Unit 1, Week 1
Multimedia Lessons
After the initial Anticipation Guide activity and discussion, lessons will be presented starting with a multimedia discussion, following a lesson connected to the anchor text. Thus, the multimedia lesson and novel study lessons below are presented in tandem, beginning each class with a discussion of multimedia and then moving to the novel study. The length of time spent on each unit will vary, depending on the students you have in front of you and the length of time you have for class. In this first week, the focus of both multimedia and novel study will be on point of view, using full integration of reading, writing, language and speaking and listening standards throughout.
Lessons for Week 1 for Teaching Point of View RL.6.6
Length of time: 3-5 days, week 1
*This lesson is spread out over several days by examining one photo per day, with a culminating discussion at the end of the week that integrates ideas gleaned from “reading” the photographs and the anchor text.
Objectives: Students will...
Establish norms for whole- and small-group discussions in your class. You may want to explicitly model and teach discussion skills.
WE DO:
Introduce the idea of “Close Reading” a photograph. You could say something like: “This week, we are going to examine a series of photographs. I am not going to tell you much about the artist upfront, rather I want to see what you pull out of the photographs when you examine them closely.”
Length of time: 3-5 days, week 1
*This lesson is spread out over several days by examining one photo per day, with a culminating discussion at the end of the week that integrates ideas gleaned from “reading” the photographs and the anchor text.
Objectives: Students will...
- come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
- follow rules for collegial discussions, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
- interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally)
- write routinely over shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Establish norms for whole- and small-group discussions in your class. You may want to explicitly model and teach discussion skills.
WE DO:
Introduce the idea of “Close Reading” a photograph. You could say something like: “This week, we are going to examine a series of photographs. I am not going to tell you much about the artist upfront, rather I want to see what you pull out of the photographs when you examine them closely.”
- Present the Nikki Lee Photographs one at a time over the course of the week, asking students to discuss the following guiding questions. Scaffold the discussion as needed for your students--you may need to model this “Close Reading” initially, then release the responsibility to the students gradually until they are able to discuss the photograph with little guidance. We suggest creating an anchor chart with the following questions posted in your classroom, as they can be used repeatedly over the year. The line of questioning begins with a larger “lens” that becomes increasingly more focused as the discussion progresses.
- First Read: What do you notice about these photographs?
- Second Read: What is the tone of photographs? What images create this tone?
- Third Read: What can you tell about how the photo was made? Consider lighting, color, framing, etc. How does the vantage point of the photographer show us the point-of-view of the artist?
- After students have examined all three photographs, ask students to compare them. If possible allow students to see all photographs together (projected, printed out or displayed on three different computers at once)
- Fourth Read: Compare and contrast all three photographs. What is different and what is similar?
- At the end of the week, after photographs have been examined and discussed, share information from the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MOCP.org) about this artist with the students. Nikki S. Lee conforms herself in style and manner to fit into a particular group of people for a number of weeks and photographs herself embedded in that group. Her work speaks to the question of how we present ourselves in order to “fit” into a sect of society and how we are viewed by others in a variety of settings. At this point, students will likely want to see if they can find her in the photos, if they haven’t already discovered this similarity. Have them find her and compare the different images she portrays of herself in each photograph. Was her presentation of herself in each group believable? Did she “fit in?”
- Have students turn and talk to a partner about how Nikki S. Lee’s work relates to point of view. Lead a whole-class discussion to ensure all students understand.
- Ask students to choose a person in a photograph, and do a QuickWrite activity in which the student writes an account of that moment in time from the point of view of that person. You as the teacher can decide how much or how little you want to structure this QuickWrite--you could leave it open to students’ interpretation of the task, or you could be more specific in what you would like them to write (short story, poem, description, etc.). This QuickWrite can be used as a baseline assessment to inform further instruction of writing for your class. RAFT is a writing strategy that you may choose to teach here (see professional resources in the Appendix).