Deb Hickey

Writing for Understanding Instruction

Teacher Plan

Teacher Debra Anne Hickey_ Class_Fourth__________Date_6/27/11_____________
Writing genre_Response to Text____________________________________

Topic / Subject / Text THE SEVEN WONDERS OF SASSAFRAS SPRINGS by Betty Birney This book project is designed to be a community activity for the first month of school. The big idea is to help my students understand our connection to our environment, and recognize the small wonders in our own lives. The purpose is two-fold: first to model comprehension strategies together as a whole class, and second to introduce a Response to Text writing assignment. Discussion and identification of the Seven Wonders of the World will precede the assignment. Classroom sharing about “little wonders” in our lives become the norm throughout this study. This process will support foundational knowledge, and ground my students in meaning. Students will be encouraged to self-reflect on experiences in their lives and ask family members for stories. The focusing question, derived from our Social Studies standards, will be the guidelines by which students will collect evidence to support their writing piece.

CENTRAL IDEAS Content: Physical and Cultural Geography (H & SS 4:11, H & SS 4:12, H & SS 4:13) What is the relationship between human communities and the environment? Reading: Uses comprehension strategies (i.e. prior knowledge, predicting, questioning, constructing sensory images, making connections, summarizing, and using text structure cues) while reading and while listening to text. Writing: In response to text, states & maintains focus, selects appropriate info to set context, uses specific goals.

Focusing Question	Focus (answer to focusing question)
What is the relationship between human communities and the environment in Sassafras, Missouri? How did human communities rely on the environment for survival in Sassafras, MO?	Human communities relied on their environment for survival in Sassafras, MO by using the land; as well as, their individual talents.

Building Content Knowledge, Understanding of Writer’s Craft

• vocabulary • guided reading • text mapping • paraphrasing • summarizing • visualizing/ • imaging • dramatizing • oral processing / guided conversation / think-pair- share • experience • debating • taking notes (graphic organizers, T-charts, 2 column notes, etc.) • craft lessons (intro, transitions, conclusions, etc)

Vocabulary: Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (Great Pyramid of Giza; Hanging Gardens of Babylon; Temple of Artemis @ Ephesus; Statue of Zeus @ Olympia; Mausoleum of Halicarnasus; Colossus of Rhodes; Light House of Alexandria). Definition of environment and survival. Identify and model comprehension strategies with the students. Focus on summarizing, important events and character analysis. Process orally with students to secure meaning and clarify expectations about what a good summary sounds like; and, how you can track the plot and identify theme by following important events. Discuss character analysis as a way to determine what the character is like “inside,” and how his “belief system” unfolds to the reader. Guide this conversation and explain the importance of character development in reading and writing. Use a guided reading approach. Develop a three column chart with page number, connection to environment and individual talents for student note taking, and a larger one for public notes. Provide graphic organizer to record important events, and outcome of events. Be sure to use an enlarged one for public notes. Make a “Character Journal” for the students’ journal entries to record Eben’ opinion over time, and quotes from the text that help you infer same. The purpose is to explore the inner character, identify his belief system, and notice how he changed over time. Use section of journal to summarize the seven stories about the Wonders of Sassafras Springs. What does a good summary sound like? Have students discuss the small wonders in their lives and start journal entries of same.

Structures Structures How will students know how to organize their ideas and construct the piece of writing?
• graphic organizers • teacher-written models • teacher-and-student written models • various types of templates or frames (ex: Painted Essay)	public notes graphic organizers student journal fray model teacher written model Painted essay

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?
• group write, fully or in part • write section at a time • write full piece independently • revise /share full group • revise /share partners • proofreading in partners • proofread w/tubaloos	Group write for introduction Write section at a time, and highlight with color Critique orally for content revision/share with full group Spelling and punctuation editing/share partners Final draft/independent Response to Text rubric

Lesson Sequence What steps will I follow so that students are able to effectively show their understanding in writing?

