| LU Title: So You Think You Got A Problem | Author(s): Robynann Pflanz |
| Grade Level: 4-5-6 | School Address: Reese Road Elementary |
| Topic/Subject Area: Problem Solving | School Phone/Fax: 315- 895-7491 |
| Email: |
OVERVIEW
This unit was developed so that it would engage students in problem solving process. It encourages students to find alternatives to conflicts that they, may confront in their everyday lives Through the use of literature, students will be given opportunities to reflect and use parallel tasks that will instruct them on how to identify and correct their problems.
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
| Declarative | Procedural |
| Students will memorize the steps necessary to problem solving. | Students will compare and contrast negative and positive behaviors. |
| Students will identify the problem of each main character, as they are introduced. | Students will practice variations of the skill process to transfer the concept of problem solving ( shaping and modeling) |
| Students will correlate that problem solving will build success and reduce conflicts. | Relate story to a personal life experience. |
| Evaluate the Problem Solving Strategies that the literary characters used. | |
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
| How can the process of problem solving build academic and social success, reduce conflicts and aid in the development of a productive learner as part of a team? |
CONNECTIONS TO NYS LEARNING STANDARDS
STANDARD: CDOS 3a :
Interpersonal Skills- Positive interpersonal qualities lead to teamwork and cooperation in large and small groups in family, social and work situations.
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
Students will be able to demonstrate the ability to work with others, present facts that support arguments, listen to dissenting points of view, and reach a shared decision.
Linked but not assessed
ELA 1- Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking for Information and Understanding.
ELA 2- Reading, Writing Listening and Speaking for Literacy Response and Expression.
ELA 3- Reading ,Writing, Listening and Speaking for Critical Analysis and Evaluation.
ELA 4 - Reading, Writing, Listening ,and Speaking for Social Interaction.
Arts 3- Responding to and Analyzing to works of Art.
MST 5- Understanding the concepts and principles of technology.
MST 6- Understanding common themes across MST.
MST 7- Interdisciplinary problem -solving.
INITIATING ACTIVITY
Using the THINK - PAIR - SHARE model. Students will, discuss and reflect their opinions about the clip of the movie "PROBLEM CHILD ". They will do so using the KWL to record their thoughts and opinions.
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Session 2 Students will be asked to go on a HUMAN TREASURE HUNT to identify
Positive and Negative attributes. They will do so by visually hunting on a grid that is presented with visual clues. The objective is to locate clues from the existing boxes on the grid. Through modeling students will follow directions by an example. The clues are presented to them on paper form. As each clue is located the students verify with a signature from the owner of that clue. After the whole chart has been appropriately filled
in the students then will go to the computer and access the template that has already been formatted. The computer template enables the students to classify the positive and negative attributes they have located previously from the grid, When all computer activities are completed, students will engage in a discussion about:
WHAT THEY FOUND and WHY THEY CLASSIFED THE ATTRIBUTES AS THEY DID?
FIND SOMEONE WHO.
says please and thank you
fights with his brothers and sisters sometimes
who does their chores without being told to do so
who teases the family pet
swears when they get angry
helps a friend carry their books
stole money from their parents
litters by throwing papers on the ground
reads to a younger child
helps the teacher after school
helps by being safety patrol
sticks out their tongue
HUMAN TREASURE HUNT (Application: Microsoft Word )
Session 3 – Teacher will introduce a step sequence for PROBLEM SOLVING through a WRITTEN SET OF STEPS for PROBLEM SOLVING along with the THINK ALOUD strategy.
Steps to be discussed are as follows:
1. IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM.
2. WHAT ARE ALL THE THINGS I COULD DO?
3. WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN NEXT?
4. CHOOSE WHAT LOOKS BEST AND TRY IT?
Present the student with copies of the step process and have them tape it to their desks. This will help in the memorization of those steps. Next have the students use the graphic organizer for sequencing. Students should be visually reviewing the steps from their taped copy on the desk. Direct the students to write each step in the appropriate place on the graphic organizer. Have the students rank order the one step they feel is the most important.
