Bringing Pop Culture

into Our Classrooms

Jon WeldonConcept Schools

http://english.conceptschools.net/?page_id=772

The Bed Intruder

Concept Schools ELA curriculum includes numerous other “texts”:

Theme – Mysterious Worlds Second Unit - Recommended for 2nd Quarter 6th GradeEssential Questions:Where can we find mysterious worlds?Why is it necessary or important to explore other worlds?What can we learn from mysterious worlds?How can books and art bring us closer to other worlds?

Texts/ Resources Common Core Standards Activities/Projects Assessments/Measures

Primary Novel:

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L’Engle

Textbook Selections:

“The Phantom Tollbooth”

Mysterious Worlds, see Selections by Theme, p. xxv

Secondary Texts:

Night of the Bat (novel), Paul Zindel

Skeleton Man (novel), Joseph Brachac

Phantom Tollbooth (novel), Norton Juster

Various Goosebumps titles, R.L. Stine

Art: “The Scream” (Munch), Surrealism

Music: Baroque, scary movie soundtracks

Movies: Stand By Me, Green Mile, early horror, including Hitchcock

Literature 6.1Literature 6.2Literature 6.3Literature 6.4Literature 6.5Literature 6.6Literature 6.7Literature 6.10Informational 6.1Informational 6.2Informational 6.6Informational 6.7Informational 6.9Informational 6.10Writing 6.2Writing 6.5Writing 6.6Writing 6.7Writing 6.8Writing 6.9

Compare and Contrast Venn Diagram –

Phantom Tollbooth book to play

Review

Write your own scary story – Writer’s Workshop and publish your own book

Author’s Study – Horror writers (R.L. Stein, Stephen King, etc.)

Art as a springboard for story

Album Cover Project

Theme Song Essay

Author Quest

“Writing a Movie”

Sound Movie

Abstract Representation

Character Mandala

Interim Assessments

Narrative Writing Rubrics

Ongoing Writing Portfolios

Formative Assessments: Quizzes, Tests

Weekly spelling tests covering frequently misspelled words

Direct Vocabulary InstructionUnit Requirements

1 long writing piece

1 Oral Presentation

1 21st Century LIteracies Activity

3 Lessons incorporating non-print texts

Concept ELA Curriculum Theme – Visions and Dreams Fourth Unit – Recommended for 4th Quarter 9th GradeEssential Questions:How can I make this a better world?What do I believe?Am I a participant or a bystander?What is the American Dream?

Texts/Resources Common Core Standards Activities/Projects Assessments/Measures

Primary Novel:To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, orI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya AngelouTextbook Selections:"Dream Deferred", “Dreams”, Langston Hughes,"Hope", Emily Dickinson"I Have a Dream," Martin Luther King“First Inaugural Address”, F. D. Roosevelt“Uncle Marcos”, Isabel Allende"I Hear America Singing", Walt WhitmanPoetry"I, too, Sing America", and "A Negro Mother", Langston Hughes"There is a Longing," Chief Dan George"Still I Rise", Maya AngelouHiphop Lyrics"Umi Says," Mos Def"I Can," Nas"At the Helm," Del, the Funky HomosapienNonfictionMy Story, Rosa ParksFilm: The Pursuit of Happyness

Literature 9-10.2

Literature 9-10.9

Literature 9-10.10

Informational 9-10.1

Informational 9-10.2

Informational 9-10.4

Informational 9-10.8

Informational 9-10.10

Writing 9-10.2

Writing 9-10.4

Writing 9-10.5

Writing 9-10.6

Writing 9-10.10

Authentic Task: Create a newspaper dated 1933, Maycomb, AL using real historical events as well as the events in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Include all contents of Newspaper

Speech using persuasive techniques

Poetry Video Essay: Students choose five different types of poetry that represents how they want to live their life, combine them, read them, and create a video that shows images of them with symbols of their future

Advertisement for a unique product line that would improve the future (create an authentic audience by having a student-wide contest)

Letter to the Editor with cooperation of local editing staff

Scenario Scavenger Hunt: Teacher provides students with a list of scenarios with the purpose of students choosing the best mode of communication for response. When the student uses the correct mode of communication, the next prompt is given. Once the student has achieved all prompts they receive a reward.

P.O.I (presentation of issues)

D.O.L (quote journals)

Independent Reading with logs or journals

Literature circles

Anticipation Guides

K-W-L Chart

Simulations

Question/Answer Relationships (Blooms Taxonomy)

Wikis and Blogs

Classroom Forums

Nonfiction Writing Rubrics

Direct Vocabulary Instruction

Formative Assessments: Quizzes, Tests

Ongoing Writing Portfolios

Interim Assessments

Products (personal dictionary, interactive notebook, journals, etc.)

Participation

Oral Presentations using multi-media

Publishing (web pages, authentic tasks with authentic audiences)

Interim Assessments

Unit Requirements:

1 Authentic Assessment Writing Piece

1 Oral Presentation

1 21st Century Literacies Activity

3 Lessons incorporating texts other than print

Common Core Standards and Pop Culture

Grade 6 – Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas7. Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or

viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch.

9. Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics

Grades 9-10 – Listening and Speaking2. Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g.,

visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.Grades 9-10 – Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas7. Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums,

including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”).

Grades 11-12 – Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas7. Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production

of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)

What are your literacies?

What does a textual day in your life look like?

What kinds of “texts” do you regularly read?What kinds of “texts” do your students

regularly read?

