Case study: using case-based learning to develop empathy and self-awareness while deepening knowledge and collaborating to solve problems critically and creatively.
I have been working hard lately to integrate the domains of the Inner Development Goals into my classroom while still maintaining high expectations for critical and creative thinking. This is why I decided to design a case study around which to design lessons on argument, complexity awareness, synthesis, developing voice, empathy, and self-awareness.
We started with this case and student teams had time to discuss and to develop any questions they wanted to answer as they embark on identifying complexities. Before this case, we read and viewed several texts, including: Lisa Delpit's Culture of Power (from her book Other People's Children), Chimamanda Adichie's TED Talk "The Danger of a Single Story", the IDG Framework, the RC Scholar Framework (our internal character development guide), "The Allegory of the Cave", and an excerpt from Jennifer Wallace's new book Never Enough.
As students read related texts - Jamaica Kincaid's A Small Place, an excerpt from Todd Matshikiza's Chocolates for my Wife, and Sandra Cisneros's "Mericans", they examine the argument and how the syntactical choices deepen their understanding of the complexity being presented. At the end of this series, the student teams map out the connections between all of the texts before returning to the case study and discussing how their new learning contributes to their developing understanding of the complexities around the case. As you can see, each team approaches the task a differently.
Student conversations lead my design of this work; the next thing we will read is Jean-Jacques Rousseau's treatise "on education". In the end, each team will make a short presentation of their thinking about the complexities of the case.
How a motif reinforces a theme - 9th grade Honors
Of Mice and Men
Any time I plan a unit of study, I start with the summative task and map lessons backwards from that end goal. For this "unit," I started with a writing assignment which is designed around one of my county curriculum's "common tasks." Here is the assignment:
To begin the unit, students will need to learn about both motifs and themes. We started with a lesson about Motif and a group exercise to trace motifs through the book. Students are shown a sample of this activity focusing on the shape of the light before they begin:
Once student groups finish their examination of their chosen motif, we come back together again for a lesson on theme. We start with a quote from Steinbeck, then define theme, and then we apply what we learned to our posters. This is where the real thinking begins because students have to examine their motif looking for meaning - or patterns that could lead to meaning.
Before they examine their own posters, students and I engage with my sample poster. This will help them apply the same practice to their own posters.
After the groups analyze their own motifs, they are asked to engage in a gallery walk to see what everyone else has been up to. The capture sheet is tailored to the class and the motifs they brainstormed. Here is an example:
Now it's time to start writing. For homework, students write a paragraph addressing the writing prompt; they can choose to write about their own motif or one that another group explored. Most students choose their own although a few find a connection with another. The next class, I share my own sample paragraph and we use it to guide us through the writing process.
After the workshop, students are given the evening to make changes. They are reminded that while feedback is important and so are all the elements of writing, they are still the writer and must make decisions and take responsibility for themselves.