This resource was created by Sara Pittack, in collaboration with Lynn Bowder, as part of ESU2's Mastering the Arts project. This project is a four year initiative focused on integrating arts into the core curriculum through teacher education and experiential learning.
This particular Color, Symbol, Image (CSI) lesson is designed for implementation by an art teacher with 6th-grade students. However, the strategy can be utilized in other disciplines for the purpose of Making Thinking Visible. Parental consent was granted to share a student sample of the final product for this lesson, which is pictured above. The title card the 6th-grade student, Boston, created included the following description: "The sunrise in the painting represents the help and hope that Houston is getting. Also, the clouds are eyes, and the sun is a mouth. The face is crying. This represents my sympathy for Texas." Boston had selected "Rising floodwaters overwhelm Houston, other parts of Texas", the third option from Newsela provided in the Google Slides. The choices for articles can be updated each year prior to the activity.
The 11th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 11th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Students move from learning the class rituals and routines and genre features of argument writing in Unit 11.1 to learning about narrative and informational genres in Unit 11.2: The American Short Story. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.
In this unit, students will explore great works of American literature and consider how writers reflect the time period in which they write. They will write two literary analysis papers and also work in groups to research and develop anthologies of excellent American stories.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Students read and analyze stories from several 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century American authors. After researching a time period, they select stories from that period to create an anthology. The readings enhance their understanding of the short story, increase their exposure to well-known American authors, and allow them to examine the influence of social, cultural, and political context.
Students examine elements of short stories and have an opportunity for close reading of several American short stories. During these close readings, they examine the ways that short story writers attempt to explore the greater truths of the American experience through their literature.
GUIDING QUESTIONS
These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.
If you were to write a short story about this decade, what issues might you focus on?
What defines a short story? Just length?
To what extent do these stories reflect the era or decade in which they were written?
To what extent are the themes they address universal?
CLASSROOM FILMS
History.com has short videos on the Vietnam War (“Vietnam” and “A Soldier's Story”).
In this lesson, students will examine Cheever's use of symbol and motif in his story. They will also expand their ideas through writing and share their understanding of the story.
In this lesson, students will begin the short story “The Swimmer.” As an introduction to the story, they will also read the myth “Echo and Narcissus,” considering Narcissus as a way to view the protagonist of “The Swimmer.”