Tag: Major Project

Caitlyn with a C’s Major Project: Teaching “To Kill a Mockingbird”

For my major project I created two different lesson plans for reading Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird with an eighth grade English class. The first lesson plan not focusing on disability but theme, and the second discussing how perceived disability in the novel affects the characters. I also wrote a letter to the Fredericksburg City School Board members, encouraging them to consider including disability studies into the common curriculum of students. I chose this avenue as I am not an English major and the idea of writing a paper was daunting to me, and when I thought of what I could do instead, I knew this was the right choice. After reading To Kill a Mockingbird in eighth grade myself I did not realize the importance of the novel, or its future impact on me as a student. Reading Harper Lee’s novel this semester has truly opened my eyes to how disability affects us every day, and how material relating to disability studies can be fully accessible to all.

My goal in creating these two works was to fully consider how disability studies could believably be integrated into mainstream schools and classrooms. While it would be ideal to dedicate an entire unit to disability in literature for an English class, it is improbable that a school district would approve, and even if they did it would take years to finalize and implement. Instead what I thought of was ways that disability could be taught within discussion of an already approved book. To Kill a Mockingbird is often included in Middle or High School English classes, but lessons revolve around reading the novel whilst examining the effects of race. While I have no intention of suggesting that these important discussions be halted, I believe that disability also has a place here. Teaching students about this topic pushes boundaries and preconceived notions about those with disabilities. It fosters increased empathy and acceptance of differences. Disability studies has the capability of inciting conversations that might not be had otherwise.

While creating my lesson plans, I had a difficult time forming an outline that was progressive, while still being something that could be taught in Fredericksburg County schools, which are considered somewhat conservative on what material is taught. Therefore, I created two. The first does not actually revolve around disability, but theme – one of which just happens to be disability. In middle school English classes, the focus is still on building fundamental reading skills that can later be used for detailed analysis. Teaching theme allows for a teacher to use disability as an example, thus further normalizing discussions of disability. While educators or school board members may not fully agree that disability studies should be taught, what they can agree on is the importance of acceptance and compassion. The second lesson is more of what I would want to be taught in schools, but may be a stretch. The procedure begins with discussing what views children already have on disability, and opening up conversation about ways in which disability can also be thought about. The lesson also includes topics such as race and gender, and whether or not those are disabling in the novel, which could spark further discussions. The lesson concludes with a talk of empathy, as I believe that is most important.

I had originally intended to utilize one of the theory pieces that our class read around the same time, but I found the writing to be a bit above the comprehension level of the typical eighth grader, so I instead integrated my knowledge into sample questions to ask students, and my letter to the school board. I have emailed that letter to the email listed on the website with my lesson plan attached, and hope to actually hear back from somebody. The real significance of this project is enacting real change for the future, something I think this idea truly has the capability of doing.              Word Count: 657

I hereby declare upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this work. -Caitlyn Valenza

Theme in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

Objectives:

  • Students will be able to explain the idea of theme and find examples in text.
  • Students will understand that theme is more than just a topic or a moral, it is the main message that the author conveys.
  • 8.5 The student will read and analyze a variety of fictional texts, narrative nonfiction, and poetry.

Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is not only to allow for an understanding of the concept of themes in fictional text, but also exposes students to ideas such as prejudice and disability.

Materials/Equipment/Preparation

  • Physical copies of Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird for each student, poster paper, markers
  • Overhead projector and screen to project video outlining theme. Set up computer beforehand with video: https://youtu.be/0heUJ5Q-skU

Procedure

  • Introduction

As the teacher I will begin this lesson with the introduction to the idea of theme. First, I will ask the class if anyone already knows the definition of theme or has any idea what it could mean, identifying students who may be more advanced in the subject, and may need to be challenged more, also their writing may be used as an example. Then, I will show a short video the concisely explains theme.

  • Model

To show how to both find and understand theme, I will model using the theme of disability in To Kill a Mockingbird. I will explain how by giving an explanation such as:

  • When we think of theme, sometimes our default is to just look for a topic that is repeated frequently in a novel, and while that is helpful in finding a place to start, a theme is more than that. Take the idea of disability. What does the author say about disability and how it is perceived? That is the key idea of theme, you should start with “Harper Lee believes disability *blank*” and that blank is how you create the theme. In this case, Harper Lee believes perceived disability affects how an individual is treated in society. And for it to be correct, there should be textual evidence. Like on page 13, “Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were blood-stained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long-jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” This perception, which you know is untrue, causes Arthur to be further ostracized by society, and treated differently by people who have never met him. Can you think of other characters who disability has also had an affect on their lives? (Look for answers such as Tom’s arm, or Mrs. Dubose’s addiction)
  • Activities

I will further direct students through the idea of theme by asking students to work with their table groups to come up with different themes of the novel to then share with the class. From there I will write those ideas on the board and work with the children to create a class set of themes.

