Thinking Through Literature

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Thinking Through Literature

• Learning HOTS
• and
• Enjoying Literature
• Maida Nechushtan Judy Henn

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• At the end of this presentation, you will
• 1. feel excited about teaching literature to
  your pupils.
• 2. agree that literature can be accessible to
  your pupils.

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• 3. see the connection between
  analyzing literature and
• promoting HIGHER ORDER
• THINKING SKILLS HOTS.
• 4. teach literature more effectively
• when given suitable material.

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• 5. leave here saying, I can do
• this.
• 6. will take steps to include
• literature in your syllabus.

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• Countee Cullen (1903-1946) was a leading poet in
  the Harlem Renaissance, a movement of
  African-American writers in the 1920s in New York
  City. A brilliant student, he became a high
  school English teacher.
• NOTE TO PUPILS Nigger is the most insulting
  and offensive word one can call an
  African-American person.

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Incident Baltimore Countee Cullen

• Once riding in old Baltimore,
• Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
  
• I saw a Baltimorean
• Keep looking straight at me.
• Now I was eight and very small,
• And he was no whit bigger,
• And so I smiled, but he poked
• His tongue, and called me, "Nigger."
  
• I saw the whole of Baltimore
• From May until December
• Of all the things that happened there
• That's all that I remember.

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• 1. Who is the speaker?
• An African American.

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• 2. How old was the speaker when the 'incident'
  happened?
• Eight years old.

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• 3. Which words tell us how the speaker feels at
  the beginning of the bus ride?
• "Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,"

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• 4.Three things happen to the speaker on the bus.
  What are they?

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• a. The white boy stares at the speaker.
• b. The white boy pokes/sticks out his tongue
  at the speaker.
• c. The white boy calls the speaker "Nigger".

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• 5. For how long was the speaker in Baltimore?
• From May to December, seven months

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• 6. What does the speaker remember from the visit
  to Baltimore?
• That a white boy on the bus stared at him/her,
  stuck out his tongue and called him/her "Nigger".

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• By answering these questions, pupils have shown -
• the ability to retrieve essential facts about
  the poem.
• These questions are LOTS
• LOWER ORDER THINKING SKILLS, the essential
  foundation for HOTS

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• 1. How did the speaker feel after the white boy
  stuck his tongue out at him/her?
• The speaker was shocked and insulted.

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• 2. Why is this incident the only thing that the
  speaker tells us about the visit to Baltimore?
• This incident had such a
• powerful effect on the speaker that he/she could
  not remember anything else from the long visit.

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• 3. The incident referred to in the title of the
  poem is made up of two gestures and one word.
  What are they?

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• a. staring "keep looking straight at me
• b. poking/sticking out the tongue
• c. calling the speaker "Nigger

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• 4. Which kind of behavior do you think had the
  most powerful effect on the speaker? Justify
  your answer.
• The most powerful effect was hearing the word
  "Nigger.

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• 5. If, in the future, the speaker has a similar
  experience, how do you think he/she can overcome
  this obstacle?

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Conflicts

• CONFLICT the struggle or fight between opposite
  forces.

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• a. between two people
• b. between a person and society

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• c. between a person and the environment (nature,
  supernatural powers)
• d. between a person and his inner feelings the
  inability to decide

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• Decide what type of conflict there is in the
  following examples
• 1. the speaker of "Incident Baltimore" and the
  white child on the bus ______
• 2. the speaker of "Incident Baltimore" and the
  white racist society in the American south_____

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Rationale

• Literature demands of the reader active
  engagement in order to experience pleasure and
  involvement it needs to be thought through.

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• through a study of literature,
• readers master
• HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS
• HOTS

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• A systematic program of learning literature
  equips pupils with
• essential skills in cognitive development
• transferable skills to non-literary prose
• ability to carry out tasks appearing on national
  standardized exams

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• Pupils who study literature
• through LOTS and HOTS
• will be able to

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• a. recognize literary devices and terms in prose
  and poetry.
• b. compare and contrast between works which have
  similar components.
• c. organize understandings into semantic maps.

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• d. relate to the cultural, historical and
  sociological background of the authors and their
  works.
• e. integrate existing knowledge with newly
  acquired insights.

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• f. make connections with their own lives.
• g. examine their feelings in relation to themes
  and ideas from the works.

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• h. create works of their own in the arts, related
  to themes found in the reading choices.
• i. formulate alternative endings for works.
• j. judge the value of issues presented in the
  works.

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• In "Incident Baltimore" a young child
  experiences prejudice for the first time and it
  has a powerful effect on him/her. Unfortunately,
  the world is filled with such situations. Give
  an example of an act of prejudice in the world
  today. What could be done to change the
  situation?

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• Write a letter to a friend as if you were the
  speaker in "Incident Baltimore" and tell what
  happened during the bus ride and how you now
  feel.