Preparing for the Unit

Transcription

1 3 rd Grade, Reading Unit 4: Biography Book Clubs 34 days Overall: This 34 day unit is a return to nonfiction, but in a narrative structure. Therefore, students will be reading stories about real people who did amazing things. Students will use and apply all they know from their nonfiction and character unit of studies to read and understand biographies. The main objective of the unit is not to be an expert in the content and regurgitate or memorize facts about a person, but to learn to read nonfiction texts in a narrative structure. Preparing for the Unit In order to adequately prepare for the unit, you will want to build up your classroom library of biographies. You may gather biographies on: presidents, inventors, sports stars, authors, artists, activists, singers, other historical figures, and or any person who has accomplished something significant enough to be documented. You may even want to use online sites such as Scholastic or PBS and print off short biographies for students to read. As with all units, you want to maintain a steady volume of reading throughout the unit. It will not be enough to have students read one or two biographies throughout the 34 days. Readers should read as many biographies as possible in order to fully engross themselves in the genre. You may also want to supplement with other forms of fiction and nonfiction. To do this, you can create text sets. For example, a student reading Martin Luther King Jr. s biography, may also benefit from reading informational texts on the Civil Rights Movement and historical fiction texts that took place during that time period such as Goin Someplace Special by McKissack. The informational texts can be used as reference texts that students can refer to when growing their background knowledge and understanding of the times and social situations that the biography takes place. Historical fiction texts will also deepen a reader s understanding of the particular time period that the famous person lived. Supplementing with these texts will address CCSS 3.9 that asks for students to compare and contrast major points and key details in texts on the same topic. The last bend of the unit will ask students to read narrative nonfiction texts other than a biography. These would be texts that tell true stories of events in history through a narrative chronological account such as Cactus Hotel that tells the story of a plant. You will also want to choose 3-5 mentor texts to read aloud to your students across the unit. You may begin with simpler biographies (picture books or short texts) and then longer texts as the unit progresses. One suggested picture is Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles and the novel Who Was Jackie Robinson by Gail Herman. Finally, this unit will include book clubs. You will want to organize your students in clubs centralized around a text set (see above). Depending upon your resources, you may or may not group the students according to level. Students will meet frequently with their clubs in order to engage in deeper conversation. Students will prepare for book clubs by reading and studying their texts, generating ideas based upon teaching points and their background knowledge. Students will push each other s thinking, and create/discuss theories about their reading. Providing students with guiding questions or sentence stems to support conversations may be helpful. Attached is a suggested progression of teaching points that are aligned vertically across grade levels and with the common core standards. The expectation is that teachers will adapt the teaching points and pace according to the needs of their students. The bends (area of focus) are as follows:

