Gilles 1

Emily Gilles
Dr. Cusick
Independent Study
23 April 2015
Unit Plan for Fado
Class Description: 15 students, AP English class, class duration 40 minutes, 3 week unit
with Fado by Andrzej Stasiuk

Unit Title: History, Culture, and Language through Fado

Purpose of Unit: The purpose of this unit is to help students understand historically,
culturally, and linguistically eastern, southern, and central Europe. Beginning the unit,
there will be a week in which we go over the different countries mentioned throughout
the novel (Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Albania, and Poland) so that the students have a
better grapple on where the cities mentioned are, and how they affect the narrative. This
will be done through group PowerPoint presentations where they will need to touch on
these topics: geography, culture, brief history, and a short film clip of the country. They
should be creative with the PowerPoint presentation, and also create a one page fact sheet
of the country to hand out to the class so every student has facts on all the nations
covered. After this historical and geographical overview, the class will move on to the
novel. We will only be covering a few of the stories, but each one will come with a
vocabulary worksheet in which the students will write any word theyre unsure of and
find its definition. Along with that worksheet, the students will also need to find one

Gilles 2
comment, section, or anything from the reading that interested them and journal about it.
At the end of the unit, there will be a multiple choice and essay test that the students will
need to complete.

Overarching goals/big ideas: The goals for this unit is for the students to broaden their
knowledge on other countries, more vocabulary, and complex ideas that come from living
in nations that have been imperialized, such as what it means to only have power for 8
hours a day. By having the PowerPoint presentations first, they will understand the novel
more based on each groups findings. Another goal is to understand why the narrator feels
the way he does about the different things that he talks about, using their critical thinking
skills to analyze the meanings of each story we look at. By having a test at the end, it
allows the students to have another medium outside of presentations and papers to be
tested.

Rationale: My rationale behind the PowerPoint to start the unit is that without it, I think
that the ignorance on geography, culture, and language would detract from the novel to
the point where the students wouldnt be able to understand. Having them with handouts
of other students works on the countries will assist in reading the novel, and will make
the text less daunting. Having the students journal on something theyre interested from
each section will help them to remember those ideas when it becomes test time, as well as
allow them to explore the topic more thoroughly than our class discussions. In the novel
there are a lot of more than three syllable words, or words that the students might find
difficult so having a vocabulary worksheet for each day will allow them to not only

Gilles 3
expand their vocabulary but also understand the novel more. A test at the end of the unit
will be less daunting and time consuming than writing a paper, and will allow the
students to be formatively assessed in a different manner than the previous unit plans.

Adaptation: Have a note taker in place at all times, and provide students who need it
with an extra handout with the most important topics covered. For students with hearing
disabilities, give them a headset when it comes to any material covered through
technology (videos, audio clips, etc.). If students have a visual disability, text with larger
print will be available. Any other accommodations will go on a student-to-student basis in
regards to their individual needs.

Assessment: The assessments in this unit will be based on their PowerPoint presentation
and accompanying handout, their vocabulary worksheets, their journaling for each story,
and the final exam. The majority of the points will be split between the PowerPoint and
the final exam, and all revisions will be accepted except on the PowerPoint presentationbecause Im giving them two class days to work on this they should have it adequately
done.
Week One: Introduction to Fado and PowerPoint Assignment
Monday
Today is an introductory day and the assignment of the PowerPoint presentation will be
introduced. We will go over what I expect them to do during the unit, mentioning a final
exam at the end of the unit. We will take this time also to have them find groups for the
PowerPoint presentation, and to pick the country in which they want to present. We will

