EDSC 330 Final Project Planning Sheet

Name(s): Ashley Fragoso & Jacob Villanueva

Content area and grade level: English Grades 11-12

What is the focus of your project? Why is that important?

(2-3 sentence description of your compelling question or topic, and explanation of why it is important.)

The topic that we are choosing to cover is the topic of death and final journeys. I think that students all have different perspectives on death as
some cultures celebrate it while others mourn it. Because of this, I think that having them read texts where writers all give their different
perspectives on death and final journey can call for close analysis and students can relate their attitudes with those of the writers.

Title of and link to Description of Text Type of Text Reading/Writing Strategies or

text (if online) Why include this text? What makes it unique? Highlight all that apply; Teaching Ideas for this Text
(Genre, Perspective, Information, Angle, Audience, etc.) see Lupo et al. (2018)
for explanations
John Donne- This is an interesting poem as John Donne was Challenge Text Students will argue who the
Death Be Not known to write religious text, so this is different Target Text audience member is within the
Proud considering that he is addressing death. In the Visual or Video Text poem. Students will learn about
poem, it is argued that death is his audience, so Informational Text how to form a good argument
having students argue who the audience member in Accessible Text using the toulmin model. Using
could be good to cater to higher level thinking and a graphic organizer based on
creating an argument about their stance. the toulmin, they will be able to
create their argument.
This text is a good poem in the sense that it was Challenge Text Pretend you're Donne and you
Emily Dickinson- written by a woman who was looked down upon Target Text read this poem. Write a
Because I could because she was a writer. I think it is good to Visual or Video Text response to Emily’s poem in
not stop for Death introduce this because as an educator, there are the first person.
Informational Text
different literary theories based on sex and gender
that can be used t analyze this text. It is also a good Accessible Text
poem to use if the students are learning about
Protestantism within their history classes.
Dylan Thomas- This text is good because it is a poem. Specifically, Challenge Text Get into 6 groups. Each group
Do Not Go Gentle it is a vanilla poem which is often not taught as there Target Text reads aloud a stanza of the
into That Good seems to be more focus on Petrarchan poems. It is Visual or Video Text poem. After this, the room will
Night also a good poem to read as there clearly seems to be divided into two large
Informational Text
be a climax by the end of the poem which can be sections. One group will argue
analyzed through different lenses. Accessible Text why it seems that he is at
peace with death while the
 other group argues the
opposite.
Nathaniel I really like this text because it is a short story that Challenge Text In a group, discuss the
Hawthorne- The does not talk about death itself compare to the other Target Text different ways the wives dealt
Wives of the Dead works but instead talks about how a person takes Visual or Video Text with the death of their
death through the stages of grief. I think this text husbands. In a quick write,
Informational Text
could also be an educational tool for students to write your own definition of
learn about the way to deal with death as Accessible Text grief. what are the ways people
adolescence can be a time where they don’t know grieve? In your culture, is death
how to cope with death so using this as a way to seemed like a time to grieve or
reflect on alternatives can be useful to the audience celebrate? explain? (a whole
that is reading it. class discussion after this can
be a good way to learn about
people’s cultures and the
different ways life and death
are celebrated or mourned.)
William I think this a famous speech that students during Challenge Text Read the speech while
Shakespeare- To this time should be required to analyze as it does Target Text watching the video. Get into
be or not to be cover one of the California content standards as it is Visual or Video Text groups and dissect the speech.
speech. Watch part of Shakespeare’s work. Watching the speech On a poster, write down the
Informational Text
the speech in being preformed, reading the speech, and analyzing quote that reflects Hamlet’s
movie adaptation is definitely catering to the higher-level thinking Accessible Text feelings towards death. Talk
with Kenneth strategies as it must be translated into modern about the quote and draw a
Branagh English and has figurative language that is difficult visual representation. Present
to analyze by one’s self. Therefore, doing this is this poster to the class. (A
https://youtu.be/Sj groups or as a whole class can be beneficial. gallery walk can also be
uZq-8PUw0 conducted with this activity.
This text is a historical text talking about the Challenge Text The students will read this by
file:///Users/ashle wounded knee massacre. This text talks about the Target Text themselves for a given time
yfragoso/Downloa way native americans addressed the concept of Visual or Video Text frame. After, students will
ds/commonlit_the death during and following the massacre. It would discuss the text with the
Informational Text
-wounded-knee- be a good text for students as they may be learning person next to them. Then the
massacre_studen about this in their history class and it introduces Accessible Text text will be discussed with the
t.pdf then to the idegenous culture and the way their entire class using the socratic
traditions are made up of. circle method where every
student will be required to
reflect on the text and give a
comment about their reaction
or a bout what they learned.
The 5 stages of This article is one that examines the theme of death, Challenge Text Students will read this article.
grief more specifically the five stages of grief. It explains Target Text After students finish reading
how there are multiple stages that people follow, in this article, they will then be
 https://www.healthli no particular order, when dealing with loss of a Visual or Video Text asked to use this article to
ne.com/health/stag loved one. Students can use this article to examine Informational Text determine which stages of grief
es-of- the characters within this text set. Accessible Text certain characters are in within
this text set. For example, they
grief#acceptance
will determine what stage the
two wives in Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s “The Wives of the
Dead” are experiencing.
Avengers: These two movie clips can be used as a partner clip Challenge Text Students will watch these video
Endgame for a specific lesson on grief. If the class is studying Target Text clips in class then compare and
Videos on grief Dickinson’s poem, “Because I Could Not Stop for Visual or Video Text contrast these videos with
Death” they can view these two movie clips prior whatever story/poem they are
https://www.youtub Informational Text
and analyze how certain Avengers are dealing with reading.
e.com/watch? grief and the death of their loved ones. Accessible Text
v=3H-vvLB-LAQ
https://www.youtub
e.com/watch?v=s_-
MTedAA-E
https://www.youtub
e.com/watch?
v=QgwkL2Fylh0
https://www.youtub
e.com/watch?
v=mJgEvpCIl1k

What is one idea you have for how you might differentiate this project? (See the Roy-Campbell and Chandler-Olcott article for ideas)
Since we are dealing with a lot of primary texts throughout these lessons, perhaps we can implore multiple modes of communication so that
students that are struggling have multiple means of digesting the texts. There are many complex poems that we’ve included in our text set, for
Emergent Bilingual students, we can provide copies of the texts in their native language as well as allow them to take notes/annotate the poems in
their native language. When it comes to group work and presenting with the group, we will encourage our EB students to try and just sit in and
absorb information as well as encourage them to participate if they feel comfortable. For striving readers (this could probably help with EBs as well)
we can provide resources such as YouTube videos that explain and read aloud the complex texts we’ve selected. For advanced students we can
have them explore different forms of media that makes them think of the themes the text set presents.