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Georgia Performance Standards Framework for English Language Arts – 1st grade

UNIT

Unit: Response to Literature Unit

Grade: 1st grade

Subject: English Language Arts

Unit Framework Annotation

This first grade unit will engage students in quality literature. Students will read and respond to literature. They will activate prior knowledge using the strategies of text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections. These connections will assist students in more thoroughly comprehending the text. The students will make plausible claims and evaluative statements about the texts they are reading. They willsupport their opinions with evidence from the text. Once students haveacquired these skills, they will then construct a response to literature in the form of a book review. Teachers will systematically and explicitly teach students how to write a book review. Students willtake their responses to literature through the writing process.They will begin to apply first grade conventions such as capitalization, punctuation, etc.
Students willcontinue to be assessed to determine their reading levels. They will read texts at their independent level to practice skills and strategies as well as to develop fluency. Students will be placed in appropriate guided reading groups at their instructional level and/or based on instructional need(s). Within the guided reading groups, students will be explicitly taught the elements of fiction. They willuse these elements to make comparisons among texts as well as make connections between texts, themselves, and/or the world.
Books to be read aloud by the teacher will be carefully chosen. These books should havecontent that reflects the lives of the students and the worldin which they live. Read-aloud books may be at a level higher than the students' instructional level. This will expose children to more complex themes. These themes will provide opportunities for students to make text-to-world connections.

Another focus of this unit will be speaking and listening skills. Students will learn how to give and receive positive and constructive feedback. Students will learn how to politely speak in pairs, small groups, and large groups. Students will begin to learn public speaking skills by presenting theirbook reviews at"Critics’ Corner," or by being videotaped.

Focus Standards

ELA1LSV1 The student uses oral and visual strategies to communicate. The student

c. Responds appropriately to orally presented questions.
e. Communicates effectively when relating experiences and retelling stories read, heard, or viewed.
f. Uses complete sentences when speaking.

ELA1R1 The student demonstrates knowledge of concepts of print. The student
a. Understands that there are correct spellings for words.
b. Identifies the beginning and end of a paragraph.
c. Demonstrates an understanding that punctuation and capitalization are used in all written sentences.

ELA1R2 The student demonstrates the ability to identify and orally manipulate words and individual sounds within those spoken words. The student

a. Isolates beginning, middle, and ending sounds in single-syllable words.

b. Identifies onsets and rimes in spoken one-syllable words.

c. Adds, deletes, or substitutes target sounds to change words (e.g., change top to stop; change smile to mile; change cat to cap).

ELA1R5 The student acquires and uses grade-level words to communicate.

a. Reads and listens to a variety of texts and uses new words in oral and written language

c. Identifies words that are opposites (antonyms) or have similar meaning (synonyms)

ELA1R6 The student uses a variety of strategies to understand and gain meaning from grade-level text. The student
a. Reads and listens to a variety of texts for information and pleasure.
b. Makes predictions using prior knowledge.
c. Asks and answers questions about essential narrative elements (e.g., beginning middle- end, setting, characters, problems, events, resolution) of a read-aloud or independently read text.
d. Retells stories read independently or with a partner.
f. Makes connections between texts and/or personal experiences.
i. Recognizes cause-and-effect relationships in text.
j. Identifies word parts to determine meanings.

k. Begins to use dictionary and glossary skills to determine word meanings.
l. Recognizes plot, setting, and character within texts, and compares and contrasts these elements among texts.

ELA1W1 The student begins to demonstrate competency in the writing process. The student
a. Writes texts of a length appropriate to address a topic and tell a story.
b. Describes an experience in writing.
c. Rereads writing to self and others, revises to add details, and edits to make corrections.
d. Prints with appropriate spacing between words and sentences.
e. Writes in complete sentences with correct subject-verb agreement.
i. Begins to write different types of sentences (e.g., simple/compound and declarative/interrogative).
j. Begins to use common rules of spelling.
l. Uses appropriate end punctuation (period and question mark) and correct capitalization of initial words and common proper nouns (e.g., personal names, months).

