Adpot a Classic

Adopt a Classic was by far my favorite assignment I ever assigned.  I am so upset that I can not find the handouts I created for it.  (Between my pregnancy and packing up my classroom, they somehow weren't filed, though I hold out hope I'll come across them one day).  But the awesome thing about Adopt a Classic was that it was a cumulative assignment that I used for the final exam of the year.  It is very adaptable beyond the basic premise, so its probably for the best that I misplaced the originals because it would be at least a little different each time it is assigned.

The Basic Outline of Adopt a Classic:

1. Each student picks a classic to read, research, and write about.  Not every student needs to have a different text, though you want to encourage the students to pick something to their individual tastes and abilities.  
2. Students are given 4 - 6 weeks to read the text.  
3. Because it is not reading for entertainment, they need to track their thinking.  
4. Students should be given the opportunity to discuss their texts together and with the teacher several times over this time period.  
5. At the end of the reading period, students research the author and text during class time, preferably with the help of the librarian.  
6. Students next begin crafting their thesis statements.  I recommend work shopping them as a class.  
7. Then, they draft an analytical essay incorporating their research and going through the full writing process.  
8. I suggest requiring at least one teacher writing conference in addition to collecting and reviewing a draft.  I worked with a reading and writing workshop structure, so we spent most of our class time on this assignment allowing lots of opportunities to collaborate, which I highly recommend.  
9. Ideally, this should  not be the first time students have covered any of the skills being assessed, but even so, offer mini lessons throughout the process on key skills such as citing, thesis writing, or paraphrasing.  
10. I also recommend time to share their essays to further "publish" them at the end of the assignment and time to reflect on how the assignment incorporated the skills of the whole year. 

Some specific skills Adopt a Classic covers:

• Purpose of reading
• Purpose of note taking
• Reading strategies
• Analysis of literature
• Thesis writing
• All steps of the writing process
• Writing conferencing
• Introductions
• Conclusions
• Body paragraphs
• Either using or breaking from the five paragraph essay
• Textual evidence
• Summarizing and paraphrasing
• Using quotations (including formatting)
• Citations (both in-text and works sited page)
• Plagiarism
• Research skills (using database, keywords, etc)
• Synthesis of multiple sources
• Any specific grammar covered over the year (i.e. compound sentences, semicolons, etc)
• Any specific writing skills covered over the year (i.e. transitions, powerful language, etc.)

This assignment is highly adaptable to your needs.  The rubic you create to assess the final product will be geared directly words the skills you have worked on with your students throughout the year and the level of mastery you expect of them.  Here are a few examples of differences between the assignment when I assigned it to high school freshmen and sophomores.

• Sophomores adopted an author and were expected to include a second text (poem, short story, essay, or even a second long work).  
• Freshmen were expected to use a five paragraph essay format whereas the sophomores were expected to break away from that structure as their ideas dictated.  
• Sophomores were expected to have greater flow and subtlety in their writing versus freshmen who were working on linking ideas even if transitions were awkward.  
• For freshmen, analysis was acceptable if it address themes or literary elements and was not restatement of facts.  Meanwhile, sophomores were expected to have deeper and more creative topics for analysis.  

Areas to differentiate:

• Essay organization
• Textual evidence (how much, how detailed, how thorough, how presented)
• Number and type of research sources
• Ways to show thinking about text as read
• Time given for the assignemnt
• Classroom supports for specific skills
• How creative and unique thesis / topics
• Overall quality of the writing
• Use of the writing process

Other considerations:

• I HIGHLY recommend that you go through the whole process with your students and model everything.  I chose to read Kate Chopin's Awaking for the first time with my class.  I took notes as they did and made my book available for them to browse.  I researched as they did.  I shared how I focused my thinking into a topic and thesis.  I modeled drafting and revising in front of them.  
• Do not expect students to work on any long term project over time unless you require frequent check-ins.  For this assignment, I made a checklist and provided the dates certain steps needed completion including: book selection, last day to change their book, completion of reading, research in library day, completed thesis, completed draft, workshop day, and final assignment due.  
• Provide the students with the rubric at the start of the assignment and refer to it often. 

Final Thoughts:
Over the five years I taught, I learned that for the students to write the type of essay described above by June, you need to start working on the skills in September.  In the time I've had to reflect the last three years, I've really come to see that certain understandings are at the core of a student being able to complete the traditional analyitical work of an ELA classroom. The biggest of these are: Purpose and Plagiarism. 

When students arrive in my classroom, they  have firm beliefs about themselves as readers.  Very often, none of them really like to be told what to read or enjoy doing "stuff" with what we read.  This comes down to the most fundamental understandings of the purpose of reading.  Why do we read?  How do the reasons differ?  How do we modify our behaviors to fit the purpose?  Students need to be taught that reading an assigned novel for English class is not like staying up late reading a beloved novel.  In fact, its more like reading your Science or History textbook.  How enjoyable it is really depends on how good a fit the novel is to the student, much the same as the content of all the other content areas.  To read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and write a truely outstanding essay one either needs to be gifted in the literary intellegence arena or one needs to know that it is not the same as picking up YA novel while sunbathing at OOB.

A real understanding of plagiarism is also necessary for writing any essay that synthesizes multiple sources.  My students struggle with plagiarism.  Now, I don't just mean the five to ten cases of deliberate plagiarism I need to bring to the administration every year.  I'm referring to really understanding the the difference of fact and option and what can be owned as intellectual property.  When I was a high school and college student, it was very easy to print a source, annotate it, and then copy those highlighted sections directly into my work.  Today, with the ability to cut and paste from the internet directly into a document, it is even easier to plagiarize without truly intending to "steal" or "cheat."  Students often don't understand they are restating someone else's ideas with no credit.  It is a real moment when a student says, "But won't every sentence be cited then?" as it dawns that the way she has been writing has not included any of her original ideas.  Or, that time every year as one student will ask, "But what if my idea is the same as someone else's published and I didn't know?"  Students need a solid understanding of the difference between fact and opinion, and then how to form their own opinion based on the facts and opinions found in research.  This skill is necessary for really understanding analytical essay or research paper writing, and for being an truly educated adult. 

I think about these too topics so much that I'm strongly considering starting with them on the first day of school when I return to teaching.