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[Project Number: 2016-1-HR01-KA201-022159]

 

Title of Activity
Mirror and me

 

Description of educational activity
Duration: 90 minuts

Students' age: 16

Class organization: working in groups and pairs in the classroom, groups of 4 x 5, individuals

Goals: researching and analysing a piece of literature in a creative way, connecting the piece with the context of history, art history, social critique, modern forms of expressions (film, theatre, designed picture book). Finding the common traits of traditional and modern fairy tales and anti-fairy tales. Actualisation of structural characteristics of a modern fairy-tale as well as its universal and timeless message.

Through a series of arguments, showcasing ones point of view towards the social and personal dissemblance (greed, narcissism, selfishness, lack of empathy), media influence and modern technology.

The goal is to improve the pupils reading comprehension and the ability to understand the text, to improve the ability to reflect, critically analyse and develop empathy and key transversal abilities.

 

 

Educational activities:

  1. The class is given the names of four groups on A4 format papers. Students choose the activity according to their own affinities or randomly get chosen. The title aren't telling enough to show the goal of the assignment. Those who don't choose a group get assigned by a teacher.
  2. The pupils are divided into four groups of 5 students. 1. I AM STUPID? 2. I AM NARCISSISTIC? 3. I'M A NARRATOR? 4. I'M AN ACTOR?
  3. Each group receives materials with additional assignments.
  4. After announcing the author and the  title, the teacher reads the first substantial fragment of the title after which students are encouraged to read the rest individually. The assignments follow.
  5. GROUP ONE: I AM STUPID? Assignments (written, presentation preparation, excerpts) A. Find the typical formula from a classic fairy tale from the beginning of the story and describe the atypical ending. Why can't we call this a happy ending? What makes this story something different than a fairy tale? What is it lacking? B. Write a short description of the emperors character (write a moral/psychological profile) and describe the emperor's faults as a leader. Find the elements of humour and irony. C. Describe the emperors officials and describe the people of the nation. What kind of country do they live in? What are the reasons they have to be afraid? D. Explain the meaning of smart deceit: how does one position themselves so they don't appear stupid or incompetent for your service or social function? Does the „virtual“ suit have the power of the real one and if so, why? E. Each individual should try to honestly explain what they would do in the same situation. Would they tell the truth? Do a statistical analysis (for example, 4:1) Why do justice and truth more often win in fairy tales than in real life? Why and because of who nothing changed in the end? Why can we call this story an anti fairy-tale?
  6. GROUP TWO: I AM NARCISSISTIC? The students are given two illustrations and a text about the myth of Narcis. They are instructed to prepare a short presentation. They can use the Web for information. A. Verbally describe and explain both stories about Narciso. Explain the meaning of the world narcissistic and what are the psychological characteristics of a narcissist? Compare that to the character of the emperor from the fairy tale. B. Staring at one's reflection in the water and it's comparison to todays' phenomenon of the selfie. Is it a certain kind of addiction and does it change the way one looks at themselves? Why is it important to one to appear beautiful, attractive and perfect? Is it fashion, a trend or a requisite? How many selfies do you take a day, how many do you think you have on your phone? Why can that also be fun and entertaining? Connect the word selfie with the word selfishness, narcissism. C. In which way do modern technologies dictate behaviour, trends and fashion? Instagram and Facebook etc.? D. What about the children today? Do you believe young kids should own smart phones? Do you already feel a difference between yourself and the youngest generation, where do you see the biggest change happening? E. Are politicians, people of power and celebrities today especially narcissistic, ostentatious, opulent and excessive? Critique this behaviour from the point of a socially sensitive individual. Explain and support that with examples.
  7. GROUP THREE: AM I A NARRATOR? The students are supplies with illustrations from a children’s picture book without words. For each illustration, they are instructed to prepare a verbal telling of the fairy tale to an imaginary 6-7 year old child in a simple and age appropriate manner. Five storytellers continue.
  8. GROUP FOUR: AM I AN ACTOR? Based on the supplied text, five students write a short dramatization of the stories and choose roles to play (working in pairs is allowed). Their assignment is to cut out paper symbols for their characters and to do a short performance which will showcase the key places and characters of the story. Focus on the humorous and satirical nature of the characters.

 

Materials: Papers with names of the four groups, photographers of the characters from the mythologies (Narciso), illustrations from the wordless picture books, excerpts from the story in the picture book, sheets of paper and pencils for the short dramatization of the story and larger pieces of soft cardboard for symbolic costumes, scissors, smart phones, papers with the text of the myth, papers with the text of the fairy-tale.

Objective: The aim is to improve students' reading literacy and text comprehension skill, ability to reflect, critical thinking and empathy, key competencies, and transversal skills. Designing your own piece of work of creating graffiti and video shooting and self-study. The aim is to cultivate the reading culture by creating a reading motivating environment, developing the ability to interpret, analyze and evaluate.

