Overview
I teach at the School of the Future in West Philadelphia. The school is a comprehensive (or neighborhood-based), non-magnet public high school that was formed in a partnership between the School District of Philadelphia and the Microsoft Corporation. The unique circumstances of my school include a one-to-one laptop learning environment, dual-certified educators, a student-centered pedagogy, and a project-based curriculum. The school opened in September 2006 and will both reach four full grades and graduate our first class in the 2009-2010 school year. l year.
This unit will be taught in the English half of an integrated English and Social Studies class for third-year or 111th grade students. I am dual-certified in English and Social Studies and I will also be partnered with a Social Studies and Special Education Educator. We will share the same group of students (and be scheduled with overlapping classes) so that we can plan an integrated curriculum that will include thematic links and opportunities for co-teaching. The curriculum is a project-based version of our district's Core Curriculum and combines the traditional 11 11th grade courses of English 3 and American History.
I plan to teach this unit in the third quarter, when we are studying 20th century American History. Our literary study will focus on Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried and will be complemented by a more in-depth historical study of the Vietnam War and America in the 1960s and 1970s. The films, texts and activities included in this unit will coincide with our reading of the book. It is my intention that this unit could be adapted to use in a traditional English or American History course. I have included other possible texts about the Vietnam War in my annotated bibliography, so that teachers can choose the material that best fits the needs of their class..
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