This film tells a fictitious story of an inspirational English teacher at a prestigious all-boys school. There are many instances in the movie throughThis film tells a fictitious story of an inspirational English teacher at a prestigious all-boys school. There are many instances in the movie through which perspective is clearly included. For instance, viewers can contrast the perspectives/ideals of Neil Perry and his father, and then interpret the results of their disagreements. Also, the values that Mr. Keating and the headmaster uphold create a lot of conflict. Imagining the story from any of those character's perspectives would be interesting to observe the contrasting viewpoints and what results from conflicts. The part of this film that famously glorifies perspective is when Mr. Keating has all the students stand on his desk so they can see the room from a new perspective. A strategy from Gallagher's "Write Like This" that I feel would connect reading and writing instruction to the film is "The Road Not Taken." The film ends with the tragic suicide of Neil, on account of his father's disapproval with him chasing his dream of acting. This exercise allows students to make inferences and use their imagination to create an alternate ending to the film. I would prompt the students with this: "What if Neil didn't commit suicide? What if his father was supportive of his dream? What would a happy ending look like to all the major characters in the film?"...more
"The Sandlot" is a coming-of-age film that came out in 1993 about a young group of boys who play baseball together. My chosen concept of perspective f"The Sandlot" is a coming-of-age film that came out in 1993 about a young group of boys who play baseball together. My chosen concept of perspective fits into this movie in how there are nine different characters on the baseball team. Middle school students can watch the film and analyze each character's perspective to infer how they might act in certain situations. The teacher could even have students pick a favorite character (secretly) and come up with a 30-second elevator speech to give in front of the class. The rest of the class would debate over which character the student was imitating. On the other hand, a strategy from Gallagher's "Write Like This" that middle school students could use with this movie is "iMAgiNiff." I would have students imagine/analyze how the story might be different if it was narrated by Mr. Mertle or even his dog (the Beast). What parts of the story would be changed, and why? This strategy is useful in its flexibility for students to make what they want of it. The students could also come up with their own "imagine if" sentence to build their own ideas off of....more
Within this collection of poetry is a piece called "OCD," to which the author made a slam poetry video that went viral (link: Within this collection of poetry is a piece called "OCD," to which the author made a slam poetry video that went viral (link: ). This video illustrates a brilliant image of what it looks like to suffer from OCD, and exhibits numerous traits of a good presentation. The piece concerns itself with the concept of perspective in how the thoughts and feelings of a person suffering from a mental illness are so accurately portrayed. Middle school students can watch the video and observe a roller coaster of emotions that are normal for people with mental illnesses, but understand that the speaker's differences don't make him any less credible/effective than a speaker without mental illness. A strategy from Gallagher's "Write Like This" that could be incorporated into studying this video is "YouTube Study." This exercise has students evaluate different aspects of the video to determine how effective it was in portraying the purpose to an intended audience. However, the questions assigned with this strategy by Beers could be altered depending on what the teacher wants students to analyze in the video....more
This nonfiction book is a biographical story of Louis Zamperini, a WWII hero and former Olympic track star. The author takes the reader through the evThis nonfiction book is a biographical story of Louis Zamperini, a WWII hero and former Olympic track star. The author takes the reader through the events of Zamperini's life via an outside perspective, but the build-up in the beginning makes the reader feel more connected to the text. By starting from the beginning of his childhood, the narrator generates sympathy and love in the reader for the protagonist. Providing the reader with background information helps students to make inferences about the text, and draw connections between events in the past, present, and future. I would link this novel to reading and writing instruction by incorporating a strategy from Gallagher's "Write Like This" called "What My Childhood Tasted Like." For this exercise, students will be asked to describe what they believe Zamperini's childhood tasted like (supported with textual evidence), as well as their own childhood. This strategy urges students to think creatively about their own experiences, as well as draw on specific passages from the text to support their opinion....more
This collection of Anne Frank's diary entries while hiding from the Nazis is the epitome of Holocaust reading for middle school students. She was righThis collection of Anne Frank's diary entries while hiding from the Nazis is the epitome of Holocaust reading for middle school students. She was right around that age when she wrote it, so the students can more easily comprehend Anne's perspective throughout the novel. The book relates to perspective well in how the narrator can reach the audience of middle school students effectively, so that students don't have to think too hard about what she's saying. Because this book is so well-known, to incorporate a pre-reading strategy from Beers like "K-W-L Charts" would be a good way to spark interest. These charts can also be used as a reference point throughout reading the novel, and an assessment after finishing it....more
