Teaching with Popular (Middle School) Culture

Assignment 1: Creating a Graphic Novel
Rationale-
Middle school students (and I’m sure some high school students) are addicted to graphic novels. For some of my students, this is all that they read. They can read through about 15 in a day! Rather than fight this trend, I decided to embrace it and work with it. I would rather have the students read what they want than not read at all, and some of the newer, non-manga graphic novels really do a good job of telling classic stories. I have also seen non-fiction graphic novels that are about historical events.

In this project students will be creating their own graphic novel as a class. I would use this with my Basic Language Arts class for two reasons. One, it is my smallest class and it will easier to handle a novel of 12 pages as opposed to 36. Two, this is the class where graphic novels are predominantly used.

Lesson-
On the first day of the project, as a class we would discuss what graphic novels are and how they are similar to and different from “regular” novels. Topics to be included in the discussion would be: showing rather than telling, read differently (panels vs. paragraphs), both have the elements of fiction (plot, setting, character, conflict), dialogue is in bubbles rather than quotes. As the discussion progressed, I would make a Venn diagram on the board and keep it up during the remainder of the lesson. After the discussion I would then ask students for samples of their favorite graphic novels, if they had them in class, and I would also provide some from the media center. We would spend the remainder of that day sharing and reading graphic novels. Student’s homework for the night would be to think of a story from their lives that they can tell in graphic novel form.

On the second day I would have students write their personal stories in prose. The stories do not have to be long, but they do have to have all the elements of fiction and a beginning, middle, and end. If students are having trouble with this exercise I would help them out by giving an example from my life, or guiding them to interesting events in their lives. Students in middle school, though, often don’t have trouble talking about themselves! This would take about half of the class time. After students were finished writing, we would go through and edit for word choice, spelling, etc.

On the third day, students would now begin transitioning from prose to graphic novel. I will have various page layouts available with different sizes of panels and formats. Students could also make their own pages if they wished. Each panel in the novel should flow from the beginning of the story to the end. Also, students will create a cover and title page for their graphic novel. I will have examples for them to look at from the books we used on the first day of the lesson. Other than these requirements, the students will be pretty much on their own. They will have about a week to complete their novels. My expectation is that the students took their time on them and that they are the best work that they could produce. Once all novels are finished, we will have a sharing day in class where students will display their novels around the room and the other students can read them and discuss them. Then, we will put them in the media center for the school to see.

The grading of this project is more open than some teachers might be comfortable with. The grade will be based on keeping up with the project’s deadlines, the grammar and punctuation of the story, the flow of the story, and whether or not the final project has something of a “final” feel to it (did the student put in effort to make it look done). Teachers can create their own rubrics/point values and emphasize other aspects if they wish.

Further Inspiration-
The following websites were my inspiration for this assignment:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/specialty_writing/self_pub_graphic.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Graphic-Novel
http://www.ehow.com/how_2085763_create-graphic-novel.html


Assignment 2: The Great Debate- Video Games
Rationale-
Like it or not, video games are a large part of today’s youth culture (and mine). There has been much talk about the influences these games have on our children, good, bad, or otherwise. In this debate, students will research the multiple viewpoints on the issue, decide which have merit, and use them in a class debate. Students will be using their critical thinking skills to decide what valid resources and arguments are and what they aren’t. They will also use their presentation and summarization skills.

Lesson-
I would start this lesson with an introduction to video games that includes their history, the various game formats (first-person, shooter, puzzle, role-playing, etc.), and a short survey of the class’s attitudes about video games and their uses. The survey would be a short (one page) sheet that asks if the student has played video games, which systems he or she owns, which types of games they enjoy playing, and how many hours per week are spent playing. I would tabulate the survey results for the next day’s class.

In class the next day I would share the survey results and we would discuss them. Were the results what the class had anticipated? If not, what was surprising? I would now introduce the students to the research part of the assignment. This part will be done in the computer lab, using our research techniques and knowledge about valid sources of information. This lesson will need to be done after our 8th Grade research unit, where we discuss Internet research techniques and quality of sources. I would allow at least two class periods for this part of the day. The students would be expected to find various web resources both validating video games as beneficial and criticizing video games as “mind-numbing.” I would make sure that they understood that they might fall on either side of the debate, and that they would want as much information as possible to provide a good rationale. I would offer some starting websites for both sides, listed below in the “Further Inspiration” section. I would, of course, expect students to also expand the search from these sites, and maybe into other topics related to video games.

After the web search, I would give students about two days in class to compile their information into two cohesive arguments. They would each write a brief (1 page) summary of their information on both sides. They would keep their notes/printouts, but working with a 1 page document will help narrow their scope a bit.

Finally, we would have the debate. I would divide the class randomly into the two sides, video games are beneficial vs. video games are unhealthy. I would then give them ten minutes to prepare their opening statements and choose a spokesperson. We would flip a coin to determine which side starts, and then each side (without interruption) would present their opening argument. After, the groups would get five to ten minutes to form a rebuttal. They would then present, and then we would open up “general discussion.” During the formal debate, students not speaking would be required to take some notes on the points being brought up so that they have something to include in rebuttals. During the general discussion period, students would be encouraged to take notes. This part of the lesson, if not handled respectfully, could get chaotic, especially with excitable middle-schoolers. Consider the type and size of class when formulating how to do this lesson.

As a concluding assignment, each student would be required to write what their opinions of video games are now as opposed to when we started the lesson, how those opinions were changed (if they were), and some of the things they learned during the research.

Further Inspiration-
Some sources for the history of video games:
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15734058/

Some websites on the positive aspects of video games (students, and you, can judge validity):
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.05/view.html
http://www.nhpr.org/node/20825
http://www.channel3000.com/education/4121724/detail.html
http://www.creativeteachingsite.com/videogames.htm

Some websites on the negative aspects of video games (again, students can judge validity):
http://www.apa.org/science/psa/sb-anderson.html
http://www.slate.com/id/2164065/
http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/408/60891.html
http://www.epilepsy.com/info/family_kids_video

Students could also go to YouTube and work on this assignment; there are some videos of the history of video games and some videos associating video games with violence. A teacher might be able to show them in class, too.