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LU Title: Fables |
Author: Laureen Phillips-Mossow |
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Grade Level: Remedial Reading Grade 2 |
School: Hermon-DeKalb Central School |
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Topic/Subject Area: Language Arts |
Address: 709 East DeKalb Road DeKalb Jct., NY 13630 |
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E-mail: lphillip@mum.neric.org |
Phone: (315) 347-3422 |
OVERVIEW
This unit is designed to expose children to a genre of literature known as fables by using three different fables. The primary purpose is for students to discover that fables have animals for characters, which face a problem, and learn a lesson from that problem. They will also learn that fables can be relevant to everyday life through discussions and discoveries that are made from reading the different fables and doing various activities.
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
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Declarative |
Procedural |
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Students will know the parts of a fable (characters, setting, problem(s) faced, and moral.) |
Students will write adaptations to literature by writing a new ending for The Tortoise and the Hare. |
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Students will be able to use the mouse correctly, follow along with the text on the screen, be able to access sounds and movements, and move from page to page in the program. |
Students will use the CD ROM Living Book The Tortoise and the Hare to enhance learning. |
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Students will know how to follow the steps given in an outline to write their own original fable. |
Students will use an organizational format that reflects a beginning, middle, and end to produce an original text. |
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Students will be able to speak clearly when presenting and be a good audience member when someone else is presenting. |
Students will give an oral presentation of his or her fable to the class and the teacher. |
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
In what ways are fables relevant to everyday life?
CONNECTION TO STANDARDS
ELA Standard 2-Language for Literary Response and Expression: Key Idea 2: Performance Indicator is to present personal responses to literature that make references to plot, characters, ideas, vocabulary, and text structure.
Task: Students will write a new ending for The Tortoise and the Hare by having the Hare win the race instead of Tortoise.
MST Standard 2-Information Systems: Key Idea 1: Performance Indicator is to use a variety of equipment and software packages to enter, process, display, and communicate information in different forms using text, tables, pictures, and sound.
Task: Students will use a CD-ROM program to enter, process, display, and communicate information in different forms using text, pictures, and sound.
ELA Standard 2-Language for Literary Response and Expression: Key Idea 2: Performance Indicator is to create their own stories, poems, and songs using the elements of the literature they have read and appropriate vocabulary.
Task: Students will create their own original fable with a beginning, middle, and end by using an outline as a guide and orally sharing their fable with the class.
INITIATING ACTIVITY
Ask a partner if he/she has heard of or read the following stories/fables listed below. Mark an X if your partner knows the story/fable.
1. The Tortoise and the Hare ______
2. The Big Fish Who Wasn’t So Big ______
3. The Monkey and the Pea ______
4. The Country Mouse and the City Mouse ______
5. The Boy Who Cried Wolf ______
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Day 1: (45 minutes) Introduce fables by doing a Launch/Initiating activity (see above).
Explain to the students that we will be reading The Tortoise and the Hare retold by Janet Stevens. Use the collaborative pairs strategy of bookends (partners will discuss their ideas/questions before reading, listening, or viewing something) in order to get the students discussing their ideas about fables. Task: With a partner discuss ideas/questions about the fable The Tortoise and the Hare before we read it by looking at the pictures. Read The Tortoise and the Hare to the students. After hearing the fable, the partners would then discuss any new information learned about fables. {A KWL chart (chart that contains what students Know about a topic, what students Want to know about a topic, and what the students Learned about the topic after reading) could be used here or students could just share answers and then discuss them orally with the class.}
Day 2: (45 minutes) Reread The Tortoise and the Hare to the students and discuss the setting, characters, moral, and vocabulary words. Discuss why the ending of the fable is so important to the moral. Discuss with the students how the moral can relate to everyday life. {Ask the students to share if they have ever used hard work to get a reward?} Discuss what character learns a lesson and why by using a mnemonic strategy
in which we replace the words of the familiar tune “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” with the moral (Hard work and perseverance brings reward). Use a pictograph (using pictures instead of words to get the meaning) for the ending of The Tortoise and the Hare in order to help the students remember the ending and moral of the fable. This will be done as a group with each child having a part in it. We will discuss the pictograph and hang it up the in the room to help the students retain the information.
