Rationale/Background
So many words come to mind while thinking about the topic of this unit: equity, inquiry, discussion, standards and proficiency are just a few. The overall idea that stays in the fore front of my mind though is "thinking". How do we get our students to think? To think as individuals. To think deeply. To use the information before them and make inferences and draw conclusions. To understand that events of the past have formed their here and now and will shape their future. This is the struggle that I face in my eighth grade classroom.
I am a "communications" teacher (this encompasses reading, writing, speaking and listening) or in other words a reading and language arts teacher at Pittsburgh South Brook Middle School in the South Hills area of the City of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh South Brook is comprised of about four hundred and seventy students ranging in grades six through eighth. Each grade level follows its own curriculum provided by the Pittsburgh Public School District. Recently, with the adoption of the Pennsylvania Common Core Standards there has been a shift to allow teachers to incorporate their own ideas and lessons within their classroom while following the standards. Within this, the word "freedom" comes to mind; the freedom to allow my students to think critically, make judgments, analyze ideas and express themselves in unique ways.
The students within my classroom setting range academically from proficient to below basic. Most students fall in the basic to below basic categories as defined by the Pennsylvania State System of Assessment. Almost all students come from economically disadvantaged homes. The students are often lacking external experiences outside of their neighborhoods from which to draw prior knowledge and connections with non- fiction and historical fiction texts. Students who have learning disabilities are also included in the main stream classroom. Class sizes range from an average of twenty five to thirty four students with approximately seven or more legally defined as learning disabled.
The structure of the literacy program in the Pittsburgh Public Schools is comprised of ninety minute block scheduling in order to maximize the time for instruction in the classroom. Students at Pittsburgh South Brook also have a thirty minute class of "reading intervention" time to help combat reading and vocabulary deficiencies that they may face in middle school. With the push towards common core and non-fiction, the rigor of text and non-fiction materials has also risen. Students who are reading deficient are now being asked to read and make sense of more and more complex materials. At the same time students have to sacrifice related arts classes such as art, music and Spanish to increase instruction time in other academic areas. I believe these classes are essential to students thinking critically and making connections with what they are learning.
This unit will incorporate art, literature and history so that students may think critically, make connections, and understand events that have been the basis and foundation for our society today. This unit will engage students in rich discussions; expose students to art and historical analysis of art, quotes, and literature while making connections and judgments about society then and now. Students will have an opportunity to "experience" life during the Revolutionary War through the art of writing. It is my goal to expose students to history in a variety of ways so that they can use these mediums to think critically and analytically so that they may become better readers, writers, and thinkers.
During this unit of study, students will be reading the historical novel Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson. The premise of the unit is based upon this book that is set during the Revolutionary War, particularly Valley Forge which is located in Pennsylvania, and the state in which my students reside. The novel focuses on life for the main character Curzon who has escaped slavery and is on the run. The book Forge is a second in a trilogy written by Halse Anderson but can be read alone. Forge is part of the required reading set forth by Pittsburgh Public Schools for students in eighth grade. Students are asked to examine the friendship between Curzon who is African American and a young soldier who is Caucasian and whose family has never owned slaves. In order to do this students must first have a strong understanding of the Revolutionary War. Second, students must understand the perspectives on life during the set time period. Last, students must understand what impact these ideas had on the outcome of the war and life today. Throughout the novel, students are exposed to what life was like during the war from Curzon's perspective. Curzon, an escaped slave/prisoner of war who had previously fought in the war under the promise of freedom now re-enlists as a soldier posing as a free African American. Halse Anderson shows us the hardships of the war both physically and mentally during this time period from the first person perspective of the main character Curzon.
Using art as a basis for discussion and analyzing the work along with drawing conclusions about the artist's intentions and what it reveals about the time period will help students better understand the text they are reading. Halse Anderson provides us with a historically accurate portrait of the time period by using imagery throughout her novel. Many of the events depicted in her book align with the historical events depicted in some of the greatest pieces of art work depicting the Revolutionary War. I believe that when my students read about the events depicted in Forge and view and discuss these events depicted in the art work they will have a more firm grasp that these events that happened long ago were real and not just something that perhaps happened or people have created. They will be able to make more solid connections about these events and the time period they depict. Students will be able to use multiple resources in order to make sense of what different classes, races, and genders experienced during the time period. Engaging in rich discussions around the art work will deepen students understanding and enable them to engage in a practice that helps them to think analytically and understand how to draw conclusions. The students will build upon their own understanding by listening to their peers rationale, explanations, and reflections.
In an effort to understand the Revolutionary War we must first understand the events that led to the war. The Revolutionary War Unit in the social studies curriculum usually falls after the reading of the novel Forge in the English curriculum, therefore it is necessary to provide students with an overview of the war before reading the novel. This will be facilitated first through viewing art work and then by doing a close read of the historical events.
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