Motivation: Out-of-class teaching, simulation of graphite with novel statements and their setting up by school space and documentation of videotapes

Evaluation and Assessment Method: Students independently demonstrate and fully substantiate their attitudes and results in the course of their work.

The impact of RSP reading activities: Practices that support and encourage student choice, thinking and attitude. The idea and the choice are personal and there is no mistake, and the positive understanding of thinking and thinking affects the students' confidence and lose previous reading resistance and gradually gain readership competence.

 

 

 

 

 

Connection to curriculum

Grade: 1st year of high school

General grammar school program: The aim of the curriculum of the study of Literature, Visual Arts and Music and the field of ​​History, Civil Behavior and Ethics is related to  reading and understanding of more contemporary, engaged literary and related works, literature and works of contemporary film, music and visual arts.

Students should independently discern, differentiate, explain, demonstrate and reflect on the features of the text offered, and arguably outline their views on the influence of culture, art and society on the development of young people's personality.

 

Knowledge:

  • Autonomously access text from different perspectives
  • Learn to initiate a discussion and ask questions
  • Develop ease and readiness of interpretation and storytelling
  • Enhance the understanding of reading comprehension
  • Organize and suspend different types of information

 

Skills:

  • Observe, counteract, distinguish, and comment on the similarities and differences that appear in the text.
  • Develop the prediction skill and the ability to imagine possible situational solutions.
  • Develop and enrich communication skills.
  • Construct, conclude and evaluate.
  • Learn to work effectively, independently and equally in the group.

 

Competences:

  • Establish links between the world in the text and real life or personal experiences.
  • Be able to visualize, combine, intervene in the material.
  • Follow the instructions and tasks and be able to evaluate the results.
  • Evaluate evidence and arguments, support and justify choices.

 

 

 

Bibliographic reference to be used during the activity

https://www.abebooks.com/Emperors-New-Clothes-Ladybird-Favourite-Tales/18293017067/bd

The Emperor's New Clothes : (Ladybird Favourite Tales) :

Hans Christian Andersen

 12 ratings by Goodreads

ISBN 10: 0721415563 / ISBN 13: 9780721415567

 

          

https://vizkultura.hr/slikovnica-carevo-novo-ruho/

Klasja Habjan: ‘A picture book The Emperor's New Clothes’ (a picture book without words)

 

Digital sources

 

Results

Expected outcomes: students acquire the lifelong ability to read, interpret and evaluate the literary text; the ability to develop an understanding of literal and implicit meaning, relevant contexts, and deeper issues and attitudes expressed in literary works; a competent personal response to the subject of the literary work they have studied; solving different tasks from different perspectives; the research of broader and universal questions suggested through the literary work; a conscious grasp of contemporary artistic and social themes; developed empathy and a better understanding of themselves and the world around them.

 

Recommendations

Choosing a method of teaching and a suitable text affects the student's interest in reading, studying, and interpreting.

Independence in work, effective co-operation, involvement in discussion and appraisal encourage interests and develop analytical and synthetic skills.

The volume of the assignment can be tailored to the opportunities and interests of the group as needed, according to the RSP readership profile.

The more active approach and the smaller text fragments offer a more interesting, dynamic way of reading and studying a literary work.

Title of Activity
There and back again - A Hero’s Journey

 

Description of educational activity
Duration: 4 x 45 minutes

Pupils’ age: 15-18

Organization of the class of pupils: group work (5)

The aim of the lesson:

  • use of The Hobbit as a springboard to a more general consideration of quest adventures, with a special emphasis on the heroic epic.
  • help students in progress and development towards higher order thinking skills needed for Reading Comprehension while enabling them to derive both meaning and enjoyment from reading.
  • involving the students in strategy of creating fantasy story by following the story composition/sequence scheme in order to help them building the skills needed for Reading Comprehension.

 

Support materials:

Handouts :

  1. "The Water of Life", The Grimm Brothers
  2. “The Slaying of Fafnir” (Excerpts from "Reginsmol" and "Fafnismol" in the Elder Edda)
  3. “The Odyssey” of Homer (Excerpts from Book VII)
  4. "Orpheus and Eurydice" (Greek myth)
  5. “The Charmed Ring” (Hindu folktale)
  6. Excerpts from the book:  The Hobbit, Chapters VIII – XIX
  7. The return of the King, Ch.10, The black gate opens
  8. Plot structure Diagram
  9. A Hero’s journey – circular scheme
  10. Key terms

 

Activities:

These activities are designed to deepen students’ background knowledge of literary devices and traditions, and to introduce them to the novel’s major themes.

Students are organized in 5 groups.

  1. Pre-reading activities

Teacher might begin pre-reading activities by drawing students' attention to Tolkien's own description of The Hobbit:

 "If you care for journeys there and back, out of the comfortable Western world, over the edge of the Wild, and home again, and can take an interest in a humble hero (blessed with a little wisdom and a little courage and considerable good luck), here is a record of such a journey and such a traveler. The period is the ancient time between the age of Faerie and the domination of men, when the famous forest of Mirkwood was still standing, and the mountains were full of danger."

