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Using 20th Century Books to Teach 21st Century Skills
Emily TichichCatherine Clements
Minnesota English Language ProgramUniversity of Minnesota
Using “classic” novels with ESL students
Questions we ask ourselves…..
● Is the story relevant? Are the characters engaging?● Is the story accessible? Can students overcome any lack of historical
context to engage in the novel? ● Are they enjoyable to read?● Is the reading level appropriate?● Does the story provoke students to ask “why?” (critical thinking)
Presentation Overview: WHAT? Teaching The Great Gatsby (TGG) and Of Mice and Men (OMAM) in an IEP with high advanced learners
WHY? Student and teacher feedback
HOW? A wealth of lesson ideas giving students the opportunity to engage in critical thinking skills
WHAT: Teaching context
High advanced reading/ composition course taught at an IEP at a university in the Twin Cities.
Our students have:
- various academic goals - often not ever read a novel in English before- a wide variety of nationalities - busy lives
WHAT: Program learning outcomes
● Analyze and evaluate written material○ Independently compare and contrast multiple readings and/ or authors
● Engage in extensive reading○ Increase reading fluency○ Demonstrate critical thinking in response to reading○ Make connections across readings○ Prepare for and participate in group and class discussions about books
Students must achieve an “S” to pass their courses (≥ 70%)
WHAT: What are 21st century critical thinking skills?
“Critical thinking involves not only discovering meaning in a work but also substantiating an interpretation by carefully reading and weighing the “evidence” in the text, by analyzing that evidence in a logical manner, and by drawing well-reasoned conclusions from the material.” (Esplugas et al)
Critical thinking skills include the ability to summarize, synthesize, narrate,& respond.
WHAT: Novels taught in the program (examples)
Montana 1948 Larry Watson
Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby F.Scott Fitzgerald
A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah
The Perks of Being a Wallflower Stephen Chbosky
Why: Teachers’ views
● A classic is a classic for a reason○ Themes are timeless, characters are interesting, plot is engaging
● Through stories students can become aware of the L2’s important “cultural narratives” (the “American Dream”) ○ No one would deny the need for Spanish majors to know the Quijote, or Classics majors to
learn the Odyssey in their original languages.
● A teacher’s enthusiasm can be catchy
WHY: Students’ views
Survey (October 2015)
1. What is your opinion of reading John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Mena. Please explain your response to the previous question
2. Do you think Of Mice and Men is a good choice to read in this course? Why or why not?
3. Do you think Of Mice and Men was appropriate for your English reading level?a. Please explain your response to the previous question
4. Is there anything else you would like to tell me about your experience reading this novel?
Why: Is the story relevant? Are the characters engaging?
● “Liked it- I think it’s really interesting because it teaches us about friendship and loyalty”
● “Loved it- Good story! Good characterization! Good description!”● “Loved it- Second, I was completely attracted wonderful story.
Every character has the meaning, and so we can read and think about the theme combining story outline, character's personality and their meaning.”
● “Loved it - the relationship is warm but the end is surprising.”
WHY: Is the story accessible? (context)
● “Yes! This is a great novel and is not too hard to read.”
● “Liked it because everyone’s character is obvious. And it’s a surprise and dramatic ending. I can learn American culture from this book.”
WHY: Are the novels enjoyable to read?
● “Yes, the way the writer wrote this novel makes it enjoyable to read.”
● “It is the first novel I have read yet. The vocabulary, description and organization are very excellent.”
WHY: Is the reading level appropriate?
● “Even though it has many dialects, it doesn’t influence my understanding about its theme”
● “Some words are so old.. but it doesn’t affect us to understand this story.”
● “We can learn a lot of writing skills and improve the reading skill by reading it.”
*Formative and Summative Assessment results showed students met the program outcomes
WHY: Does the story provoke students to ask “why?”
● “It made me surprised a lot because I thought they would be happy at the end. But it’s a sad story.”