This nonfiction book tells the story of a 17-year old boy's journey from the capital of Honduras (Tegucigalpa) to the United States in an effort to reThis nonfiction book tells the story of a 17-year old boy's journey from the capital of Honduras (Tegucigalpa) to the United States in an effort to reunite with his mother. The story relates to perspective because it's a diverse book with a non-white protagonist (something that isn't focused on as much in school books). The high school I went to was 98% white, so providing a classroom in that area with this kind of text would encourage students to learn more about a culture/perspective that they haven't encountered as often. Hopefully, by effectively teaching this text, students will grow an appreciation for the culture they didn't know as much about previously. A strategy I would use to connect this text to both reading and writing instruction would be what Beers calls "Bookmarks." This exercise helps maintain student's focus while they read a text by marking unknown/unusual words or phrases, changes of setting/perspective, or any questions they might have. Since the main character comes from a different background, there may be many words that students don't initially recognize. "Bookmarks" is also a useful resource because of how it allows students to elaborate on whatever they chose to mark in the text with a 'comments' section....more
This nonfiction book is the first of a trilogy that details Elie Wiesel and his father's experiences in the concentration camps at Auschwitz and BucheThis nonfiction book is the first of a trilogy that details Elie Wiesel and his father's experiences in the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald during WWII. Throughout the narrative, the author shows his disgust with humanity but simultaneously embodies the Jewish tradition of a new day beginning at night. The concept of perspective relates to this novel in how the reader can see the despair and anger that Jewish people felt during the Holocaust. Middle school students will have to picture themselves in the author's shoes to imagine what that intensity of persecution feels like. A pre-reading strategy that I would use to connect this text to reading and writing instruction would be an "Anticipation Guide" from Beers's "When Kids Can't Read." Before the students start reading the novel, I would gather a group of quotes from the text for the students to discuss/debate over as a class. An example of one of these quotes could be "Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere." Students could be assigned to groups that either agree or disagree with the quote, and must back up their position with supporting statements. Later in the unit, the students can return to these quotes and re-evaluate their opinions based on textual evidence....more
This graphic novel incorporates perspective in how it's split up into three seemingly separate stories. They each have a new protagonist at first, whiThis graphic novel incorporates perspective in how it's split up into three seemingly separate stories. They each have a new protagonist at first, which gives the reader a new voice to retain their attention. Each story helps to build the reader's perception of what it feels like to be treated differently based on ethnicity. The way that the stories come full circle in the end to center around a meaningful theme (don't be afraid to be yourself) can be helpful for middle school students because they are more likely to be going through some vital changes in their self-image (puberty). There are two different strategies from Gallagher's "Write Like This" that I would use with this text to connect reading and writing instruction. The first option for students would be to examine how Jin Wang struggles to fit in at school and Chin-Kee's representation of common stereotypes. After critically thinking about these character's difficulties, I would ask the students to emulate "A Hard Moment" from their life in which they felt excluded or preemptively judged for their appearance/ethnicity/character. I understand how this activity could get into areas of student's lives that they don't feel comfortable sharing, which is why they have a second option. Students will be asked to use Gallagher's strategy "I'd Like to Know More About..." to research information on a culture they aren't very familiar with. For this exercise, students can use library books or credible internet sources like BBC or "The Guardian" to find articles relating to whatever culture/ethnicity they decide to explore. This relates back to "American Born Chinese" in imagining what would've been different if characters in the novel took the time to educate themselves about other cultures before making judgments....more
This novel, along with the rest of Banksy's work, is a great visual source for students to examine profound messages through the perspective of a grafThis novel, along with the rest of Banksy's work, is a great visual source for students to examine profound messages through the perspective of a graffiti artist. Banksy's art is instilled with political and social themes promoting anti-war or anti-establishment ideals, and opening student's eyes to this perspective can help them better understand significant historical events (such as the Vietnam War protests). All the students can look at the images in the text through their own personal lens, and interpret what they see in different ways. An exercise that we did with images in class this semester was called "Three Looks." This strategy has students look at an image at three different intervals for a specific amount of time to see what sticks out the most. When students share with each other what they observed they could find that their peers saw some of the same things, but also some things they didn't notice. Having this class discussion will help everyone see a new perspective on the given text/image, and come to a more concise and accurate conclusion....more
This series of graphic novels tell a compelling postmodern story about a Polish (and Jewish) cartoonist and his father's experiences in Nazi Germany. This series of graphic novels tell a compelling postmodern story about a Polish (and Jewish) cartoonist and his father's experiences in Nazi Germany. The way in which it ties in with my concept of perspective is how the author chooses to portray Jewish people as mice, Germans as cats, Poles as pigs, Americans as dogs, etc. By assigning animals to signify these different groups of people, the author is influencing the reader's perspective by subtly dehumanizing those involved in the story. I believe that this is part of what makes this graphic novel appealing to both middle and high school students. When discussing something as serious as the Holocaust with students, it's important to be historically accurate while not throwing real but gory images in their face. Taking into account that the story is based on true events, and that groups of people are displayed as animals, it's certain how "Maus" could be a beneficial source for middle school students. To implement this text into reading and writing instruction, I would use "Maus" as a model text for students to create their own comic strip. This activity could be done individually or in groups, and would serve to show students the importance of images accompanied with text. ...more
