AS LONG AS THERE ARE MOUNTAINs by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
This book project is designed as a community building experience for the first month of school. There are many examples of true Vermont integrity and values embedded in this text. Through a Responsive Classroom approach we will discuss our own values, and how same will contribute to a positive classroom climate. We will create classroom rules, and our classroom Bill of Rights based on these communal values. I will integrate History Standards, reading, and writing through a guided reading process. My intent is to model reading strategies that I expect my students to use throughout the year. The Response to Text will be a formative assessment to examine next steps for my new students. I foresee this book study to extend to a period of three weeks to four weeks.
CENTRAL IDEAS
Content: Student connects the past with the present by examining how events, people, problems, and ideas have shaped the community and Vermont.
Reading: Understanding, Analysis, and Interpretation: Makes inferences about problem, conflict, solution. Identifies author's basic message (values).
Writing: In Response to Text, states and maintains focus, selects appropriate information to set context, uses specific details.
Focusing Question
What values or principles shaped the town of Gilead, Vermont?
Focus (answer to focusing question)
In Gilead, Vermont community values or principles that shaped the town were a sense of community and a deep respect for the land.
In Gilead, Vermont community values or principles that shaped the town were a sense of community and a deep respect for the land.
Building Content Knowledge, Understanding of Writer’s Craft
Model Comprehension Strategies during reading (summarize, predict, infer, question, visual, events that changed the course of the story or character, cause and effect)
Oral processing/guided conversation
Guided Reading process(teacher led/read together as a class)
Figurative Language/Visualization(mini lessons/guided practice during reading)
Summarizing(think, talk, write)
Inferencing/Values(mini lesson/guided practice during reading)
Vocabulary Development around values/principles(foundational knowledge)
Discuss elements of effective writing (Purpose, Organization, Details, Voice/Tone, Conventions, Understanding)
Revise orally and individually during writing
Discuss our personal values.
Structures
How will students know how to organize their ideas and construct the piece of writing?
Graphic organizers for individual student notes: figurative language/visualizing; inferencing/value evidence; summary.
Frayer model for vocabulary development.
Painted essay template
Response to text rubric.
Writing / Revising
How will students draft / revise so that their final writing is clearly focused,
organized, and developed to show understanding of the central ideas?
How will students draft / revise so that their final writing is clearly focused,
organized, and developed to show understanding of the central ideas?
Group write: Using the public painted essay template, partially write piece with students to help students get started. Show example of introduction which leads to one evidence piece. Be sure to explain how evidence should support focus.
Children use their own template to write section at a time.
Share with full group(allow students to share ideas for their writing)
Chart evidence for focus question.
Provide a template for Response to Text (frame for writing)
Lesson Sequence
What steps will I follow so that students are able to effectively show their understanding
in writing?
1. Introduce conceptual thinking at morning meeting. Class discussion about personal values and principles (honesty, truthfulness, devotion, goodness, righteousness, good judgment, personal integrity, personal code, helpfulness to others, kindness, devotion to certain beliefs,loyalty, etc.)in writing?
2. Define values/principles (use thesaurus/dictionary). What are some good things about yourself
3. Brainstorm and chart student's ideas of values. Use frayer model with whole group (internalize concepts).
4. Journal entry - personal journal write: Have students list their personal values. Once designed and written, children will gain a better understanding. (internalize concept)
5. Have children write a reflective entry in their journal with the focus: My personal values will contribute to my classroom climate by . . . (foundational knowledge to establish how our values impact our communities. Work on reflective journal write for children to process their ideas in written form. Share together at morning meeting. Allow this discussion to evolve into the creation of important classroom rules, and our classroom "Bill of Rights" (supports the idea of the importance of values within any community: Classroom community, School community, Town/City community, etc.) This activity prepares the children for their book project by support the concept of values.
6. Model reading strategies individually with examples from text and present graphic organizers and explain how they should be used. Reproduce organizer on chart paper for public notes.