Session 4- Students will actively listen to the literature book
The Legend Of The Bluebonnet
By Tomie DePalo
Before reading the book the students will be presented with a WORDSPLASH with key terms that are central to the theme of the book. In this case the main focus is the sacrifices that She-Who-Is-Alone must make for her village. Ultimately she has a problem to solve. The students make predictions about how the character name She-Who-Is-Alone ties in with the story. Key terms presented on the WORDSPASLH are as follows:
Bluebonnet
Warrior doll
Village
Famine
Commanche
Burnt offering
Great Spirits
Drought
Shaman
Sacrifice
Valued Possession
Texas
Suffering
One-Who-Dearly Loved-Her -People
Students then will be asked to brainstorm those words presented and to generate complete statements about those key words. The teacher then reads the story
The Legend Of The Bluebonnet and students begin to check their accuracy for the key terms.
Enrichment Activity:
The teacher asks the students to orally take a poll of their most valued possessions. Supply a domain so that students don’t go off on tangents.
e.g. TOYS- CLOTHES-BOOKS-FOOD
Teacher tallies up the results and students go to the computer and access Claris works to create a bar graph of the class’s most valued possessions. Discuss with the student whether they would be willing to give up their most valued possession, as did the literary character. Post the results and give each student their own personal copy.
Homework: (Have model visible so students may see exemplar)
Make sure that supplies are give to students to complete the assignment.
Follow Up Art Activity: Take a paper plate and have the students make a face on the paper plate. Cut out feathers to place around the top of the circumference of the plate. On each feather have the child write out the PROBLEM SOLVING STEPS previously learned the day before.
Students rate literary character as to how well they did on their PROBLEM SOLVING. They will do so by using a holistic RUBRIC presented to them after the lesson has been completed.
Session 5- Students listen actively to the book Chester’s Way by Kevin Henkes
While teacher reads out loud students are requested to think about the problem
that the literary character Chester has and how he goes about solving his problem. Present the students with a graphic organizer for character traits. Have the students identify their traits by writing them down on the graphic organizer. Discuss with the students and propose the question. Do the characters in this book display positive or negative traits or a combination? Give reasons for your choice by writing a short summary of your thoughts. Orally share with the class in active participation. Use same holistic rubric from session 4 to identify how well the literary characters are using the PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES.
Session 6 - Students will actively listen to the book Doodle Flute
By Daniel Pinkwater
After the book has been read the students will be reminded of the written set of steps to problem solving. Refer to the card that has been taped to their desk from the previous day’s assignments and have the students verbally recite those steps.
Introduce to the students the activity called FIVE-WORD-TO THREE- WORDS. In this activity students are given 2 sheets exhibiting two different stimulus words with the stimulus question.
Words that come to mind when you think of
" SHARING and SELFISHNESS "
Students at this point write independently on the activity sheets their 5 words that correlate to the topic of sharing and selfishness. After the independent list is compiled students get into pairs to discuss the words that hey have written down.
They orally share with the class their findings. The lesson continues by discussing the main characters Kevin Spoon and Mason Mintz. Using the completed sheets the teacher than inquires which character might be identified with SHARING and SELFISHNESS. Some inquiry has already been established from the paired group discussion. Since the words that were presented are the words that the teacher has chosen then “the teacher has stacked the deck and remains in control of the lesson”
Introduce the graphic organizer on MAKING PREDICTIONS. The students will appropriately fill in the graphic organizer to predict a continued ending of the book. ( e.g. Will Kevin and Mason continue to be friends or will more problems arise from their friendship?) Complete holistic rubric for character problem solving.
Students will be presented with the activity :
" THE–ENVELOPE-PLEASE "
This will be used as a link to connect the previous day's knowledge. In the
envelope ask the question .At what point in the story does the
character decide on how to solve his problems? Did he use
the problem solving strategies?
Session- 7 The students will actively listen to the story
OWEN" by Kevin Henkes.
After reading the story the students will be asked to make a COMPARISON about Fuzzy .
The students are directed using the following questions:
1.How is OWEN different?
2.What makes OWEN change his opinion about his fuzzy?
3. How does OWEN make his fuzzy change?
4. Are there things about fuzzy that are different?
5. Are there things about fuzzy that are the same?
Using a compare and contrast graphic organizer the students will draw and infer upon a conclusion about Fuzzy. How was the problem solve about Fuzzy and Who actually solved the problem? Students will need help to draw some of these conclusions, use the modeling approach and don’t forget to THINK OUT ALOUD
Session 8-
Students now have read and listened to all four books in this unit. The teacher requests that they RANK ORDER the books in sequence, the book that they felt gave the best example of PROBLEM SOLVING.