2 Bend One: Biography Readers Bring Forward All We Know About Reading Stories This bend will begin by having students analyze and recognize how expository nonfiction and narrative nonfiction texts differ. Students should notice that expository nonfiction provides information in a main idea and details format (boxes and bullets) while narrative nonfiction tells a series of events in the order they happened just like a story. We read these texts differently, so recognizing the structure and preparing our minds appropriately to navigate through the text is important. Next, students will be taught to read narrative nonfiction in a similar way to reading narrative stories. Readers will notice that there is a main character whose life story contains challenges and struggles, but who overcome these challenges and in the end learns a valuable life lesson. As readers read on, they will encounter various historical references and/or names of places/events that may be unfamiliar. We will teach students to look up these references in another book in order to increase their background knowledge on the time period. After this, you will draw attention to the setting in which their character lived since many of the figures are likely to have lived in different places or times from our own. We need to step into the shoes of our characters to truly understand and relate to the struggles and decisions they made at that time instead of responding as if these figures lived in contemporary society. From here, students will pay attention to how one event in their life connects with another (cause/effect) and how those sequence of events will influence later decisions in their life. Bend Two: Biography Readers Not Only Follow a Life Story, We Also Learn to Grasp and Grow Ideas Now that our students are able to read narrative nonfiction like fictional stories, they are ready to read a little deeper and pick out the big message that a person s life provides to the world. What is the reason that this person s life was significant enough to make into a book? We will want our student to be able to cite specific examples from these people s lives that demonstrate persistence, personal risk- taking or true courage. We also want to explain to students that one person s life story often represents a story of a larger group of people, commenting on history, society, or life in general. We end up realizing how challenging their decisions and achievements were during the time and place in which the figure lived, consequently recognizing how their achievements often affect the rights and freedoms of others enjoyed in later times. Finally, we use all of this information to ask ourselves, What is the life lesson I am learning from this person s life? Bend Three: Readers Know That Biography Is But One Form of Narrative Nonfiction In the final bend of the unit, you ll tell readers that biographies aren t the only forms of narrative nonfiction. You will expose students to additional narrative nonfiction that follows any true story chronologically such as a war, baseball game, how trash is recycled etc. Starting the bend by having students recognize any text that is narrative nonfiction is crucial. You may provide students with two different graphic organizers, a timeline versus boxes- and- bullets, to demonstrate the differences in how these texts are structured. It is also important to point out that most narrative nonfiction texts are either tales of achievement or tales of disasters. Identifying which form the text is written, will assist in a reader s comprehension. Finally, the end of the bend will dig deeper asking students to read for the deeper meaning or ideas. Why is this story being told? What lesson does it teach me? Celebration: The celebration at the end of the unit may include students choosing one biography or narrative nonfiction text that impacted them in some way. Have the students think about how reading this book has influenced their thinking, personal decisions or choices in their life. Some prompts to encourage this thinking may include: I learned from (person) that sometimes people but instead, people should

3 I learned from (person) that in life, it is important to (Person) changes from x to y Even if you,you should (Person) teaches us not only about, but also about When I first read about (person), I thought but now I realize These guided questions may turn into small literary essays that students can share with one another or their book clubs. We hope that students are able to walk away from this unit of study realizing that narrative nonfiction affects the way we live now, due to previous people s willingness to push through difficult times or choices, and came through in the end. Additional resources: Below is a link to Teachers College Reading Curricular Calendar, Grade 3: Biography Book Clubs, which provides additional detailed information about this unit. Lesson plans and resources for book clubs can be found at Helpful Websites z.com/books/genre- collections/ Biography Book List: Go to for a comprehensive list of biographies and narrative nonfiction texts by F&P level

4 Standards Priority: RI.2 RI.6 RF.3b RF.4a Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea. Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text. Decode words with common Latin suffixes. (Explicit instruction for this standard should occur during your word work block.) Read on- level text with purpose and understanding. Supporting: RI.9 SL.1d Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic. Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion Unit 4 Writing: Changing the World: Persuasive Speeches, Petitions, and Editorials (Calkins, Unit 3) * You will want to embed the Language Standards into your writing instruction. You may explicitly teach the skill during your minilesson, mid- workshop teaching point, or share. Once the skill is taught, you will hold your students accountable for the skill in their writing. Standards Priority: 3.W.1a Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons. 3.W.1b Provide reasons that support the opinion. 3.L.1h Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. 3.L.3b Recognize and observe differences between the conventions of spoken and written standard English. 3.L.4c Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., company, companion). Supporting: W.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons. W.1c W.1d L.1d Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons. Provide a concluding statement or section. Form and use regular and irregular verbs.

