The Light In The Forest By Conrad Richter, Author(s): Cathy Bennett, Grade Level: 5-6, Subject Area: Social Studies, - The initiating activity will be an interview with a guest speaker who lives in two cultures. The students will prepare questions concerning events in American culture and ask the guest speaker what he would do in his own culture. A group discussion will afford social interaction among the students and the speaker.

Planning Guide

Creating Learner-Focused
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* Madison-Oneida BOCES- This document may not be reproduced in any form without the expressed written consent of the District Superintendent or his designee.

LU Title: The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter	Author(s): Cathy Bennett
Grade Level: 5-6	School Address: Waterville Central
Subject Area: Social Studies	School Phone/FaxL 315)841-8830

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

Declarative	Procedural
Understanding that early European colonialization resulted in cultural and ecological interactions among previously unconnected people.	Summarize an interview with a guest speaker.
Understand that the values and institutions of European culture took root in the American Colonies and imposed values on people in other cultures.	Write a compare and contrast composition on the two cultures from the novel.
Comprehend that increasing immigration and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led toward regional tensions.	Construct support on True Son's character as an Indian or settler.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Does the student explore the meaning of American culture by identifying the key ideas, beliefs and patterns of behavior?
Does the student relate similarities and differences between the European and Native American cultures?
Does the student read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding?
Does the student read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation?

INITIATING ACTIVITY

The initiating activity will be an interview with a guest speaker who lives in two cultures. The students will prepare questions concerning events in American culture and ask the guest speaker what he would do in his own culture. A group discussion will afford social interaction among the students and the speaker. Using this experience, the students will be ready to read The Light in the Forest and appreciate the problems True Son faces.

Learning Experiences

Declarative Knowledge

What declarative knowledge should e in the process of acquiring & integrating? As a result of the unit, the student will know or understand…

What experiences or activities will be used to help students acquire & integrate this knowledge?

What strategies will be used to help students construct meaning, organize and/or store the knowledge?

Describe what will be done.

Early European colonialization resulted in cultural and ecological interactions among previously unconnected people.

*The team Indians is used in the novel.

That the values and institutions of European economic life took root in the colonies.

That increasing immigration and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led toward regional tensions.

The students will read THE LIGHT IN THE FOREST by Conrad Richter.

Pictures of an Indian village.

Guest speaker.

Sequence.

Video clips.

Reference material about the Delaware Indians.

Pictures of a pioneer village.

Video clips.

Reread Chapter 7 in THE LIGHT IN THE FOREST.

Use both Q-A-D charts previously filled out.

Entries from the novel.

Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA).

Graphic organizer.

Prepared interview questions.

Time line.

Think, Pair, Share.

Research and notetaking.

Graphic organizer.

Think, Pair, Share.

Multiple effect graphic organizer.

Compare and contrast graphic organizer.

Character graphic organizer and class discussion.

The teacher will ask several questions concerning each chapter the students read. The class will discuss the events in the novel. (A daily lesson plan is attached to this unit plan.)

Students will study pictures about Indian village life and fill in a Q-A-D chart together as a class.

Students will prepare questions for a guest speaker who is a naturalized citizen. The class will discuss both cultures the speaker lives in. The students will record their answers.

The students will record the sequence of events in the novel.

The students will view parts of the Walt Disney film, THE LIGHT IN THE FOREST, and work as partners to list particular customs and habits that are indigenous to the Indian culture and to the European culture.

The students will use library reference material, the book, THE LENAPES, by Robert S. Grumet, and the Internet to locate background materials on Indian culture. (The students can use a search engine. Try http://www.yahoo.com and find Lenni Lenape Indians.

Students will study pictures about pioneer village life and fill in a Q-A-D chart together as a class.

The students will view parts of the Walt Disney film, THE LIGHT IN THE FOREST, and work as partners to list particular customs and habits that are indigenous to the European culture.

The students will reread chapter 7 to locate the effects of the Indian massacre "Peshtank Story". They will fill in a multiple effects graphic organizer.

The students will use a compare/contrast graphic organizer to describe the Indian and European cultures.

The students will fill in a character organizer on True Son and discuss their opinions.

Learning Experiences

Procedural Knowledge

What procedural knowledge will students be in the process of acquiring & integrating? As a result of this unit, students will be able to:

What will be done to help students construct models, shape & internalize the knowledge?

Describe what will be done.

The students will summarize an interview with a guest speaker. (induction)

The students will compare the Indian and European cultures. (comparing)

The students will characterize True Son. (construct support)

Guest speaker

Graphic organizers

Compare/contrast graphic organizer

Construct support graphic organizer

The students will use a graphic organizer to write a summary on the interview with the guest speaker, including their feelings about living in two cultures.