7. Introduce focus of the book: What values and principles shaped the community of Gilead, Vermont? Explain to the students that they will be looking for evidence within the text of how the characters demonstrated respect for the land, and a sense of community.
8. Begin book: AS LONG AS THERE ARE MOUNTAINS
9. Explain again that they will be looking for examples from the text during reading of evidence of the personal values of the characters; as well as, what events showed the values in action. Please focus on actions/events that model a sense of community or respect for land.
10. Document on public notes first, and then have students transfer the notes to their own response sheets.
11. Explain to the children that these notes will be important information which will help them write a response to literature when completed.
12. Use the painted essay public template, and model writing process a chunk at a time, cross reference with public notes taken during the guided reading sessions.
13. Teacher reads his/her model to children to assist process.
14. Children write their own. Have the children slowing construct their response to text a paragraph at a time, with continuous prompting by teacher to ensure success.
15. Read aloud, public editing as the piece progresses to obtain feedback from peers, as well as, the teacher.
Assessment:
How are students doing? What are my next steps as a teacher?
Assess writing piece with the Response to Text rubric recommended by Joey Hawkins which my school adopted last year. Evaluate products for strengths and weaknesses in order to decide on mini-lessons for next steps.How are students doing? What are my next steps as a teacher?
Assess understanding of reading strategies based on what children documented on their daily response sheets, and through oral discussion. Find ways to review and assist students who demonstrate misconceptions about figurative languages, inferencing, and ability to write a short summary.
Reinforce the Vermont Studies aspect by having the children compare the values of Vermonters in the book (1950's) to present day Vermonters. This could be a journal write to be shared. This could be a culminating assessment the ties up the unit for them.
Next Steps: Gradual Release of Responsibility
The gradual release of responsibility will be to set up text leveled, Literature Circle groups that self-facilitate and use a similar process to evaluate a text. Teacher can rotate between groups to ensure process is working appropriately.Teacher Test-Drive of the Focusing Question
AS LONG AS THERE ARE MOUNTAINS by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
REPONSE TO TEXT: Focus Question- What values or principles shaped the community of Gilead, Vermont.
I read the book, AS LONG AS THERE ARE MOUNTAINS, by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock. This book is a first person narrative set in the 1950's in the small farming community of Gilead, Vermont in the Northeast Kingdom of the state. The book is said to be an autobiographical book; as, it reflects the author's own story. This story expresses the character's shear pleasure of participating in farm life, and how the family worked together to solve challenging situations. In the book, thirteen year old Iris loves her Vermont farm, and secretly wishes that her father leave it to her to run. Her father is injured when a tree falls on his leg, and Iris struggles to make sure the farm stays in their family. This book clearly demonstrates the values that shape the town of Gilead, Vermont. The story confirms the great love and respect for the land; as well as, an incredible sense of community.
Respect for the land was demonstrated often throughout this text. Respect was apparent as Iris roamed through the woods and over green hills, marveling at the view and seeking the small moments in her journeys. She often stopped to identify flowers and plants, and felt a feeling of freedom when she gazed over open fields of nature. Another example of respect is demonstrated in Iris' own thoughts, "People don't go into farming for money. It's the other things that hold us close to the land: growing and harvesting of food, feeling the rhythms of the seasons in our blood, holding the earth in our hands and knowing by the feel of it when it's time to plant, taking care of land that our parents and grandparents lived on and worked." (page 5). The above examples portray a great love and respect for the land, inferred through the actions and thoughts of the main character, Iris.
Evidence of a sense of community was reflected in various ways throughout the text. The extended family demonstrated a sense of community when they worked together daily: planting, harvesting, preserving food, milking dairy cows, and caring for the farm animals. Another example of community working together in this story was when many members of the community band to together to raise money for a new barn for Iris' family when theirs' was destroyed by fire. They also teamed up to build and raise the barn when Iris' father was disabled by a falling tree. A sense of community was demonstrated when Iris' mother collected food and clothing for a homeless family in town who were living in an old shack with no availability to work or money. In spite of their own hardship, they demonstrated empathy for a family in need. These example show the strength of a sense of community, whereby, the participants demonstrate a unity within their daily actions and belief systems.
