Planning Guide
Creating Learner-Focused
Schools
* 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: Castles |
Author(s): Rosemary FitzSimons |
| Grade Level: 2 |
School Address: Box 360, Newport, N.Y. |
| Subject Area: MST, SS, ELA |
School Phone/Fax: 845-8074 |
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
| Declarative |
Procedural |
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ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
INITIATING ACTIVITY
On the last school day for the week, the teacher reads Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend by Cynthia Rylant to the class. In the book it is a long rainy, boring weekend. Mom suggests that they make a family castle. This turns their weekend around. The rest of the book is dedicated to the making of the castle. After reading and a discussion, give the students their assignment for the next two weeks, to make a family castle. The homework paper, shown below, lists the criteria for a quality castle and contains the rubric that will be used to grade the castle. Use a castle resource and draw pictures, on the back of their homework, of different kinds of castles from early to later ones. This introduces the students and their families to different types of castles. Families are encouraged to use resources from home, the local library or the Internet to enhance their castles. When completed, the finished castles become part of the culminating activities.
My Castle
Your project is to make a castle at home. This may be an individual or a family castle. Look at the castle types on the back. Choose one to make. Use your imagination and whatever materials you have at home to make your castle. Each castle had its own design and so will yours. This is your homework for ___________________. The castle and its base should be no larger than the area of your desktop. Some of the best castle designs have been much smaller. Quality is important. Use the rubric below to help you plan your castle. Have fun while you learn! Castles are due on ____________________.
Will your castle be a 4, 3, 2 or 1?
4. The castle shows lots of imagination and creativity. It looks and feels like stone or wood. From looking at the castle, we can see that you used books or pictures to guide you. It is neatly done with many extra details.
3. The castle shows imagination and creativity. It looks like stone or wood. It is neatly done with extra details.
2. Your castle is done but some parts lack quality. It's hard to tell if it's wood or stone. It has few details.
1. Your castle is done but lacks quality. You can't tell if it's wood or stone. There are no details.
_____________________ 's Castle Evaluation
Place
polaroid
picture
here.
1. I made my castle design with _______________________.
2. The materials I used were __________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________.
3. It was (a family, my) project.
4. I (always, sometimes, never) worked on this project with my family.
5. It took about _________ hours to complete the castle.
6. I rated my project a ____ because ________________________________________________________________________.
7. My teacher rated my project a ____ because _________________________________________________________.
Connection to State Learning Standards
Content Area: MST, SS, ELA
Level: Elementary
| Benchmarks: Construct and analyze models in order to discover the attributes of the real thing. |
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Benchmarks: Analyze how people lived, worked and utilized natural resources during the middle ages. |
| Standard: MST 6 |
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Standard: SS 2 |
Unit Theme:
| Standard: ELA 2 |
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Standard: SS 3 |
| Benchmarks: Create their own fairy tales using the proper elements of a fairy tale. |
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Benchmarks: Draw maps that serve as representations of places, physical features and objects. |
Learning Experiences
Declarative Knowledge
| What declarative knowledge should students be 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. |
| Identify the literary elements of a story: plot, theme, setting, character, and point of view
Read and understand fiction
Read and understand nonfiction
Interpreting Information
Analyzing and understanding nonfiction
Understanding elements of fairy tales and fiction as it applies to movies
Analyzing fairy tale elements
Read and analyze fairy tales Identify the elements of fairy tales
Graph Interpretation |
Chapter book: The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop. Copyright 1985, Bantam Doubleday Books, N.Y. N.Y.
Multiple copies of Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend by Cynthia Rylant, First Aladdin Paperbacks ed. 1996. N.Y. N.Y.
Multiple copies of Castles, A First Discovery Book Scholastic Inc., 1993.
Castle books used above
The Disney movie, Cinderella, copyright 1949.
"Once Upon a Time, a Fairy Tale Writing Center", The Education Center, Inc., The Mailbox, Primary, Feb/Mar 1997.
An assortment of fairy tales of various reading levels |
Listening Student reflection
Rereading to build reading skills Student and peer reflection
Listening for information and understanding
Collaboration
Decoding strategies Context and picture clues Brainstorming for vocabulary development Paraphrasing Use correct spelling of titles, important story words or 2nd grade words Use correct spelling conventions
Graphic organizer for story elements.
Lists as information organizers Student reflection
Collaboration Graphic Organizer - use the center ideas to make a graphic organizer that the students can use to circle attributes of their fairy tale.
