George Washington High School
San Francisco, CA
Lesson Number 6: Connecting Business, Technology and History
to Literature
Type of Lesson
Introduction to elements of business and literature
Grade Level
High school juniors
Time Allotment
Ten 50-minute sessions
Instructional Strategy
Lecture, analysis, individual composing, teamwork, following
procedure in the creation of a presentation product.
Objectives
Overall Conceptual Objectives
To develop students' ability to become self-learners.
To teach students to take notes effectively.
To teach students how to use diction to analyze literature.
To teach students about predictions.
To teach students to be problem solvers.
To teach students about analyzing business.
To teach students to use technology to make presentations for
an audience.
Performance Objectives
Students will learn to take effective notes and keep notebooks
of their ideas and research.
Students will generalize and interpret literature based on
diction.
Students will be able to explain the concept of ethics, identify
different ethical systems, analyze business ethical dilemmas
and offer solutions to these dilemmas.
Students will understand the importance of patent and copyright
law and the proper use of resources on the Internet.
Day 1
American Literature Activity
Journal writing, sharing, discussion, speculation Students write
about technical innovations in the past 10 years, 20 years, 50
years, the last year, six months.
They speculate about which changes were unforeseen by their parents
and grandparents and which were predicted.
They predict innovations in the next year, five years, decade.
They write about an innovation that they can't imagine will be
possible, but might come to fruition anyway. Students share and
chart in small groups and each group makes a presentation to the
whole class. All students must copy down debriefing notes for
a future lesson.
The teacher reminds students about the discussion on obsolescence
in the last unit. The teacher re-introduces reel-to-reel tape,
8-track tapes, LP's and videotape, and asks students to speculate
why these things became obsolete. The group discusses the idea
of innovation, and of one innovation taking the place of another.
Students offer opinions as to why some inventions or innovations
don't take the place of others. For instance, will the Rolodex
be replaced by its electronic counterpart? Why haven't cassettes
and videotapes been replaced?
Homework: Students interview parent or grandparent.
Innovation Questions: What innovations have come about
during your lifetime? What has surprised you? What was expected?
Do you think the innovations have improved life? What innovations
will arise in the next 20 years?
Students re-read the mini article about technology and speculate
about why three items will and won't last. Students read and take
notes from the Scientific American article, "The Laboratory Notebooks
of Thomas Edison." They are to note the detail of the notebooks.
Day 2
American Literature Activity: Debriefing, discussion
Each student trades his interview and written assignment about
technology with another student. The students comment and add
to each others' papers. Students may share answers and improve
their own answers after discussion.
Activity: Whole group discussion on the Edison Notebooks
The teacher discusses the detail of the notebooks: a title for
each invention, a picture with detailed description of how the
invention works, labels. The teacher explains that this is an
example for student notebook, as Edison was just an average person.
The teacher assigns students to keep journals of thoughts, insights
and ideas. They should be detailed, neat records of insights from
class, stories, poems, vocabulary, connections, complaints or
problems and ways in which to solve problems. The teacher explains
that every entry should be titled and dated. The writing should
be neat enough for the teacher and student to re-read. Drawings
and diagrams should be clearly labeled. The teacher hands out
composition books.
Project Assignment: An innovation, invention or solution
to a school problem. Students have been looking at school problems
in the last unit. Now they are to become problem solvers, innovators,
inventors. Each must develop a solution to a school problem, or
an innovation or invention that would be helpful at this time
and which they think they can put into production.
They must provide as much detail as did Edison. They must include
a title, the problem that they are solving, the solution and detailed
instructions for how this will work and who will benefit. The
teacher presents the scoring rubric to students. He or she explains
that students will be scored on the following elements: Information,
visual aids, platform poise (stillness, use of gesture to emphasize),
use of visual aids. Students are taught one or two oral presentation
techniques. Students are given two days to develop an idea. They
will share informally in groups.
Two days later they will present to the class, and each presentation
will be videotaped. Students use skills about video production
in the computer applications class during the last unit. The computer
applications teacher presents mini-lessons about editing and computer
effects as needed. Inventions, innovations and ideas will be used
again, later.
Day 3
Computer Applications Activity: Discussion and analysis
Students analyze the shots videotaped in a seven-minute excerpt
of a lecture as well as the platform poise of lecturer by drawing
and labeling the shots on a blank storyboard. In groups, students
compare findings and discuss what is effective. The teacher reviews
certain shots and why they are effective. Shots for discussion
include: orienting shot, medium shots, shots of audience, use
of zoom, backgrounds, how to keep videotape from looking static.