From 1968 Ballantine paperback "The Authorized Edition"

 

Activity 1. Your Enchanted Neighborhood

This is a mapmaking activity. The students pick a familiar place (house, building, street, neighborhood), reimagines it as an enchanted realm, and prepares a map.

What happens when we recast a cemetery as the Land of the Dead or a messy bedroom as the Vortex of Unwashed Garments? Are such transformations necessarily silly, or do they help us to see meaning in the mundane? What sort of quest might bring a hero to a post office, a municipal park, or a sewage treatment plant?

 

Activity 2. The Hero Next Door

Have each student select an acquaintance that he or she admires: doctor, minister, priest, teacher, grandparent, uncle... Equipped with a notepad or a recording device, the student then interviews this unofficial mentor.

Does the subject see herself as a counselor in the Gandalf mold? As a pilgrim on a journey? As a seeker on a quest? What advice does the mentor have for young people? Students should write up the interviews in their daily journals.

 

Activity 3. A Dragon’s Diary.

A quest adventure typically requires the hero to defeat a dragon or other monster. In this activity, each student chooses a famous literary nemesis and then writes an entry in that creature's diary. The bestiary is large: Grendel, Humbaba, Polyphemus, Fafnir, Tiamat, Python, the Midgard Serpent, a dozen others. (To encourage original research, keep Smaug off limits.) While most students will want to narrate an encounter between dragon and hero, some may prefer to record a more boring day in the monster’s life.

 

Activity 4. Bilbo Goes to Hollywood

Ask the group to assume that a talented movie director has created an ideal adaptation of The Hobbit. Students then writes a review of this nonexistent film, citing the choices the director made in successfully translating Tolkien's themes from text to screen. Conversely, the class might write negative reviews of a hypothetical failed attempt to film The Hobbit.

 

Activity 5. Epics North, East, South, and West

This activity requires you to equip the classroom with a large world map. Group selects and researches a different heroic epic. Students needn't read the whole poem, but they should probe deeply enough to answer basic questions. From what culture does the epic emerge? Who is the hero? What does he seek? Each group should summarize its findings as an illustrated sidebar, posting it near the appropriate region on the map. The possibilities include: the Iliad and the Odyssey (Greece), the Aeneid (Italy), Beowulf (England), the Táin bó Cúailnge (Ireland), the Mabinogion (Wales), the Nibelungenlied (Germany), the Song of Roland (France), the Poem of My Cid (Spain), the Kalevala (Finland), Ilya Muromets (Russia), the Mahabarata (India), the Epic of Gilgamesh (Iraq), Shah-Namah (Iran), the Book of Dede Korkut (Turkey), Emperor Shaka the Great (South Africa), the Epic of Sundiata (West Africa), Lac Long Quang and Au Co (Vietnam), Popul Vuh (Central America), and Haion-Hwa-Tha (North America).

 

2.Reading activity

  1. The handouts are distributed amoung the groups of students:
  • "The Water of Life", The Grimm Brothers
  • “The Slaying of Fafnir” (Excerpts from "Reginsmol" and "Fafnismol" in the Elder Edda)
  • The Odyssey of Homer (Excerpts from Book VII)
  • "Orpheus and Eurydice" (Greek myth)
  • “The Charmed Ring” (Hindu folktale)

The students read the handouts in order to be able to connect their reading with various strands of ‘literary knowledge’, thus creating a more lasting and increasingly tightly woven ‘web of knowledge’. Their involvement with Tolkien will not take place in mental vacuum; rather they will be able constantly to link literature, film, music art etc. with previously acquired knowledge.

 

  1. The students are invited to read The Hobbit (Excerpts from the book, Chapters VIII – XIX or the book in its entirety) at home.

 

Post- reading activities

Activity 1: Discussion

Suggested discussion Topics:

  1. The Inner Quest

In many quest stories, the protagonist undertakes a double search. Even as he labors to complete his mission, he seeks some possibility buried deep within himself. Have the class discuss Bilbo's struggle to keep his timid Baggins side from overcoming "the Tookish part." How does the Bilbo of Chapter XIX differ from the hobbit who hosted "An Unexpected Party"? Is our hero's inner quest complete when he enters the Lonely Mountain? (On page 192 we learn, "Already he was a very different hobbit from the one that had run out without a pocket-handkerchief from Bag-End long ago.") Or does he still need to grow in curiosity, courage, or compassion?

 

  1. From Grocer to Burglar

In Chapter I, the dwarf Gloin speaks of Bilbo in disparaging terms: "As soon as I clapped my eyes on the little fellow bobbing and puffing on the mat, I had my doubts. He looks more like a grocer than a burglar" (page 18). Ask students to recapitulate the episodes through which Bilbo earns the dwarves' respect and friendship. At what moment in Bilbo's journey does he complete the transition from grocer to hero?

