Mock Thematic Teaching Unit

OONGA b BOONGA A Mock Thematic teaching Unit

This document was prepared for READ884 Literacy Development.

Travis Landers is pursuing a graduate degree in education with a focus on ESOL learners. This document was part of that process. July 2014 www.travlanders.com

Oonga

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bdkre wqplxz OVERVIEW Standards afwej SETTING THE STAGE dtybm The Text Set zxcmey The Media Set saadfy Basic Lesson Flow tbmowz zxcyne Concluding Thoughts qwery Pre Post test references jlser TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................... 3 (class information - lesson idea)

........................................................... 4 (What is our guiding light?) ................ 5

(Introducing lessons)

.......................................... 6-7 (Primary text resources and how used) ........................................ 8 (Primary Multi-media resources and how used)

(Rough outline of the schedule)

Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson

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1................................................................................ 10-11 2................................................................................ 12-13 3................................................................................ 14-15 4................................................................................ 16-17 5................................................................................ 18-19 ........... 20

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eafwej OVER VIEW zdtybm zxcyne

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Title

Content Area Grade Level

Oonga Boonga

Science (a bit)

3rd-4th

Social Studies (a bit more)

Demographics Time of Year

Technology

It is assumed there will be a high number of English Language Learners mixed with native English speakers.

This unit will use videos, books on CD, the Internet, interactive CD-Roms, etc.

Basically the availability of resources will be the only thing limiting this area.

Taught

As a lead in to dinosaurs or another animals unit Possibly, the 3rd or 4th unit of the school year.

The idea of this lesson is to: • Combine Ancient Civilizations & other subjects. Focus on text genres that will be covered in more depth later in the year.

• Get students thinking about how things are different today. How do current technologies and lifestyles compare to the past?

• Teach cognitive and practical skills • Use the CALLA method to help everyone succeed and help CLD students!

• Have fun!

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STANDARDS ?

RULES ? o BEST PRACTICE ?

Standards like the common core in the U.S., definitely have their place but for this unit our guidelines will be based on the findings of case studies and popular methods that were tested in those studies.

We will use the CALLA method to ensure we are teaching kids cognitive skills in addition to content.

Also, by identifying language objectives we help to ensure our English language learners can succeed.

These concepts will also be crucial to our lesson: 1. Building background with our students so they can connect.

2. Creating a community through student-driven assessments and decisions pertaining to the direction of the lesson.

3. Teaching skills and strategies that pertain to text style in addition to comprehension. This will help empower our learners for the future.

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Note: The foundation for these principles was taken from the texts outlined on the reference sheet at the end of this document.

afwej SETTING THE STAGE dtybm zxcyne Introducing mini lessons

The unit will start at the dawn of civilization and introduce two cavemen characters.

GAck-ala-goo!

BOO-hala-Ka!

Bob

Tony

Although Bob and Tony have pretty standard English names they can’t communicate in English very well.

Therefore, an added twist will be trying to predict what they will do and what they are saying. This is a choose your own adventure for the students! (more later) Bob and Tony have a time machine. They will travel through time and mirror the locations in the popular book series Magic Tree House. This could break away from the series and be tailored to fit the origins of different English learners in the classroom too.

Bob and Tony should: 1. Get everyone subliminally thinking about the needs of the English learners. (be considerate of speed and language, etc.)

2. Briefly introduce our mini social studies lesson.

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Our Text set It is important to have a variety of resources to work with. Readers will read some independently, some in small groups and probably one together with the teacher. Below are some examples but there would most likely be more to choose from for independent reading. Later, the use of the text below will be justified.

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Magic Tree House Series

Magic Tree House - Fact Tracker

This is a very light, fast-paced, and short time travel adventure series. The idea is to get kids excited. This is a fun read that can be done together. It will allow the teacher the opportunity to model cognitive and meta cognitive strategies.

How cool is that! A nonfiction accompaniment to the fictional fun story!

This can be used to expand ideas we encounter together in our group read.

Also, it can be used to flesh out the mini lessons Bob and Tony will go on!