Day 3: (45 minutes) Students will complete a graphic organizer together in order to help them remember the main event (the race) in The Tortoise and the Hare (see example below).
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WHO WHY
EVENT
WHEN WHERE
The students will complete a summarizer activity called relay summary (each student writes one summary sentence and passes it on to the next student in the group) to serve as final review of this fable. We will complete a relay summary together by having each student in the group and the teacher write a summary sentence about The Tortoise and the Hare.
Day 4: Extending and Refining Experience (45 minutes) Compare/Contrast Aesop’s The Tortoise and the Hare to The Tortoise and the Hare retold by Janet Stevens. We will complete a Venn Digraph as a class (teacher scribed) and hang it on the wall in order to help us remember the two versions of the same fable. Informal Assessment: Teacher will listen to the answers given by the students to check for understanding.
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Day 5: Extending and Refining Experience (45 minutes) What if the Hare won the race instead of the Tortoise? The students will rewrite the ending of the fable The Tortoise and the Hare (2-5 sentences) and write a new moral for the fable. Once the students have completed the new ending, they will reflect on their work by completing a self- evaluation. Self-Assessment: The students will complete a self-evaluation of the finished product (see rubric on p. 11). Assessment: The teacher will complete a teacher-generated rubric to assess the finished writing assignment and the self-assessment (see rubrics p. 10).
Day 6: Acquisition Experience (45 minutes) Students will use a CD-ROM program of The Tortoise and the Hare to enhance learning. The students will need to pay attention to the demonstration that the teacher gives on how to operate the program. Once the students have learned how to operate the program, they will be given the chance to operate the program themselves. The teacher will observe the students using the program in order to see if the knowledge has been learned or not. Assessment: The teacher will complete a rubric based on the observations (see rubric on p. 11).
Day 7: (45 minutes) Using a collaborative pairs technique survey (predict, read, and revise), the students will predict what they think two fables will be about by sharing ideas. The two fables are The Monkey and the Pea (retold by Nancy Ross Ryan) and The Big Fish Who Wasn’t So Big (retold by Julius Lester). Each student will share at least one prediction. After reading the fables, we will revise our predictions that were made by confirming, rejecting, or modifying them. This activity will enable us to discuss the events in the fables as well as the morals.
COLLABORATIVE PAIRS TECHNIQUE SURVEY
The Monkey and the Pea
Prediction:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Revision:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Big Fish Who Wasn’t So Big
Prediction:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Revision:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Day 8: (45 minutes) Reread the fables The Monkey and the Pea and The Big Fish Who Wasn’t So Big. Review the settings, characters, morals, and vocabulary words. Discuss why the endings of the fables are so important to the morals of the fables. Discuss what character learns a lesson and why by using a student developed mnemonic strategy. The students will pick a song, such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, and substitute the words of the song with the morals of the fables. I will write out the morals along with the tune name on a sheet of chart paper and hang it on the wall so students may refer to it as needed.
Day 9: (45 minutes) As final review we will complete a summarizer dealing with The Monkey and the Pea and The Big Fish Who Wasn’t So Big. We will use the relay summary for each fable by having the students and the teacher take turns writing a summary sentence. We will share our finished product and use it to complete the P-M-I (plus, minus, and interesting) form below. Each student will identify what was a PLUS (interesting, good,) a MINUS (difficult, unclear, causing problems,) and INTERESTING (found enjoyable, new,) about The Monkey and the Pea and The Big Fish Who Wasn’t So Big. The students will share their P-M-I and I will address any problems or unclear areas that the students may have with the fables.
P-M-I SUMMARIZER
Name one thing that you found interesting (a plus) in the two fables. ________________________________________________________________________
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Name one thing that you found difficult to understand (a minus) in the two fables.