 

  1. The Metaphorical Quest

The plain meaning of quest is a search, and yet the concept enjoys loftier connotations. Which of humanity's hopes and dreams would students exalt with the word quest? (Possibilities include world peace, a cure for cancer, and contact with extraterrestrials.) What pursuits are students unwilling to call quests? Can the class think of controversial enterprises that have nevertheless been labeled quests? (Students might cite the Human Genome Project, for example.) What distinguishes a quest from a conquest? If you know exactly what form your desired object will take, does that mean you aren’t really on a quest?

 

  1. The Crutch of Invisibility

Throughout The Hobbit Bilbo performs brave and sometimes foolhardy actions, often after becoming invisible via the magic ring. Do students think Bilbo's use of the ring was necessary in every case? Whom do we admire more, the person who wields a powerful object or the person who cultivates his natural gifts? Which of Bilbo's interventions struck the class as particularly heroic? Which did the students find disturbing? Is Bilbo responsible for Smaug's murderous rampage?

 

  1. Symbolism versus Allegory

Most students are familiar with the concept of symbolism in poetry and fiction. As the class discusses The Hobbit, you can help students distinguish true literary symbols (objects, characters, and events whose meanings evolve as the story progresses) from mere allegorical equivalences (objects, characters, and events whose meanings are fixed from the outset). What symbolic significance do students find in Tolkien’s use of swords, water, magical objects, and the dragon’s hoard? What rescues these elements from the purely allegorical realm?

 

  1. Destiny on the Wing

Like Tolkien's other works, The Hobbit implies a world of mysterious forces operating beyond human understanding and hobbit ken. Have the class discuss the ordering principle that evidently hovers over Middle-earth. What moments in the story might trace to providence or destiny rather than mere chance? Is the eagles' climactic appearance a eucatastrophe? In confronting these questions, students will want to reread Gandalf's final speech to Bilbo: "Surely you don't disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit?"

 

Activity 2:

A Hero’s journey

This discussion spins off from the handout called "The Water of Life." Begin the conversation by presenting basic elements of a quest adventure as it is presented on A Hero’s journey – circular scheme. Next have the class map "The Water of Life" onto this model. Finally, invite the class to fit The Hobbit to this scheme. What tests does Bilbo face as the journey progresses? How close does he come to being weeded out?

 

Activity 3:

The Gandalf’s Gazette. 

Invite the group to imagine that daily newspapers issue from Gandalf. After picking a favorite tale, the student imagines a typical article from The Fairyland Sentinel or The Enchanted Enquirer, then writes it out in her daily journal. This piece might be a news report (TROLLS PLAN TO RAISE TOLLS), a feature story (WAYWARD SLIPPER UNITES PRINCE AND SCULLERY MAID), or an editorial (WE MUST REOPEN THE HANSEL AND GRETEL CASE). At some point in the article, the student should allude to the theme of the Faerie narrative in question.

 

Activity 4. Finding Your Inner Troll

So basic and compelling are the great fairy tale motifs — the impossible task, the rash promise, the forbidden action — that many students will enjoy incorporating them into their own fiction. The idea is not to produce a Faerie story for its own sake, but to use the genre in exploring a personal theme or making a satirical point. The setting can be archaic or contemporary, the characters convincing or comical. If students have trouble thinking up plots, remind them that the genre thrives on wish-fulfillment fantasies. What if a frustrated high school athlete, disgruntled babysitter, bored software engineer, envious business executive, or failed Nascar driver turned to Faerie in seeking her heart’s desire?

 

Activity 5: The Circle as Symbol

The motif of the ring recurs in Western literature, variously symbolizing infinity, eternity, harmony, perfection, and sometimes imprisonment. Assign student group to research the "circle myth" of his or her choice. The possibilities include King Arthur's Round Table, Dante's Circles of Hell, Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung, the legend of King Solomon's Ring etc. The student might present his findings as a hypothetical movie poster, magazine ad, book jacket, or travel brochure ("Escape to the Inferno This Winter").

 

 

Evaluation and assessment method:

Teacher’s role – provide materials and and act as mediator, facilitator or initiator of discussions.

In order to evaluate and assess the effective impact of the previous activities upon the students, they are asked to:

  1. Write a critical essay on suggested Discussion topics
  2. Write their own fantasy stories by following the circular scheme (Handout: A Hero’s journey).
  3. Read The return of the King, Ch.10, The black gate opens and describe and distribute the stages of a key dramatic action by following the plot structure diagram line (Handout: Plot structure Diagram).

 

Students are assessed on their ability to demonstrate:

  • knowledge of the content and form of literary text from different countrie and culture
  • engagement with writers’ ideas and treatment of themes
  • appreciation of how texts relate to wider contexts
  • recognition and appreciation of how writers create and shape meanings and effects
  • empathy, through re-creation of a character’s voice and thoughts

 

Effect of the activites on RSP reading:

Proposed methods affecting development of higher order cognitive skills.

Throughout, the emphasis is on acquiring new skills through a structured process of practice to fluency, transfer, and generalization that builds on what students have previously learned.