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Expository Nonfiction

Informal Text

There are so many great factoid picture books that involve early man and civilizations. These would be used to flesh out the Bob and Tony bit. Also, they would be used to assign individual writing. Students will write about one facet of an early civilization’s citizen’s everyday life for homework.

One focus will be introducing students to fiction vs. non-fiction and formal vs. informal writing. We want to get them thinking when and where to use each.

The Ook and Gluk graphic novel pictured above is one example that could be used to stress the informal style during a mini lesson.

Note: Look at the references for a full list!

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bdkre wqplxz afwej dtybm zxcmey saadfy tbmowz zxcyne qwery jlser Bob / tony Adventure mini lessons on history Utilizes:

• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker

• Expository Nonfiction Selections

Teacher / Student Group Reading Utilizes:

Utilizes:

• Magic Tree House #1 Dinosaurs Before Dark

The teacher will use reading time to: 1. Create a grand conversation

2. Model a reading log that they will later do on their own with their individual reading choices.

Student Reading / Writing • Other text

Students will be reading their own selections and constructing their own reading logs. They will also be constructing their own expository descriptions using the text provided.

This will demonstrate:

a. b. c. d. e.

Making Connections Making Predictions Drawing Inferences Constructing Summaries Evaluating Reading

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Our media set This is where the lesson could get bloated a bit if not used wisely.

Depending on time these resources would be used to fill out the lesson with interesting activities. Also, the visual pieces are an important element for our English language learners.

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Magic Tree House Series

Multi-media Websites

Another great feature of this series is that they come on CD! This will be great to allow students to listen on their own during independent learning time with stations. English learners will also benefit!

With choices through the roof, the most difficult part of using the many websites out there that highlight ancient cultures, will be sorting through it all. Resources will need to be organized so they can be handed to students easily.

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Expository Nonfiction Videos

Teacher Produced Media

Like books there are a ton of factoid videos about ancient cultures. These will be used to fill out Tony and Bob’s adventure. They will introduce concepts about daily life in these cultures.

There are ambitious plans to create a full on choose-your-own adventure for Bob and Tony. This would include a simple web app with choices. Also, a video or two at times. Certainly this would a labor of love!

Note: Look at the references for a full list!

afwej BASIC FLOW dtybm zxcyne OF A LESSON

Note:

Build Background Use intro pics, a KWL chart, and connections to build background with students.

Students can make text-to-self, text-toworld, and text-to-text connections.

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This unit would probably happen once or twice a week but some of the activities would carry on and link to other subjects.

Lesson

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Use the Bob and Tony story with its media to introduce a concept about life in an ancient civilization.(example- medicine) Other non-fiction videos will help round out the experience. We will cover 5 key terms with one main concept. Some words will be added to a word wall. We will also construct a reading log together, although we will call it an “Adventure Log“!

3 Mini Quiz

Let’s see if they got the main concepts.

4 Extra: • Solo Adventure Time with different Stations

This will be their time to inde pendently read, watch videos, listen, etc.

• Hotseat - As we build students share their work

Homework The students will be required to write their own expository paragraph on some days.

On others, they will work to fill up their own reading log by diving into sources on their own. The key here is offering enough scaffolding so they can succeed.

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DAY 1

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LESSON

Session with Teacher (earlier in the day) 1. KWL Chart - Let’s see what the students know about cavemen!

2. We introduce Bob and Tony and read their introduction lesson. We watch a short video about cavemen to drive home the differences.

How is their life different from the students?

3. Together we make a comparison chart or Venn diagram for cavemen and us. Comparison words are displayed with examples and used in our diagram.

4. Students pair off and fill out a sheet comparing themselves.

5. We come together to share our differences. MINI Quiz 6. We finish Bob and Tony’s story by uncovering they have a time machine and they will have three choices to go back in time.(example - ancient Egypt, Rome, Incan Empire) 7. Students are asked to share their ideas for where Bob and Tony should go. We make predictions about what will happen but where they will go is not revealed until the next lesson.

8. Students write in their adventure logs and try to make connections between Bob and Tony’s story by listing (text-to-self, text-toworld,text-to-text) connections. This concept was introduced at least once before. This shows us what we could study more.

