Title III Technology Literacy Challenge Grant

Learning Unit

Overview

My Side of the Mountain, a Newbery Honor Book, written by Jean Craighead George, is the central focus for this literature-based unit. Students will be reading, writing, discussing and presenting around the main theme of what it takes to survive. This learning unit is approximately 4-6 weeks in length.

Content Knowledge

Essential Questions

1. What does a person have to know and what does it take to survive in the wilderness?
2. Can a teenager survive alone in the wilderness with out any help?
3. Would you prefer the life of recluse to that of a normal member of society?

Connections to NYS Standards

ELA Standards:

Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Standard 2: Language for Literacy Response and Expression

Students will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances from American and world literature; relate texts and performances to their own lives; and develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical, and cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent. As speakers and writers, students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English

Language for self-expression and artistic creation.

Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

INITIATING ACTIVITY:

After listening to the song "I Will Survive"

by Donna Summers (launch/hook), students will use

Paired Verbal Fluency (collaboration) and then complete the survival Treasure Hunt (activator).

LEARNING EXPERIENCES:

Acquisition Experiences:

Declarative

• Students will engage in Journal Writing, Shared Readings, Guided Reading Groups, Partner and Independent Reading. They will use the following strategies to construct meaning and discover themes of survival throughout the units:

3 minute pause, DRTA strategy, Think-Pair-Share, Before, During and After Strategy and Reciprocal Teaching

• Using KWL Plus students will fill in the KW portion to activate prior knowledge about what they know about surviving in general before reading to construct meaning.

• Using an Attribute Web students organize and study the main character, Sam Gribley.
• Using a Story Map, students will organize, identify and describe the story elements of Character, Setting, Plot and Solution.
• Using the Key Terms(pictograph)strategy, students will be introduced to and store key vocabulary from the story.

Procedural

• Students will learn the process of how to write compare/contrast essay by the teacher modeling the steps through a Think-Aloud.
• Students will have a written set of steps on how to fill out a Compare/Contrast graphic organizer
• Students will shape their knowledge using the writing process to create a compare/contrast essay.

Extending and Refining:

1. Students will finish L plus portion of the KWL Plus and use it to complete the culminating task.
2. Students will Compare/Contrast themselves with Sam Gribley and write a response to the question "Would you rather be Sam or yourself?" It is expected that they use details from the Compare/Contrast graphic organizer to write their essay.
3. Students will finish an Outcome Sentence sheet to write a reflective piece.

CULMINATING PERFORMANCE:

Invention: (project sheet attached)

The National Wildlife Society has called for inventors. After discovering Sam Gribley living in the wild, The NWS saw the need for many different types of survival kits to help those who might need a guide to survival in any situation. Your task is to invent a survival kit for any situation. To submit a product, you must follow the NWS requirements. Yours may be chosen to be published on their web-site!

PRE-REQUISITE SKILLS

This unit is geared toward students at the 5-6^th grade levels. It is assumed that they have some basic word processing skills before attempting this unit such as feeling comfortable using a keyboard and mouse. They should know how to access the word processing program once the students sit down to start working. It would also be helpful, but not entirely necessary, if the students know how to retrieve Clip Art and can create Word Art.

MODIFICATIONS

Special Education students with Individual Education Plans are expected to be mainstreamed into the regular class time for this unit. Tape-recorded readings will be provided for those with any reading disability so they may listen to the book as many times as needed. Writing disabled students may have a scribe or may just be required to fill out only the graphic organizer part of the compare contrast essay. Another strategy may be to have a disabled student tape record an assignment, or journal entries.

Organization of Teacher facilitated guided reading groups

The teacher should divide the class into groups of 4-6 students. On the days in class reading occurs the teacher will meet with group "A" in a guided reading session while groups "B-D" engage in partner reading or independent reading to answer the guided reading questions. The teacher will eventually rotate through all of the groups for the guided reading sessions. During the teacher facilitated guided reading group time, the teacher will periodically complete the guided reading checklist in order to informally assess students comprehension skills progress. Teacher will consistently use 3-minute pause and DRTA during teacher facilitated guided reading group time.

UNIT SCHEDULE/TIME PLAN (Each bullet is approximately a 40-50 minute lesson)

Story hook: Have you ever wanted to leave it all behind? Would you ever pack up what you could carry and head for the lone wilderness? If you would like your students to be hooked into reading a great story about an adolescent boy named Sam who decides to leave a crowded New York City as well as a packed household, then this story is the bait.