Each group of students will then write one of the themes we have created together as a class on a large sheet of paper. Groups will then rotate around the room writing one quote from TKAM on each of the themed pages that supports the idea. As a class we will go over each of the boards so the students can learn from each other, and see what ideas they might have missed.

  • Assessment/Closing

To end class, I will write 3 classic fairy tales on the board and ask students to write on a sheet of paper what the theme of that story is as an exit ticket. This will help to gauge comprehension of the lesson. But assessment also comes from class participation and what students wrote as evidence from the text to support their themes.

Disability in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

Objectives:

  • Students will understand how disability can influence the ways an individual is treated and seen by society and be able to relate that to their life.
  • Students will be able to describe how perceived disability affects individual characters in the novel.
  • Students will know that the way disability is handled in this novel is not appropriate today, and that it is important to accept those in our community that are different.
  • 8.5 The student will read and analyze a variety of fictional texts, narrative nonfiction, and poetry.

Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is to both build upon and alter student’s view of disability, establishing that disability is another characteristic of people, and it is something that should be accepted and embraced, not feared. This lesson also reiterates the importance of empathy and inclusion.

Materials/Equipment/Preparation

  • Physical copies of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird for each student,
  • Overhead projector and screen to project video on empathy: https://youtu.be/icIlUdTEQnU

Procedure

  • Introduction

As a continuation from the previous lessons on the concept of theme, this lesson focuses on the theme of disability and society. First, I will reiterate my previously used example of theme in To Kill a Mockingbird , and then ask students to “think, pair, share” (first brainstorm for 5 minutes, then discuss with table group, and then share with the class) about what they know about the term disability in general. If students are apprehensive about sharing, I will explain how I understand that the topic can be a sensitive one, but enforce the idea of our classroom being a community where we can freely share our ideas. I will prompt discussion with a question of whether or not race and gender are seen as a disability in TKAM.

  • Model
  • To continue with the topic of disability I would question the class to think of ways that disability may affect them or someone they know in their own life. This real-world connection can include seeing ramps (or lack thereof), watching a TV show, or even connections to other novels. If children do not want to answer that question, broaden it to asking if anyone they know has been affected by how someone perceived them, not relating to disability. (such as stereotypes or gossip)

To demonstrate the lesson, I will begin with the character of Scout. While gender may not always be considered a disability, I will ask students how being a female disables Scout in Maycomb. Using examples from the text, as modeled and practiced in the lesson previously I will read the examples, “I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants”  and “For one thing, Miss Maudie can’t serve on a jury because she’s a woman”

In this plan there is considerable time built in for questions and discussions. Let students question the world as they know it and come to new conclusions.

  • Activities

As time allows have students take out their writing journal. I will start a list on the board of characters in TKAM that I believe are related to disability, but will ask the students if they can think of any other. Students will take time to write as much as they can in the time allowed about how their character is affected by disability, reminding them to use quotes from the text inside their sentences, an important skill to master. This is done individually to allow students time to reflect privately, and I will remind them to ask me questions at my desk if they were not comfortable asking in front of the class.

  • Closing/Assessment

If time allows, I will project a video on empathy, prefacing it by telling students that I am proud that they could have such a mature discussion about a topic adults may have a hard time talking about. Even if the video cannot be played, I will remind the class that what they should take away from this lesson is just because we may perceive somebody a certain way, it is usually not true. I will leave them with a quote from Atticus, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view […] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

Dear Fredericksburg City School Board Members,

            My name is Caitlyn Valenza and I am a student at the University of Mary Washington. Currently I am simultaneously working towards obtaining my bachelor’s degree in psychology as well as my master’s degree in education. Amidst student teaching hours and working full time, this semester I am currently enrolled in a class on Disability in Literature that has broadened my understanding of disability not only as a student and a future educator, but as a global citizen. Disability studies centralizes on the idea that just as race, and gender are studied as aspects of society, disability can be theorized the same way in order to help better understand those who are unlike us. I urge the school board to consider integrating aspects of disability studies into the curriculum of middle school aged children and above as I believe that this addition will lead to further acceptance and empathy in students.