Gilles 4
take the rest of the time to see if anyone has any prior knowledge about the countries, and
if so we will share them. If not, I will go over a map to point out where each country is,
and look at the geography.
Tuesday
Today we will go over Fado as a novel. We will discuss the author, watching and reading
aloud the following medias:
Andrezej Stasiuks European Lesson:
http://www.voxeurop.eu/en/content/article/1319171-andrzej-stasiuk-seuropean-lesson
Interview with Stasiuk Drinking to the fall of communism
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/feb/03/fiction
and discuss the awards that Andrzej Stasiuk has won. By the end of the
class period, I hope that the students understand the author, which will
help when they read the actual text since its his travel narrative.
Wednesday
Today is the first workshop day in which the groups get to work on their PowerPoint
presentations and worksheets. Library time is allowed, if needed.
Thursday
Today is another workshop day, and the final workshop day. They should be almost
completely finished at the end of the period, so that the groups do not need to convene
outside of the school time in order to make it easier on them since there is such a short
due date.
Friday

Gilles 5
Presentations! Today the class will be presenting their PowerPoint and handing out their
worksheet. If they all do not finish today, then we can simply add another day onto the
unit or adjust as needed.
Week Two: Highway, Poetics and Slaughter, and A Shortage of Rain in the
Accursed Mountains
Monday
Today we will begin the book by looking at Highway in class. I will read the entire
piece aloud (since its so brief). After we read it, we will discuss what it was about, what
they thought about his style, if they understood it. What is the significance of it all? What
does the title signify? After whole class discussion of these items and more, the students
will begin on their vocabulary worksheets and/or their journal about one thing that stood
out to them. Each night for homework, those are to be completed and turned in.
Tuesday
Today in class, we will read Poetics and Slaughter. Because this work has more to it
then Highway did, we will take two days to discuss and to have the students do their
vocabulary worksheets and journal. We will go over together the historical significance of
this particular story, and talk about the impact it has on this part of the world.
Wednesday
Today is the continuations of Poetics and Slaughter, where the students will be allowed
to group up in accordance to what they want to journal about. They can discuss their
ideas of importance, and journal what their group found. The vocab worksheet and the
remainder of the journal is due as homework.
Thursday

Gilles 6
Today, the students will silently read A Shortage of Rain in The Accursed Mountains
and will journal directly after they finish reading. Without the discussion yet, this will
have uninfluenced ideas, or even questions they had about the reading. If they finish their
journals early, they may start on their vocabulary worksheets.
Friday
Today is another whole group discussion day. The students will be asked to share what
they journal about, and we will go from there with their ideas and questions. For
homework tonight they are expected to read Parody as a Continents Means for
Survival.
Week Three: Parody as a Continents Means for Survival, A Zone of Mixed
Populations, Memory, and Test
Monday
Today, we will discuss in whole group discussion Parody as a Continents Means for
Survival and focus mainly on the gypsy population. Ill go over facts about them, and
discuss with the class why the author felt the need to include this section, and what power
does it have on the work as a whole? With the remaining time, they will complete their
journals and the vocabulary worksheet and anything else will be done as homework.
Tuesday
Today we will read aloud in class via popcorn reading A Zone of Mixed Populations.
At the end of that reading, the students will journal and after theyre complete or almost
complete we will convene to discuss their ideas on the section. The vocabulary worksheet
and the rest of their journal will be for homework tonight.
Wednesday

Gilles 7
Today we will read Memory in class via silent reading. After theyre done, they are to
group up with three or four to discuss what they read. After that, we will convene in
whole group discussion. The main topic that I want to discuss is his idea that only the
past has real meaning, since the future is a void and could be predicted most likely by
human patterns. What do the students think of that? Is that how they interpreted it? For
homework they will need to do their vocabulary worksheet and their journal.
Thursday
Today is a final review day before the test. We will go over the format of the test, and I
will answer any questions that they need. The test will consist of history, culture,
language, and geography that weve covered. Some words that they should have had in
their vocabulary worksheets will be for multiple choice. After reviewing, they can use the
rest of the period to catch up on their vocabulary worksheets and journals if they have not
done so.
Friday
Today is the test day, and the day that all journals and vocabulary worksheets should be
turned in!

Gilles 8
Vocabulary Worksheet
Student Name:
Directions: On this paper, list a minimum of ten vocabulary words that were unfamiliar to
you, and their definitions. If more space is needed, use the back of this sheet.