Pairs Work: Each time students are assigned partner work give them the Learning Pairs sheet and have them write down the task to accomplish

• Launch, Treasure Hunt(activator), Discuss guided reading prompts sheet
• Shared reading of Chap.1 (teacher reads to the class), fill out the KW portion of the KWL Plus
• Preview vocabulary from Chap.2 through oral discussion and make predictions (Before, during and after strategy)about Chap.2 in journals and discuss. Read Chap.2 in guided reading group session.
• Explain the word "attribute" through discussion and assign the Attribute Web on Sam Gribley. Preview and use think-aloud to instruct completion of vocabulary using the Key Terms sheet verbal visual strategy. Students are given time to work on the strategy to store new words for Chap 3-4 vocabulary.

• Read in Guided Reading groups Chap.3 + 4, continue adding information about Sam to the Attribute Web. Discuss vocabulary from chap. 5-7 and assign Key Terms. Assign Chaps.5 + 6 for at home reading. Then explain and assign Reciprocal teaching where they create 3 probing questions in their journals for discussion and review next session.

• Have students share their questions in pairs and discuss a few volunteers’ questions whole class. Read Chap. 7 in partners, students then complete a story map, collect and grade out of 100%. Assign Key Terms for Chap. 8-10.
• Teacher will share non-fiction book Birds of Prey and discuss the Peregrine Falcon. Read Chap. 8-10 in guided reading groups and rotate groups every 15 minutes. Students should add information to Attribute Web as is it is necessary. Students should create 3 probing questions ("why" questions) from each chapter in their journals. (Reciprocal Teaching)

• Discuss student created questions. Have students’ skim Chap 12-13 for any vocabulary they think might be a problem for them, teacher scribes list on chart paper for class discussion. They should write down these words for reference in their journals. Reach Chap. 12 in partners. Then assign reading Chap 13 and do a story map for that Chapter as homework.
• Collect story maps for a grade. Discuss any vocabulary they didn’t understand. In order to Check for student understanding so far in the novel, teacher assigns sequence of events boxes. Students will review the novel read so far and write in each box a major event in the order they happened. They may use their books to look up 10 important events that happened to Sam. They will receive 10 points for each correct event.
• Students discuss Chaps. 13 + 14 in groups using Discussion Director sheet. Share vocabulary for Chap.14-16. Assign Key Terms for Chaps. 14-16.
• Read in guided reading groups rotating every 15 minutes Chap 14. Assign Chaps. 15 and 16 for reading at home.
• Review key events from Chaps. 14-16, through discussion. Introduce Vocabulary for chapters 17 and 18 through brief discussion. Students read independently Chaps. 17+18 and complete story maps for each. Collect for a grade.
• Discuss story maps and discuss in pairs three things that happened in chap17+18, (six ideas altogether). Add pertinent information to the Attribute Web, or KWLPLus. Partner read Chap. 19 and write simple retell and draw a picture of what happened in Chap. 19
• Give students the rest of the vocabulary for the remaining chaps 20-22 and assign key terms. Students are given time in class to complete this task.
• In-groups of 3, discuss vocabulary from chaps. 20-22. In guided reading groups read Chap. 20. Assign a retell paragraph with an illustration for homework.
• Discuss retell paragraphs in pairs. In guided reading groups read chap. 21. For homework, have students predict three "emotions" that Sam might be feeling and write them down in their journal.
• Discuss predictions whole class. Teacher reads last chapter (22) to students. Inform students of quiz.
• Vocabulary Test in cloze type sentences. Remaining class time spent on essay and project.(see attached)

TECHNOLOGY USE

Students will use their knowledge of computers to create an essay, using Microsoft Word, in which they Compare/Contrast themselves with the main character, Sam Gribley. They will also use Microsoft Word, Clip Art and Word Art as they construct their Survival Kits for the culminating project. This will involve using computer technology to write a project proposal, and design a visually appealing finished product using Clip Art and Word Art as necessary. Students will also use a digital camera to document their classmate’s oral presentations of the Survival Kits. This will involve the students taking the pictures and loading them into a document, which will serve as a visual record of the entire class’ projects. Students will be given copies of the digital camera images of their own Survival Kit presentations.

References

Daniels, Harvey. Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the Student-

Centered Classroom, 1997.

Dimensions of Learning. Acquiring/Integrating Knowledge: A Guide to

Constructing Learning Units. 1999.

Fulmer, Dr. Bob. How To Teach Writing Grades 3-9. EDlink, Inc., 1992.

George, Jean Craighead. My Side of the Mountain. New York: Puffin

Books, 1959.

Green, Phyllis, and Dr. Anne Troy. Teacher Guide – My Side of the

Mountain. Palatine, Illinois: Novel Units, 1988.

New Hartford Central Schools. Effective Communicator Instructional

Packets, 3-5. Oneida BOCES English Language Arts Comm., 1998.

Rue, Leonard Lee, III. Birds of Prey: A Portrait of the Animal World. New

York: Todtri Productions Limited, 1994.