 

 

Connection to curriculum

Grade: 1-4

Curriculum:

World and English Literature: Traditional folk literature, including myths, tales, sagas, poems, legends, ballads, and epics

Civic education - Power, Corruption, and Personal responsibility

Sociology – The Price of Progress

History: Mythology ; The Great War / 19th century – the age of progress.

Geography – Ancient world Maps

Ecology - Love of nature and the effect industrialization and globalisation

Psychology –"Will to power" - The corrosive effect on the heart and mind

Music Art – Der Ring des Nibelungen, Richard Wagners opera.

 

Knowledge:

  • Contribution of fantasy literature to an understanding of areas of human concern
  • Critical thinking about the world, interdependency between people, friendship, rivalry
  • Wider and universal issues of Tolkien’s narrative
  • Better understanding of themselves and of the world around them
  • Enjoy the experience of reading fantasy literature
  • Different ways in which author achieve the effects on readers
  • Fantasy’s contribution to aesthetic, imaginative and intellectual growth

 

Skills:

  • Exploring rich heritage of the oral tradition through readings, discussions, journal writing, projects etc.
  • Understand and respond to literary texts in different forms and from different countries and cultures
  • Collecting, selecting and evaluating background informations
  • Read, interpret and evaluate literary text
  • Develop an understanding of literal and implicit meaning, relevant contexts and of the deeper themes or attitudes that may be expressed
  • Present an informed, personal response to literary text
  • Communicate an informed personal response appropriately and effectively
  • Work/cooperate effectively in groups
  • Skills of empathy
  • Skills in improvisation and dramatisation
  • Learning through active participation
  • Debating

 

Competences:

The student should be able to:

  • Comprehend The Hobbit at the level of plot, character, setting, and idea.
  • List characteristics of a quest story
  • Indicate which of Tolkien's characters might be considered archetypes.
  • Say what is meant by a "metaphorical quest."
  • Discuss some differences between symbolism and allegory.
  • Indicate how Bilbo Baggins's adventures changed him for the better.
  • Appreciate Gandalf's distinction between providence and "mere luck."
  • Appreciate the astonishingly complex world in which Tolkien's novels unfold.
  • Think critically and write clearly about Tolkien's themes, with special emphasis on their contemporary relevance.
  • Understand how Tolkien's fiction is informed by many literary and linguistic traditions, as well as by philosophical, psychological, sociological, and political issues that reverberate through the entire secondary school curriculum.

 

Bibliographic reference to be used during the activity

Features cover art by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13/ EAN: 9780618260300

ISBN-10: 0618260307

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 08/15/2002

 

 

 

Digital sources

 

Results

Outcomes of the lesson:

The student are/will be able to:

  • demonstrate clear critical/analytical understanding of the authors’ intentions and the texts’ deeper implications and the attitudes it displays
  • make much well-selected reference to the text
  • respond sensitively and in detail to the way language works in the text
  • communicate a considered and reflective personal response to the text.
  • sustain a perceptive and convincing response with well-chosen detail of narrative and situation

 

Recommendations

Many students, especially those with difficulties, find that visual schedules helps them organizing the reading activities. Planning how to begin the story and how the action will proceed is crucial and speaks to the need for understanding the sequence. Listing the elements of the sequence form can be very helpful. The visuals (charts, ilustrations etc.) can also be used as tool to help students analyse information in the reading comprehension process. As a student gathers information about what he wants to include in his story, he may need significant help with integrating components, particulary with first efforts and as expectations become more complex.

Proposed activities and method, together with the selected novel (or any other fantasy gender text) can help in increasing RSP readers interest in reading while affecting their higher order cognitive skills (integration, inference, analysis, creativity, negotiation, assumption, prediction, anticipation, clarification of information).

Title of Activity
LITERARY WORKSHOP FOR PARENTS AND STUDENTS

 

Description of educational activity
Duration: 90 minutes
Pupils’ age: 16-18
Organization of the class of pupils: two moderators, six groups of 3 to 4 students, group work (students and parents), individual (discussion), discussion groups, work in a larger classroom or school hall, circular seating.

The aim of the lesson: The aim is to involve parents in the teaching process, improve student literacy and ability to understand texts, ability to reflect, critical thinking and empathy, key competencies, and transversal skills. Also, cultivating reading culture by creating a reading motivating environment, developing interpretative , analysis and evaluation skills. The aim of the workshop is to develop students' verbal and written expressive skills, the ability to debate, the quality  of preparation of theses / antithesis and arguments. The aim is to observe the importance of harmonized educational activities and encourage the co-operation between parents and schools and to foster dialogue among the participants of the educational process

 

Support materials: The text of the story.

 

Activities:

 

A. Before the workshop

One week before the workshop with the students and their class teacher and the pedagogue, arrange a joint lesson with parents (time and place, theme). Participation is optional, but it is desirable to include many parents as possible. Distribute two copies of the novel  to students (for them and their parents), which will be a template for common work and they need read them. Each student, based on the motifs from the excerpt, should prepare five arguments for and against the thesis (sentence statement!), Eg: Del Jordan acted right when she opposed her mother. Men are stronger sex. / Girls are vulnerable and passive, and young men are strong and independent. Sexual harassment and violence should not be acknowledged or reported. / Life without marriage makes no sense. / Some books or newspapers should be banned. / The time of books has passed.

