1) The document describes assignments and activities from a 10th grade unit on The Epic of Gilgamesh that were meant to engage diverse students and learning styles. 2) Samples included assignments having students identify the hero's journey in a film, create collages representing grief, compare passages to a Bob Dylan song, and compose raps or poems. 3) These assignments were intended to incorporate culturally relevant materials, emphasize student agency, and use varied learning styles to help diverse students understand and make connections to The Epic of Gilgamesh.

1. Alex Boswell
12/5/2012
Category: Appreciation of Human Diversity
Creating Space for Cultural Relevancy, Student Agency and Diverse Learning Styles
The artifacts below are a collection of materials for a unit on The Epic of Gilgamesh from a 10th
grade class that I taught while student teaching. It includes the following:
Sample 1: A homework assignment to watch a movie and identify steps from The
Hero’s Journey within the movie
(This was meant to prepare students for being able to understand and identify The Hero’s
Journey within The Epic of Gilgamesh.)
Sample 2: Two examples of what students produced for their Hero’s Journey assignment
Sample 3: An in­class assignment to create collages, in groups, to represent the stages of
grief that Gilgamesh experiences when he grieves the death of his best friend
Sample 4: An assignment to compare a passage from The Epic of Gilgamesh to
“Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan
Sample 5: An assignment to compose a rap or rhyming poem that includes the wisdom
Gilgamesh gains through meeting three wisdom­keepers
Sample 6: Three examples of what students produced for their rap or rhyming poem
assignment
These samples are meant to document my appreciation of human diversity through my ability to
develop curricula that will engage students with culturally relevant materials, an emphasis on student
agency, and the use of various learning styles. Sample 1 encourages students to practice and apply literary
knowledge with a contemporary film of their choosing. Sample 3 helps students to construct knowledge
and make connections to one particular aspect of Gilgamesh’s story in visual, as well as, tactile ways.
Samples 4 and 6 allow students to translate ancient texts into a more contemporary and culturally relevant
context. Samples 4 and 6 also allow the incorporation of music to be present in the classroom. All of the
samples permit students to have a certain amount of agency in their learning process and to apply
contemporary and culturally relevant materials to understand The Epic of Gilgamesh.
My appreciation for human diversity is revealed through these samples because they demonstrate
my confidence in being able to find ways for students of varying backgrounds to use culturally relevant
knowledge in a classroom setting, and to make connections or construct meaningful understandings of
ancient texts through various learning styles. Acknowledging diversity, as well as creating space for
student agency and different modes of learning, greatly contributed to my ability to facilitate a respectful
and engaged classroom culture for effective learning to happen in a class composed of unique individuals.