Sample Author Study Unit Outline

William Bell Comments on Social Issues (Grade 8)

Contexts: Social, Environmental, Philosophical Time Line: 5-7 weeks

Using the suggestions and resources in the sample unit framework on page 223, teachers may develop author study units for grades 6 to 9. The following author study unit outline demonstrates the way that the suggestions and resources may be developed into a unit for grade 8 students.

Objectives

The foundational objectives develop gradually and continuously throughout the Middle Level. The learning objectives identified below have been selected as the focus for this grade 8 sample unit outline. Teachers may want to select additional or alternative objectives depending upon their students' needs.

Speaking

Students will extend their abilities to recognize that talk is an important tool for communicating, thinking, and learning.

• use talk to clarify thinking
  
• use talk to explore own and others' ideas and to express understanding.

Students will extend their abilities to practise the behaviours of effective speakers.

• vary volume, tone, and pace of speech to create effect and enhance communication
  
• summarize ideas discussed and justify own view.

Students will extend their abilities to speak fluently in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes and audiences.

• participate in a variety of dramatic speaking experiences
  
• participate effectively in group discussions.

Listening

Students will extend their abilities to recognize that listening is an active, constructive process.

• demonstrate willingness to be active listeners.

Students will extend their abilities to practise the behaviours of effective, active listeners.

• interact appropriately with the speaker and seek clarification when meaning is not clear
  
• keep an open mind and consider ideas that differ from own.

Writing

Students will extend their abilities to practise the behaviours of effective writers.

• select and use written formats appropriate to audience and purpose
  
• organize and sequence relevant ideas appropriately within identified formats.

Students will extend their abilities to write fluently and confidently for a variety of purposes and audiences, employing appropriate formats.

• write to express feelings, ideas, and opinions; and to explain, report, and inform
  
• write effective endings and conclusions.

Reading

Students will extend their abilities to practise the behaviours of effective, strategic readers.

• set purposes appropriately for their reading experiences
  
• select and use appropriate strategies for constructing meaning from text
  
• summarize major ideas from reading and state and justify own view of topic or writer's craft.

Students will extend their abilities to read fluently and confidently a variety of texts for a variety of purposes.

• analyze character's growth (or lack of) from what they say and do, what other characters say about them, and what the narrator tells the reader about them
  
• understand how the author's experience, background, and culture influence the treatment of theme
  
• make thoughtful and critical responses to the content and writer's craft in a wide variety of material, and clearly support personal and critical responses with reference to the text.

Integrated Language Study

Students will extend their abilities to:

• recognize and use conventional spellings of familiar words
  
• use a variety of strategies to determine conventional spellings of unfamiliar words
  
• revise to ensure richness of word choice and variety of sentence structure
  
• be aware of the views and perspectives of others
  
• maintain an open-minded attitude to others' views
  
• recognize and use a variety of literary devices/techniques (e.g., flashbacks, foreshadowing, narrative hooks, unexpected endings).

Common Essential Learnings

Many of the objectives for English language arts also develop knowledge, skills, and processes related to the C.E.L.s of Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Values and Skills, and Independent Learning. In addition, other C.E.L.s may be emphasized, depending upon the unit topic or theme. Objectives related to the C.E.L.s for this sample unit outline are stated below to provide direction for teachers. However, emphasis on particular C.E.L.s within a unit does not preclude the development of other C.E.L.s.

The following objectives related to the C.E.L.s were selected for this sample unit:

• use language to explore own and others' ideas (C)
  
• provide reasons or evidence for opinions and ideas by referring to text, prior learning, or life experiences (CCT)
  
• discuss current social issues and their own role in influencing these issues (PSVS)
  
• explore how technological developments and their related practices cause change in the natural environment and in society (TL)
  
• make choices in learning that reflect their needs and interests (IL).

Unit Focus and Direction

This author study focuses on novels by the Canadian author, William Bell. In each novel, Bell weaves one or more social issues within an interesting and often fast-paced story. His well-developed characters are forced to face and deal with issues such as illiteracy, inaccuracy of news reporting, people with special needs, family discord, teen pregnancy, and clear cut logging. Because each novel presents more than one side of each issue or conflict, students interact with characters who must make choices and act on those decisions. As students read, discuss, and write, they too will focus on the social issues, conflicts, and choices presented to the characters. They will begin to come to some personal conclusions about where they stand with regard to a variety of issues and recognize the consequences of choices people make and the need to make responsible choices in life.

Resources

William Bell's novels include the following, which are annotated in the Middle Level bibliography:
Absolutely Invincible
Crabbe
Deathwind
Forbidden City
No Signature
Speak to the Earth

As well, refer to the teacher resources listed in the author study unit outline to assist in developing daily lesson plans.

Note: The bibliography that accompanies this guide will be updated regularly to include suitable new releases. Teachers are encouraged to select resources from the bibliography and from their own repertoire of literature, considering the needs and interests of their students.

Assessment Suggestions

• construct checklists that assess students' abilities to achieve the selected objectives
  
• record anecdotal notes as students speak, listen, write, and read to identify their strengths and instructional needs
  
• inform students of or develop with students criteria for assessing and evaluating their language processes and products
  
• involve students in self-assessment of their language processes and products.

Activities and Procedures

• Provide five or six copies of several novels by William Bell. Have students form Literature Circle groups based upon the novels they choose to read. Different groups will form each time students select another book. Encourage students to read at least three different novels. (See the Reading section of this curriculum guide for information about Literature Circle procedures.)

• Have each Literature Circle group compile biographical information about William Bell to be presented in the form of one or more posters for classroom display.

• Instruct students to create newspapers which inform others about the author, the novels, the characters, and the issues addressed in the novels. This is an opportunity for students to write in a variety of fiction and nonfiction forms and to make their opinions known about a variety of social issues.

• Have Literature Circles dramatically interpret major events in the novels through role play, Readers Theatre, improvisation, or character interviews.

• Organize informal debates about one or more issues presented in the novels. (See the Speaking and Listening section of this curriculum guide for information about informal debates.)

• As students read and discuss each novel in their Literature Circles, have them explore the writer's style by answering questions such as the following:
  • What type of characters does Bell usually create (e.g., age, gender, culture, disposition)?
    
  • What types of settings does he usually use? What seems to determine the setting in each novel?
    
  • What type of plots does he develop (e.g., linear, plot within a plot)?
    
  • What literary devices does he employ most often?
    
  • What narrative voice does he use in each novel?
    
  • Are there similarities between the titles and book jackets of each novel? Do these elements have an impact upon how the content of the novel is perceived?