Advanced Reading
Suggested Project Outline
The purpose of this course is to enable students to develop and strengthen advanced
reading skills in preparation for postsecondary education.
The content should include, but not be limited to, the following:
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reading as a complex process
cueing systems
content area vocabulary
reading for meaning through varied texts
reading strategies
reading fluency
integrated reading and writing processes
complex response to varied texts
critical-thinking and study skills
varied reading materials
Quarter 1: Point of View
Sunshine State Standards1
LA.E.2.4.2 understand the relationships
between and among elements of
literature, including characters, plot,
setting, tone, point of view, and theme.
LA.A.1.4.4 apply a variety of response
strategies, including rereading, note
taking, summarizing, outlining, writing a
formal report, and relating what is read to
his or her own experiences and feelings.
FL Frameworks for K-12 Gifted
Learners
Student Outcomes Program Goal 2: By
graduation, the student identified as
gifted will be able to create, adapt, and
assess multifaceted questions in a variety
of fields/disciplines.
Student Outcomes Program Goal 7:
By graduation the student identified as
gifted will be able to develop and deliver a
variety of authentic products /
performances that demonstrate
understanding in multiple fields /
disciplines.
Anticipatory Set: Drama Game (Point of View)
Three students will be chosen to improvise a scene. The instructor will elicit an
“event” from the class. (Example: birthday party, wedding, Bar Mitzvah, etc.)
Students will sit in three chairs, at the front of the class. One at a time, they will rise
and give a short monologue which describes the event, from their “point of view.”
The first person to stand should be a main character (for example, the “birthday boy,”
the “bride,” or the boy at his “Bar Mitzvah”). The second person to stand should
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The Sunshine State Standards and FL Frameworks referenced in this Project Outline are meant as an overview
and do not constitute an exhaustive list of the standards covered in the Semantics and Logic class. For a complete
list of the standards covered in the course, see the Semantics and Logic syllabus, from the FL Department of
Education.
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portray a less central character (for example, the sister or brother of the main
character or the maid of honor). The final character to stand should portray a totally
ancillary character, such as a distant cousin, the custodian cleaning up after the
party, or even the family pet.
After all three “actors” have completed their monologues, the class should talk about
how the three accounts of the same event differed, based on the point of view of the
character who was telling the story.
Project Outline:
Students should choose a novel or play to read. Their selection may be from a predetermined list, created by the instructor, or the choice may be open, with instructor
approval.
Students should choose a relatively minor character from the novel or play. (For
example, Lady Capulet from Romeo and Juliet.) Students should pay particular
attention to the development of this character. The instructor may wish to have
students complete the Character Map from the Read.Write.Think website (see
resources below). By focusing on the questions from the Character Map, students
should deepen their understanding of the character and how he/she functions in the
world of the novel or play.
Students should then work to formulate higher level questions of their own about this
character, which are not explicitly addressed in the world of the novel. (For example:
“Are Lady Capulet’s actions in Act I, scene iii (in which she pushes Juliet to marry
Paris) defensible, given the historical context of the play?”) They should use text
evidence and their own creative process to devise plausible answers to their questions.
The student should then write a new passage for the novel, or a monologue for the
play, from the point of view of the minor character. (For example, in Romeo and Juliet,
what would a monologue from Lady Capulet, after Juliet’s death, sound like?)
After the students write their piece, the instructor may choose to have them share a
short synopsis of their novel or play and then present their passage or monologue to
the group.
When the project is complete, students should be encouraged to reflect on their
creative process. This reflection can be formatted as a journal entry, a class
discussion, or an ANGEL blog.
Teacher Resources:
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Read.Write.Think: Literary Elements Mapping (Character Map)
o <http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/lit-elements/>
“Using Drama as a Teaching Tool” by Professor Kim James Bey (Howard
University Department of Theatre Arts 2008): A short resource which includes
information about using drama in the classroom, with some suggested ideas for
how to use drama to facilitate the writing process
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<http://www.cetla.howard.edu/new_showcase/lectures/docs/bey/USING%20DRAMA.pdf>
Writing Resources: from the CCPS Department of Language Arts
o <http://www.collier.k12.fl.us/english/la/resources.htm>
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Quarter 2
And the winner is…
Sunshine State Standards
LA.A.2.4.6 select and use appropriate
study and research skills and tools
according to the type of information being
gathered or organized, including
almanacs, government publications,
microfiche, news sources, and
information services.
LA.A.2.4.8 synthesize information from
multiple sources to draw conclusions.
FL Frameworks for K-12 Gifted
Learners
Student Outcomes Program Goal 3:
By graduation, the student identified as
gifted will be able to conduct thoughtful
research/exploration in
multiple fields.
Student Outcomes Program Goal 7:
The student will develop products that
communicate expertise in multiple fields
and disciplines to a variety of authentic
audiences.
Project Outline:
Students will choose a political issue about which they have an opinion. (The
instructor may choose to create a list of acceptable topics or he/she may leave all
options open to the class.) Based solely on their prior knowledge and/or personal
feelings, students will compose a persuasive piece, which outlines their feelings and
beliefs about the issue. The teacher may choose to format this assignment as a short
speech, a journal prompt, an ANGEL blog, or any other format that he/she chooses.
Next, students will research both their topic and famous political speeches. Students
should focus on finding appropriate content, both to support and refute their position
on their topic. They should review political speeches to explore what rhetorical devices
are most effective (or ineffective) as components of political speech. The teacher may
wish to explore the political speeches as a whole class activity (see resources below) or
to allow students to explore on their own.
After students have completed their research, they should work to prepare notes for a
fictitious political “campaign” speech. They should choose to “run” for an “office”
which is appropriate to their topic. (For example, if they are choosing to dispute the
presence of Big Sugar in the Everglades, they could “run” for governor, whereas if they
believe that everyone in the U.S. should have a national identity card, it would be
more appropriate to “run” for Congress or the Senate.)
As a culminating activity, students should present their “campaign speech” to the
class. (If the teacher wishes, students could prepare posters, flyers, buttons, or other
supporting materials, as well.) After the presentations, the instructor may choose to
have students cast a “ballot” which indicates their support either for or against each
“candidate.”
In the evaluation process, the instructor may wish to utilize the resources provided
from CCPS, including the Debate and Speech evaluation materials (see resources
below).
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After the activity, students should engage in a reflective writing activity, in which they
gauge the effectiveness of their presentation. This reflection can be structured as a
journal, an ANGEL blog, or any other format preferred by the instructor.
Suggested Resources:
 Collier County Public Schools Speech and Debate Rubrics
o <http://www.collier.k12.fl.us/candi/langarts/docs/Speech%20G
uide.pdf>
 Collier County Public Schools Debate Guide
o <http://www.collierschools.com/english/la/docs/Debate%20Guid
e.pdf>
 Collier County Public Schools Subscription Sites:
o Gale, Grolier, World Book Online, SIRS
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Fallacies Handout, from The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
o <http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/fallacies.html>
Techniques of Persuasion, from Galileo Web, Galileo HS
o <http://wwwstatic.galileoweb.org/gems/moffett/PersuasionTechniques.
htm>
American Rhetoric: Top 100 Speeches (full text audio)
o <http://www.americanrhetoric.com/top100speechesall.html>
Wake Forest University: 9POLITICAL SPEECHES (from Allan Louden)
o <http://www.wfu.edu/~louden/Political%20Communication/Clas
s%20Information/SPEECHES.html>
OWL at Purdue: Using Rhetorical Devices (also a great site for citation
resources!)
o <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/04>
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