Welcome to my horrific unit plan!
Kate Poirier
My name is Kate Poirier.
I am am in the process of learning to teach, so that I can teach to learn. I am going to be an elementary school teacher. I chose this path because I can never have a desk job. I don’t like to sit, and I don’t like to have nothing to do. Teaching has been a part of who I am for years–I have spent many years as a math tutor, a chemistry tutor, and an English tutor. I have been the “Arts and Crafts” lady at several daycares. My love for doing things–math, chemistry, writing, crafts–is why teaching is my chosen path. I think that genuinely loving to do things is necessary in order to teach them.
Trowel of Power
I am not only a future teacher.
I am also an archaeologist–and though I may know many people who can say this, I bet you don’t. My love to roll around in mud, play with old bones and fossils, and stand knee deep in rotting animal carcasses led me down this path. My specific interest is prehistoric mortuary archaeology.
I think that this is largely why I chose to develop a unit on horror. Skeletons and dank caves are horrific to some, but I look at them with intrigue and fascination instead of terror….
Watusi or devil spawn?
…Even when the bones do look like Satan being unearthed.
So how can something so terrifying to some seem so awesome and non-frightening to others?
Horror is a topic that needs to be explored. Is a gory slasher movie really what is frightening? Or is it the psychological suspense of banging noises that you never really know where they come from? What really scares you?
Looking into horror helps to understand fear–where is comes from, how it is created, and whether or not it is justifiable. This unit is designed for mature elementary students in cycle 3. The goal is to come to terms with how feelings can be created and manipulated in books and movies.
The lessons in this unit plan:
- increase awareness of how the media can manipulate us;
- enhance a descriptive vocabulary;
- thoroughly examine tone and how it is created;
- develop comparison skills;
- encourage an appreciation of various forms of media by viewing and creating it;
- critically analyze media;
- and teach students valuable skills in a fun, active way.
For more on McGill archaeology and Watusi digging fun, click here.