1. Secure foundational knowledge of “The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.” Display “You Tube” film clips on classroom projector. Locate each wonder on large classroom map and flag to identify. 2. Begin a discussion of the “little wonders” in our lives. Have children share their stories. Model a wonder for the children. List student’s story ideas on classroom chart. 3. Vocabulary lessons for environment and survival using Fray Model. 4. Model specific reading strategies after reading a short story or picture book: I can summarize using main ideas and important details; I can infer cause and effect by identifying an event and the result or outcome of the experience; Character Analysis: I can identify a character’s inner belief system by his/her perception of experiences. 5. Begin a guided reading process and help students identify and record examples of how the community relied on the land and their personal talents for survival. Extend thinking by guiding the children with “how and why” questions. 6. Stop and discuss important events of each chapter, and the outcome of events to build understanding of cause and effect. Record on public notes, and have students transfer information to their personal graphic organizer. 7. Stop and discuss any quotes or experiences that may reflect the main character’s values or belief systems. Record on public notes for class to transfer to graphic organizer. This process will help the students to stop and think about the character more closely and identify text clues that “show” not “tell” about the characters’ inner qualities and belief systems. A practice in character analysis. 8. Introduce the “painted essay” template to ensure concrete knowledge of writing structure. Use a large public image, and have children create their personal colored copy to keep in their folder. 9. Guide students in their writing, paragraph by paragraph. Read orally to critique for content as a whole group. Class helps each rearrange sentences and words for clarification. Provide time for partner sharing as well which will allow time for the teacher to work individual. 10. Review response to text rubric to help students self-evaluate after first draft. 11. Students work on final draft independently if possible. 12. Make a “Plot Mountain” of important events and show how events lead to the plot. 13. Discuss theme as the golden thread that weaves the story together. 14. Begin a story-telling circle centered on the theme of “little wonders” in our lives. 15. Have students write their stories in a journal to show appreciation for the little miracles in our lives that make a difference. 16. Invite another classroom in the share stories.

Assessment: How are students doing? What are my next steps as a teacher? Assess understanding of reading strategies based on children’s writing practices and notes in their journal and on graphic organizers. Teacher assesses the final writing draft with each student to assure understanding and to discuss next steps. Extension: Studies work on stories about the “little wonders” in their lives. Assess knowledge of the theme of this text. Did they “get it?” There are small wonders in all our lives if we look close enough. Support the social studies standards by using another text where the students can see how communities relied on their environment in Vermont (picture books, historical fiction). See if they can transfer the focus question to other reading. Assess how similar thinking skills can be transferred to other text.

Next Steps: Gradual Release of Responsibility

Allow students times to use these study skills in small groups, using short stories, articles, and short chapter books where they need to show their comprehension and analysis skills in reference to focus questions and ideas generated by the teacher.

Test Drive: THE SEVEN WONDERS OF SASSAFRA SPRINGS
by Betty G. Birney

I read the book THE SEVEN WONDERS OF SASSAFRAS SPRINGS by Betty G. Birney. This book is a first person narrative centered in Sassafras, MO in 1923. The main character Eben sets out to find Seven Wonders in his community. Sassafras, MO is a rural, farming community where most people were struggling to survive. In Sassafras, human communities relied on their environment for survival. They relied on the land, as well as, their personal traits.

Reliance on the land was consistently apparent throughout this text. Use of the land was apparent as descriptive verse unfolded within the text which linked daily practice with reflective thought. “When you’re weeding corn, up one row and down the next, you have a lot of time to think. The more weeds I dug up, the higher that mountain got.” (page 36) A life pattern of working the land daily was an intricate part of the community life style, embedded in their very cells, a catalyst for reflection. The community worked the land daily to meet their needs for food to sustain their families. Another practical example of using the land was exposed when Eben visited a grizzly, old man named Cully. “Jeb and Sall both hung back when he lurched toward us, ax in hand” (page 44). Old Cully relied on his personal strength and his wood lot on the land to cut enough wood to keep his cabin warm during the cold winter months, and for his cooking fire in the old cast iron stove. The above reasons solidify the communities ability to use their environment to survive.

There were many personal talents exhibited by the community. “Her crochet hook was racing like greased lightening. That women could crochet anything from a lovely dishcloth to a baby sweater that was soft as a cloud.” (page 65) These statements showed Aunt Pretty’s personal talents to create what was needed to cloth her family, and supply necessary household items. Another important personal talent was Aunt Pretty’s ability to take what was grown on the land, and preserve food items for consumption in the future. “Sweet smelling peaches simmered on the stove in one huge pot while canning jars bubbled away in another pot.” (page 65) The ongoing use of the preserved food helped the family survive through the cold, long, winter months when fresh food was unavailable. Many other personal talents that helped the community survive were mentioned throughout the text. Discussion of handy man skills, planning and building of cabin and barn structures, sewing clothing, and the knowledge it takes to raise crops and animals were all methods by which they used their personal talents for survival.

As previously stated, in 1923, the community of Sassafras clearly relied on the land and their personal talents to survive in many ways. Without a connection to their environment, physical, personal and cultural, folks in Sassafras would not have been able to sustain their lives. The interconnection of their total environment established a system for community survival over time.