Purpose/Rationale
After reviewing our districts state assessments score and being placed in the low grading area from our state education department, I have been looking for ways to increase my students' reading and writing skills. I decided to go outside my comfort zone and applied to the Yale National Initiative program. I felt I needed to learn from other states on how they are writing their curriculum units and lesson plans. I have learned from attending YNI 2013 that our students' reading materials are too basic. Our district will need to step up and read a variety of literature books from different eras and styles in order for our students to advance and to be exposed to the literature that I have been exposed to and have heard that other teachers are using in their classrooms.
At the YNI 2013 seminar, we discussed how we could incorporate books like Saint Augustine's Confessions, Virgina Woolf's Orlando, and Robert A. Caro's The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Means of Ascent into a lesson for our students. I thought about the native heritage and how in some small way could connect it with such? For Confessions, I would take the part early in the book where his mother always agonizes over Saint Augustine's errors. Students do put their mother's through an emotional roller coaster whether is intentional or unintentional. My favorite book was Orlando; I have students that are making independent choices on gender preference. I can see how they may relate to the character of Orlando during the sex change; I know for me, it's a time in the book where it gets exciting. In my lesson, we will read a chapter from I'll Go and Do More and during Annie Dodge's lifetime, who did personally meet President Lyndon B. Johnson.
I teach English to students with a learning disability and English Language Learners, who are all low level and struggling readers and writers. At least 90% of my lessons have a variety of accommodations, such as; teacher re-reads instruction, small group instruction, use of visual aids and kinesthetic learning, differentiated instructions, and use of graphic organizers. We live in a rural area on the Navajo reservation and have a population of 98% Native Americans at our high school. The closest city is a 3 hour drive in one direction. Most of the students are on a free or reduced meal plan and about ¼ of our high school students live without running water or electricity in their home.
Our school district celebrates one week as Native American week. Each day is designated for a certain activity and type of attire to display. An example would be: Monday, wear t-shirts with your clan(s) painted on the back and learn to make blue corn mush. Tuesday, females will have a traditional bun (hairdo) and males will wear a headband and students will have a fry bread making contest. The finale of the week will be all students and staff wearing traditional regalia and enjoying a Navajo dances, Pow wows and songs.
I chose four different genre's for the biography assignment: heroic, political, ordinary person and military. Annie Dodge Wauneka, whom may be considered heroic for this unit, received the Medal of Freedom in December 1963 from President Lyndon B. Johnson, but was chosen by the late President John F. Kennedy. Her citation read, "Vigorous crusader for betterment of the health of her people, Mrs. Wauneka has selflessly worked to help them conquer tuberculosis, dysentery and trachoma. She succeeded in these efforts by winning the confidence of her people, and then by interpreting to them the miracles of modern medical science." 1
Peter MacDonald was the Navajo Nation Chairman from 1970-1989. With his electrical engineering degree, Mr. MacDonald pushed for self-sufficiency and incorporated tribal enterprises. During his late reign as Chairman, he was under investigation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. When found guilty and convicted for numerous charges, he was sent to Federal prison from 1990-2001. Peter MacDonald was convicted on fraud, extortion, riot, bribery, and corruption under the US federal crimes. (Wikipedia)
Kaibah was an ordinary woman who was raised in a traditional lifestyle. She was not awarded any medals and never ran for political office. Her story is about woman's duty. Everyone in her family raised their livestock and planted vegetables to sustain a simple lifestyle. Her life was like that of Martha Ballard, the late 18 th – early 19 th century Maine midwife about whom we read in the Yale seminar.
Roy O. Hawthorne was a former Navajo Code Talker, considered a warrior among Navajo people. During World War II, the Navajo language was used to create a code. This code was created very strategically that other Navajo's whom did not receive any special training would not be able to decipher the code. Roy O. Hawthorne highlights the basic foundation on how the Navajo code was created. He is now the current vice president of the Navajo Code Talkers Association
Using the four examples of genres above, students will listen to the elders talk about their past heritage. They should know what kinds of questions to ask and to avoid during their interviews. While listening, students should also know what kind of notes to take: direct quotes, timeline information, or how to make quick decisions about whether to write down a story that is too personal.
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