In education disabilities are often though of as an obstacle to overcome, that with enough support and accommodations students with registered IEPs can become be mainstreamed and more ‘normal’. But the truth is that any idea of normal is social constructed, in fact according to Tobin Siebers in the introduction to “Disability in Theory “…all bodies are socially constructed.” This idea is important for both teachers and students to understand. We as a society have placed artificial boundaries on what is expected, and the more that these boundaries are pushed for our youth the more inclusive our future society can become. Similar to how teachings of past racism or prejudice can work as a springboard for conversation and change, disability studies will do the same. In our current climate teaching acceptance is more important than ever.

            Below I have attached a sample lesson plan for teaching the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee’s writing is essential to creating a knowledgeable youth who are exposed to the history of this country, and is often already taught through a lens of race. I propose that alongside this discussion of racism educators can include a lesson about how perceived disability affects character’s acceptance and behavior in society. From the first outline it is clear to see that while disability may not be the central idea of every lesson, it is possible to discuss the idea informally, allowing students to become more accustomed to disability studies as a common place idea. Social idea of disability states that disability only exists as society sees it, and Learning through a lens of disability and race allows for students

 Disability is often thought as something to shield students from, but this lack of intentional confrontation does little to shield children from real world exposure. What we must do as educators is prepare our students for real world experiences and not further stigmatize those who may look, act, or think differently than us. I ask that the school board consider my proposal, and would be glad to answer further questions or discuss the importance of this decision.

Sincerely,

Caitlyn Valenza

Rebecca Young’s Major Project

For this project, I researched the representation of typically marginalized groups within children’s literature, focusing on the representation of disabled individuals within the texts. As a future elementary teacher, this topic is incredibly important to me. As we have discussed ourselves in this class, literature clearly acts as a channel by which social ideals are reinforced. When regarding children’s literature specifically, the intended audience of readers are also more susceptible to these ideals than most older individuals. In addition to this, the representations children see in early literacy definitively impact their lifelong self-image as well, especially for those who may not be fairly represented. Thus, this topic is of great importance to me both because of my personal connections and because of its broader implications.

In completing research for this project, I started by looking for studies which showed disability representation of any kind in children’s literature. I then further examined the ways in which disability was represented within the literature that did include these groups (i.e. were they positive representations? Did they reinforce any specific perceptions of disability? How diverse were the representations?). To narrow my research for the purpose of this project, I primarily looked into award-winning texts such as those which have won the Caldecott and Newbery awards, as these are considered books of the highest standard. Additionally, these noteworthy books are marketed to educators as the best materials we can be using, and are resultingly often the ones which fill library and classroom bookshelves. Because of this, these award-winning books hold considerable influence over what children are being exposed to in their daily experiences with literature. Unfortunately, however, several surveys of this literature suggest that an alarming number of award-winning children’s books lack disability representation.

According to numerous articles published in the fields of disability studies and education, it is overwhelmingly clear that children’s literature lacks proper representation of disability. On the most basic level of analysis, this literature simply does not show characters or situations involving disability or disability rights. Additionally, much of the representation seen is actually reinforcing negative stereotypes of individuals with disabilities. This is seen in books where disabled characters are mere background illustrations, are entirely dependent on non-disabled characters, or simply act as a tool for non-disabled characters to use in finding personal growth, etc. These trends can be seen in both Caldecott Medal- and Newbery Award-winning children’s literature throughout the last century, as well as in miscellaneous children’s literature as a whole. Admittedly, the findings which show this largely focus on what they consider the most common forms of disability; however, the represented trends also apply to the field of disability representation as a whole. While this data is troubling, though, these studies did present the potential silver lining that these trends show a positive increase in representation over time, meaning that representation may be continuing to increase.

After completing the above research, I wanted to synthesize my findings into a more approachable presentation than a standard research paper. To do so, I decided to write my own children’s books which address these issues; the three attached books are the result of these efforts. I wrote each book with a focus on a different general field of disability: Nadiya’s New Book, Tommy’s Adventure, and Sometimes address physical disabilities, mental disabilities, and mental illnesses respectively. While the main character of Nadiya’s New Book does have specific, recognizable traits of disability (i.e. being shown in a wheelchair), each book was written to be purposefully ambiguous to an extent. My goal in writing characters which displayed somewhat vague representations of disability was to ensure that they could be relatable to many individuals with varying disabilities. For example, mental disabilities are represented primarily by what other individuals say about Tommy, such as calling him “retarded,” or by Tommy himself stating that he “thinks differently” from others; nowhere does Tommy mention any of his specific symptoms or diagnoses. As a result, I hope that a wide variety of readers could identify with the books, as opposed to only a single disability being represented in each.

