Willa Cather: My Antonia

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Willa Cather My Antonia

• Created by Mary Gregoski
• PTE 856 (Summer 2002)

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Curriculum Integration

• Include the following subject areas
• Language Arts (Read My Antonia)
• Social Studies (History of Time Period)
• Agriculture (Farming Practices)
• Art (Pictures/Drawings of Time Period)
• Technology (Create Presentations)
• If possible, a trip to Red Cloud

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Language Arts

• Students will read the novel My Antonia
• Students will be divided into groups and will be
  assigned a chapter(s) in which they must create a
  quiz to add to their final product
• Students will give final presentation in class
• Students will study the life of Willa Cather and
  will gain knowledge about her other writings

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Social Studies

• Students will study the time period of Willa
  Cathers life
• Students will complete a time line of her life
  including the novels written

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Agriculture

• Students will study the farming practices of this
  time period
• Students will gain an understanding of the
  grasses and lands on which the farmers of this
  era were working
• Students will make a comparison of farming
  practices from Cathers era to todays

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Art

• Students will view pictures/drawings of this era
• Students will attempt to draw a picture of this
  era by using the knowledge they gain from the
  text of My Antonia

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Technology

• Students will take pictures at the field trip in
  Red Cloud using a digital camera
• Students will create a web page for their groups
  particular chapter(s) including
• Pictures from the trip
• Information about the chapter(s)
• Information about the life of Willa Cather
• A quiz over their particular chapter(s)
• Groups overall reaction to the novel

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Technology

• Students will then create a Power Point
  presentation that will include
• Information about their chapter
• Information about Cather that is interesting to
  them
• Information about what they learned

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Technology

• Students will create a brochure to promote Willa
  Cathers novels
• The brochure will discuss My Antonia as well as
  other novels by Cather
• Students must include information about Willa
  Cathers writing career

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Curriculum Integration

• This is a brief overview of what can be done to
  complete this unit. There are many more
  possibilities I am sure but in such a small
  school as mine I will be fortunate to complete
  this unit. I will be using this unit this year
  so we will see how well it works. There are more
  details that will be needed such as rubrics,
  reading logs, and overall checklist. I am
  looking forward to implementing this unit. I am
  not sure if the trip to Red Cloud will be
  possible due to budget cuts.

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Webliography Willa Cather Unit   1. Quiz over
My Antonia http//www.gradesaver.com/cgi-sys/cgiw
rap/readers/quiz.cgi?bookmyantoniaq_start1tota
l_q40   A simple quiz that will be used as a
good example for students when they create their
quizzes.   2. Willa Cathers My Antonia the
Happiness and the Curse by Carol Leavitt
Altieri http//www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units
/1987/2/87.02.01.x.html   Great site to have
students go in depth about the novel. This site
also provides good discussion questions for
teachers. It may be site that is more
appropriate for teachers but when creating a unit
where students need to do the majority of the
work, could be a useful resource for them.   3.
Willa Cather Home Page http//www.willacathe
r.org/   This site has all you want to know about
Willa Cather to begin this unit.  
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Webliography Willa Cather Unit
4. Willa Cather Site http//fp.image.dk/fper
marxlind/   This site goes into even more detail
than the previous site. Easy to understand and
has much information to offer.   5. The Willa
Cather Electronic Archive http//www.unl.edu/
Cather/menu.htm   This is a great resource for
in-depth research or just to locate a few
pictures of Willa Cather. This site has much to
offer in describing Cather and her writings.