Your child is engaged in a special language arts unit called Threads of Change in 19th Century American Literature. The unit is designed specifically to meet the needs of high ability students. The goals of the unit are as follows:
The unit explores the influence of Romanticism, Transcendentalism, Abolitionism, Feminism, and Industrialism in America during the 1800s, as well as today, through the study of literature. In class, students will read and discuss short pieces of literature, including poems, short stories, and essays. Everyone will keep a journal to clarify thinking and to help prepare for written and oral assignments. As students read the literature, they will respond to it and think critically about it by analyzing idea, vocabulary, and structure.
Several activities in the unit will entail work outside of class, including the following:
- to develop analytical and interpretive skills in literature
- to develop persuasive writing skills
- to develop linguistic competency
- to develop listening/oral communication skills
- to develop reasoning skills
- to understand the concept of change
The unit explores the influence of Romanticism, Transcendentalism, Abolitionism, Feminism, and Industrialism in America during the 1800s, as well as today, through the study of literature. In class, students will read and discuss short pieces of literature, including poems, short stories, and essays. Everyone will keep a journal to clarify thinking and to help prepare for written and oral assignments. As students read the literature, they will respond to it and think critically about it by analyzing idea, vocabulary, and structure.
Several activities in the unit will entail work outside of class, including the following:
- various short reading and writing assignments
- small group independent investigation on the five "isms" (Romanticism, Transcendentalism, Abolitionism, Feminism, and Industrialism)
- Long term reading assignments (Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Research on the influence of one of the -isms in preparation for written and oral presentation