In addition to including broad representation of disability in these books, I hoped to increase awareness of the lack of representation of disability in literature as a whole, as well as to reinforce general normalization of disability. In Nadiya’s New Book and Tommy’s Adventure, the characters explicitly reference the overall lack of disability representation in books. Nadiya is specifically addressing that she can’t find characters like her in her library books, while Tommy explains that people don’t read or write stories about him. While Sometimes does not explicitly address a lack of representation in literature, it normalizes mental illnesses and explains that it is okay to live with and discuss them. By bringing these topics of discussion into the content of my books, I believe I am further reinforcing positive representation of disability, in addition to simply giving disabled individuals a literary presence.

This project was ultimately a great combination of research and creativity paired with the goals of representing real needs in the world. Through my research, it became abundantly clear (as expected) that the disabled community is being represented unfairly in children’s literature. Not only is this a simple disservice to the community, but it acts to perpetuate the marginal position disabled individuals hold in society today. By synthesizing this information into the three attached books, I hope to not only increase exposure of these issues, but to combat them as well, eventually leading to a fairer representation of disability in our children’s literature.

Word Count: 928

As a note, the aforementioned books are not attached in full to this post. Due to difficulties with scanning all of the pages, only a representative selection from each book are attached here.

Nadiya’s New Book Pages

Sometimes Pages

Tommy’s Adventure Pages

Alex Slaughter’s Major Project: Painting

For my major project, I decided to create a painting. I was inspired by many of the different books we have read throughout the semester and went through multiple ideas before deciding what I wanted to create. The book that ultimately inspired this painting was Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. There is so much imagery throughout the novel that evokes an assortment of the senses.

            Through this painting, I wanted to represent how Frankenstein’s creation, as a disabled character, views the world with rose colored glasses until that view is shattered by the harsh reality of who he is and what he is. One of the main reasons I decided to create this piece was based on how the creation was never truly given an actual name, and how he creates his identity through books he taught himself to read. I wanted to portray how people with disabilities often feels as if they have lost their identity or feel as if they have completely changed as a person due to their disability. In order to do this, the painting is split down the middle to create a reflection of two different worlds: one being the perfect world the creation lives in for part of the story where he sees the good in everything, and the other being the hellish world after the creation sees his reflection and he realizes what he looks like, as well as the isolation the creation later feels.

            During Frankenstein, the creation goes through many points where he is not completely sure as to why people run from him and scream at him in fear. He first experiences this reaction when he was created. Frankenstein, his creator, ran from him in fear. As the novel progresses, we  get to see the world through the creation’s point of view. Eventually, it is made known that the creation is teaching himself how to read through books he found in a bag. One of the books that the creation receives a lot of knowledge from is Paradise Lost by John Milton. After reading about Adam and Satan, the creation compares himself to both individuals and ultimately identifies as both. In order to portray this comparison, I wanted to represent how, as people, we have a mix of both good and bad in each one of us. The creation had the right idea to compare himself to both Adam and Satan. I created a silhouette of a man whose proportions are slightly off, as if he was pieced together with different parts like the creation was, and I centered him on the canvas to make him the focal point of the painting. Along with silhouette of the creation, I painted an angel wing on one side to represent the part of him that identifies as Adam, and I painted a demonic wing on the other side to illustrate the part of him that identifies with Satan.

            On the heavenly side that illustrated Adam’s half of the painting, the canvas is filled with bright colors that bring a lightness to the world. The other main thing I reflected was the cabin that the creation spends a lot of time near. I felt like the time the creation spent near the cabin was a defining time for him. The creation can see how happy the family is living in the cabin, which is why I painted the cabin to look bright, new, and full of life and happiness. The creation only wants a family that will love and accept him, which he never truly receives. However, he makes progress at reaching this goal as he makes contact with the older gentleman at the cabin. We come to find out that the old man is blind, which allows the creation to build a sense of community and belonging because the old man listens and does not judge him for what he looks like.

            This sense of belonging is disrupted by the able-bodied man who arrives and begins yelling at the creation to get away and out of the cabin. The events that follow are portrayed on the hellish side of the painting. After staying away for a little while, the creation returns to find that the cabin is empty, dark, and decrepit. He realizes that the family is gone, as well as his only friend. He bonds with the old man, who understands him, and then it is taken and ripped away from him. On the left side of the painting, the cabin is reflected, but looks the way the creation sees it after the people have left. The cabin is in a sense dying due to the lack of life and happiness from the family.

            I wanted to represent how the creation views the world throughout the novel, and I feel as if I completed my goal of doing so.

Word Count: 807

I pledge. Alexandra Slaughter

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