Solo Adventure Station Time (after lunch or later) 1. Again we will come together for a quick recap about our cavemen friends. Comparison words and Venn diagram are also quickly reviewed.

2. It is explained that the kids will need to construct their own Venn diagram about a different civilization in their adventure logs.

3. They are introduced to the different stations by the cavemen through video and randomly assigned. (listening, computer stations, reading tables, and with the teacher for a mini lesson)

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DAY

1

LESSON

WHY?

HOW?

Standards

As stated on page 4, these lessons will try to incorporate a number of best practices but primarily will use

WHAT?

the CALLA method as the foundation for content delivery. Here are our learning objectives for Lesson 1.

Really a big part of lesson one will be trying to explain the system because there will be so many new things happening but here are other terms.

Content Objectives 1.

Learn how life for early people was different • food • shelter • clothing • social

vocabulary focus shelter, compare, contrast, ancient, civilization

Language Objectives 1.

Learn compare and contrast structures • but / however • comparitives / superlatives

Learning Strategy Objectives 1. Relate new information with prior knowledge 2. Work collaboratively 3. Predicting / Inferences

KWL Charts Partner Work Bob & Tony

Metacognitive Social Cognitive

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DAY 2

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LESSON

Session with Teacher (earlier in the day) 1. Recap predictions for Bob / Tony and reveal their destination 2. They go to ancient Egypt to learn about their daily life.

3. Together we make a comparison chart or Venn diagram for the cavemen and Egyptians. Comparison words are displayed with examples and used in our diagram.

4. Students work in small groups first to predict differences by chatting and looking at a picture.

5. We read about a typical day for one Egyptian person.(Our Guest!)

6. Students watch a video to highlight one facet of daily life. They use their adventure logs to record this.

7. Students share their group predictions. Some will be wrong and that is ok. Students present ?’s for our Egyptian guest that will be answered next lesson through the marvels of video. MINI Quiz 8. Some students take the “Hot Seat” to share their homework from lesson 1. It was a Venn diagram comparing their life with an ancient civilization.

9. Again, Bob / Tony are presented with options for time travel. This time the students take a vote on this. The idea of voting was absent in ancient Egypt. The pharoah was supreme. This will be a loose tie in.

Solo Adventure Station Time (after lunch or later) 1. Students try to change their HW(Venn Diagram) into paragraph form. Stations for editing are setup and some are made chief editors to help others.

2. When finished they participate in the stations for civilizations described before. HW will be to choose one fiction book for solo long-term reading from the selection the teacher gives them.

3. One station is with the teacher where they read, Magic Tree House #1 together. The teacher models different strategies.

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DAY

2

LESSON

WHY?

HOW? WHAT?

Content Objectives 1.

Learn how life for Egyptians was different • food • shelter • clothing • social

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Language Objectives 1.

2.

Learn compare and contrast structures • but / however • comparitives / superlatives Talk about basic household chores and duties

Note: Words are vocabulary focus shelter, adapt, plant, region, continent

added to a word wall.

Learning Strategy Objectives 1. Think about what they need/want to know 2. Work collaboratively

?’s for Egyptian Group Work

Metacognitive Social

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DAY 3

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LESSON

Session with Teacher (earlier in the day) 1. Bob / Tony share the Answers to the previous lesson’s ?’s(students made ?’s for the Egyptian guest) Teacher presents this in a mind map that students will later use to construct description paragraphs.

2. Students are asked to share how their lives are different.

3. Students’ vote for where Bob / Tony should go last time is revealed.

4. The lesson focuses on the food of that civilization and a job/person oriented around the food. (i.e.- day with a hunter!?)

5. Students work with the teacher to construct a new mind map for this material.

6. A few samples of writing from Bob and Tony will be presented.

Students will try to discern if each is compare/contrast or a description. We work together to edit their caveman writing. MINI Quiz 7. Some students take the “Hot Seat” to share their homework from lesson 1 or their personal reading selections.

Solo Adventure Station Time (after lunch or later) 1. Bob and Tony are presented with two more choices and the class debates what to do.

