August 31


Unit Theme:

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the importance of cultural and historical impact on literary texts.

Unit Essential Question:

Why do cultures construct narratives about their experiences?

Unit Skills or Concepts:

Reading a piece of literature, the student should pay attention to cultural details - such as references to objects, animals, or practices that signal how people live, think, work, or worship - to gain cultural insight.

Today's Skills or Concepts

The student will be able to identify cultural details in a given piece of writing.

Mini-Lesson Outline:

A. The teacher will introduce the literary study for the tenth grade and concentrate on "The Beginnings of the American Tradition."

B. The teacher will share "Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Native Peoples," a brochure from the United States Department of Interior.

C. Students will read three poems (pages 45 and 46 in the text) and excerpts from three Native American myths, and The Iroquois Constitution. Students will respond to the following:

What can you infer about the Native American attitude toward nature?

Explain what you can infer about the place of dreams in Native American culture from the excerpt "The Earth on Turtle's Back."

What does the excerpt from The Iroquois Constitution tell us about the ideals of the Iroquois people?

Explain the significance of the words "the thickness of your skin" found in The Iroquois Constitution. What does it mean today to be "thick-skinned"?

What purposes do repetition and onomatopoeia serve in the given poetry?

D. For homework, students will prepare for the week's vocabulary quiz and continue working on the final drafts of their fairytales.