syllabi and news

Greetings.

I am including a couple of course details. Also, the MS newsletter comes out today in hard copy and you can view it on the wiki.

For drama and writing class syllabus, please look in my blog archives to Q2 2006. You will find many course descriptions that repeat. Songwriting too!

Tolkien
Semester 1: 2009-2010
Literature Foundations Course
Kirk Ellis
kirk@trilliumcharterschool.org


Course Overview:

This is a literature foundations course designed for college-bound students who are looking for a challenge in their academic choices. It is a WIC course (writing intensive) and carries a robust reading expectation. The material is complex and will be approached not simply through reading and discussion groups, but instruction will also be provided on the origins of the author’s work, his life, the genre from which his material came, linguistics, and the elements of fiction and literature.

Why Teach Tolkien?

The Lord of the Rings is arguably the greatest work of imaginative literature ever created by a single author. J.R.R. Tolkien bridged a gap between the old world of language and literature and created a contemporary allegory that changed multiple genres of fiction. It stands alone in modern literature as folklore, mythology, social critique, linguistics, and epic poetry combine and influence the world of music, social justice, and professional writing.

As the course progresses, the student should be able to:

• Comprehend The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings at the level of plot, character, setting, and idea.

• Appreciate the astonishingly complex world in which Tolkien's novels unfold.

• Think critically and write clearly about Tolkien's themes, with special emphasis on their contemporary relevance.

• Understand how Tolkien's fiction is informed by many literary and linguistic traditions, as well as by philosophical, psychological, sociological, and political issues that reverberate through the entire secondary school curriculum.

To help you meet these objectives, I shall have you focus on these eight elements:

1. Unit-Specific Learning Goals (as weekly assignments)
2. Preliminary and Post Quizzes
3. Key Terms
4. Handouts
5. Discussion Topics
6. Suggested Activities
7. Writing Prompts
8. Lectures

The heart of any given class and discussion resides in the discussion topics and the suggested activities. In each case: IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THE STUDENTS KEEP UP WITH THE READING MATERIAL.

NOTE: Watching the movies may not be a substitution!

Beyond the preliminary quizzes, the primary evaluation tool is the student's own writing. Each class member should keep a daily journal, either in a notebook or on-line, to record questions about the readings, reactions to the discussions, and responses to the activities.

Learning Goals:

There are many themes that become apparent in Tolkien’s work: war, friendship, loyalty, music, home, fear, industrialization, environmentalism, mythology, religion, and much more.

• I expect students to be able to identify and discuss these and other themes with me.

• Craft their own analysis of the works into an essay including one or more of these elements (details below).

• Students must read.

• Students must be able to discuss in small groups.

• Understand and adhere to the Trillium Constitution.


Assessment:

Grading is as follows:

Reading/Writing Log and In-Class Discussion: 50 points
Attendance and Participation (quizzes/small groups): 30 Points
Final Essay: 20 points


Reading and Writing Log: This combined with in-class discussion makes up half of the possible class points. Journals will be checked on Thursdays. As one reads it is essential to reflect feelings, inspirations, difficult vocabulary, confusion, humor, dreams, questions, and ideas for essay topics. This is practice for the inevitable university experience of literary analysis and textual note taking. It will also help you retain ideas to talk about in class. Listening and offering insights happens best when the material is being discussed, but if one is shy then a journal can act as substitute.

Attendance and Participation: Being in class helps one learn complex material. Taking part in discussion helps retain information. Short quizzes will be offered (and announced ahead of time) and some small group work will be required. Points are attained by moving through this flexible curriculum.

Final Essay: There is a final essay in class that can make the difference between an A or a C letter grade. It is to be 5 pages, typed, 1.5 spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font with a reference page (which does not count as one of the five pages). Reflection and analysis on a pervasive theme of the book will be exposed and supported. Conferences will be provided to help clarify.

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

(Bilbo, pg. 63, I)


Making Meaning
Fall 2009-2010
Trillium Charter School
Instructors: Ken Gadbow & Kirk Ellis
kirk@trilliumcharterschool.org
ken@trilliumcharterschool.org


Course Overview:

There are two main questions guiding this course:

• How do we find meaningful experiences in our lives and why?
• How do we see what we already have and/or do as meaningful?

Supplementary questions might include: How do we come to know who we are? How do we accept ourselves as we are and then come to embrace or reject that view? When and how does our view of ourselves, and that which we consider “meaningful” change? Are there rites of passage for this progression? Are their practices that enhance meaningful experiences? Again, in our lives, to what do we attach meaning or ascribe meaning to throughout our day?

To answer any one inquiry, other viewpoints must be considered to eliminate possibilities of what we are not, or what is not meaningful, or what is not productive, constructive, loving, spiritual, real and so on…

Guests and outings are essential.
Place and space is important.
Context to conversation is vital.
Silence is necessary.
Contemplation is recommended.

Learning Goals:

Progress from where each student is toward a deeper answer to the first two questions above.

Develop a practice of inner reflection.

Assessment:

Class is set as A or F. Those are the only two options. Students will be asked to demonstrate progress in the course at three points during the semester, how students do so is up them. Students may choose to write a paper, do a performance, create an art piece, etc. The manner of demonstrating learning should be discussed with Kirk or Ken beforehand.
Students must attend guest lectures. Participation in these events is essential to passing this course. They will generally take place on Thursdays.
Participate in the demonstration of the following practices during the first few weeks of the term, and then choose ONE to do for the rest of the semester:

• Contemplative walking
• Yoga
• Tai Chi
• Anapana (breathing)
• Meditation/Contemplation
• Chanting

Boundaries and expectations

This class, and this space, must be safe. All actions, words, and language must be respectful of self and others.
Tell the truth.
Uphold the Rights and Responsibilities of the Trillium Constitution.
Stay. Be present.
Noble Silence is to be observed during times of personal practice such as meditation.


Thanks,
Kirk