This short story is a very popular read for both middle and high school classrooms because of how it challenges the beliefs we hold as a society. It rThis short story is a very popular read for both middle and high school classrooms because of how it challenges the beliefs we hold as a society. It relates to perspective in how the characters of Zaroff and Rainsford both hold strong opinions about the equality of men and animals. Specifically, Rainsford justifies the hunting of animals because they don't feel like humans do, thus making humans superior. On the other hand, Zaroff believes that humans are superior to animals because of their ability to use reason, hence why humans are the most interesting game to hunt. These conflicting perspectives are great sources for teachers to create rousing debates between students. In terms of a reading or writing instructional strategy for a middle school classroom, this text would be the perfect opportunity to use Gallagher's "How to Survive __." This exercise would allow students to imagine themselves in Rainsford's situation throughout the story, and how they might react differently to certain events. An essential question to focus the activity around could be: What kind of things would you do differently than Rainsford and why?...more
This play/novel is a Christmas story that the majority of people know to some degree. It directly correlates with the concept of perspective in how thThis play/novel is a Christmas story that the majority of people know to some degree. It directly correlates with the concept of perspective in how three different spirits visit the protagonist, each being from a different point in time. All the spirits have different perspectives to show Scrooge, who must take them all into consideration as he goes through a drastic change in character. A strategy from Beers that I could see being used for this play in a middle school classroom is a "Double-Entry Journal." Specifically, I would want students to pull quotes from the three different spirits that visit Scrooge, and compare/contrast the analysis from these quotes to see parallels across the novel. By doing this strategy while reading the text or seeing the play, students can be more actively engaged with the content and take away the most significant ideas....more
This novel relates to my concept of perspective in how it makes the reader think about the contrasting ideals of individuality and group-think. StudenThis novel relates to my concept of perspective in how it makes the reader think about the contrasting ideals of individuality and group-think. Students can easily read the more violent and inhumane parts of the book and think to themselves "If it were me, I definitely wouldn't act like that." By having students realize the bystander effect in this statement, they might be able to understand more about the character's perspectives in their situation. The teacher could also have the students compare and contrast individuality and group-think to see each perspective's effects. A strategy from Beers that I would incorporate into a lesson surrounding this novel would be "How Does __ Influence People's Behavior?" Students can fill that blank with terms relating to events in the story such as "being stranded," or "establishing rules/leaders." This writing exercise would seek to justify the feral actions of the characters at the end of the novel, and cancel out the previous example of the bystander effect. Also, this strategy allows students to do their own research in which they'll have to analyze primary sources and think critically about the concept they chose to examine. ...more
This poem can be widely used in middle school classrooms because of its ability to lead into various lessons on poetry. "Mother to Son" could be read This poem can be widely used in middle school classrooms because of its ability to lead into various lessons on poetry. "Mother to Son" could be read for its abundant use of imagery, or its unique syntactic choices clearly influenced by a specific dialect. The concept of perspective could be brought out in this poem's use of a conversation between two characters. For instance, students could attempt to analyze the poem's features by stepping into the shoes of either the mother or the son. In terms of the poem's connection to reading and writing instruction for middle school students, I would employ a during-reading strategy Beers mentioned called Logographic Cues. This strategy allows students to come up with their own symbols to label specific features of a text. In this example, the students could make icons that are assigned to different elements of figurative language such as simile or metaphor. In addition, the cues can be assigned to the different senses a reader might feel while reading the poem....more
This poem, while complicated, is a great way to open up middle school students to understanding more profound themes and imagery in poetry. Secondly, This poem, while complicated, is a great way to open up middle school students to understanding more profound themes and imagery in poetry. Secondly, this particular poem employs a variety of figurative language, which could be a good practice exercise for students to analyze and interpret. This would help students understand the structure of how figurative language works into poetry, which could be reflected in a writing exercise where this poem would be the model text. However, the concluding two lines of the poem are most useful for the students to learn more about the concept of perspective in reading and writing. They state: "Beauty is truth, truth beauty -- that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know." The students could be tasked with completing a writing exercise that employs the strategy of a RAFT. The way that perspective is incorporated into this assignment is what the student chooses as their "role." For example, they could choose to write from the perspective of 'beauty' or 'truth' as they are defined in the mind of the student. Alternatively, the student could compare and contrast would beauty is defined as for Keats in his time period, and a more modern definition....more