They will rank the books by placing 4 as their best and1 as their worst. Submit to the students the sheet that they will do the ranking with. Next using a modified version of the graphic organizer for CONSTRUCTING SUPPORT along withFOUR CORNERS, the students will go to the corner that is displaying a poster of the graphic organizer of the book they have ranked number 4.Students will be asked the question WHY DO YOU FEEL THAT THE CHARACTERS OF THIS BOOK ARE GOOD EXAMPLES OF THE PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY? attend to. Support your answers with reason and facts and write them on the poster. (Since there may be more than one student at each corner you must be specific in instruction to encourage group cooperation. Ironically this creates a problem for the first time that the students actually must What an opportunity to practice VARIATION OF THE PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY.) Make observations noting if the process has been mastered.
Session 9-
Teacher will introduce a step sequence for ANALYZING ERRORS
through a WRITTEN SET OF STEPSalong with a THINK ALOUD.
The steps are as follows:
Is the information I am receiving important or does it try to influence my thinking or my actions?
Does something seem wrong with any of the information?
What is wrong?
How can I get more or better information?
Refer to the chart as it is posted so that the students may observe the steps as they are discussed. After the process has been taught and mastered the students will be presented with a scenario for them to analyze the errors. List errors on the graphic organizer. How do you think this might be corrected?
SCENARIO :
Samantha and her mother went to a neighborhood toy store. Samantha sees a toy that she would like to have. Her mother responds with 'NO'. Samantha wants the toy so badly that she steals the toy by placing it in her pocket and proceeds to go home with her mother.
CULMINATING PERFORMANCE
Through definitional investigation the teacher poses the question what are the defining characteristics of what is a good or bad problem solving strategy. Does using the step sequence effect these characteristics and present pitfalls or consequences. Make your choice for good or bad problem solving. Draw a cartoon strip exhibiting your choice and explain the step sequence you have chosen.
PRE-REQUISITE SKILLS
Knowledge of the Writing process
Knowledge of computer applications
MODIFICATIONS / ADAPTATIONS
This unit is especially important for students of disabilities it encourages strategies that are so needed for their survival in the real world. The key concepts and focus of this unit could readily compliment the social content of an IEP. All students at one time or another have variations of problems to solve. We as educators must only provide them with a coping mechanism to internalize these strategies. The SCANS report designates that these
are the necessary skills that should be integrated into everyone's curriculum regardless of academic status.
UNIT SCHEDULE/TIME PLAN
2 Weeks
TECHNOLOGY USE:
The following applications may be used for the LEARNING EXPERIENCES:
Microsoft Word
Kids Studio
Clarisworks
STRATEGIES USED
Launch-
The introductory activity to start a new unit of instruction.
KWL
Strategy used to link prior knowledge:
What I know.
What I want to know.
What I learned.
Builds relationships between old and new information.
Think – Pair- Share-
Encourages individual thought before pairing up to discuss to discuss the information.
Human Treasure Hunt-
Students give a description of the treasures they need to locate at the beginning of the class. The treasures then can be
Shared out loud with the whole group: This provides a feedback to the
teacher as to the knowledge and experiences student bring to the topics.
Word Map Charts-
Helps students to visualize the components of a definition. Teaches qualities of a definition and allows student to have a better focus of the unfamiliar concept.
Wordsplash-
Students view a collection of key concepts taken from the literature book presented in the learning experience. Students then generate complete statements or phrases to which predict a relationship
Five Words –
Three Words- Students are presented with a specific topic and brainstorm words that come to mind when presented with that word. They then share choosing three words to share with the class.
Envelope Please-
Encourages review, to link between today’s class and tomorrow. Used as a homework assignment.
Think- Aloud- The teacher verbalizes her thoughts as the process is demonstrated and identifies Key Points as part of a skill process.
Written set of steps- Presents steps in a graphic organizer usually combined with Think Aloud.
Corners- Cooperative learning structure that encourages students to make choices and support their choices through active listening and participation.
Error Analysis- helps students to find errors in their own thinking or in the thinking of others. Definitional Investigation- Students examine an issue in a systematic manner.