I wrote this Dead Poets Society Teaching Unit quite a few years ago, and I thought there might be some literature teachers out there who could use it. As I mention in the introduction, the movie can be used in several different ways:
- As an introduction to poetry, especially romantic poetry
- As a springboard for talking about alienation, conformity and peer pressure
- To discuss the positive and negative effects of role models
The movie turns dark and deals with the sensitive issue of suicide, but handled correctly it can make for some powerful learning.
The teaching unit itself is incomplete. It’s more like a teaching guideline than a unit, I suppose, and most of it is still in my head, but maybe some of you can get some use out of it. Download it as a pdf document from Scribd: Dead Poets Society Teaching Unit
Poetry for 8th Graders | Teen Literacy Tips // Aug 3, 2007 at 1:57 pm
[...] is a great poem to use to get students talking about their fears and ambitions. If you use my Dead Poets Society Teaching Unit, “George Gray” would fit right into [...]