Making Connections through Chris Crutcher’s Work
Author: Eric Fortune
Based on lesson by: Eric Fortune
Date created: 10/20/2011 4:11 PM EDT; Date modified: 10/20/2011 5:15 PM EDT
Subject(s) / Language Arts (English)
Topic or Unit of Study / Chris Crutcher's impact to Young Adult Literature
Grade/Level / Grade 12
Objective / After studying Chris Crutcher's work, my students should feel visible and be able to read the books they need most in spite of censors. From there, we should be able to engage in thougtful conversations on Crutcher's work as well as others from this point on to help open their minds. We want to be able to discuss how Crutcher's work relates to censorship so we as a class can have conversations and discussions where we will listen to multiple viewpoints. From there we can consider the opinions and ideas that you as teens and students have about certain viewpoints. We want to be able to discover the rich potential his work holds for myself as an educator and for you my students.
Summary / As a class, we will look at three of Chris Crutcher's novels: "Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes," "Deadline," and "Running Loose." The attempt from here is to balance what we know will benefit students against varying student maturity levels and teacher comfort zones. The goal is to initiate productive conversations and debates on free speech and censorship with how it relates to Crutcher's work. The final goal will be to write a researched anaylsis paper during the six weeks we will devote to Crutcher's work. The paper will be include everything we have learned during this time through our reading, note taking, discussion, and research.
IMPLEMENTATION
Learning Context / Throughout the semester, we've read different genres of literature and have focused on authors that have written classical literature. With this discussion and focus on Chris Crutcher, my goal is to have you read an author who writes more about experiences that seem more common in your life. Crutcher paints protagonists who are oftern more mature than many of the adults they encounter. They are learning to think more than than to react. Readers like his juxtapoisition of intensely serious material and sharp humor. His topics hit home more than most others as he writes about love, relationships, religion, responsibility, honesty, competition, and family situations.
Procedure / After reading all three of Crutcher's work, we will explore the characteristics of the characters, the overall story, and theme. The goal is to have a discussion in class on this material so we can explore more so how Crutcher's work is censored and why we believe it is. We will cite examples and divide into group activities to discuss the work and to relate it censorship with us all expressing our views on why Crutcher's work would be censored.
Differentiated Instruction
Sample Student Products
Collaboration
Time Allotment / 30 class periods. 40 Mins. per class.
Author's Comments & Reflections
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES
Instructional Materials / "Running Loose"
"Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes"
"Deadline"
"Teaching the Selected Works of Chris Crutcher"
"Guide to Teaching Challenged and Banner Books Featuring the Novels of Chris Crutcher"
Resources
STANDARDS & ASSESSMENT
Standards / OH- Ohio Academic Content Standards (2011)
Subject: English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
Grade: Grades 11–12 students:
Content Area: English Language Arts
Strand: Reading Standards for Literature
Domain: Key Ideas and Details
Example:
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
Example:
Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
Example:
Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
Domain: Craft and Structure
Example:
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
Example:
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
Example:
Analyze a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
Domain: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Example:
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.)
Example:
Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
Domain: Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
Example:
By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11–CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11–CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Assessment/Rubrics / Rubrics:
- Researched Analysis Paper