Flannery O'Connor and Storytelling Unit of Study

Authors

Caroline Lacksen, Georgia College & State UniversityFollow
Natalie Puckett, Baldwin County School DistrictFollow
Keith Pruett, Baldwin County School DistrictFollow
Erin Smith, Baldwin County School DistrictFollow
Nathan Pearson, Baldwin County School DistrictFollow
LaShonda Hurst, Baldwin County School DistrictFollow
Jessica McQuain, Georgia College & State UniversityFollow
Timothy Connors, DeKalb County SchoolsFollow

Document Type

Other

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

The Writing for Success grant sponsored by the federal Department of Education pioneered the creation of a standards-based fifth grade unit of study focused on Flannery O’Connor and the theme of local storytelling. This project utilizes an author study, digital humanities, and intensive writing instruction to engage students with an important Georgia writer and boost their interest and engagement with various forms of written and oral expression.

Through exposure to a variety of communication forms, including narrative, informational, and opinion writing in addition to oral history, poetry, song, and podcasting, students gain confidence in evaluating the context and audience of their desired message and utilizing communication styles that best match the message. Students also engage with local history through the anchor text Flannery O’Connor: A Girl Who Knew Her Own Mind and supporting text Everybody Has a Story to Tell: Stories of Flannery O’Connor’s Milledgeville, in addition to their own interviews with family and friends.

The culminating task asks students to create their own podcast episode using the skills they’ve learned over the course of the unit. Earlier assignments will have prepared them for a variety of podcasting styles, whether narrative, informational, or opinion based. This presentation seeks to share the unit of study with O’Connor scholars and encourage its dissemination to K12 schools in the state of Georgia. It seeks to review project outcomes and examine future potential for author study based K12 curriculum and promote engagement with O’Connor-related resources in the Milledgeville area, including Andalusia, Home of Flannery O’Connor, Ina Dillard Russell Library Special Collections, and Memory Hill Cemetery.

Comments

The contents of this curriculum were developed under a grant from the Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

Recommended Citation

Lacksen, Caroline; Puckett, Natalie; Pruett, Keith; Smith, Erin; Pearson, Nathan; Hurst, LaShonda; McQuain, Jessica; and Connors, Timothy, "Flannery O'Connor and Storytelling Unit of Study" (2024). Writing for Success. 1.
https://kb.gcsu.edu/wfs/1