Marcelo in the Real World

Title of Activity
Who will join my group of friends?

Description of educational activity
Duration: 2 x 45 minutes

Student age: 16-17 year olds

Student Class organization: group work

Lesson goal:

Analysis of the relationship between literary characters, empathy development,
Encouraging critical thinking about the relationship between peers and group pressure in their own environment

Support materials:

Internet
Magazines containing topics from teenagers' everyday life, TV series

Highlights:

3 texts
sticky notes

Activities:

reading, interpreting and discussing the text, watching and discussing video clips

I. Activities before reading

Thematic approach: "Santana vs. Beethowen "- explore the influence of rock music and classical music on cognitive and affective abilities, attitudes, style, subculture of youth
Thematic approach: "You instead of me" - explore how children with this cognitive disorder often call themselves by their name
Thematic Approach: "Life with Parents during 35" - Using TV series to compare the lives of peers, becoming independent and employment opportunities in Republic of Croatia

II. Activities during reading.

The 1st group gets job lists - they will read:

episode with dad - students in the group read the default part (Chapter 3) and answer questions using the Placemat method - a sublayer, the goal: the group should noticed the problem of communication between Arthur and Marcela, the problem of unrealistic parenting
Forming groups to discuss whether Marcelo should stay in Paterson or go to a regular school in the final grade?

The 2nd group gets a working paper, will read:

episode with Wendell - the students in the group read the given chapters (chapters 8, 9 and 13) and solve the tasks using the method of reciprocal reading as well as discussing the problems that are observed in the texts - problem of student violence, communication problems, loss of self-confidence and motivation

The 3^rd group gets a working list, it reads:

episode with Yasmine - the students read a part of the text (Chapter 24), dramatize it and determine the pool of emotions in Marcel's head - Friendship, Sexual Pleasure, Love.

III. Common activities after reading.

a debate on Marcelo and Ixtel - Victims and / or Heroes? - The students put forth their arguments and explain them, answering questions: How are the heroes of this story exceptional and different from other characters? Do they remind us of people of the real world? Ex. events and people we hear over the media?

Evaluation and Assessment Method:

Teacher Role - Prepare Materials and act as a Moderator
Method all around - Group work activity, used in the evaluation phase - one paper and pen is sent from member to member in the group - during which evaluation is written.

Students are evaluated on the basis of the following:

knowledge of the content and forms of literary texts from different regions and cultures
engagement around the idea of writers and their approach to the topic and the handling of the text
Recognizing the ways in which texts relate to broader contexts
empathy, recognition and appreciation of a wider context

The Impact of Activity on Reading RSP Readers:

Practices initiate a process of thinking in the students minds leading to what may be called greater cultural sensitivity, increased awareness of cultural differences and cultural communities - not only for race but also for gender, social classes, etc

Connection to curriculum

Class: sophomore year

Curriculum:

World Literature - reading for pleasure

Civil upbringing and education - developing conflict resolution strategies, peer violence

English Language and Literature - US writer Stork

Musical Arts - Classical Music, Rock Music

Knowledge:

broad and universal issues
better understanding of yourself and the world around you
enjoying the experience of reading literary literature
Understanding the problem, answering questions related to the position of young people, influence of music, student relationships, identity issues
Critical thinking about the world, family, work

Skills:

Collecting, selecting and evaluating background information
reading, interpreting and evaluating literary texts
Effective collaboration in groups
Empathy during groups works
preparation and performance of "role play"
improvisation, especially in speech
discovering the possibilities of one's own learning during active participation
mastering the elements of debate

Competence:

Intercultural and Communication Competences
Understanding cultures as a comprehensive approach to literacy.
a positive attitude towards different ways of thinking / prayers / clothing style or behavior, openness and tolerance

Bibliographic reference to be used during the activity

Francisco X. Stork: Marcelo in the real world

Algoritam

Zagreb, February, 2011.

Results

Expected outcomes:

Students will be able to:

express clearly the critical / analytical and interpretative understanding of the text
select the text references individually
reacted to the way the language works in the text
to respect the opinion of others, to clearly and precisely argue their own opinions

Recommendations

The text can help increase the interest of students to read. The elements of the detective stories may also be of interest to students to read the novel entirely.