Download Imagining New Worlds Context: Dystopian authors have had a

 Imagining New Worlds Context: Dystopian authors have had a disturbingly accurate track record of predicting the future of society. They tell stories that introduce or popularize themes such as environmental collapse, nuclear war, virtual reality, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, mind control, and mass propaganda. In Imagining New Worlds, students consider the question: What can we learn about ourselves and our society from dystopian worlds? Students study authors’ varied approaches to dystopian literature and common dystopian literary conventions. Project: Students create a graphic novel or produce a short film set in a dystopian world and modeled on a social issue important to the students. Approach: Students read a dystopian novel appropriate to their reading level. In addition to reading the novel, the students spend time in class reading two or three additional dystopian short stories: “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, or “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury. All three authors use different techniques to demonstrate the influence of the state on individuals; the students analyze these techniques and write an essay that compares them with the novel they have chosen to read. Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) Template Task: Students will engage in extended reading and writing as they complete a comparative essay. LDC Task: After reading several examples of dystopian fiction, write an essay that compares the authors’ different approaches to dystopian fiction and argues which story had the most effective commentary on contemporary society. Be sure to support your position with evidence from the texts. (Argumentation/Comparison) Expert Involvement: Two groups of experts are needed for this unit: one to review student essays and another to provide feedback on student scripts. This interaction will be facilitated through the social learning platform and/or through a shared Google Document. Feedback is provided using features such as “Track Changes” and “Comments,” which allow students to engage in asynchronous exchanges with their experts. Digital Tools: Discussion board; Microsoft Word and Excel (or equivalent); media player (e.g., QuickTime, Real Player, iTunes, VLC9); video-­‐editing software (iMovie or Movie Maker, or equivalent). Primary Standards: CC Reading • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text. • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course
of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop
over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g.,
parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. Primary Standards: CC Writing • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid
reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, wellchosen details, and well-structured event sequences. • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.) • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new
approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. ©2013 Educurious Partners-­‐ All rights reserved www.educurious.org • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared
writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and
dynamically. Primary Standards: CC Speaking and Listening • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups,
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and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their
own clearly and persuasively. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.3 Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any
fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence. ©2013 Educurious Partners-­‐ All rights reserved www.educurious.org