5 3 rd Grade, Unit 4 Reading Biography Book Clubs 34 days Bend 1: Biography Readers Bring Forward All We Know About Reading Stories Readers distinguish biographies (narrative nonfiction) from expository nonfiction by realizing that a biography is a story of one person s life. (RI.10) Woodburn #1 Readers connect biographies to fictional stories by identifying the subject and their hardships and struggles. (RI.1) Woodburn #2 Readers develop a theory about the specific traits of a subject by paying attention to the decisions he or she makes. (RI.7) Woodburn #3 (SL.1d, RI.9)) After studying the daily actions of the subjects of their biographies ask: What does this tell me about her as a person? What am I now learning about her as a person? Readers are reminded that we need to read long and strong while making a mental movie. (RI.10) Bengel # Students need to pay attention to details such as historical and political references or the descriptions of places and events. They can verify this information against informational texts on the same era. (RI.9, RI.7, RI.3) Readers consider how the time in which a person lived affected his/her life so that they can compare the setting to the events in the biography. (RI.3) Bengel #3 Readers recognize how the subject s time period differed from their own by paying attention to details of place, time and people s behaviors. (RI.7, RI.1) Woodburn #5 Readers ask and answer questions about anything they are wondering so that they can better understand the text. (RI.3) Bengel #15 Discuss: What in this book is similar to or different from contemporary society or my life in particular? Readers need to step in their characters shoes and think about their actions based on that time period. (RI.6, SL.1d, RI.9))

6 Readers develop an idea (theory) about a subject by paying attention to their relationships with others around them. (positive and negative relationships) (RI.2, RI.9) Woodburn #4 Readers identify cause and effect in the subject s life by asking How does what is happening now connect with what came before and how will that influence decisions they will make later? (RI.3) Woodburn #6 Readers identify the most important parts of a person s life so that they can analyze how those key events shaped that person s life. (RI.2, RI.9) Bengel #6 Revisit from earlier in the bend to draw further conclusions about the character: Readers pay attention to the important events and decisions in a character s life; they can be taught to recognize that a character s response to those events often reveals his or her traits. (RI.7) (SL.1d, RI.9) Woodburn # Bend 2: Biography Readers Not Only Follow a Life Story, We Also Learn to Grasp and Grow Ideas Readers determine why the subject is important by asking What important achievements or qualities made this person s life important enough to be written about? (RI.2, RI.3, RI.9) Readers study the subject more deeply by picking precise adjectives to describe the kind of bravery or risk taking that makes him or her unique. (RI.2, RI.9) Woodburn #8 Biography readers note that often a subject s life and time are quite different from our own. We look at the decisions this person made and judge him against the specific circumstances in which he lives rather than analyzing him in our own context. (RI.6) Readers connect the subject to the time and society in which they lived by asking, What group of people does this person represent? and understanding the challenges this group must have faced. (RI.1, RI.3, RI.6) Woodburn #9 Readers think about how events are connected in a person s life so that they can draw conclusions about the reasons people are the way they are. (RI.2) Bengel #17 Woodburn #7

7 (SL.1d, RI.9) Readers analyze a subject in the context of their life by realizing how challenging their decisions and achievements were during the time and place in which they lived in order to empathize with the person. (RI.2, RI.3, RI.6) Readers connect the subject s achievements to the rights and freedoms others (including us) enjoyed in later times. (RI.3) Woodburn #11 Readers are inspired by a subject s life by asking, What is the life lesson I am learning from this person s life? (from this text). (RI.2) Woodburn #12 Readers form opinions about people in biographies based on evidence and past experiences, so that they can discuss their opinions with others. (RI.6) Bengel #16 Woodburn # (SL.1d, RI.9) Bend 3: Readers Know That Biography Is But One Form of Narrative Nonfiction Readers recognize other kinds of narrative nonfiction by determining the subject can be something other than a person. (RI.2) Readers recognize tales of achievement or tales of disaster by identifying predictable patterns and reasons for being written. (RI.2) Navigating Nonfiction #11 Readers understand that narrative non- fiction stories are told for a reason by recognizing the lesson or the big idea in the story. (RI.2) Woodburn #15 Narrative nonfiction readers determine the theme by studying the difficult choices the subject makes during a crucial time. (RI.2) Woodburn #16 Woodburn # Readers become braver, stronger people by using narrative nonfiction as stories of personal inspiration. We ask ourselves, How will I live differently knowing that this happened in my world? (RI.10) (SL.1d, RI.9) Woodburn #17

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