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High School, College Grades  Project 15 weeks

Made and Remade Remix Lab

Geoff M
Updated
SL.11-12.1
SL.11-12.2
RL.11-12.5
RL.11-12.6
RH.11-12.9
+ 21 more
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Purpose

Students investigate how stories and identities change across media by closely reading literary and informational texts, analyzing films, conducting research, and participating in sustained collaborative discussion to create evidence-based work for authentic audiences. Across the Moving Pictures jigsaw, the Frankenstein Franchise study, and later adaptation inquiries, they cite strong textual and visual evidence, determine central ideas and themes, analyze structure, point of view, and characterization, integrate multiple sources and media, and build arguments and presentations that address how meaning shifts across versions. The learning experience culminates in public showcases, festival-style exhibitions, and a portfolio defense in which students use journals, revised products, and reflection to demonstrate growth in analysis, communication, collaboration, and self-direction.

Learning goals

Students will initiate and sustain collaborative discussions, build on peers’ ideas, and adapt speech for teach-ins, Q&A sessions, gallery walks, and portfolio defenses. They will integrate and evaluate information from novels, films, criticism, visuals, and research sources to make claims about how structure, theme, characterization, and point of view change when stories are remade across media. They will cite strong textual and cinematic evidence in analytical and argumentative writing, determine central ideas and themes, and explain how authors’ and filmmakers’ choices shape meaning, aesthetic impact, and audience interpretation. They will conduct short and sustained research, assess source credibility, use digital media strategically in exhibitions, and revise products through critique, reflection, and feedback to strengthen both analysis and audience impact.

Standards
  • [Connecticut] SL.11-12.1 - Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11—12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
  • [Connecticut] SL.11-12.2 - Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
  • [Connecticut] RL.11-12.5 - Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
  • [Connecticut] RL.11-12.6 - Analyze a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
  • [Connecticut] RH.11-12.9 - Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.
  • [Connecticut] RI.11-12.7 - Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
  • [Connecticut] RL.11-12.7 - Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)
  • [Connecticut] RI.11-12.1 - Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
  • [Connecticut] RI.11-12.2 - Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
  • [Connecticut] RI.11-12.3 - Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
  • [Connecticut] RL.11-12.1 - Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
  • [Connecticut] RL.11-12.2 - Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
  • [Connecticut] RL.11-12.3 - Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
  • [Connecticut] SL.11-12.4 - Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
  • [Connecticut] SL.11-12.5 - Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
  • [Connecticut] SL.11-12.6 - Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
  • [Connecticut] W.11-12.7 - Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
  • [Connecticut] W.11-12.8 - Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and over-reliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.
  • [Connecticut] W.11-12.9 - Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
  • [Connecticut] W.11-12.1 - Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Competencies
  • Effective Communication - Students practice listening to understand, communicating with empathy, and share their learning through exhibiting, presenting and reflecting on their work.
  • Collaboration - Students co-design projects with peers, exercise shared-decision making, strengthen relational agency, resolve conflict, and assume leadership roles.
  • Critical Thinking & Problem Solving - Students consider a variety of innovative approaches to address and understand complex questions that are authentic and important to their communities.
  • Content Expertise - Students develop key competencies, skills, and dispositions with ample opportunities to apply knowledge and engage in work that matters to them.
  • Self Directed Learning - Students use teacher and peer feedback and self-reflection to monitor and direct their own learning while building self knowledge both in and out of the classroom.
  • Academic Mindset - Students establish a sense of place, identity, and belonging to increase self-efficacy while engaging in critical reflection and action.

Products

Students create four connected public-facing products that foreground close reading, evidence-based analysis, collaborative discussion, and multimedia composition: a Moving Pictures teach-in station with chapter infographics and annotated visuals, a Frankenstein Franchise gallery with comparison posters, storyboard boards, and QR-linked audio commentary, a trailer-style synthesis and portfolio defense exhibit, and a final story-remaking display for Ready Player One and Klara and the Sun with scene maps, comparative visual analyses, and a public reflection wall. Throughout the term, they also produce reading and viewing journals, annotation sets, evidence trackers, discussion notes, revision artifacts, rough-cut storyboards, audience letters, and two-slide self-reviews that require them to cite strong textual and cinematic evidence, integrate multiple sources and media, analyze central ideas, structure, viewpoint, and adaptation choices, and present claims clearly for different audiences. Each major product is revised through gallery walks, critique rounds, evidence-check swaps, and partner feedback, then presented live in a mini film festival or festival-night format for peers, families, school staff, and media arts guests. By the end, each student defends a curated portfolio with a two-minute presentation explaining what survives when stories or selves are remade and how their interpretation, discussion skills, use of evidence, and communication grew across the course.

Launch

Open with “The Humanity Test,” a fast-paced gallery in which students rotate through four provocations: a mystery still and sound clip with brief excerpts for citing initial claims, a “Which version counts as real?” voting wall that requires discussion and evidence-based justification, a short AI-generated trailer or image set for evaluating credibility, authorship, and discrepancies across sources, and a remix table where students compare what changes and what remains across forms. Then place students in mixed teams to complete a short remake challenge: create a 30-second storyboard or freeze-frame retelling of a familiar story in a new genre, using clear sequencing, multiple source references, and a brief spoken explanation that addresses how structure, point of view, and media choices shape meaning. Close with a circle debrief and first journal entry in which students cite one strong piece of evidence, reflect on one effective collaboration move, and write a short letter to a future audience naming what they want to strengthen in reading, speaking, research, and analysis. Invite a media arts partner or advanced student crew to give quick feedback on clarity, audience impact, digital presentation choices, and reasoning so students begin the course with critique, revision, and public presentation.

Exhibition

Turn the culminating experience into a public “Made and Remade” showcase that functions as a mini film festival and interactive museum, where students present literary and film analysis through station-based exhibits and short formal speaking tasks. Students host the Moving Pictures infographic teach-ins, the Frankenstein Franchise comparison gallery with QR-code audio commentary, and the Ready Player One/Klara and the Sun remaking exhibit, then complete a two-minute portfolio defense using journals, revision artifacts, and audience letters to support claims with clear textual and visual evidence. Include a trailer-style synthesis screening and live Q&A with families, teachers, counselors, dual-enrollment partners, and a media arts or video production guest so students practice collaborative discussion, source integration, presentation, and argument with an authentic audience. Add a public reflection wall where visitors respond to the essential question and leave written feedback that students later use in their final self-review, spoken reflection, and teacher conference.