Speaking Out for Change:
English Language Arts Unit
In this unit, we will focus on using multimodal texts, taking different perspectives, and asking deeper questions in order to think critically about the world!
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. How can asking questions make me challenge my worldview so I gain a deeper understanding of what I am viewing? (skills)
2. How do my understandings of contemporary issues inspire me to speak out for what I believe in?
English Language Arts Unit
In this unit, we will focus on using multimodal texts, taking different perspectives, and asking deeper questions in order to think critically about the world!
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. How can asking questions make me challenge my worldview so I gain a deeper understanding of what I am viewing? (skills)
2. How do my understandings of contemporary issues inspire me to speak out for what I believe in?
Speaking Out for Change Unit - Process
1. Choose a topic/issue you are interested in
2. Read/view the resources
3. Complete 'On the Flipside' Graphic Organiser
4. Meet and discuss with your group...ask questions, think about alternative perspectives, etc.
5. Read/view an alternative perspective on this issue (you can find a text yourself as well!)
6. Complete side two of your graphic organiser
7. Meet with your group a second time to discuss, debate, or clarify.
8. You decide - what are YOUR thoughts on this issue?
1. Choose a topic/issue you are interested in
2. Read/view the resources
3. Complete 'On the Flipside' Graphic Organiser
4. Meet and discuss with your group...ask questions, think about alternative perspectives, etc.
5. Read/view an alternative perspective on this issue (you can find a text yourself as well!)
6. Complete side two of your graphic organiser
7. Meet with your group a second time to discuss, debate, or clarify.
8. You decide - what are YOUR thoughts on this issue?
DIFFERENT REPRESENTATIONS, DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES: THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT THINGS
Here is an art installation by Joseph Kusoth entitled One and Three Chairs (1965).
Think about which one is the real chair? How do you know? How does your description of the chair compare to others'?
This art shows that all texts are representations of the world.
Here is an art installation by Joseph Kusoth entitled One and Three Chairs (1965).
Think about which one is the real chair? How do you know? How does your description of the chair compare to others'?
This art shows that all texts are representations of the world.
WHERE WE STAND AFFECTS WHAT WE 'SEE': OUR SOCIAL POSITIONS AFFECT OUR POINT OF VIEW
Each man's impression of an elephant is based on where he happens to be standing in relation to it.
What are other social positions that are likely to affect our standpoints on issues in our lives?
Each man's impression of an elephant is based on where he happens to be standing in relation to it.
What are other social positions that are likely to affect our standpoints on issues in our lives?
The Blind Men and the Elephant
John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a WALL!"
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, "Ho, what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a SPEAR!"
The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a SNAKE!"
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he:
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a TREE!" The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a FAN!"
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a ROPE!"
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a WALL!"
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, "Ho, what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a SPEAR!"
The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a SNAKE!"
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he:
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a TREE!" The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a FAN!"
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a ROPE!"
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
ISSUES and TOPICS
Issue 1: Animal Rights
Whales in Captivity
1. Blackfish documentary film (available on Netflix)
2. A letter from Seaworld (print text available in class)
3. The Truth About Blackfish website published by SeaWorld
Stray Animalsi
1. Stray dogs 'rounded up and slaughtered' in Sochi
2. The Global Stray Dog Problem
The Plight of Horses
1. The Cruelty of Horse-Drawn Carriages (PETA)
2. City Horses Better off Pulling Carriages
3. The Ugly Truth about Horse Racing (article and video - warning: some offensive language in video)
4. Death and Disarray at America's Racetracks (New York Times,multiple articles and videos)
Issue 1: Animal Rights
Whales in Captivity
1. Blackfish documentary film (available on Netflix)
2. A letter from Seaworld (print text available in class)
3. The Truth About Blackfish website published by SeaWorld
Stray Animalsi
1. Stray dogs 'rounded up and slaughtered' in Sochi
2. The Global Stray Dog Problem
The Plight of Horses
1. The Cruelty of Horse-Drawn Carriages (PETA)
2. City Horses Better off Pulling Carriages
3. The Ugly Truth about Horse Racing (article and video - warning: some offensive language in video)
4. Death and Disarray at America's Racetracks (New York Times,multiple articles and videos)
Issue 2: Consumer Choices, Working Conditions and Child Labour
1. Calls for a Joe Fresh Boycott After Bangladesh Factory Collapse
2. Garment Factories Empowering Millions of Bangladeshi Women
3. Made in Bangladesh (CBC 5th Estate Video)
4. I Got Hired at a Sweatshop: Meet My 9 Year Old Boss (Toronto Star Feature)
5. Want to Help Bangladesh? Try Dressing Better
6. Walmart Canada Statement
7. Sweatshops (Canadian Labour Congress)
1. Calls for a Joe Fresh Boycott After Bangladesh Factory Collapse
2. Garment Factories Empowering Millions of Bangladeshi Women
3. Made in Bangladesh (CBC 5th Estate Video)
4. I Got Hired at a Sweatshop: Meet My 9 Year Old Boss (Toronto Star Feature)
5. Want to Help Bangladesh? Try Dressing Better
6. Walmart Canada Statement
7. Sweatshops (Canadian Labour Congress)
Issue 3: Poverty and Homelessness
1. Unicef Photo Essay on Global Poverty
2. Vancouver's Downtown Eastside with Eva Mendes (video in class)
3. 30,000 Canadians Homeless Every Night (auduio, video and text
3. Perspectives on Homelessness in the USA - A Business Perspective
1. Unicef Photo Essay on Global Poverty
2. Vancouver's Downtown Eastside with Eva Mendes (video in class)
3. 30,000 Canadians Homeless Every Night (auduio, video and text
3. Perspectives on Homelessness in the USA - A Business Perspective