Socially-based Curriculum Unit

This unit, developed for ENG3E (English, Grade 11, Workplace Preparation), uses W.P. Kinsella’s short story anthology Dance Me Outside for a study of the past and present treatment of Natives in Canada, but also for an understanding of the behaviour of non-Natives.

The big ideas that students will understand include: tolerance, awareness, and acceptance of Native culture. The key knowledge concepts include:

• learning about different types of values and value systems as they apply to individuals and different cultures;
  
  
• learning more about the definitions of stereotypes, discrimination and racism as they apply to the stories studied;
  
  
• learning about standard and non-standard language usage and their place in different societies;
  
  
• differentiating between connotation and denotation.

Skills that the students will learn as a result of this unit include reading for meaning and analysis, and critical thinking skills.

The unit culminates in a comparison of the book with its film adaptation.