This collection of poems tells an adorable story about a boy, his dog, his teacher, and an inspirational poet. The narrator's voice is so perfectly caThis collection of poems tells an adorable story about a boy, his dog, his teacher, and an inspirational poet. The narrator's voice is so perfectly captured throughout the book, and is sure to grab the attention of middle school students because of how relatable it can sound in their heads. There are a myriad of instances that I feel could be used for reading and writing instruction, as well as a lesson geared toward teaching the concept of perspective. One idea could be taking the very first page of the story and have students do a writing exercise in which they have to argue either for or against the author's statement: "boys don't write poetry, girls do." This activity could be paired or individually, as students can use Gallagher's strategy of framing a Four-Square Argument Chart in which they outline the main ideas of their argument/counterargument. Students will have to practice their persuasive writing techniques and support their argument against the rest of the class. Even though they're middle school students, it'll be important for them to understand the significance of gender bias in books as well as the real world. Overall, reading this text and performing a persuasive writing exercise will help students understand the way in which perspective works in story....more
This children's book tells the short story of a student and an encouraging art teacher. This piece of literature is perfect for a middle school classrThis children's book tells the short story of a student and an encouraging art teacher. This piece of literature is perfect for a middle school classroom not only because of how simple it is to comprehend, but also because it's a great source of motivation. Far too often I found middle school students unwilling to speak up in class or try something new due to the fear of not being good enough. In terms of perspective, this text can show students the subjectivity of their work. Even if something doesn't look great to one person, another person may think the exact opposite. So long as a student tries their best with their work, there's no reason why they should feel that they haven't done a good job. As a reading exercise, this book works well in exhibiting effective word choice. The sentences are purposeful, clear, and concise; perfect models for how students should be structuring their sentences. An example of effective writing instruction that incorporates this book and the concept of perspective could be using what Gallagher referred to as a "six-word memoir." The students can look at how the art teacher influenced the student only be saying "sign it," and come up with their own "six-word motivational speech" that could relate to other students. I like this idea because of how it makes students think creatively after fully comprehending the messages in the text....more
This novel is extremely unique and effective for middle school students because of how it's narrated by Death. The reader is experiencing an entirely This novel is extremely unique and effective for middle school students because of how it's narrated by Death. The reader is experiencing an entirely new perspective from the moment they start reading. Middle school students need variety in the books they read, and this one is a great way to exceed expectations and talk about a profound historical event: World War II. If I were to use this text in a middle school classroom, I would utilize Gallagher's strategy "What Would Have Happened If __?" More specifically, I would have the students make inferences as to how the narrative would've sounded if a different character was the narrator. This would better illuminate the impact of Death being the narrator, and how it affects the reader. Having students analyze the text through the lens of different characters will help broaden their comprehension of the more significant takeaways from the story....more
This dystopian novel has a lot of intriguing aspects to its story that make it advantageous to use in a middle school classroom. The society describedThis dystopian novel has a lot of intriguing aspects to its story that make it advantageous to use in a middle school classroom. The society described in the book is focused around the idea of "Sameness" so much so that there is no color, memory, or even climate to disrupt from order and equality. When examining perspective in regards to this novel, students will have to shift their views in order to understand why or why not this society is agreeable to the characters in the book. One idea I had that would incorporate specific strategies for reading and writing instruction involves two strategies (one from READ 440). The first of which is called "Writing Headlines," in which students receive a text/excerpt and must summarize what they feel is most important in a newspaper headline fashion. I would have the students do this activity after finishing the novel, and their headlines must be focused on whether or not the society presented in the story would be a suitable place to live. Once the students have created their headlines, the teacher can incorporate Gallagher's "Evaluate a Print AD" so that students can practice their evaluative writing. This last exercise would be where students must provide supporting evidence for the headlines they made in the prior activity....more
This children's story is incredibly popular in how it teaches kids valuable life lessons regarding their relationships with others. The main ideas behThis children's story is incredibly popular in how it teaches kids valuable life lessons regarding their relationships with others. The main ideas behind the story can be directly related to a classroom studying the concept of perspective in how there are two very different characters to analyze. Middle school students would gain a lot from reading and interpreting this story as a mentor/model text, because it would allow them the opportunity to experiment with some creative writing exercises. One writing strategy that I would implement while reading this text is "Crystal Ball." This strategy tasks students with making inferences about the conclusion of the story based off textual evidence and their imagination, followed by a class discussion. Specifically, we would stop reading the story aloud at the part when the tree is nothing but a stump. The students would then be asked to write what they believe is going to happen next and attempt to cite the text and string events together. At the end of reading this text, students could also have a writing assignment that aligns more with the concept of perspective. For this activity, students would have to mirror the text's vital themes, but use their own unique examples. For instance, the student could turn the tree into a mother and the boy into her son to illustrate a potential metaphor in Silverstein's text....more
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