Choose two moderator students and  introduce  and explain the plan and order of the workshop activities and the rules of the debate.

B. First Lesson: Motivation

The workshop leader (teacher) and the students greet the parents and lead them to the gym or a larger classroom. The tables are placed in a circle. One of them is the facilitator's table. They sit alternately and without breaking into the older and younger or pairs of the child - the parent.

At the beginning of the first lesson the moderators briefly explain the course and objectives of the workshop. The facilitator gives basic information about the novel (theme, time, space) and the author, shows the video of the two-minute section of the interview and interpretatively reads the selected shorter sections of the excerpt.

The teacher organizes students into smaller groups (6 groups of 3 to 5 students) by random selection in the register. Moderators hand in a piece of paper to their parents for notes and marks. Students work in small groups according to the principle of collaborative learning, each student reads their arguments for and against. The order of presentation: hot pencil method (on the faciliator's table, pencil is spinned, and the top of the pencil decides the first speaker). Parents participate individually, they listen and make notes as needed. Exercising listening, talking and managing  time, the students keep notes and then, together with their parents, ask questions and make comments.

In the end, they choose successful theses / arguments that confirm or reject the defined thesis and support them with evidence from the text (quotes, paraphrases, retelling the part of the excerpt) as they were set, and reject badly articulated or inaccurate claims.

Students select two groups of three debates and representatives of judges (2 parents and 3 students).

C. Second Lesson: Debate and Self-Evaluation

Moderators explain the rules of the debate to the  parents and students. Debate is a skill of discussion in which participants use pre-prepared arguments. Two opposing sides  discuss the thesis. A well-formed thesis should be said with an affirmative sentence. The participants do not know whether they will be in affirmative or negative group, until then they have prepared arguments for both sides. When debaters find out which opinion they will represent, which can be determined by throwing dice, coins, drawing paper from hoods, etc., they have to represent their group regardless of whether it is their personal opinion. One group tries to convince the other in the truth of their arguments and persuade them to accept them. The judges monitor the time and finally, after the discussion and the closing words, evaluate the group's persuasiveness (scale 1 - 10) and determine the winner. The debate lasts exactly 18 minutes.

Affirmative and negation groups are selected. The negative argument  debatant starts (60 seconds) – and the opposing group replicates (the affirmative debatant argues the negative arguments, asking questions that are trying to contradict him and weaken or break his arguments, time for questions and answers 90 seconds), followed by the first debatant of the other group, and the first group replicates. This is how all three debates are developed.

After their performance, a large group discussion (plenum) follows acording the general discussion rules (respect of the interlocutor, lack of speech interruption, respect for time, etc.).

Each group eventually sums up the final word. In the final speech, each debatant repeats or sums up his main arguments and supplements them by challenging opponents' arguments. It is not allowed to enter new arguments.

At the end of the debate, the judges preside over which group was more successful in evaluating the following: the talkative skills of the debates, the clarity of the arguments put forward, the persuasiveness of the speaker in defending his arguments, the ability of the debaters to find weakness in the opponent's arguments, respect of the set time.

Self-evaluation and evaluation

Students are asked to briefly write what they think they know after the workshop, what they can do better, what skills they have practiced or acquired, which attitudes they have built up. Students read their notes (shorten if repeated too often, find time for all the students to make everyone aware of what they have learned - learning outcomes). The parents orally comment on their participation in the workshop and present their impressions and judgment on the usefulness and the need for such cooperation with the school.

The facilitator focuses on the goals that have been achieved, summarizes his knowledge of the novel and the ideas and values ​​it offers, and recommends that students and parents read the work as a whole.

Working material: leaflets with a excerpt from the novel, notes and ratings papers, a computer and a projector, lists for evaluation and self-evaluation

A fragment from the novel "The Life of Girls and Women" (pages 178 - 184)

"It was a farewell performance for Mr. Chamberlain ..." - "Without thinking a bit, I decided to do the same."

Motivation: reading and reflecting on the subject of an elective reading list based on the selected excerpt (together with the parents); presenting evidence and arguing for and against the set of theses with questions and comments

 

Evaluation and assessment method:

  • Students confirm and fully argue their attitudes and results at the end of their workshop. Parents also value the lesson and self-evaluate their contribution.

 

Effect of the activity on RSP reading:  

The impact of RSP reading activities: practices that support and encourage students' choice, thinking and attitude. The idea and the choice are personal and there are none which are wrong, and the positive understanding and  thinking itself affects the students' confidence and they lose previous reading resistance and gradually gain reading competence.

 

Connection to curriculum

Grade: 3rd to 4th year of secondary school

General Grammar School: Curriculum of the Study of World Literature and  ​​History, Geography, Citizenship and Ethics

Collaboration with parents with educational and educative purpose.

