Krista Robertson Tori Lamb ENGL 492 Curriculum Project

Statement of Pedagogical Intent

As future teachers of English Literature, we have four main goals in teaching Beowulf. To teach students to implement Close Reading into reading tool-box, paying close attention to the text and what it is explicitly saying and/or not saying (drawing inferences); to expose students to early English works that have been accepted into the literary cannon as a primal example of the Epic; to expose students to the potential bias of a story by analyzing different perspectives of the same story; and to continue building their essay-writing skills by including in-depth analysis of themes while writing a clear, focused, analytical essay on a topic(s) prevalent throughout the text. Our biggest influence in planning our curriculum was Jim Burke. Apart taking advantage of his many of his graphic organizers in Tools for Thought, we also made use of his theory of establishing a reading culture (Burke 1). In our unit, students are exposed to varying viewpoints on Beowulf through John Gardeners Grendel as well as a film adaptation of the epic and a graphic novel; therefore, students are readily exposed to the multiple perspectives that one text can carry. By immersing students in a literacy-rich environment, our hope is to pique their interest not only in old English texts but in reading in general. This idea also correlates to Jody Fernandezs concept of the text set, which provide compatible reading selections for students of varying reading levels and experiences (Fernandez 742). Beowulf is a difficult text to understand because of its differences in language and syntax, so to facilitate student understanding, we implemented the graphic novel, which portrays the action of the epic through art (which is more readily understood); we added the film version, which achieves a similar effect to the graphic novel; and we included selections from Grendel, which not only provides an alternative perspective but also an account of the story using more modernized language. Largely present in our contingency plan was the influence of Jeff Wilhelm and classroom drama. Beowulf opens itself up to a lot of reenactment in the classroom, so we decided that if students are not reading or have given up on reading due to the difficulty of the text, we would implement classroom drama. He writes that the benefits of literature can emerge only from creative activity on the part of the reader himself (Wilhelm 87), so in addition to our engaging activities like Cartoonize, we thought the implementation of drama would help excite students about the text. Lastly, Madeline Hunters 7-step lesson plan has a large impact on our curriculum planning as well. When we attempted to build lesson plans, we consulted her chart numerous times to help formulate a solid structure and to ensure that we covered essential steps that help students learn. Many of our activities, Power point presentations, and quizzes are based off her different stepsfor example, we included modeling heavily in each of our in-class assignments, and we check for understanding several times throughout the unit.

Works cited
Official Overall Sources
Abrams, M. H. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Middle Ages. 9th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.

Burke, Jim. Reading Reminders: Tools, Tips, and Techniques. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 2000. Print. Fernandez, Jody. Text Sets in the Adult Developmental Reading Classroom: Expanding Literacy through Diverse Readings. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Litaracy 43.8 (2000): 742-46. Print. Gardner, John. Grendel. New York: Knopf, 1971. Wilhelm, Jeffrey D. "Using Drama to Extend the Reader." You Gotta Be the Book: Teaching Engaged and Reflective Reading with Adolescents. New York: Teachers College, 1997. 87-112. Print. Patton, Marylin Beowulf and Tolkien PPT, Themes and Quotes Activity. DeAnza College Cupertino, CA. 2013

Sources Within Activities http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/beowulf/summary.html - Copied for Summary http://www.bookrags.com/notes/beo/ - Copied for Summary http://www.dictionary.com/ Several definitions of words in the Literary devices ppt http://www.wikipedia.com/ Small bits of relevant history in the Beowulf origins ppt