2. When finished they participate in the stations for civilizations. HW will be to write a description about one part of an Ancient civilization.

3. When stations are done the teacher continues reading the first book in the Magic Tree House series as one big group. When finished they participate in a grand conversation.

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DAY

3

LESSON

WHY?

HOW? WHAT?

Content Objectives 1.

2.

Learn how getting food was different in an ancient culture Learn about natural resources of the past

Language Objectives 1.

2.

Learn transition words for descriptions Learn resources and verbs used with them

Note: Words are vocabulary focus region, resource, renewable, natural, climate

added to a word wall.

Learning Strategy Objectives 1. Work collaboratively

Bob / Tony

Social

Catch-up This would be a good lesson to try and catch up or reorganize or get people where they need to be. This middle lesson provides some flexibility.

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DAY 4

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LESSON

Session with Teacher (earlier in the day) 1. “Hot Seat” - Students share what they are reading, writing, etc. Bob and Tony will have a few words prepared to congratulate them!!

2. Formal and Informal writing is introduced as the kids give their examples. This will be used again later.

3. Bob and Tony show a few details about their next stop and the students debate where they are headed and why.

4. We watch a video showing the housing for that area.

5. Kids are asked to use their senses to describe their houses and rooms independently. Later, we come together in a grand conversation.

6. We share our houses and how they are different from the chosen civilizations housing. Teacher leads a Venn diagram on the board.

7. Students are grouped and make a poster of their dream house.

Differences from the past are stressed.

8. Items from Bob / Tony’s last stop are shown to see if we can predict where they will go. By this point someone will probably have seen the same picture in one of the materials through their solo work. MINI Quiz

Solo Adventure Station Time (after lunch or later) 1. Students choose to compare their house to the past or describe their dream house in paragraph form. Again class editors try to help others.

2. When finished they participate in the stations for civilizations described before.

3. One station is with the teacher where they will discuss informal writing and read The Adventures of Ook and Gluk. HW will be to construct a comic like Ook and Gluk about something they have learned.

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DAY

4

LESSON

WHY?

HOW? WHAT?

Content Objectives 1.

Learn different style of houses for ancient civilizations

Language Objectives 1.

2.

Senses (look,feel,taste,touch,hear) Explain sense words can replace be verb and vice versa

O Note: Words are added to a word wall.

vocabulary focus shelter, adapt, empire, region, benefit

Learning Strategy Objectives 1. Work collaboratively 2. Predicting / Making Inferences

Group Work Bob / Tony

Social Cognitive

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DAY 5

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LESSON

Session with Teacher (earlier in the day) 1. “Hot Seat“ - Again students share their work.

2. In the process of sharing, the idea of rubrics and evaluation is presented. Together as a class we make a rubric for writing.

3. Bob and Tony show up again. They offer a few ideas for the rubric and we see if we have those ideas.

4. You could probably see this coming but... PLOT TWIST! Their time machine broke down and so they end up in a different place than expected.

5. They talk about some customs from each time they visited.

6. Students watch a few video segments strung together to highlight one custom from a few of the civilizations we studied.

7. We read some examples of formal and informal writing that describe customs. All the while checking to see if we can discern between the two. We use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the two styles! MINI Quiz 8. Again, Bob / Tony pop up. They are leaving?!? What? Where would you like them to go? Write them a letter and tell them to visit! Ask where they are going? Kids are assigned a letter for their HW. Wait, isn’t a letter informal?

Solo Adventure Station Time (after lunch or later) 1. Students finish filling out their adventure logs by perusing the different stations.(There will be a few extra activities in there!)

2. One station is with the teacher where they read, Magic Tree House #1 together. The teacher models different strategies.

3. At the end, the teacher creatively calls attention to the English learners in the room. Do we have anyone special in our class? Where are they from? They take the hotseat in pairs if we have them or the teacher helps them. We ask ?’s about customs, food, housing, etc.

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DAY

5

LESSON

WHY?

HOW? WHAT?

Content Objectives 1.

Learn about some different customs from the places Bob and Tony visited • Ancient Egypt • Ancient Rome • Etc.

Language Objectives 1.