________________________________________________________________________
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Name one thing that you found enjoyable (interesting) in the two fables.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Day 10: (45 minutes) The students will complete a graphic organizer together as a class with the teacher’s help. This organizer will help the students remember the characters, setting, problem(s) the character faces, and moral or lesson for The Tortoise and the Hare, The Monkey and the Pea, and The Big Fish Who Wasn’t So Big
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The Tortoise and the Hare retold by Janet Stevens |
The Monkey and the Pea retold by Nancy Ross Ryan |
The Big Fish Who Wasn’t So Big retold by Julius Lester |
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Characters |
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Setting |
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Problem (s) |
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Moral or Lesson |
Day 11: (45 minutes) Acquisition Experience: Students will create their own original fable with a beginning, middle, and end by using the outline below as a guide and share their fable orally. They will use the Internet site www.pacificnet.net/johnr/aesop/aesop1.html/ in order to look at examples of fables that other students have written. The students will use their prior knowledge of creative writing and all of the information that has been learned in this unit to complete this task. By collecting the fables and listening to the oral presentations, the teacher will be able to tell if the students have learned this knowledge. Assessment: Assessing will be done with a teacher-generated rubric (see rubric on p. 12).
OUTLINE
Writing your own fable. Remember that a fable: 1. has animals for characters.
2. teaches a lesson.
3. the moral is written at the end.
Moral:
__________________________________________________________________
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Characters:
______________________________________________________________
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Setting:
_________________________________________________________________
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Start of your story:
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Middle of your story: ______________________________________________________
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End of the story:
__________________________________________________________
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Day 12: (45 minutes) Students will continue to fill in their outlines before beginning to write their sloppy copies. The teacher will help the students gather their ideas and put those ideas into a sloppy copy.
Day 13: (45 minutes) Students will continue to work on their sloppy copies of their fable. Before the students can begin writing their final copies, they must conference with the teacher in order to revise their fables. Once the revision conference has taken place, the student may begin writing his/her final copy of the fable.
Day 14: (45 minutes) Students should continue to conference with the teacher and work on their final copies. When students finish their final copy, they should prepare for the oral presentation to the class that will take place tomorrow.
Day 15: (45 minutes) Students will read their fable to the class. The students should speak clearly and be a good audience member when someone else is presenting. The teacher will do a summative assessment by collecting the fables and assessing them by using the teacher-generated culminating rubric (see rubric on p. 12).
CULMINATING PERFORMANCE
The culminating performance will demonstrate that the students understand that characters in a fable learn a lesson the hard way. Invention will most effectively demonstrate the students understanding of the content knowledge because they will be creating an original product.
Task: Students will write their own fable (an original product) by using an outline as a guide in order to show what they have learned about fables in this unit. This activity will show the teacher that the students understand what a fable is by writing the different parts (setting, characters, problem(s) faced by the character(s) and the moral). Each student will give an oral presentation of his or her written fable to the class and teacher. The teacher will then assess the assignment by collecting the fables and using a teacher-generated rubric to assess the finished product (see rubric on p. 12).