Students should independently notice, differentiate, explain, demonstrate and give examples of the features of the text offered, and express their views on the influence of culture, art and society on the development of young people's personality in an argumentative way.

 

Knowledge:

  • Autonomously access text from different perspectives.
  • Learn to initiate a discussion and ask questions.
  • Develop ease and readiness of reading.
  • Enhance the skill of reading comprehension.
  • Organize and suspend different types of information.

 

Skills:

  • Observe, counteract, distinguish, and comment on the similarities and differences in appearance in the text.
  • Develop the prediction skills and ability to imagine possible situational solutions.
  • Develop and enrich communication skills, arguing skills, discussion and debate.
  • Construct, conclude and evaluate.
  • Learn to work effectively, independently and equally in the group.

 

Competences:

  • Establish links between the world in text and real life or personal experience.
  • Be able to visualize, combine, intervene in material.
  • Follow the instructions and tasks to be able to evaluate the results.
  • Evaluate evidence and arguments, support and justify choices.
  • Develop  a sense of belonging, identify and connect with each other, share the same goals and values ​​and respect differences.

 

Relationship with the curriculum - related goals.

  • One of the key determinants of a pedagogically effective school is enhanced co-operation with parents. The partnership emphasizes the importance of cooperation in education and socialization of children, the respect for cultural differences and the importance of different perspectives for creating a positive climate for learning. The complexity of the society sends confusing messages. Parents sometimes become hostile to the school and the teacher when they are under the impression that they are taught and promoted in the school the moral or religious attitudes they disagree with. Starting from the thesis that a student and a child are one and the same person developing in school and family, the co-operation between parents and schools is a social and pedagogical inevitability. If school and family are in crisis, then their co-operation is even more important. Children whose parents in different ways contribute to school life are more motivated to learn and achieve better success. This way of working is very effective in bringing together  parents and their own children and getting to know each other's parents, teachers, and  students within a certain class.

 

 

Bibliographic reference to be used during the activity

Author: Alice Munro

Lives of Girls and Women

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Ryerson

Publication date: 1971

Pages: 254 pp.

ISBN  978-0-07-092932-6

 

Short description of digital sources  (applications, games, webpages, FB pages etc.)

Author: Alice Munro

Lives of Girls and Women

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Ryerson

Publication date: 1971

Pages:           254 pp.

ISBN  978-0-07-092932-6

OCLC 517102

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Munro

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lives_of_Girls_and_Women 

https://www.facebook.com/alicemunroauthor

https://www.biography.com/people/alice-munro-9418218

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110370/ 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110370/ 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/24/lives-of-girls-and-women-by-alice-munro-review 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/aug/12/dance-of-the-happy-shades-by-alice-munro-a-place-familiar-but-out-of-reach

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/15/lying-under-the-apple-tree-alice-munro-review-astonishing-tales

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/25/books-alice-munro-canadian-currency

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/oct/22/reading-cities-books-about-vancouver

https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Munro/e/B000APECX6

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/11/books/alice-munro-wins-nobel-prize-in-literature.html?mcubz=1

http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~ecampbel/munro/frame.htm

 

 

Results

Expected outcomes:

  • students acquire the lifelong ability to read, interpret and evaluate the literary text; the ability to develop an understanding of literal and implicit meaning, relevant contexts, and deeper issues and attitudes expressed in literary works;
  • a competent personal response to the subject of the literary work they have studied;
  • solving a generously diverse group of different tasks from different perspectives; the research of broader and universal questions suggested through the literary work;
  • a conscious grasp of contemporary artistic and social themes; developed empathy and a better understanding of themselves and the world around them.

 

Recommendations

Choosing a method of teaching and a suitable text affects the students' interest in reading, studying, and interpreting.

Activities to support active inclusion of parents in the education of their children.

Independence in work, effective co-operation, involvement in discussion and appraisal encourage interests and develop analytical and synthetic skills.

The volume of texts can be tailored to the opportunities and interests of the group as needed, according to the RSP readership profile.

The more active approach and the smaller text fragments offer a more interesting, dynamic way of reading and studying a literary work.

Title of Activity
GRAFFITI, GRAFFITI

 

Description of educational activity
Duration: 90 minutes

Students' age: 16-18

Class organization: group work and  pair work outside the classroom (school lobby, open living room, staircase, park by the school etc.) and 2nd clesson in the  classroom, work in pairs, groups 5 x 4, individual work.

Objective: To become creatively acquanted with a literary work by linking it with the history of art, social criticism, modern expression and forms (new language, graffiti, strip, conceptualism, rap, heppening, performance etc.). The aim is to improve students' reading literacy and text comprehension skill , ability to reflect, critical thinking and empathy, key competencies, and transversal skills. Designing your own piece of work of creating graffiti and video shooting and self-study. The aim is to cultivate the reading culture by creating a reading motivating environment, developing the ability to interpret, analyze and evaluate.

