Name
Monsters: a Romantic vision or modern fears?
Topic
English literature - the gothic and sublime in the Romantic age. Analysing the past to get to real social context : differences and similarities; reviewing the present thanks to the interpretation of the most significant representation of the gothic in the past.Final goal-students'production :the monster a symbol of the wicked side of man
Learning time
2 hours
Designed time
3 hours and 50 minutes
Size of class
20
Description
The questions are :"what is a monster? Do you like "gothic movies or horror movies?How many monsters do you know in English literature? Do you think monsters exist nowadays? But above all , what is a monster for you and how would you describe it?"
Mode of delivery
No mode selected
Aims
Acquisition of new lexicon and learning of the various features in the gothic literature across the centuries; Understanding of psychological aspects ;
Outcomes
Knowledge, Analysis, Application, Evaluation
Editor
tirena
Edit
Gothic taste and monsters Preparation
80 minutes)
  • Discuss
    20
    0
    Students are asked the following questions:The questions are :"what is a monster? Do you like "gothic movies or horror movies?How many monsters do you know in English literature? Do you think monsters exist nowadays? But above all , what is a monster for you and how would you describe it?" They will be involved into a brainstorming activity in which all of them have to tell the others what are the most significant monsters they know in books, movies, cartoons, etc. This activity can be organized in the following way : The teacher can write the key word " gothic or monster" on the blackboard and then a student can collect and write all the various associations made by his/her peers at the board. Or the teacher can use a web app " mindomo "where students in groups can write collaboratively and associate other itemsto the key word. In each group a moderator will be named while each member of the group will have a well defined role: word researcher, time /period , setting, characters, writers, film makers, actors.
  • Read Watch Listen
    20
    20
    1
    Now the students will watch a very investing video from BRITISH LIBRARY where gothic and monsters are described . An excellent introduction to theme. Students have to write down what are the most meaningful topic and features told in the video along with their doubts or misunderstandings they will discuss with their peers.
  • Investigate
    40
    5
    1
    The next step will be dedicated to the reading about gothic and monsters in English literature across the centuries. For this purpose, the teacher has posted a link on the virtual classroom created with EDMODO . They can start their reading at home and continue it in classroom with the teacher's help. They are required to highlight the words which best represent the theme of the gothic as well as adjectives used in the article to qualify the monsters' features
Notes:
Resources linked: 0
Gothic taste and monsters  Analysis Production
150 minutes)
  • Collaborate
    40
    4
    0
    They will collaborate in groups of four analysing what they have written and asking each other how they can represent the gothic or a monster considering the features previously presented or make a survey about what scares people or their friends /mates After deciding how to represent this topic, the following step will be which web apps to use.
  • Practice
    50
    4
    0
    They will have to decide the web apps which best fit this task. The majority of the students love working with padlet because they can upload their works But first of all , each group has to plan how to work : who searches for pictures or videos, who take care of the language used, who has to keep updated the links they are going to use in their project. Sometimes, teacher's help is required as it often happens the definition of roles is hard to achieve.
  • Produce
    60
    4
    0
    Sometimes in the production phase, something goes wrong , may be in the choice of applications or they do not agree about it. The teacher's role is the mediator . So, I induce them to think about what they mean to convey, how they would like to impress the audience. In general the conflict and the sense of failure can be overcome. Some groups will make a survey among their mates (same age)about the idea of monster they have , what are their fears and so on. Another group will work on adult people ( their parents, their relatives, etc ) asking the same questions. The results of the survey will be assessed in the final report , that is , they will interpret what are young people's and old ones' fears. In a blog, or using "tackk" they can comment about the survey's results. Another group decides to make a movie where they are the protagonists and will perform the "fears " of the modern youth. Finally, another group will perform the "monsters" of the past like Frankenstein in a modern tone, and will represent the "new monsters" young people do not recognise, that is, using their mobiles for selfies or using social networks in dangerous and wrong ways.
Notes:
Resources linked: 0
Assessment of the project 
0 minutes)
  • Produce
    4
    0
    The students accomplished the final task of producing their own digital work: they used movie maker for a personal reinterpretation of the gothic theme; Another group wanted to make a visual narration , or story telling, about the past and present representation of monsters across the centuries; using "thing link". Other groups re- elaborated the results of the surveys they led : One group made it among children; a second group among their peers; A third group among adult people To manage the results of their surveys some used "SURVEYMONKEY" ,others "GOOGLE FORMS"
  • Produce
    4
    0
    Presentation of thei works They arerequired to show their results and works in two different phases: the first held in their own classroom showing their mates what they made; The second occasion , the will show their project final results to other parallel classrooms, I mean of the same age and school year, so that they can share it with them.
  • Produce
    4
    1
    Their final production will be assessed trough the use of the Rubric attached at this final part of my Lerning Designer.
Notes:
Resources linked: 1

Learning Experience

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Social learning graph will not display correctly, because one or more learning types do not have group size set.