● “The story kind of ended in a strange way.”
Critical thinking is addressed through various assignments...
HOW: Critical Thinking Lesson Ideas
Sample Essay Question #1:
Both Of Mice and Men and The Great Gatsby have characters and situations that demonstrate morality or immorality. Make a comparison between two characters from the novels and why you consider them moral or immoral based on their actions and the decisions they make in the stories. Use specific examples to support your ideas and make sure you connect the two novels in some way.
HOW: Critical Thinking Lesson Ideas
Sample Essay Question #2
In The Great Gatsby, Nick states that Gatsby “turned out all right at the end; it was what preyed on Gatsby…” (p.2). This statement suggests that Gatsby was a victim of his environment or society and although his heart was good, he was unable to be a good person in his society. Discuss this idea with specific examples from the book and make an argument about one character in Of Mice and Men who was also a good person but unable to be so because of the society or environment he/ she lived in.
HOW: Critical Thinking Lesson Ideas
Sample Essay Question #3
Fitzgerald and Steinbeck both develop the following themes in their novels:1. The optimism and futility of the American Dream2. Powerlessness (social, economic, intellectual)3. Discrimination (sexism, racism, ageism)4. The insincerity of the elite
Choose ONE of these themes and make an argument that describes how the authors develop the theme in their novels. Discuss characters and/or events and use specific examples to support your claim. Be sure to draw a connection between the novels.
HOW: Critical Thinking Lesson Ideas
In-class discussion: If George & Lennie/Gatsby lived now in your home country.
● Who would they be? ● Who would their bosses be? ● Where would they live? ● Why would they do what they do? What circumstances would have led them
to their current location? ○ Gatsby as a drug dealer in the USA○ Gatsby as a factory owner in China
HOW: Student Teaching Possibilities
Students teach a class, illuminating one of the themes from the book. (Themes can be teacher- or student-provided)
● Women in the 20s● Bootlegging and Prohibition● Cars in the 1920s● The Stock Market Crash
How: Critical Thinking Lesson Ideas
Summarize the book in a few key scenes/pictures.
● Use a comic generator for this. ○ I like ComicLife, but many free comic generators exist
● Great for disengaged students (e.g., young men) ○ How it’s done:
■ Download a variety pictures from the movie. ■ Put them into a shared folder. ■ Tell students to use ~6 pictures to summarize the story.
○ Make sure only crucial narrative images are used in final product.○ These visual summaries are then used to write longer summaries.
HOW: Other Tech-Based Lesson Ideas
Teachers should embrace the wealth of resources available on-line for these books to enrich lessons.
● Of Mice and Men in Context○ BBC video about John Steinbeck’s California
● Gatsby Background ○ Rich resource including interviews, Reader’s Guide, Teacher’s Guide, more
Ask students: What elements of the authors’ upbringing do you see in the novels? (Compare and contrast)
Other Tech-Based Lesson Ideas
Audio Books are a huge help -- use these in or out of class
Very helpful with OMAM for vernacular
● Ask students: whose speech is “best”? Why/how? What does this tell you about the characters?
Bring CD to class for students to download, or put MP3 files in a shared folder
Final thoughts
● Using “classic” novels with ESL students provides them with a rich source of content which helps them meet their learning outcomes.
● The themes and stories can provide them with an opportunity to become aware of cultural narratives (e.g., migratory workers, American Dream)
● More quantitative and qualitative research must be done to assess the effectiveness of these and other novels in meeting program learning outcomes.
Discussion
Have you taught either of these books, or other classics? What was your experience?
Thank you
Catherine Clements [email protected]
Emily Tichich [email protected]
Shortlink to this presentation: http://bit.ly/1PsGFkY
References
Esplugas, C. and M. Landwehr. 1996. “The Use of Critical Thinking Skills in
Literary Analysis”. Foreign Language Annals. 29 (3). 449-461.