 

Educational activities:

1. Pupils in an out-of-classroom space, freely arranged, without notice of the book and theme, individually read a template composed of thoughts / phrases (separated from the work that will be the subject of author's interviews) and choose one as their future graphitti.

2. After reading brief written instructions on the basics of the creative process, the students draw / print the selected sentence / idiom in a  graphittti on larger papers. They can write the chosen text as a message in various creative and original ways and fonts. They will cover the school in unexpected places (corridors, schoolboards, toilets, mirrors, staffroom doors, coffee machines, windows...)

3. They document their work by recording with a cell phone, in pairs, at different places in the school, in short, half-length videos - while one shoots, the other speaks out the selected text (in a proclamative, subversive manner) and carries it to the chosen place and then they change roles.

4. Second lesson. In the master classroom, the facilitator introduces the cover of the book with the illustration (mural), the author herself  and title of the novel, and reads the selected excerpt in an inzerpretative way. Students should observe and orally comment on the variety of prose forms in the excerpt and conclude what  the main topic (street, subversive art in history and today) is.

5. Five groups of four students receive 4 lists of names and names (4) from the excerpt and they seek information on the Internet (1 pupil - 1 term). They report with the projection of links in the shortest lines about those (2-3) that are interesting to them.

6. A shorter discussion follows with a critical review in a fragment on modern poetry (two sentences) that, having fun, "ceased to think about the world" and became an "empty language" about modern art (conceptualism: happening, performance, video art, street art ) and about the range of the general culture needed to understand art. The discussion will be conducted and maintained to encourage students to ask questions themselves. During the discussion, marking the motive and linguistic turn at the end of the fragment (eros, male-female friendship, youth passion, refugees, Bosnia) - the reality that looks for its new poets and new voices.

7. Projection of students' documentary videoclips - drawing graphitti drawings on the school premises.

8. Reflection of the job done, self-evaluation and evaluation.

Work materials: worksheets (with selected thoughts and phrases), brief instructions on creating the graffiti, thicker A3 papers, color stamps, cell phones (video and internet), cover pages, cover pages, novel, computer, projector.

 

A fragment from the novel "Singer in the Night" (page 29)

"If I had to describe the Slavu as short as possible, I would say that he is a street poet." - "... it passes as if it were not, I'm sorry, everybody to my side forever and without problems."

 

Motivation:

Out-of-class teaching, simulation of graphite with novel statements and their setting up by school space and documentation of videotapes

 

Evaluation and Assessment Method:

Students independently demonstrate and fully substantiate their attitudes and results in the course of their work.

The impact of RSP reading activities: practices that support and encourage student choice, thinking and attitude. The idea and the choice are personal and there is no mistake, and the positive understanding of thinking and thinking affects the students' confidence and lose previous reading resistance and gradually gain readership competence.

 

 

Connection to curriculum

Grade: 2nd - 4th year of high school

General grammar school program: The aim of the curriculum of the study of Literature, Visual Arts and Music and the Area of ​​History, Citizenship and Ethics is related to the reading and understanding of more contemporary, engaged literary and related works, literature and works of contemporary music and visual arts.

Students should independently discern, differentiate, explain, demonstrate and reflect on the features of the text offered, and arguably outline their views on the influence of culture, art and society on the development of young people's personality.

 

Knowledge:

  • Autonomously access text from different perspectives
  • Learn to initiate a discussion and ask questions
  • Develop ease and readiness of reading
  • Enhance the understanding of reading comprehension
  • Organize and suspend different types of information

 

Skills:

  • Observe, counteract, distinguish, and comment on the similarities and differences that appear in the text.
  • Develop the prediction skill and the ability to imagine possible situational solutions.
  • Develop and enrich communication skills.
  • Construct, conclude and evaluate.
  • Learn to work effectively, independently and equally in the group.

 

Competences:

  • Establish links between the world in the text and real life or personal experiences.
  • Be able to visualize, combine, intervene in the material.
  • Follow the instructions and tasks and be able to evaluate the results.
  • Evaluate evidence and arguments, support and justify choices.

 

 

Bibliographic reference to be used during the activity

OLJA SAVIČEVIĆ IVANČEVIĆ

Singer in the night

Publishing house: Sandorf

05/2016.

No. of pages: 152

ISBN 9789537715922

 

 

Digital sources

 

 

Results

The expected outcomes of the lesson:

  • students acquire the lifelong ability to read, interpret and evaluate the literary text;
  • the ability to develop an understanding of literal and implicit meaning, relevant contexts, and deeper issues and attitudes expressed in literary works;
  • a competent personal response to the subject of the literary work they have studied;
  • solving different tasks from different perspectives;
  • the research of broader and universal questions suggested through the literary work;
  • a conscious grasp of contemporary artistic and social themes;
  • developed empathy and a better understanding of themselves and the world around them.

 

Recommendations

Choosing a method of teaching and a suitable text affects the student's interest in reading, studying, and interpreting.

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