Buddy reading Graphic Organizer developed and previously used. Brainstorming |
Each day the teacher reads a chapter. A discussion of story elements follows.
Students work collaboratively. They reread the book. Next they discuss and write story details. This will take several days to complete. The teacher reads the book to the students. Then the teacher hands out a list of who, what, when, why and how questions for the students to answer upon completion of a rereading. The students collaboratively reread the book in small groups. Upon completion, the teacher asks which words were difficult to decode or understand. The class brainstorms reading strategies learned that will aid understanding. Next a lesson is given on how to paraphrase questions to use as sentence starters or completers. Each group works collaboratively to locate and answer the questions. Lesson adaptations are made as needed for those students with special needs.
As students watch the movie, they use the graphic organizer to make lists of the setting, characters, and story events as they develop. Student reflection during and after the movie is important. After showing the movie, hand out the fairy tale graphic organizer. Have students look at the different elements of a fairy tale. Working with a partner, discuss and then circle the fairy tale qualities that apply to this movie. Identify the problem and the solution. Over several days have students buddy read fairy tales. Use the graphic organizer to circle information that applies to their book. Answer the questions as before.
Have a class discussion of their favorite fairy tales. Make a graph representation of this. Extend this with a set of questions to answer for graph interpretation. |
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. |
| Apply previously learned knowledge to new learning experiences
Use the Internet as a source of information. Analyzing information
Writing friendly letters
Identify the literary elements of a fairy tale
Creating student made clocks
Analyzing time using an analog clock |
Internet for information, process writing, writing conventions, writing friendly letters
Bookmark http://www.castlesontheweb.com Summarizing
The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters by Janet and Allen Ahlberg. William Heinemann Ltd., Great Britain, 1986. Teacher modeling of the parts of a friendly letter Process writing Teacher modeling of parts of a friendly letter
"Once Upon a Time" center ideas Process writing as a tool for creating fairy tales
Telling time to five minute intervals
Student made clocks |
Teacher will refer to skills previously learned and explain how these will be used in the new context. Students work in pairs. With teacher assistance, they log on to the Internet and go to the book marked castles. Once at the site, go to "Kids Castles". They will find several choices of places to investigate. Choose one and browse through. All are easy to browse and read. Have students summarize the highlights when done. Read the book to the class. This book has several letters that the Jolly Postman delivers to fairy tale and nursery characters. The students enjoy listening to the story and reading the letters sent. It is easy to have a discussion of the different types of mail received. Have students choose a favorite fairy tale character and write a letter to that character. Students should include information on the qualities they like about that character and how they would have solved the problem.
Set up a Writing Center. Use the "Once Upon a Time" center ideas. Have students use the checklist to be sure that the proper writing conventions and fairy tale story elements are used. These may or may not be done on a word processor. Use the fairy tale rubric to assess the stories when completed.
Students make clocks out of tag-board. Teacher does a rewrite of Cinderella. Beginning with when Cinderella gets up in the morning, focus on the day's events. Assign a time for each event. The time assigned should be reflective of the time skills being taught at your grade level. Place blank clocks appropriately in the story. Have students work in pairs, show the time on student made clocks, fill in the time on the story clocks. |
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. |
| Constructing support for life in a castle
Classifying |
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Students will work collaboratively in groups of 4. They will use their reasoning skills to construct a poster that answers one of 5 questions. See the Castle Challenge that is attached for a complete explanation and the accompanying rubric. As student castles arrive, the teacher takes a polaroid picture of the castles. Paste the picture on each student's rating sheet, see attached. Have students fill in 1 - 6. Teacher then does number 7. It is important to give a verbal explanation of the students rating at this level, also. This can be inserted in their portfolio. Display the castles in the hall so that all may enjoy them. Place the completed Castle Challenge posters by the castles as a way to extend knowledge to the people and students who stop to look at them. It also serves to give students a purpose for their work |
Castle Challenge Poster
Questions:
1. What was life like in the castle (day and night)?
2. Who lived in the castle and what did they do?
3. What was a feast? Who came, what was eaten?
4. How did a boy become a knight?
5. What trades or skills were important for a job?
Challenge: Working in groups of 3 or 4, plan and make a large
poster that answers the highlighted question? We will be hanging these in the hall to teach everyone about the castle community so quality is important. Use the room books and the Internet to find information that answers your question. Decide where and how to show this on your poster. Make a first draft of your poster. Then show me before doing the final poster.
