Category Archives: Dystopian Fiction

Voice, Choice, and Ownership in PBL

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Have you considered doing more project-based learning in your classroom but have concerns
about planning projects properly, using class time wisely, and teaching standards effectively?
With these concerns in mind, Michelle Koski and I attended a PBL Design Camp at High Tech High
in San Diego, and here are some highlights of what we learned:

  1. Planning projects can be time-consuming but is doable and worth it.
  2. Yes, you can have traditional standards-based teaching with PBL, and you should!
  3. There is no “right” way to begin or plan a project.
  4. Ask students for their feedback, not just after the project but before and during the project as well.
  5. Students are PROUD of their work (not their grade).
Voice, Choice and Ownership in PBL! So, how does that happen?
At High Tech High’s PBL Design Camp, middle and high school educators from all over the country came together, each with the spark of an idea for a project. By working with their school partners and hearing critique from other camp participants, they were able to develop a project that suited the needs of their students and their teachers. 
Michelle and I are two such participants who have benefitted from the PBL design process. The idea for our cross-curricular project came while discussing two independent projects we do for our students. My Dystopian Fiction students write dystopian scenes that focus on world building, character development and action sequences. Michelle’s Costume and Fashion Design students create costumes for plays based on fashion trends. For our project, we have decided to combine the two and have Michelle’s students design costumes for my students’ writing. My writer’s will pitch their story ideas to her designers who will choose a partner to work with. The partners will meet regularly during the design phase of the costumes to work on revisions of both the writing and the costumes. 
We plan to conduct this project during fourth quarter. Here is what we hope to gain in terms of learning outcomes:
  • Both classes will learn the process of critique and revision
  • As writers, Dystopian Fiction students will learn to clearly communicate their vision with sensory imagery and vivid language.
  • As designers, Costume and Fashion Design students will learn to collaborate and communicate with a “client” in order to create a product that reflects more than the artist’s vision.

Stay tuned for the results of our project…


Artifactual Inquiry

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Artifactual Inquiry
My favorite novel to teach in Dystopian Fiction is Emily
St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven. In Station Eleven, the struggle of the
characters to leave an old world behind and create a new world for themselves resonates
with seniors for obvious reasons. 

Mandel skillfully weaves the stories of characters
surviving in North America after a world-wide pandemic has decimated the
population. Unlike most post-apocalyptic fiction writers, Mandel is not as
concerned with her character’s struggle to survive as she is with their
struggle to live. Sure, she presents the reader with roving bands of thieves
and psychopathic cult leaders, all threatening the lives of her dystopian
heroes. But the real heart of the novel lies in the characters’ desire to
preserve the cultural traditions of the society they once knew. Often, they do
this with artifacts. For instance, one surviving character, Clark Thompson, collects
salvaged items for a museum he curates in an abandoned airport. Residents of
and visitors to the airport contribute cell phones, photographs, books,
magazines, laptops, maps, shoes, etc. to the collection. Children too young to
remember the old world study it there. People who do remember the old world
reminisce there. Clark calls it the Museum of Civilization.
As a culminating project, I have my students create their
own Museum of High School Civilization where they can explore their identities
and the unique culture of Carondelet. The idea behind this project is to have
the students gather artifacts that symbolize certain aspects of their time at
Carondelet. They also have to compare their chosen artifact to ones from the
novel. For instance, a main focus of the novel is a traveling troupe of actors that
performs Shakespeare and other plays in small villages scattered along their
route. On their journey, they steal clothing from the houses of the dead to use
as costumes. First, the clothing serves a practical purpose for the actors in
developing their characters. Second, by creating a new identity for the wearer,
the re-appropriated clothing symbolizes an escape from the harsh reality the
actor faces on the road. When seen in the context of the dramatic production,
the costume also helps the performers’ audience escape to another time and
place. For their museums, students can choose their own symbols to represent
that theme of escape. Or, they can choose to explain what their clothing
symbolizes.
As you can imagine, the project details more symbols from
Station Eleven that the students must
analyze. While I knew what I wanted students to get out of the assignment–recognizing
their school’s distinctive culture, understanding the importance of their
unique identities, and forming connections with the characters and themes of
the novel–I had no idea how to have them display what they’d learned. With
four full sections of Dystopian Fiction students, I knew my classroom would not
be able to hold all the artifacts that they collected. If the students could
not bring their artifacts to me, I would have them bring me, and the rest of
the class, to the artifacts. So, I left it to their imaginations. I gave them
some ideas, but primarily let them choose the modality. One group of artistic students
created an illustrated book of their museum. A few others gave virtual video
tours. Still others gave live presentations, bringing in the actual items if
they were small and pictures of them if they were large. Because I had way too
many Prezi and google slide presentations, I think I will ban both of those for
this year. Yep, I do plan to do this project again, and here’s why.
Beyond all of the analyzing and synthesizing, this
project offered my students and me something more. It made us feel good. While
they shared their memories of their time at Carondelet through their artifacts,
they were able to relive some of the best and worst times of high school. They
were able to laugh about an absurd dance trend, puzzle over their obsession
with a certain expensive brand of water bottle, and cry over the loss of a
revered teacher.
While they aren’t facing the dangers of a dystopian
world, they are facing a pivotal moment in their lives when they leave behind
the safety and security of their high school environment. Even the students
suffering from extreme senioritis enjoy reminiscing with their peers. The
Museum of High School Civilization offers them a cathartic way of gaining
closure to their time spent in high school.