Learn compare and contrast structures • but / however • adjectives to compare / contrast

H Note: Words are

vocabulary focus region, culture, predict, custom, classify

added to a word wall.

Learning Strategy Objectives 1. Ask what they want to know 2. Work collaboratively 3. Predicting / Making Inferences

Letter (HW) Venn Diagram Bob / Tony

Metacognitive Social Cognitive

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afwej FINAL THOUGHTS dtybm zxcyne There are so many other things that are not mentioned in this document but would certainly need to be considered. Not only that but there is a ton of stuff that would need to be constructed, gathered, and organized. Thus, this document only scratches the service of what the unit would encompass.

The success of a project like this definitely rests a large part on how well the teacher scaffolds and organizes things so students can access things easily.

During writing and discovery time, for example, resources would need to be laid out. It would need to be divided by culture and the different facets(food, daily life, etc.) that coincide with our lesson. This would make it simple to assign independent activities.

In addition, other subject areas would need to be tweaked to lend to the thematic unit. For example, writing or English time would need to focus on how to write a paragraph.

I state it here but it is not trivial that special needs kids and English learners would need even more attention. The choice of their partners, seats, and various other things throughout this unit would be detrimental to their success. CALLA aims to help but definitely a watchful eye would be needed.

These are just a few things to consider but there would be so much more.

Making a thematic unit is a full-time commitment that offers rewards but is super time-consuming. This initial plan has a solid start with ideas that are rooted on best practice and CALLA but it is a long way from ready to teach.

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Name:______________ Compare ancient life to now (1 point each up to 6)

What kind of writing is this? (Circle all that apply) 1. A note to your mom: A. Informal B. Formal C. Description D. Compare / Contrast

Mom, I went to the store B back soonish!

Trav

2. A paragraph about Greece: A. Informal B. Formal C. Description D. Compare / Contrast

The land of Greece is made up of mainland Greece and many islands. It has many mountains with hot dry.....

3.

A. Informal B. Formal C. Description D. Compare / Contrast

The ancient Greeks used the sea but the Egyptians relied on The Nile River.

Use these words to answer the questions ancient natural region 1.

2. It was a slaves.

3.

adapt civilization custom

classify resource climate

shelter

a part of Earth that is the same or very similar in ancient Roman civilization to have to put into groups

4. People from all civilizations need 5.

to live in.

to change to make things easier or better

6. Trees are an example of a 7.

the usual weather in an area

is an organized group or people who have their 8. A own culture and society.

9.

really old

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bdkre REFERENCES wqplxz afwej dtybm zxcmey saadfy tbmowz zxcyne qwery jlser WHAT I USED TO MAKE MY PLAN

Herrera, S. G., & Murry, K. G. (2005). Mastering ESL and bilingual

methods: differentiated instruction for culturally and lin

guistically diverse (CLD) students. Boston: Pearson Allyn

and Bacon.

Tompkins, G. E. (2011). Literacy in the early grades: a successful

start for PreK-4 readers and writers (3rd ed.). Boston, Mass.:

Allyn and Bacon.

Some example TEXT I WOULD USE FOR THE unit but there would be lots more!

Beard, G., & Hutchins, H. (2010). The adventures of Ook and Gluk:

Kung-fu cavemen from the future. New York: Blue Sky

Press.

Fullman, J. (2013). Ancient civilizations. New York, New York: DK

Publishing.

Lynch, J., & Barrett, L. (2003). Walking with cavemen: eye-to eye with your ancestors. New York: DK Pub..

Osborne, W., Osborne, M. P., & Murdocca, S. (2000). Dinosaurs:

A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #1: Dino

saurs Before Dark. New York: Random House.

Osborne, M. P., & Murdocca, S. (1992). Dinosaurs before dark.

New York: Random House.

Tagholm, S. (2002). Everyday Life in the Ancient World: A Guide

to Travel in Ancient Times. : Kingfisher.

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This document was prepared for READ884 Literacy Development.

Travis Landers is pursuing a graduate degree in education with a focus on ESOL learners. This document was part of that process. July 2014 www.travlanders.com

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Boonga

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