RUBRICS
WRITING A NEW ENDING FOR THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE ASSESSMENT
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TASK |
2 |
1 |
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SCORE |
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A newly invented, imaginative ending for the fable |
Student writes a newly invented, imaginative ending explaining how the Hare wins the race instead of Tortoise. |
Students does not state in a newly invented, imaginative ending who won the race, but does explain how the race is won. |
Student does not change the outcome of the race or the ending of the fable. |
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Number of sentences used |
Student uses 4 to 5 sentences. |
Student uses 2 to 3 sentences. |
Student uses 1 to 0 sentences. |
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A newly invented, imaginative moral |
Student states a new, imaginative moral |
Student uses the original moral. |
Student does not state a moral. |
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self- assessment completed |
Student completes all parts of the self-assessment. |
Student does not complete all parts of the self-assessment. |
Student does not complete the self-assessment. |
SCALE
8-6: GOLD MEDAL
5-3: SILVER MEDAL
2-0: BRONZE MEDAL
STUDENT SELF-ASSESSMENT
REFLECTIONS ON MY NEW FABLE ENDING
This is how I feel about my new fable ending:
J J/L L
I am really proud of
_______________________________________________________
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I could have done _____________________________________________ better because
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
USING THE CD-ROM PROGRAM LIVING BOOKS
1 2 3 watched the teacher’s demonstration
1 2 3 used the mouse correctly
1 2 3 followed along with the text on the screen
1 2 3 was able access the sounds and movements on the page
1 2 3 was able to move from page to page
1 2 3 was able to quit the program when it was time to stop
SCALE
3: COMPUTER WIZARD
2: COMPUTER STAR
1: COMPUTER NOVICE (BEGINNER)
CULMINATING PERFORMANCE RUBRIC
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Does the student accurately state that the character has learned the lesson that is being taught? |
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J / L |
L |
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Does the student follow the steps given in the outline to write a sloppy copy of their fable? |
J |
J / L |
L
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Does the student choose two (2) imaginative main characters, a lesson, a setting, and which character will learn the lesson? |
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J / L |
L |
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Does the student revise the fable with the teacher’s help in order to begin the final copy? |
J |
J / L |
L |
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Does the student’s written final product include all revisions that were suggested by the teacher? |
J |
J/L |
L |
J=STUDENT COMPLETES THE DESIRED TASK SUCCESSFULLY
J/L=STUDENT ATTEMPTS TO COMPLETE THE DESIRED TASK
SUCCESSFULLY
L=NO ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO COMPLETE THE DESIRED TASK
SUCCESSFULLY
PRE-REQUISITE SKILLS
Students should have the ability to write using invented/conventional spelling.
Students should have the ability to read the chosen fables.
Students should know how to fill in a Venn digraph properly.
Students should know how to fill in a graphic organizer.
MODIFICATIONS
This unit is being taught to two separate second grade remedial reading classes with eight students in each group. They are pulled out of their regular classroom for reading instruction in the remedial reading classroom. They have different ranges of ability. Whenever it is possible, a weaker student will be paired with a stronger student.
We will be doing a number of the activities together in order to be sure that all students understand the information. The teacher will formally assess only three items. An important modification is that this unit could be adapted in a regular classroom.
SCHEDULE/TIME PLAN
PLANNING TIME:
The initial planning of this unit took me about one to two hours. I had to find supporting materials to go along with the basal reader that I used in order to enhance the students learning of the genre, fables.
It took me about two to three hours to design the rubrics used in this unit.
IMPLEMENTATION TIME:
Day One: 45 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
Day Two: 45 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
Day Three: 45 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
Day Four: 45 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
Day Five: 45 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
Day Six: 45 minutes (computer lab)
Day Seven: 45 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
Day Eight: 45 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
Day Nine: 45 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
Day Ten: 45 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
Day Eleven: 30 minutes (computer lab)
15 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
Day Twelve: 45 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
Day Thirteen: 45 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
Day Fourteen: 45 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
Day Fifteen: 45 minutes (remedial reading classroom)
TOTAL: 11 hours over 15 days
ASSESSMENT:
Student Self Assessment (Reflection on new fable ending): 15 minutes
Teacher-generated Rubric (Using the CD-Rom program living books): 5 minutes for each student
Teacher-generated Rubric (Culminating Performance Rubric): 10 minutes for each student
TECHNOLOGY USE
Students will use the Internet in order to view fables that have been written by other students at www.pacificnet.net/johnr/aesop/aesop1.html/.
Students will view a VHS video by Disney Educational Productions entitled The Tortoise and the Hare.
Students will use a CD ROM Living Books CD entitled The Tortoise and the Hare.
Scott Foresman’s Basal Series Letter D: Why Does Water Wiggle?
ISBN 0-673-82091-2. {The Tortoise and the Hare retold by Janet Stevens, The Big Fish Who Wasn’t So Big retold by Ross Ryan, and The Monkey and the Pea retold by Julius Lester are all found in this basal series.}
Aesop’s Fables. ISBN 1-56822-339-0.