Previously, I have articulated a general idea of what I want to achieve with the Capstone, and the underlying purpose/ motivation behind the choice. Since then, what I've been grappling with is trying to figure out a meaningful output. I started this blog (perhaps prematurely), in case the process was going to be helpful to someone (if not just myself). But I don't want my output to be a digital journal.
I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to make tangible resources for the time-crunched teachers. Of course, I also want to pair books I know are commonly taught, with a more contemporary novel.
There are so many bright minds in our PME class, but I also reached out to a couple friends who are also teachers, and they kindly lent ears to my ideas. I proposed that I'd do the following:
(a) inquire about books used from Grades 8-12 - will send email out to all my colleagues, and base my data on whatever responses I get (knowing, again, we're on summer break)
(b) research contemporary novels whose premise might relate
(c) read those novels (minimum 5)
(d) prepare 5 unit plans and materials, one for each grade
Nobody seemed to think this was feasible, if feasible means "done well."
This brought me to reflect more on depth versus breadth. I always thought I was someone who focuses on (and by which I mean "worries about") the smaller details too much - the whole, "I couldn't see the forest, for the trees" sort of a person. But I have also been told that something I need to work on is the assumed martyr attitude that I assume (as I then complain to everyone about tasks I place on myself). And so, having paused over the week, I feel that if I focus too much on quantity, I might sacrifice finding time to read the best books and create the most original activities. At the very least, it's not that humble to assume that you can "solve" this larger challenge for all English teachers, over the course of seven (now six) weeks.
So then, how do I narrow my scope?
First, I'm thinking about my resources.
Time: We aren't going to talk about my reading comprehension speed, because it's probably the thing I'm most self-conscious about. Put it this way, Dreiser's American Tragedy, Fowles's The Magus, and Zafon's Labyrinth of Spirits were 3-day reads (though, to be fair, Alexievitch's Secondhand Time took 9 days and Tin Drum by Gunter Grass took 2 weeks).
Bottom line, at risk of sounding conceited, what concerns me about this project is not necessarily running out of time to complete novels.*
Books: Our District is recommending the following 8 novels for consideration (to be included into schools, though it is not specified how (i.e. replacement, substitution, choice novel, mentor text...). I think that'll be our job. It makes the most sense for me to start here, because these texts have our school's support - and if we know teachers can access larger sets, and that they will probably be used, that means anything I create and give to the school or district can very likely be used/ adapted.
The only thing is, while I loved Ivan Coyote's Care Of and BOTH Darius books (1st is the best), I sort of slogged through Richardson's Gutter Child. BUT, Jael Richardson herself is literally a literary queen, with her active involvement in youth literacy and Canadian readership. And, while I read it awhile ago, I don't remember engaging too deeply with Good's Five Little Indians -- please don't hate me, I think I just am drawn to memoirs when it comes to residential schools (I highly recommend Spíləx̣m by Nicola Campbell and Call Me Indian by Fred Sasakamoose).
So basically, out of the 8 given, I have already read 4 (though last year for some), and didn't really love two.
The Best We Could Do is on hold with the library, and it's expected I should get it early-mid August. I have already picked up the remaining three: Tristan Strong, American Dream, Moon of the Crusted Snow.
My Life Mission/ What I've Been Brainstorming Already:
That said, I do keep a running track of books that (I feel) hearken back to the classics.
Kintu and One Hundred Years of Solitude: Two days ago, for example, I finished Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Mukumbi, and I'd bought it because the premise sounded like Uganda's One Hundred Years of Solitude. Turns out, while you could argue the curse is rooted in politics in Kintu, I feel like what overpowered that was more like gendered and family relations. Plus, it exhibits differently and you experience each generation's characters differently.
So it's kind of like comparing Gabriel Garcia Marquez with Disney, as one tries to find parallels between One Hundred Years and Encanto: are there similarities? yes. do these lead to some complex observation about society and culture? jury's still out.
