Garland1984Unit - home

<h1><img src="http://de027.k12.sd.us/Pictures/1984-Big-Brother-Poster.jpg" alt="" title="" style="height: 385px; width: 269px;" /></h1>
 <h1>George Orwell's 1984 </h1>
 <h1>Katie Garland - Spring 2011</h1>
 <h1>Graduate Education 424</h1>
 <h1>Educational Technology and Software</h1>
 <h1>Professor Amy Pasquarello</h1>
 
Unit Title: George Orwell's 1984 
Essential Questions 
<ul><li>Is the fate of George Orwell's novel 1984's world a real possible future for us?</li><li>How important is our right to the freedom of speech, press, religion and petition?</li></ul>Subject: Language Arts 
Grade Level: 10th 
Unit Overview 
Imagine. In your house you have a full wall of telescreen: a two way screen in which the government could be watching you at any moment regardless of your age, gender, or race. Imagine your job is to erase words from the dictionary and from existence in order to eventually make expression simply impossible. Imagine that you are raised to believe that sex is only an act in which the world needs in order to procreate. Imagine being tortured by a member of the government until you agree that 2 + 2 = 5. Welcome to the Orwellian world of 1984. 
Even though there is no internet in Orwell's novel, the technology in the text feels as if it could have been created in our present world. The telescreens recording the movements of Winston Smith's every move feels reminiscent of the 2001 Patriot Act which was created in an effort to <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/patriot/" rel="nofollow">&quot;Unit[e] and Strength[en] America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism.&quot;</a> The idea that &quot;Big Brother is watching you&quot; reminds us of how at any given moment, you could be being recorded and uploaded on <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://youtube.com/" rel="nofollow">Youtube</a> or a picture of you could be put up on <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://facebook.com/" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a>. For this reason, it is important that as much technology as possible is seamlessly incorporated into the unit. 
In creating this unit on wikispace, I have discovered that using technology and the internet in class could make learning more efficient. For instance, there are direct links to articles that need to be read during class as well as examples of completed projects so that students understand exactly what is expected of them. I noted that having all of this information online would be extremely helpful for the students. In the event that a student needs more time to read an article that is being read during class, they can take that time to read and then complete the blog for homework. Also, there are concrete examples of what the students need to complete for different projects like the brochure. Putting the powerpoint online also allows the students to instantly have access to notes from class. Notes that are written on the board can be put up on the wikispace after class is completed. In all honesty, I see many positives to having a unit be online and I cannot think of any negatives except that classroom management may be affected. Since all of these lessons are constructed in a manner that students will constantly have access to computers and the internet, there is a chance that the students will go on different sites and be off task. For this reason, all of the lessons need to be created so that the students will be constantly stimulated. 
This unit cannot be the first of the year, but it could be the second or third. This is because the text can be somewhat confusing so it should not be the first text that we read, but it could be the second or third because I think many students will enjoy it so it will make them excited about their English class. 
Time: All lessons are constructed for 45-minute classes. 
Materials: For each class, students will be expected to have paper, a pen or pencil, their copy of 1984 and access to a computer with internet access (either through having laptops or being in a computer lab). Also, they will need to use Microsoft Word, * 
Curriculum Frameworks 
<ul><li>Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Frameworks<ul><li>Standard 9 Making Connections: Students will deepen their understanding of a literary or non-literary work by relating it to its contemporary context or historical background 
</li><li>4.25 Use general dictionaries, specialized dictionaries, thesauruses, or related references as needed to increase learning. </li><li>4.26 Identify and use correctly new words acquired through study of their different relationships to other words.</li><li>8.23 Use knowledge of genre characteristics to analyze a text. </li><li>8.29 Identify and analyze patterns of imagery or symbolism. </li><li>8.30 Identify and interpret themes and give supporting evidence from a text. </li><li>8.32 Identify and analyze the point(s) of view in a literary work. </li><li>8.33 Analyze patterns of imagery or symbolism and connect them to themes and/or tone and mood. </li><li>11.5 Apply knowledge of the concept that the theme or meaning of a selection represents a view or comment on life, and provide support from the text for the identified themes. </li><li>12.5 Locate and analyze such elements in fiction as point of view, foreshadowing, and irony</li><li>19.26 Write well-organized essays (persuasive, literary, personal) that have a clear focus, logical development, effective use of detail, and variety in sentence structure. </li><li>26.2 Compare stories in print with their filmed adaptations, describing the similarities and differences in the portrayal of characters, plot, and settings.</li><li>27.2 Create presentations using computer technology.</li></ul></li><li>Massachusetts Technology Literacy Frameworks<ul><li>G9-12: 1.8 Apply advanced formatting and page layout features when appropriate (e.g., columns, templates, and styles) to improve the appearance of documents and materials.</li></ul></li></ul> 
TECHNOLOGY INCLUDED: 
<ul><li>Websites (below are just a few examples)<ul><li>Articles from nytimes.com and mashable.com (Day 1)</li><li>EText of 1984 (gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100021.txt) (all classes)</li><li>Reference for Patriot act (<a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/highlights.htm" rel="nofollow">www.justice.gov/archive/ll/highlights.htm</a>) (Day 1)</li><li>Youtube.com</li><li>readwritethink.com Venn Diagram (Day 4)</li></ul></li><li>Paint or Draw (Day 3)</li><li>Word Processing (Brochure) (Day 2)</li><li>PowerPoint (Day 2)</li><li>Database or Spreadsheet (Day 6)</li></ul> 
Note: Many of the reading questions were taken from <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pdf/teachersguides/1984.pdf" rel="nofollow">the Penguin Teacher's guide to Teaching </a><a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pdf/teachersguides/1984.pdf" rel="nofollow">1984</a>