HOW IT WORKS
ESL students don’t read and write enough in their English classes
because they have trouble relating to the
materials and curriculum presented. Literature is
usually taught from an exterior and moralistic
perspective. Expressing Yourself in English presents
literature and the arts the way students like it:
as a vehicle for self-expression and growth.
The program asks for the students’ active
participation in the design and implementation
of the unit. Lessons are based on the collective
consciousness of the classroom: activities
such as reading poetry, writing essays, or
viewing movies are based on student selection. The
program also integrates several media (music,
TV, the Internet, and written literature) into a
single vehicle of communication: personal expression and emancipation.
Expressing Yourself in English is geared towards
the needs of the students to pass the
literature-based English Regents exam. The
students create electronic collections of their
favorite literature that they download from the
Internet. They then write either an essay response or a literary piece of
their own. Once this is done, their work is collected and
published on the Internet using the school Web
site at http://fklane.org.
Assess the needs and talents of your
students and include them in your literature-based
unit. Remember that literature and the arts are
instruments for understanding and changing
the individual and his/her world. This program meets various New York
standards for language arts: using language for
information and understanding, literary response and
expression, critical analysis and evaluation, and social interaction.
THE STUDENTS
The targeted student population for this
program is ESL transitional in grades 9 through
12, fluent in English, having at least two years
of English-language schooling. Most of the
students are juniors and seniors who will have to
take the English Regents exam soon.
THE
STAFF
Dinu Pietraru has been a New York City public
school teacher since 1988. He has taught English and ESL at the junior high and high
school level. He is presently working as a
teacher and ESL coordinator at the Franklin K.
Lane High School in Queens.
WHAT
YOU NEED
This program requires 10 or more class
periods to complete. A computer with Internet
access for research and publishing is needed.
Additional requirements include
word-processing programs and scanners for the student-produced
artwork.
OVERALL VALUE
Expressing Yourself in English weaves the students’
interests and work into the fabric of the
curriculum. For instance, reading one of
Shakespeare’s sonnets will bring forth sonnets
written by some of the students. The class will
then analyze all the work that is produced. The
unit is dedicated to discovering the artistic and
literary talents and capabilities of every
student. The culmination of this learning
experience will be publishing on the Internet. By
reading and writing about things they relate to
and feel strongly about, students are better
equipped to understand and use literature and
the arts as a way to make sense of their lives
and to adapt to their at-times-overwhelming
environment. They will also be better prepared
to take and pass the English Regents exam.
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