Then there's Confessions by Kanae Minato** with Lord of the Flies.
No One by George Bowering** with Ulysseys
You Deserve Absolutely Nothing by Alexander Maksik** with L'Entranger (The Outsider/ The Stranger).
The Collector by John Fowles** with The Tempest.
Hag-Seed by Atwood with The Tempest.
And I haven't read A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley, but apparently this is the modern King Lear.
Also, please note all the texts with a double-asterick (**). All asterick'ed texts are for an adult audience. I started this blog technically before our course began, because I wanted to do something with all of these parallels I found, for an adult audience. I wanted English teachers to see that there is such JOY in seeing ideas transform over time.
But I had to honestly ask myself if, were this my Capstone, what tangible resources I would have ready for teachers to use. Because, if teachers are so tired and taxed, what would they rather have: a compendium of these pairings that reminds them why what they do matters, or a package of ready-made, ready-to-go units that breathe fresh, contemporary air into the classroom for the kids?
Essentially, the question comes down to, am I directly serving the teacher him/her/themself (and students implicitly), or am I directly serving the teacher and the students?
My Compromises (i.e. process leading up to the final format):
I am going to focus on Grades 8-10, because we have a standard booklist with which I am familiar.
I will read all of the district's books and put them into my project if they fit our existing themes, naturally.
If I have read other books, or do read other books, that I also think would fit our themes, I will add them.
Final Format: I will create Literature Circle resources (with Curricular alignment) that pair contemporary diverse voices with standard/ common texts in Grade 9, 10, and 11 units. I own the intellectual rights to the ELA10 course units, so I think that will be the bulk of the project (quantity-wise), and I will be able to share it all. The Grade 9 and 11 pieces might be less in-depth.
The products will be posted to my website/ blog site. I will have brief videos to introduce all 3 or 4 Lit Circle Resources.
Grade 9: The Hero's Journey
Current text: collection of Greek & Roman myths, as well as students' choice in cultural mythology
My addition: Ariadne (Jennifer Saint), possibly Tristan Strong (Kwambe Mbalia)
(or: re-do the Hunger Games unit that our school does, specifically, to include Gutter Child)
Language Adapted English 10: Identities: (Memoirs &) Short Fiction
Course Explanation: This is a summer school course I've taught for the last four years, where students have just completed up to a certain level of ELL and are for the first time eligible to take a mainstream English class. Being a summer school course, it is open to all students in our district. I typically don't see more than 4 students from one school. They enter based on ELL level, not age, so students range from Grade 10-12.
Current Texts: Amy Tan, Pauline Johnson, Richard Wagamese, Drew Hayden Taylor, Sherman Alexie...
My additions: Darius the Great is Not Okay (Adib Khorram); Last Night at the Telegraph Club; Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Benjamin Alire Saenz); Loveless (Alice Oseman); I Was Their American Dream (Malaka Gharib); Call Me Indian (Fred Sasakamoose); Spíləx̣m (Nicola I. Campbell)
New Media 11: Rhetoric & Personal Essays
Current texts: vary by teacher, but can include contemporary convocation speeches, historical speeches (e.g. from MLK, Churchill, Obama, Hitler, Mussolini...)
My addition: Letters to a Young Poet (Ranier Maria Rilke) and Care Of (Ivan Coyote)
English 11: The Road (Cormac McCarthy) **I don't recall what the unit was actually called
Current text: The Road (Cormac McCarthy)
My addition: Moon of the Crusted Snow (Waubgeshig Rice)??
As you can see, the goal was 3 units and here are 4. With regard to the ELA10 course, I need/ want to actually revise the entire unit, and in doing so, I think I will be narrowing down from seven new texts added. I need to read Tristan Strong and Moon of the Crusted Snow first -- I'll have those read by Monday -- and I think, then, come to a better conclusion about whether I'll do either or both.
*If you really care, you can check my Storygraph account.
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