POP CULTURE
SMALL LEARNING COMMUNITY

Overview

The Popular Culture small learning community offers creative integration of engaging course material and college prep curriculum. Students will explore contemporary culture through experiential learning activities such as debates, simulations, trials, poetry slams, role-plays, inclusive games and projects. The dynamic interaction between pop culture and society is revealed as students participate in a supportive community of teachers and friends.

"Hands-on" learning strategies are complemented by a strong academic emphasis. Students are challenged by substantial reading and writing tasks consistent with other high quality "college prep" curriculums. Essential content will include analysis of literature and other forms of creative expression from the past 100 years of history. Students will look at a wide range of authors, including John Steinbeck, Jack Kerouac, the poets of the Harlem Renaissance, Richard Wright, Ken Kesey and Joyce Carol Oates. The analysis of media and its relationship to the language arts will also be explored. Additional genres may include advertising, food, fashion, sports and religion. From Gershwin to Nirvana, from Lucy to Cosby, we explore the cultural legacy of various individuals and world events that have shaped who we are.

Guiding questions the Pop Culture SLC will explore:

• How have music, film, theater and other expressions of popular culture shaped our nation and planet?

• How has the American dream impacted previous generations? To what extent has the dream come true?

• Amid the noise of contemporary culture, how do we, as individuals, find our voice within the 21st century community?