Lesson One: “Gone, But Not Forgotten”
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What's on for today and why?
Before beginning to teach Goldengrove, the teacher must take the content of the novel into consideration. Death is an extremely sensitive subject; the death of a loved one is even worse. Therefore, the introduction to the novel should be one that both makes the students feel at ease with the content involved, and intrigued to read the novel. Today, the students will be discussing their feelings on grief through the power of music. The students will be choosing a song that reminds them of a loved one, and will then be informed that they will be keeping an on-line “music journal” throughout their reading of the novel. The music journal will be their supplement to their reading; after the completion of each assignment, the students will have to choose a song to fit their mood, and describe in a journal entry why they chose that song, and how it ties in to the novel. This will keep the students interested in reading the novel, and will assure that they complete their given assignments on the dates they are given.
The teacher will be setting up a class website, so that all of the students' journals can be shared, and viewed by others. This will allow the students to discuss each others' ideas, and refer back to previous journal entries for tests and future assignments. There will be a brief tutorial on how to create these music journals after this activity, using www.livejournal.com as a reference. The students will need to create an account, with a username, a password, and their email addresses.
What To Do:
1. Introducing the Concept:
The teacher should inform the class of the novel's subject matter, and should tell them that if any student has any uncomfortable feelings regarding the subject, they should come to the teacher after class and discuss it. After this precaution, the teacher will ask the students to think of a song that reminds them of either a sibling, a parent, or the passing of a loved one. The students will share these songs with the class, and the teacher will share one as well, using either a boombox or a YouTube clip from the computer in the classroom. After this activity, the students will be handed their reading assignment sheets, complete with music journal assignments.
2. Reading Assignments and Music Journals:
At this point, the “Reading Assignments and Music Journals” sheet will be handed out. The teacher will go over this sheet with the students as a class, and will reserve time for any questions or comments the students may have. Here is the handout the students will receive:
Reading Assignments and Music Journals
Instructions:
Here is a complete list of the reading you will be required to do, along with the music journals you will need to accomplish. All journal entries must be posted by 10pm the night that they are due. If you fail to post your journal entry in this given time, you will be given a zero for that night's homework. If there are any questions or concerns, please ask me.
Day 1:
Create your LiveJournal account. For your first entry, look at the front and back covers of Goldengrove. You know the novel is about death and grief, but what else do you think is going to happen in the book, based on the covers? Write a journal entry describing your predictions.
Day 2:
Read
Chapter 1. Complete your first music journal entry.
Day 3:
Read Chapter 2. Complete journal entry 2.
Day 4:
Read Chapter 3. Complete journal entry 3.
Day 5:
Read Chapter 4. Complete journal entry 4.
Day 6:
Read Chapters 5 and 6. Complete journal entry 5.
Day 7:
Read Chapters 7 and 8. Complete journal entry 6.
Day 8:
Read Chapters 9 and 10. Complete journal entry 7.
Day 9:
Read Chapters 11 and 12. Complete journal entry 8.
Day 10:
Read Chapters 13 and 14. Complete journal entry 9.
Day 11:
Read Chapters 15 and 16. Complete journal entry 10.
Day 12:
Look back at all of your journal entries. Using select ones, create your ideal musical playlist for Goldengrove. Explain why you have selected these particular songs, using evidence from the novel. Then, choose two of your favorite songs and your favorite passage from the novel, and create a voice over, using Audacity. Put a link to these voice overs on your LiveJournals.
Day 13:
Preparation day: in your groups, create an alternate ending from the one that appeared in the novel. Write a script for this alternate ending, as you will be performing it in front of your classmates. Use the songs you have chosen throughout your reading of the novel as background music for your presentation. The performances should be roughly 10 minutes in length, but not more than 15.
Days 14 and 15: Presentation Days
3. Setting Up the Music Journal:
After receiving the “Reading Assignments and Music Journals” handout, the teacher will give another handout to the students, explaining how to set up a LiveJournal account. After this is distributed, the teacher will go on to actually give a demonstration of how to set up a LiveJournal account, using the computer located in the classroom. There will be ample amount of time for comments and questions. The “LiveJournal Account” handout will be as follows:
Creating A LiveJournal Account
Instructions:
Follow along with the steps provided as I create my LiveJournal account in the classroom. After following along, do this yourself at home. If there are any questions or comments, you can either ask now, or email me at msbrown@gmail.com . All LiveJournals and first entries should be created and posted by 10pm tonight. In addition, every student must send me the link to their LiveJournal by 10pm tonight, so that I can create a class webpage.
Step One:
Go to www.livejournal.com. Go to the box that says “Create A Journal”, and choose a username. Click on the “Create A Journal” button.
Step Two:
Fill out your email address, and create a password. Confirm that password and enter your birthday. Scroll down to where it says “LiveJournal Messenger”, and click “Skip This Step”. Fill out the captcha. Click “Create Account”.
Step Three:
Fill out some information about yourself. Include your favorite movies, music, television shows, and books. Write a short summary about yourself in the space provided. Be sure to include that this journal is for your 11th grade English class.
Step Four:
Get to the “Upgrade My Account” page, and click the “Not Today, Thanks” button in the lower right hand corner.
You're all set! Now create your first journal entry and decorate your journal however you want to!
4. Homework:
Before the bell rings, the teacher will hand out their class copies of Goldengrove. The class will be told to create their LiveJournals for homework, along with posting their first journal entry. When posting this entry, they will be given the following questions to consider:
1. Do you think grief affects people in different ways? If so, why and how? When you have felt sad, how have you dealt with it? What have you done?
2. Is there anyone in your family that you have a special bond to? Who is it, and why are you so close with this person?
3. Look at the front and back covers of the novel. What do you think is going on? Who do you think this girl was close to, and what do you think happened to that person?
How Did it Go?
Hopefully, the students are interested and engaged enough to want to read the novel. There is a lot of mystery left as to what the novel is really about, as it was given to the students at the end of the period. There is an element of technology included, as the students will be creating their own on-line journals, and this is beneficial because the students will not only have the chance to use this technology, but will also be able to share with their classmates and learn from them. Since they have an authentic audience, the students will work harder on their assignments; they will want their assignments to be spectacular to show off to their peers.
The assessment for the first day will be based on the creation of the students' journals, and on the quality of their first entry. The students will receive a check plus for extraordinary work, a check for completing the assignment, a check minus for poor effort, or a zero for incompletion of the task.