The students will use a graphic organizer to write a compare/contrast composition on the Indian and European cultures.

The students will use a graphic organizer to write an essay to construct support for True Son's character as an Indian or white settler.

Learning Experiences

Extending and Refining

What knowledge will students be extending and refining? Specifically, they will be extending and refining their understanding of…

What reasoning process will they be using?

Describe what will be done.

The students will summarize the interview with a guest speaker.

The students will compare and contrast the pioneer and Indian cultures.

The students will construct support for True Son's character.

Comparing

Classifying

Inductive Reasoning

Deductive Reasoning
Error Analysis
Analyzing Perspectives

Constructing Support

Abstracting
Other:

The students will use a summary graphic organizer to write a composition about the conclusions they reached after the interview. (A word processor may be used.)

The students will use a graphic organizer to write a compare/contrast composition about the pioneer and European cultures. (A word processor may be used.)

The students will use a character graphic organizer and ideas from a class discussion to show the character of True Son. Write a compositions. The point of view with evidence rubric assessment tool is used here. (A word processor may be used.)

Planning Guide

Unit:

Step 1	Step 2	Step 3
*What knowledge* will students be using meaningfully? Specifically, they will be demonstrating their understanding of and ability to...........**	What reasoning process will they be using?	Describe student's products and performances and the criteria for evaluation.
	[ ] Decision Making (selecting from seemingly equal alternatives or examining the decisions of others) [ ] Problem Solving (seeking to achieve a goal by overcoming constraints or limiting conditions) [ ] Invention (creating something to meet a need or improve on a situation) [ ] Experimental Inquiry (generating an explanation for a phenomenon and testing the explanation) [ ] Investigation (resolving confusions or contradictions related to a historical event, a hypothetical past or future event, or to the defining characteristics of something) [ ] Systems Analysis (analyzing the parts of a system and how they interact) [ ] Other:	Products/Performances
		Criteria for evaluation

Rubric:

Key Questions:

What are the key elements, traits, or dimensions that will be evaluated?

Are the identified elements of equal importance or will they be weighed differently?

	Element #1	Element #2	Element #3	Element #4
Elements Scale	States an opinion	Organizes material	Develops support	Draws conclusions
Weights
4	Clearly and completely states an opinion or point of view on an issue	Clearly states an opinion or a point of view on an issue	States an opinion or a point of view on an issue, but it may not be stated as clearly as it should be	States no opinion or point of view on an issue
3	Effectively and accurately organizes the material in the most appropriate pattern	Accurately organizes the material in the most appropriate pattern	Accurately organizes the material into a pattern, but the pattern is not the most appropriate	Material is not organized into any type of pattern
2	Provides well developed and logical support (examples, details, reasons) for opinion or point of view	Provides logical support (examples, details, reasons) for opinion or point of view	Provides some support (examples, details, reasons) for point of view or opinion, but also has some illogical support	Provides little if any support (examples, details, reasons) for opinion or point of view
1	Constructs a clear and specific conclusion that follows logically from the original opinion or point of view	Constructs a specific conclusion that follows logically from the original opinion or point of view	Constructs a conclusion that is unclear in light of the original opinion or point of view	Constructs no concluding statement

NOTE: Rubric or other performance assessment instruments may be used.

Constructing a Holistic
Scoring Tool
(Rubric or Activity Specific Key)

Key Questions:

* How many score points are needed to discriminate among the full range of different degrees of understanding, proficiency, or quality?

This response, product, or performance provides evidence of understanding of concept/principle/generalization or proficiency in skill/process/strategy.

Have You Considered These Yet?

Learn to Learn Skills:

Summarize, Organize, Conclude, Support, Reason, Research, Interpret, Evaluate, Synthesize

Assessment Modifications:

Resource students will need help in organizing on a graphic and writing a composition that correlates with the information.

Students reading or writing below a fifth or sixth grade level can read round robin or listen to this book on tape. Organizers and essays can be typed on a computer or typewriter.

Extremely low readers can work with a group with the teacher or student.

Unit Schedule/Time Plan:

20 days + 2 days for the final assessment. A word processor may be used.

Written Overview:

Each student will read a novel, use material from the entries to support opinions, listen and share with others for their points of view, and organize material to support their own opinions with graphic organizers and essays.

Guest speakers can be located through the library (post an inquiry) or the Court House (naturalized citizens may wish to speak to the class) or send a letter or call the Oneida Nation representative.

All compositions can be done on a word processor if available.