Objectives
As previously addressed, this unit will do more than teach academic skills. I seek to promote diversity awareness and tolerance while simultaneously fostering freedom of expression and compassion. Art, especially film, has the ability to achieve these goals. A cultural exchange occurs on a global level when film transforms the boundaries and limitations of a single person's perspective. Students will further, their understanding and appreciation of the issues by viewing carefully selected foreign films. The film will bring the text alive and provide the students with a strong visual representation of the issue or event. Students will then be able to more readily create connections as well as gain a better understanding of different cultures.
Students will learn strategies to read decode and understand nonfiction texts on a regular basis. I will encourage them to develop a working vocabulary of filmmaking techniques and appreciate the lessons that films can teach us. I want my students to learn that reading nonfiction can be enjoyable and informative. There will be a focus on teaching students to become skilled at analyzing the literary elements and applying reading strategies in this genre. The literary elements are the constant situation that students must familiarize themselves with whereas the approach I employ for each nation will be the variable in seeking to ensure that they comprehend and can effectively utilize the elements in both literature and film.
By the end of this unit each student will develop a global social consciousness and recognize that problem, solving is essential to the creative process. Students will learn to appreciate the role that art has in expanding their horizons. I hope they will demonstrate an open-minded approach to diversity and different cultures.
Standards
This unit will demonstrate a number of the standards utilized within Duval County Public Schools. These standards are devised as a method to achieve gains in student learning by providing a set of expectations of what students should know and be able to do at various grade levels. All of the activities, films and readings will improve the learning of all students in a systematic manner. The use of standards ensures that both the content and instruction focus on differentiated instruction that does not ignore the lowest performing students.
As students progress through this intensive unit, they will read and comprehend a variety of texts, participate in group meetings, engage in critical discourse, respond orally and in writing both individually and in groups. These activities will develop student's active reading, critical thinking, listening and writing skills. There will be a distinct focus on the writing process. Clearly, this unit is an integrated curriculum that seeks to utilize a holistic approach to learning. Reading, evaluating and discussing nonfiction texts and viewing and analyzing films will enhance students' multicultural awareness.
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