Analysis of a Textual Day in Your Life

Identities Texts Values Social Networks Literacy Learning

Athlete, runner

Movie watcher, amateur film critic

www.usatf.org, www.iaaf.org,Sports sections in newspapers, ESPN

www.nytimes.com,www.rottentomatoes.com,www.hollywood.com,Chicago Tribune – entertainment section, Late Night Talk Shows (Letterman, Leno, etc),Download torrents or NetFlix, TNT, USA, TBS

Health, outdoors, relieve stress, competition

Entertainment, cultural awareness, film history

Runners, hikers, outdoor enthusiasts

Friends and family, movie critics, other downloaders

Skimming and scanning (for fast times, people I know); strategies to prevent injuries; map usage; directions

Critical awareness (what types of movies will I like), summarizing, reflection (what did I like), reading schedules

How do you view pop culture?

• “I wish that teachers listened to the music we like and would learn some of the dances through watching the videos. It would be really cool for a teacher to ask me how to do a dance or learn about a song. We could get to know teachers some, and teachers could get to know us some.”-Interview with a 7th grade student

• “I don’t look to using popular culture for its own sake. I have to see some connection to the standards, and I also have to be able to achieve some connection to it myself. Essentially, it’s as much about my popular culture if not more than the students.”

-Interview with a high school English teacher

3 Ways of View Pop Culture

1. Mass Culture• Assumed that audience passively accepts the

text and meanings intended by producer (writer)

• Low culture• For pleasure

News Clip – Woman Wakes up to find Intruder in Her Bed

2. Folk Culture

• Texts have no inherently produced meaning

• Important part of people’s lives• Focus on how the audience (not producer)

uses the text• Examples: jeans, cellphones, birth of

hiphop

3. Everyday Culture

• Assumed that both producers (writer) and audiences (reader) have the power to create meaning

• Important part of people’s lives, for learning identities and beliefs

• Focus on both producer’s intended meaning and audience’s created meaning

Shepard Fairey

3 Ways of Viewing Pop Culture

1. Mass Culture2. Folk Culture3. Everyday Culture

– Allows the most potential as meanings are constantly creating according to social and cultural contexts

– Multimodal in nature

Multimodality• So much of pop culture is multimodal• Ron Clarke Academy’s “Vote However You Like”• Not just the text on a page• This then gets into what we mean by “new

literacies”• Anything can be multimodal now with videos and

software so easy and prevalent• performative and visual modes play a larger role

in creating meaning

Inanimate Alice

• http://inanimatealice.com/episode1/index.html

• Lots of resources at the site: www.inanimatealice.com

Advantages of Multimodal Texts• Distributes meaning across linguistic, visual, aural, and

performative modes at the same time• touches on our multiple ways of learning – Gardner’s

multiple intelligences and learning styles• empowers students by allowing them chances to

comprehend texts based on their own experiences• NOT about catering to a shortened attention span or

lowering our standards• Intertextuality – focuses students’ attention on how

texts work off or inform each other

Very important for instruction to give students opportunities to negotiate a producer’s (writer’s) assigned meaning with one that is personally acceptable to them

4 Primary Ways of Integrating Pop Culture into Your Classroom

1. Connections• Connect “irrelevant” content to students’

personal lives• For example: “Mysterious Worlds” Unit in 6th

grade includes scary movie soundtracks:1. Show clips of some scary movies. Discuss how

the music affects your viewing of the scene2. Draw attention to plot development3. Create a scary soundtrack to parts of A Wrinkle in

Time or other novel your class is reading4. Then do the Sound Movie activity on page 44.

Jaws – the skier scene

Psycho – the shower scene

2. Cultural Capital (Allegiances)

• Recognizes the value of a cultural experience

• Values the power of knowledge about particular popular texts within different groups

• Encourage students to bring texts that are normally ignored

• For example: Using blogs and social networks for discussion (Nings)

Example: Create a Soundtrack

• Credit to Ms. Jack at HSA Denison Middle• Album Cover, list of songs and lyrics• Also an example of this in the curriculum

guide on page 48 – The Album Cover Project

3. Critical Awareness• Should naturally be a part of the curriculum to

develop critical awareness• Deepens students understanding of self and others• Questions how texts are produced and consumed:

– What is represented in the text?– Who is the intended audience?– Why do audiences like this text?– Who benefits from using this text?– Who is left out or silenced in this text?

Movies and Films

• Ms. Carter’s lesson• Should never show a movie for a whole

class period• Better to choose a clip or two and just

show that

Hiphop Poetry Unit

• Combines first 3 models:– Connections– Cultural Capital– Critical Awareness

1. Connect to the canon2. Compare to other poems3. Students create their own poems/rhymes

A word about hiphop/rap

1. Be careful. 2. Be respectful.3. Show lyrics both on paper and as music.4. Many different types. Be certain of the type

you want.5. Multimodal. Think about what mode you

want to focus on.

4. Recontextualized

• Incorporates parts of the other models• Provides opportunities for students to build

new knowledge and to transform pop culture texts for new purposes

• How can instruction both value students’ enjoyment and transform meaning and understanding?

“The Bed Intruder” at the BET Awards

Various Internet Resources• www.popculturemadness.com• www.rottentomatoes.com – movie reviews• www.allmusic.com• www.readwritethink.com – many lesson plans• www.zamzar.com – convert video files• Photo Story 3 -

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/PhotoStory/default.mspx

Conclusion – the 3 R’s of Pop Culture Pedagogy

1.Reflective2.Responsible3.Respectful