Month: June 2018

Lesson Plan for “This is America” and “Oscar Wao”

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We have a new lesson plan available in our Teachers Pay Teachers store that uses Childish Gambino’s “This is America” as part of a larger teaching unit on Junot Diaz’s “The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”.

Students will examine Donald Glover’s video, “This is America” and close-read its authorial choices, looking for examples of subversion and dictatorship–themes aligned with Diaz’s own work.

Students will create a brief presentation examining how these themes become apparent while also discussing their importance.

Symbolism, Diaspora, and Binaries in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

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We have a new lesson on The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz available in our Teachers Pay Teachers store.

The lesson includes two major assessments:

One, a 24-hour project for applying knowledge of major concepts in the book, such as diaspora and binary oppositions.

The second, a group presentation wherein students create a rigorous lesson to be presented on one of the symbols in the text. Students will have to trace their assigned symbol throughout the text in order to create sufficient arguments.

Bildungsroman in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

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We have a new lesson available in our Teachers Pay Teachers store. It is titled: Bildungsroman and Oscar Wao, and it is part of a larger unit on Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

This is an assignment in which students get to reflect on their own personal moments of bildungsroman–where they grew up and couldn’t go back. A powerful assignment in appreciating both the necessity and tragedy of growing up.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Midterm Exam

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We have an exam on Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao available in our Teachers Pay Teachers store.

The exam can be given orally or in written form. Students will need to show a depth of understanding of tricky subjects in order to score well. The teacher can allow them to use their texts during the exam in order to supply sufficient textual evidence.

The Great Gatsby Teaching Unit

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We have a complete teaching unit for The Great Gatsby available in our Teachers Pay Teachers store.

This unit can be used over the course of 4-6 weeks. Students will close-read, do a ton of writing, and apply nonfiction research to the study of Fitzgerald’s masterpiece.

This hits all Common Core Anchor Standards and provides excellent skill development for your students.

Hamlet: The Concept of Performance

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We have a new PowerPoint lesson available in our Teachers Pay Teachers Store. It is titled “Hamlet: The Concept of Performance.”

The lesson focuses on the significance of performance in the play “Hamlet”.

The mousetrap is just one example of performance. A close-read of the text allows the reader to see that any number of characters could be acting. This brings up metaphysical questions as to why we MUST perform in society, and how our performance dictates how we will be treated.