Modern Students need to learn beyond themselves and make links between the seemingly arbitrary years they plot on a timeline and the isolated literature they read in English. The connections they see between the Declaration of Independence they read in English class, the colonial rebellions against the English they learn about in history class, and the migrations of peoples they learn about in science and human geography classes, for example, a re keys to their understanding of the world, and these connections must be fostered and presented as meaningful. One year, students were given an enrichment opportunity to go to the National Museum of the American Indian and write a reflection based on what they experienced there. One student for whom English is not a first language, wrote:
"I could not help but to notice that everything we did in school somehow connected with each other. This whole enrichment opportunity, for example, somehow made me wonder if all the teachers had gotten together and planned this… (Ms. Finn…?). Like how everything we saw at the museum was everything we were learning about in AP World History. We were learning about the rise and fall of one of the most powerful Native American tribes that included the Incas, Aztecs, and the Mayans. Then I thought about some traditions that are better left unpracticed…like the daily human sacrifices to the sun god. It even related to AP Biology, with the whole thing with genetic drift, how one population can become affected by chance events. In this case, it was the European invasion of the Americas. Then there was the Trail of Tears passage that we had read in our class. So many connections…" (Jung).
In the connections between topics, meaning is found not only for learning disabled students, but also for ESOL students, average students, and above-average students.
Because I think in connections, I tend to cluster novels with other texts to help build knowledge of a given subject. Sometimes I use history books and documents, short documentaries, TED talks, stylistic essays that address different topics. For example, our reading of The Tempest by William Shakespeare is surrounded with texts like “Shooting an Elephant” by Orwell, “On Seeing England for the First Time” by Kincaid, several Native American texts such as Black Elk Speaks by Black Elk, and a historical account of the Trail of Tears. If students can understand different perspectives on colonialism and imperialism, then understand the implications that these words have on the people who live with and within them, then they can understand better the role of Caliban as well as Shakespeare’s purpose and agenda when Caliban finally begs Prospero for grace. They can understand, in general, that writers have purpose. It is because of our discussions and writing surrounding these other supplementary texts, and the contemplation of each point of view, that students are able to develop their meaningful read of Shakespeare and place the story within a larger context.
Students can, from the latter clustering of text, also understand better the cultural and political role of language and communication (as well as miscommunication), which then leads us directly into our reading of Shaw’s Pygmalion and other shorter works like “If Black Isn’t a Language, then Tell Me, What Is” by Baldwin, Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language,” and Morrison’s Nobel Prize Lecture in 1993. Autobiographies like The Hunger of Memory by Rodriguez and selected scenes from The Last Samurai (which combines issues of both imperialism and language) add depth and personality to this discussion, allowing students – all students – to empathize with Eliza Doolittle and better understand her predicament at the end of the play. Once the students begin to see the connections between all of these texts, they can start making their own connections and finding their own place in this world. In short, they can start having their own educated opinions on the
important issues of humanity. This is what I mean by making learning meaningful.
"I could not help but to notice that everything we did in school somehow connected with each other. This whole enrichment opportunity, for example, somehow made me wonder if all the teachers had gotten together and planned this… (Ms. Finn…?). Like how everything we saw at the museum was everything we were learning about in AP World History. We were learning about the rise and fall of one of the most powerful Native American tribes that included the Incas, Aztecs, and the Mayans. Then I thought about some traditions that are better left unpracticed…like the daily human sacrifices to the sun god. It even related to AP Biology, with the whole thing with genetic drift, how one population can become affected by chance events. In this case, it was the European invasion of the Americas. Then there was the Trail of Tears passage that we had read in our class. So many connections…" (Jung).
In the connections between topics, meaning is found not only for learning disabled students, but also for ESOL students, average students, and above-average students.
Because I think in connections, I tend to cluster novels with other texts to help build knowledge of a given subject. Sometimes I use history books and documents, short documentaries, TED talks, stylistic essays that address different topics. For example, our reading of The Tempest by William Shakespeare is surrounded with texts like “Shooting an Elephant” by Orwell, “On Seeing England for the First Time” by Kincaid, several Native American texts such as Black Elk Speaks by Black Elk, and a historical account of the Trail of Tears. If students can understand different perspectives on colonialism and imperialism, then understand the implications that these words have on the people who live with and within them, then they can understand better the role of Caliban as well as Shakespeare’s purpose and agenda when Caliban finally begs Prospero for grace. They can understand, in general, that writers have purpose. It is because of our discussions and writing surrounding these other supplementary texts, and the contemplation of each point of view, that students are able to develop their meaningful read of Shakespeare and place the story within a larger context.
Students can, from the latter clustering of text, also understand better the cultural and political role of language and communication (as well as miscommunication), which then leads us directly into our reading of Shaw’s Pygmalion and other shorter works like “If Black Isn’t a Language, then Tell Me, What Is” by Baldwin, Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language,” and Morrison’s Nobel Prize Lecture in 1993. Autobiographies like The Hunger of Memory by Rodriguez and selected scenes from The Last Samurai (which combines issues of both imperialism and language) add depth and personality to this discussion, allowing students – all students – to empathize with Eliza Doolittle and better understand her predicament at the end of the play. Once the students begin to see the connections between all of these texts, they can start making their own connections and finding their own place in this world. In short, they can start having their own educated opinions on the
important issues of humanity. This is what I mean by making learning meaningful.