Friday, February 15, 2013
Supplemental Material
My co-operating teacher has decided to hand her 11th grade English class the next unit. I will be teaching The Color of Water. A short summary for anyone who has not discovered this book: The author, James McBride, accounts his childhood as a mixed race youth growing up in New York City. Interwoven into James' memoirs are excerpts from a biography of his immigrant, white, Jewish mother Rachel Shilsky. I am suggesting to my teacher that because I have an extra day in the plan, to show Marley, a biography on Bob Marley. It is available on Netflix and is a biographical account of the mixed-race Jamaican that became the loudest voice in a growing counter-culture. I believe that learning a music icon conquered a similar struggle will add relevance to the novel and importance to their analysis. Any thoughts, critiques, concerns?
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This is a great example of intertextuality. When you can weave in supplemental texts with the original text, it truly strengthens students' understandings of the original material. That's why I talk a lot about designing units based on theme and not time period. Make sense? Good luck with this!
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