The teacher briefly discusses use of gesture and general movement.
The teacher also discusses lighting and titles. The discussion
includes the use of natural lighting versus lights and computer
effects.
Homework: Students have applied for positions within the
student film company. Job titles and division of labor have already
been decided upon in the last unit after students applied for
positions in the documenting company. It is time to go to work.
Videographers develop storyboards for videotaping presentations.
Editors and effects people develop titles and a written summary
of the editing procedure as well as ideas for how the tape should
be edited. Promotions people develop a campaign to promote the
presentation.
Day 4
American Literature Activity: Lecture, reading in groups
The teacher asks students about the differences between a novel
and a play. He or she will accept all responses and list these
on the chalkboard. The teacher will focus on the elements pertinent
to this lecture: in novels, a narrator provides description of
setting as well as ideas, motivations, thoughts and history of
characters, whereas in a play, the director and actor must produce
these elements.
Students read the play, The Water Engine, for 20 minutes
in groups and come back to discuss what they have found out about
the characters as well as any questions that they may have. When
class reconvenes, the teacher asks students to air questions and
concerns (i.e., the play has three actions going on at the same
time). The teacher calls on students willing to suggest answers.
The teacher will guide students to see that these are plays within
the play. This discussion continues the following day with character
descriptions as well as ideas for staging and casting.
Homework: Students finish the play at home and come in
with more questions, descriptions and observations.
Journal Assignment: What is a patent? What is a copyright?
How are the two alike? How are they different? Why are patents
and copyrights important? Were there always patents and copyrights?
Students share ideas. The teacher makes sure that students copy
and understand the definition of a patent.
Definition: A grant made by a government to an individual
conveying to him, the sole right to make, use and sell his invention
for a certain period of time, according to the New College
Edition of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English
Language. Students read "Glidden's Patent Application for
Barbed Wire." Looking at his design and the description, students
answer the following questions: For whom was the drawing intended?
Why was it created? What is the inventor actually seeking to patent?
What are the strengths of the invention? How well does the written
description depict the physical design and intended use? What
aspects of the description need enhancement?
Homework: Students read "10 Big Myths about copyright
explained" and answer the questions on the worksheet.
Activity 2: Computer Applications
Students work through the American Library Association tutorial
about Internet and copyright. They must each complete all of the
sections, but stop after each section to share findings with a
partner.
Section 1: Own definition of copyright
Section 2: Opinion about whether copyright law has been
broken or not and reasons for opinion, definition of copyright
Section 3: Reading and responding to '10 myths' article
Section 4: Copyright quiz
Section 5: Notes about citing Web sites (http://www.ala.org/ICONN/homepage1.html)
Day Five
American Literature Activity: Discussion and Essay
The teacher gives students an essay assignment before discussion.
They are to note a question about the play and then write an essay
in which they explore the question and possible answers. In the
assignment, they must explain how the question arose. The question
can't be so easy that it is answered simply. Teachers will grade
students based on the number of connections they make to this
query and the carefulness of the research. Have they really used
and thought about clues in the text? Two students read their essays
in class and write their questions on the board. The teacher rephrases
the questions and directs discussion.
Afterward, if not brought up, the teacher will raise the following
questions for discussion: Lang gives Gross a dollar and then trusts
him. How do you understand this? Is he wise? Gross introduces
him to Oberman and then Lang trusts him. Is this wise? What does
he say to Rita? Is he naive to believe that they will automatically
get rich from this invention? What does it take to manufacture
and market a new product? If a company is successful, why would
it risk capital to manufacture a new product? Where did Charles
get his materials? Is it okay to steal from your employer to set
up a lab or workshop? Who owns the invention in such a situation?
What is Lang's relationship to his sister Rita? Does she seem
like a sister? What is Lang's maturity level? Where do we get
our ideas? Where do we get our ideas of right and wrong? Does
maturity have to do with our ideas? Our ideas of right and wrong?
How is the chain letter connected to the play? To Lang's ideas?
Why does Lang want "All people are connected" repeated?
This discussion can continue for a few days if need be. Students
trade papers and respond to each other's answers.
They must also write a final paper analyzing the play for production.
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