Product Criteria:
• The poster answers the question.
• Drawings are neat and detailed.
• The title is written in large letters at the top.
• Drawings are labeled.
• All spelling is correct.
• The poster is colorful and easy to read.
• This needs to be completed by _________.
Standard Criteria:
• I will be looking to see if all have a job and are working at it.
• I will be listening to see if everyone shares ideas positively and politely.
• I will be looking, listening and questioning to see that everyone understands the task.
| 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. |
| Invention - Castle cake Investigation |
[x ] Decision Making
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Products/Performances Students will draw a pictoral map of a castle community and the surrounding area of their own design. They will answer the questions: "Where was it located?" "Why was it there?" and "What was it used for?" This activity and the attached rubric were adapted from the "N.Y.S. Learning Standards for Social Studies, p. 86. Revised edition, 1996.
The class will work collaboratively to build a castle cake. Ask families for several unfrosted sheet cakes and candy or cookies to use as the castle details. Cut, frost between the layers and stack the cakes to make a castle shape. Have students help frost the cake. Brainstorm how to use the goodies for the castle details. Use frosting as the glue. Challenge the students to use their knowledge and creativity to build their edible castle. Invite parents to a Castle Feast. Students provide the entertainment by reading their fairy tales. Then everyone can feast on the castle cake. Play music from this period in history during the feast. If a digital camera is used during all of the activities for this unit, a slide show can be presented on the computer so that parents may understand the unit. |
| Criteria for evaluation Use the Castle Map Rubric to evaluate the quality of the maps. Use the Fairy Tale Rubric to evaluate the student's fairy tales. Both rubrics should be presented and discussed ahead of time so that students can use them as a guide to quality work. |
Rubric: Castle Map 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 |
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| Elements
Scale |
All Important buildings: inside and outside the castle walls |
Landforms: hills, fields, gardens, orchards Water sources: river, pond, ocean, stream, lakes, well |
All important castle people: inside keep, inside castle walls, outside castle walls. Animals inside and outside walls |
Quality neat details, spelling, coloring, Labels Map key Cardinal directions |
| Weights |
Equal |
Equal |
Equal |
Equal |
| 4 |
All important buildings both inside and outside of the wall |
Several landforms and water sources, easy to see how two were used for protection |
All types of castle people at their jobs, all kinds of animals, easy to identify both |
Excellent quality work, all things clearly labeled, complete key, 4 labeled directions |
| 3 |
Many buildings inside and outside of the castle wall |
Several landforms and water sources, one used for protection |
Several kinds of castle people and animals, easy to identify both |
Good quality work, many labels, mostly complete key, 4 directions |
| 2 |
Some buildings inside and outside the castle wall |
Few landforms and water sources, none for protection |
Some people and animals, hard to identify |
Some quality parts, some labels, partial key and directions |
| 1 |
1 building no castle wall |
Missing landforms or water sources |
Missing most people and animals or to hard to identify |
Lacks quality, no labels, missing key or directions, only a picture |
NOTE: Rubric or other performance asessment instruments may be used.
Have You Considered These Yet?
Learn to Learn Skills: Second grade students are just beginning to develop their skills. This unit provides them with the opportunity to work collaboratively at home and at school. It challenges them to apply and extend their previously learned language skills. Technology and process writing skills are also extended. The displays and the feast provide the students with a purpose for their learning.
Assessment Modifications: It is important that all students be given the opportunity to learn to the best of their ability. Take time to be sure that all learning styles are addressed. For those students who may need additional assistance, these modifications need to be provided. Students work collaboratively during reading and their group project. Additional teacher assistance is given as needed. The teacher does need to monitor the at home project and be aware of the possible lack of assistance from home. If there is none, the teacher needs to provide an opportunity through school or elsewhere so that the castle is completed by all.
Unit Schedule/Time Plan: I complete this unit in about three weeks, depending on the interest and ability levels of the students.
Written Overview: This unit was developed as an extension of St. Patrick's Day. Ireland is a country full of castles and a rich history. The unit is a great way to share the similarities and the differences of communities past and present. Students and their families always seem to enjoy the family aspect of the unit. Every year I am amazed at the quality and variety of castles received. It is easily expandable, depending on the amount of time spent and the types of fairy tales studied. The unit challenges the students to integrate knowledge, work collaboratively, read, write, investigate fact and fiction and to just have fun learning.