OVERVIEW:
This is a language arts unit for 11th and 12th grade college bound students. The unit will cover approximately 6 weeks (or more) of class time. There are two foci for this project: technology in its broadest sense and the relationship between literature and society. During this class time each student will select an innovative technological trend and will use that as the focus of his/her work for the remainder of the unit. The students will do research in various forms, read and analyze a piece of fiction, discuss the basic themes of their novels and evaluate the trend's impact on our society.
TOPICS OR TRENDS
The following list represents the topics or trends the students may select to focus on during this project. Additional topics
may be added later.
LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS
Because of the length and scope of this project, all 9 of the English/Language Arts Standards will probably be impacted during
this unit. The following standards, however, will be directly connected to several of the pieces involved in this unit.
Standard 4. All students will know the processes used to construct and convey meaning through text and will develop and apply criteria for the evaluation and appreciation of their own and others' text.
Students will be aware of how they gain meaning from text, how they create text to communicate meaning, and how their previous knowledge and experiences are brought to bear on text. This consciousness is crucial if students are to adjust or adapt their thinking strategies to changing circumstances. Furthermore, students must be able to judge the worth of what they read, write, speak, hear, and represent.
Communication Standard 5. All students will be effective communicators in varied settings and for varied purposes.
The dynamics of effective communication are omnipresent in every aspect of our daily lives; individual, social, educational, occupational and civic. This requires the ability to listen, speak, view, read and write effectively. Students must understand how
to gather and use information to work with others, solve conflicts and share decisions. Students will also understand the barriers
to effective communication and ways to overcome those barriers in sending and receiving information.
Inquiry and Technology Standard 6. All students will investigate issues and problems using a variety of current and emerging technologies.
Standard 9. All students will use language effectively and responsibly as members of a democratic society.
As science has progressed through the 20th Century, it has had a tremendous impact on our world. Genetic engineering, test tube babies, organ transplants ---- impossible dreams of the past have become our reality. And those dreams and that reality continually fill our novels and viewing screens. At present a heated debate has begun about the nature of those technological "improvements" and their impact on our society. The following project will take students through an examination of some of those trends and will attempt to help them form valid criteria for judging the merit of additional advances in the future.
Inquiry is vital to the learning process. The 'Information Age' is well upon us. Through it, technology provides global access,
linking students to their world and allowing them to interact with more knowledge than ever before. Using language arts to access and synthesize the myriad sources of information made available by current and emerging technological devices, students will investigate issues and solve problems in all aspects of their world. These technologies presently include computers, telecommunication, and audio-visual media.
Language can inform, persuade, and create new associations which bring about dramatic changes in a democratic, multicultural society. The use of language arts in an effective and responsible manner necessitates the development of skills as well as the use of discernment.
STUDENT ACTIVITIES
Researching the technology topic: Students will be required
to use the most current sources of information on their chosen
topics. Research will therefore need to be conducted on the internet,
through online encyclopedias and journals, and print newspapers,
journals and magazines. (Standard 6)
Each student will prepare a written report on his/her topic
which will provide an overview of the topic and assessment of
its impact on society in the present and its possible impact on
the future. (Standard 4, 5 and 6)
Each student will select a novel which focuses on the technology
selected and will prepare a report for the novel. (See recommended
titles at the end of this document) (Standard 4 and 5)
Students will discuss themes and issues in their novels via
e-mail and/or powwow chats with a group of students
from another school throughout the project. (Standard 6 and 9)
Students will identify experts in their subject
areas and interview them,
either by e-mail or personally, and the results of those interviews
will be incorporated into their final project. (Standard 6 and
9)
Each student will prepare a final project in a format of his/her
own choosing which will illustrate the information gathered, the
assessment of the impact of the technology on society, and a recommendation
for the future. The project may be a written report, an oral report,
a powerpoint type presentation, a web page or a video presentation.
(Standard 6 and 9)
STUDENT ASSESSMENT
RECOMMENDED BOOK TITLES
Each of the following novels represent one of the trends this project focuses on:
