In Part 1, I discussed some reasons for introducing a more challenging range of texts in an English curriculum that reflected a wider range of cultures and backgrounds than the usual suspects. This next post covers what that looked like in the planning stages for a unit built around 'The Crossing', by Manjeet Mann, for a Year 8 cohort.
We met as a faculty to discuss what these lessons could look like and to hash out a unit plan. From the beginning we decided that as a sort of flagship unit we would deviate from our usual way of planning in partners and decide on a format as a group. Each member of the team would then plan a week’s worth of lessons, with a close attention to student feedback and the understanding that this first run-through would need changing depending on teacher and student voice.
The response from the team during planning was interesting and reflected the realities of working in a time-pressed environment. Especially as we were having these discussions midway through a particularly busy first term in which a high number of new students had joined and timetable constraints affected our team. Some had read the novel but hadn’t chosen extracts. Some were pretty open about not being able to commit to reading the text with several weeks’ notice. My optimistic assumptions around how people would manage their time were challenged and my initial reaction was one of frustration at the notion that it did not feel a wholly collaborative endeavour.
This reaction in itself was a knee jerk response to a localised example of an institutional problem, the ways in which international schools onboard new students so as to best benefit all. A point for future discussion.
Meanwhile, back to the planning. In keeping with the rest of our units, we kept to a 6 week plan. Due to the length of The Crossing, this meant that we would need to devote lesson time to exploring key extracts while giving students allocated reading time split between homework assignments and in-class elements. We decided that the unit would be assessed for reading skills in which students would need to demonstrate their understanding of characterisation and an ability to connect to broader social context. To support understanding of the central issues of the text, we relied on sources from the UNHCR, the BBC and the CFR.
The final unit plan is below (full version in PDF).
With the exception of the first week in which form and the larger issues of the text was introduced, subsequent lessons included a combination of the following:
1. Exploring content & context
2. Analysis of writer’s methods
3. Application of What-How-Why (paragraph writing) skills.
The timing and order of the above is down to the teacher planning for that particular week. Based on our experience of the cohort so far this year, the process of framing analytical writing is something that requires significant attention. Narrowing down key extracts proved to be tricky in such a rich text - for every choice made, we could have included several more.
As we trial teaching the text, we will reflect and make amendments based on student voice and the teacher's experience of delivering the content. While we run reflection sessions in the department every term to gauge these points, we are especially keen to explore the impact of connecting learning to so many strands across the curriculum.
The next unit is a non-fiction unit that will connect some of the wider reading around the refugee crisis and also link with ‘Media Literacy’ sessions that ran over a series of weeks in tutor time. The intent will be to maintain the connection to central issues while developing students’ ability to apply their knowledge to practical, non-fiction writing.
Thoughts, comments, feedback or observations on any of the above are always welcome!
The next post in the series will cover teacher and student experiences, and their engagement with the text.
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