)Discuss some main themes in order for students to get an idea of the questions that need to be asked.

Examples:
Look at how race and color are important. People are more accepted or seen as more attractive based not only upon their race, but also because of their “shade”. Does physical appearances of the main characters help them or harm them, or both? What does this say about Oscar’s culture?
Do a careful study of how men perceive women in the novel, and how women perceive themselves, including characteristics that are valued and devalued in women. Does culture play a vital role in these perceptions?

(13 min) – Have groups develop two argument/discussion questions. Questions should be based around intellectual thinking and themes found throughout the book.


Assessment (20 min):

(20min) -Have each group will then pass their questions to the next group. Each group will then write a one-page response using proof or evidence to back up their argument.

- I will collect these assessments and questions at the end of class. A class discussion will follow the next day, basing discussion off the questions which the students came up with.


Class dismissed

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http://www.ehow.com/how_2198419_brief-wondrous-life-oscar-wao.html

Heritage

To sit here and try to label one specific heritage in which i come from, I find the task nearly impossible. On the other hand, I believe that my heritage is from the formation of many cultures blended into one. Hence, this is what helps give me my characteristics and personality. Looking at some of the defining factors, I believe that each type of culture lends itself traits that another type of culture can use and begin to learn from.

Using literature as a medium, I think it is imperative to find writings that show people that everyone is different, but also have many of the same mindsets. Each and every culture always seems to base a big importance on community, family, and friendship. These are components within life that everyone can relate to.

Connecting my culture with a Hispanics students culture I feel is relatively easy. What about other cultures makes them feel that we have nothing in common. Besides some things mentioned earlier, we all love fun, enjoy some type of sport, and enjoy companionship. Now it is just up to the instructor to find ways to incorporate these types of themes with each other.

House on Mango Street

I think house on Mango street would be an effective book to teach within an English class. I do agree with Randy that this book may need to be paired with another book to really bring out the stereotypes that are embedded within the text.

I found the beginning of the text already shining on some stereotypes like when Esperenza's friend Cathy tells Esperenza that her family is moving because of the people who are beginning to live in the neighborhood. You can begin to get the notion, as does Esperenza, that the reason the white family is moving , is because of people like Ezperenza.

I also saw a great distinction between genders within the first few chapters of the text. Even though this deals more with stereotypes, rather then ethnicity or race, it still displays a form of repressing people in some way or another.

Reflection on the Panel

The panel speaker I thought did a great job at informing me of how cross-language schools work. I was real interested in the idea that kids who are fluent in another language are usually two grades ahead of normal public school students. I also couldn't believe the great idea of letting kids go to college while attending high school. I am depressed that I was never given that chance. I could only imagine how many more options I would have if I earned a degree pretty much out of high school. Another cool idea was the pairing of students with different native languages. I really like how one student needs to process new information and then teach his/her partner the material in a different language. I have a family friend whose daughter attends El Sol and they absolutely love the school.

Preparing Culturally Responsive Teachers:

This article was a relief to me for it gave a great explanation on WHY it is important to teach Hispanic literature. I keep hearing that it is important that we teach a multicultural curriculum, but sometimes feel that with to much emphasis on the minority, we forget about the majority. The two researcher who wrote this article make a great point when they write, "To only identify with the students in a way that confirms “we are all alike’’ encourages teacher candidates’ tendencies to want to use the educational system to make the children more like themselves. As their professors, we must provide the opportunity to explore and understand the value in how we are all different. If teacher candidates do not learn to recognize and value these differences, they will not be convinced that there is a real need to make sure the educational system values and addressesthese differences."
I also like the idea of not trying to be color blind. We need to value the idea that differences are what make a culture who they are. If we continusly believe that everyone is the same, this world is going to become real boring, real quick. I also like the idea of seeing the world from different perspectives. Not everything is based off the White man's logic.

Final Project book

The book that I will be dedicating some time towards is called "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz. This book is definitely on the boarder line of being acceptable in schools due to some of its themes and vulgarity, but I can see dealing with that. Most importantly, I want to be able to personally read this book with a new mindset devoted to the Hispanic heritage. I know that the main character, Oscar, has a lot of things to offer the reader from comic books to his Dominican background. If you are real interested in a review, click on this link. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/books/review/Scott-t.html

Hispanic Research

After listening to some research, it is made quite apparent that the Hispanic culture has it tough in the education sense. Between drop-out rates, low-income families, and family responsibilities, Hispanics have a constant struggle in order to achieve educational success. According to the Detroit district, Hispanics have a great attendance rate, but their graduation rate is below average. Is this due to lack of participation? Know on knows. But it is an area that needs close examination.