In closing, the values of respect for the land, and a sense of community clearly shaped the community of Gilead, Vermont in multiple ways. The community was rooted with a basic belief system where they synchronized their attention to the challenges at home, or in their greater community to ensure continued support for family and community needs. It was out of great love and respect for the land that a sense of true community evolved naturally.
Hello Deb,
ReplyDeleteI love the way this unit is so intrinsically woven into your daily classroom practices and team building activities at the beginning of the year. What a nice structure for starting the year right off with self-awareness and internal examination of what each child brings to the class. I also like the amount of sharing that you built into the unit, as the chance to orally publish writing is such a powerful motivator and reward for hard work.
I was struck by an idea as I read your progression. To take advantage of the attributes they examine in themselves and the sense that each person adds to your class community, might there be an opportunity to assign students with an area of expertise as they go through the writing process? This could be done in groups, with each person being "in charge" of some aspect of writing and all group members working together to help all other group members on an area in which they are personally strong. Example: the Organizer could help her group partners to check the organization of their work and pre-work, the Artist could give suggestions for physical lay-out of writing and handwriting, etc. This might reinforce your budding community by instilling the idea of peers as resources, and be a really fun way to bridge this unit and your literature circles. Just an idea that you inspired!
I look forward to hearing how it goes. Have fun!
I'm glad that Kristin read your unit. It has many similarities to her unit that focuses on multicultural values. I think your unit is very comprehensive and well scaffolded for beginning fourth graders.
ReplyDeleteI might have missed it, but are you reading this book aloud to the class while they follow? I think you are probably using a variety of approaches. Will some of your students need more scaffolding than the large amount that you have already included? I don't know this book, but I gather it might be short chapter book. Longer ones might be too much for the goals that you have, at last in the fall.
Combining reading strategies and teaching evidence collecting go hand and hand and often are effective. You probably are already thinking that you have to do lots of this together at the beginning of 4th grade. On the other hand, maybe with Joey's work with your school, your new students may come with lots of skills and this will be a review. I'm glad that you were able to test drive your two points. You can go into this major unit confident that the evidence that you will need is in the text.
If you don't mind, I think I can do something with some of your ideas with some or all of my 5/6ths graders. Thanks. I hope your fall goes well with this project.
This comprehensive plan builds on history, values, and many qualities of reading and writing in a wonderfully authentic and meaningful fashion. I really like the text chosen in developing this unit. The connections for students and their communities really creates a powerful environment for this learning and sets the stage for the coming year for this classroom.
ReplyDeleteThis unit if very highly scaffolded and includes supports for students to build knowledge and examples and strategies to support reading and writing to insure success.I like that you extended the writing at the end of the plan to include a journal write as a culminating assessment.This provides another way to evaluate students.
Is there any other scaffolding that you would provide in order for students to move into independent literature groups? Would this look more like a guided reading group? It seems as though it might be difficult to have students self-facilitate another text without some supports in place. For example, would there be a manner of creating public notes? Would the texts be similar or another genre?
I also wonder what your model would look like in step 13. Would this be a model from this text or would you create a model that would include a similar focus?
This is a wonderful unit and I plan on sharing with others at my school. Great model! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Deb! I truly love this unit and how it is interwoven with the community building that happens during the first 6 weeks of school. I especially like how your students will be doing some jounal writing first to internalize these sophisticated concepts. Is this a whole class novel that eveyone would be reading together? Are the guided reading groups determined by who needs support with specific strategies as you read the text together? I would really love to see the supporting documents and resources for this unit, especially the response to text rubric. Great job Deb!
ReplyDelete