The Literature of Survival Teacher: Dan Fuchs Subject Areas: English Language Arts A Brief Description of the Course: This is a literature class dealing specifically with the theme of survival. A variety of methods are used to explore the following topics: Topics to be Included: • Exploration of Learning Styles • Autobiographical Writing • Reading Memoirs • Reading Poetry Skills: • Cooperative Learning • Revision of Work (Emphasis on Writing) • Independent Work • Note-taking • Discussion Skills • Summarizing and Analysis of Literature • Peer Response and Critique • Introduction to Computers/Keyboarding • Final Literary Paper (Essay) Assessment Strategies: • Homework • Classroom Reflections • Independent Projects • Literary Papers • Class Presentations • Narrative Evaluations Instructional Materials: • This Boy’s Life: A Memoir by Tobias Wolff • When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago • Night by Elie Wiesel Instructional Strategies: The following strategies are employed in order to help students address the topics listed above: • Students are placed in cooperative research groups and present their findings to the class as a whole. • Full group discussion is used to elicit student understanding of material. • Role plays and visual arts are used to enhance students’ creativity and learning. • Literary essay is produced at end of course, responding to two of the three memoirs read in class, using an ELA Examination-style critical lens.” • Books are used to help with reading comprehension and critique. • Films are used for critical visual literacy skills. • Nightly homework assignments stress the differences between summary and critique and help prepare students for writing a final essay. State Standards: The preceding curriculum satisfies the following State Standards for English Language Arts: • Standard 1 - Language for Information and Understanding • Standard 2 - Language for Literary Response and Expression • Standard 3 - Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation • Standard 4 - Language for Social Interaction