To achieve this goal, the unit integrates reading and writing in which students create short stories that reflect some aspects of their own culture. In so doing, students will learn that constructing the meaning of texts and constructing their own texts involves many of the same processes of generating ideas, planning, reviewing and revising. They learn literary conventions such as the fact that writers deliberately use techniques to imply meaning. By developing a sense of what s involved in writing a story, they are likely to develop some appreciation for literature as an art. The unit also focuses on critical thinking skills associated with reading.
Students learn literal reading skills, as well as inferential and evaluative thinking skills.
A didactic approach toward reading instruction will be utilized to enable students to be active readers by maintaining a dialogue with what they read, while relating to their own experiences, opinions and backgrounds. Cooperative learning, a highly effective instructional strategy to use in multicultural education, will be used extensively. Students will work in cooperative groups to discuss and analyze the literary works. With cooperative learning, students get the opportunity to acquire good human relation skills, solve problems, evaluate new ideas, and build bridges from what they know to new information. This will help them to become active participants in their own learning as they acquire skills needed to function effectively in their adult lives.