ELA1W2 The student writes in a variety of genres, including narrative, informational, persuasive, and response to literature. The student produces a response to literature that:

a. Captures a reader’s interest by stating a position/opinion about a text.

b. Begins to demonstrate an understanding of the text through oral retelling, pictures, or in writing.

c. Makes connections: text-to-self, text-to-text, text-to-world.

d. Begins to use organizational structures (beginning, middle, and end with details from the text).

e. May have a sense of closure.

f. May include oral or written prewriting (graphic organizers).

g. May include a draft that is revised and edited.

h. May be published.

Enduring Understandings

Activating schema by making connectionsallowsthe readerto read more thoroughly comprehend texts.
A summary includes a beginning, middle, and end.
Text-to-self connections means the reader makes a personal link between the text and the reader's life.
Tex- to-Text connections means the reader finds common features between texts.
Text-to-World connections means the reader finds themes in the text that he or she can relate to the real world.
A book review includes a brief summary of the text, evaluative judgment (book is good because... book is not good because...), title and author, and a plausible claim.
When a reader makes a claim about literature, he/she must support the claim with examples from the text.

Primary Learning Goals

What is included in a summary?
What is a text-to-self connection, and what questions help the reader make text-to-self connections?
What is a text-to-text connection, and what questions help the reader make text-to-text connections?
What is a text-to-world connection, and what questions help the reader make text-to-world connections?
What is the purpose of a book review, and what is included in a book review?
How do readers support claims aboutliterature?
How can a book review help a reader?

Balanced Assessments

Method/types / Informal Observations / Dialogue and Discussion / Selected Responses / Constructed
Responses / Self and Peer
Assessments
Description / Informal Checks / Text-to-Self Connections Chart
Text-to-Text Connections Chart
Text-to-World Connections Chart / Group Book Review Checklist

Text-to-Self Connections T-S

Name: ______

Title of the Book:______

Author: ______

In the Book… / Me
What is happening in the book you are reading? / What does it remind me of in my life?
What is similar to my life?
What is different from my life?

Text-to-Text Connections T-T

Name: ______

Title of the Book:______

Author: ______

In the Book… /

Another Book

What is happening in the book you are reading? / What does it remind me of in another book?
How is this similar to another book?
How is this different from another book?

Text-to-World Connections T-W

Name: ______

Title of the Book:______

Author: ______

In the Book… /

The World

What is happening in the book you are reading? / What does it remind me of in the world?
How is this similar to what is happening in the
world?
How is this different from what is happening
in the world?
Group Book Review Checklist
Book Review by:
Reviewers:

Directions

1st Listen to the author read his or her review.
2nd Give a compliment. What did you like about the review?
3rd Then answer the following questions.
·  Did the author include the title and author? Yes or No
·  Did the author tell about the beginning of the story? Yes or No
·  Did he/she tell about the middle of the story? Yes or No
·  Did the author keep the ending a surprise? Yes or No
·  Did the author make a recommendation to read the book or not to read the book? Yes or No
·  Did the author make a connection or tell about his/her favorite part? Yes or No

Unit Performance Task Title

Student Book Review

Now that students have had ample time making connections to text and supporting evaluative statements, they are ready to put it all together and write a book review on one of their independent readers.
1. Begin by reading or watching book reviews written by children their age. Book reviews can be found online,or you may collect them from the year before. Students enjoy reading fellow students' work.
2. As you read, help the students to define a book review and make a list of possible elements of a good book review. Create a chart and post.
Sample Chart: What Elements Make a Good Book Review?
Title
Author and Illustrator
A quick summary without giving the ending away
- A connection (T-S, T-T, or T-W)
An evaluative statement like, "I liked this book…," "I didn’t like this book…," and support from the text.

Would you recommend this book to someone else? Why?
What was the author trying to tell the reader?
3. As you read your book, you will note places in the text that you make a connection. Use sticky notes and code your connection.
Remember:
T-S means text-to-self
T-T means text-to-text
T-W means text-to-world
4. Once you have read your book, begin to draft your book review. Some students may need to use the Book Review Template.
5. Students will share their book reviews. They will give and receive feedback. See Book Review Feedback Sheet.
6. The teacher will confer with students about their drafts.
7. Students will apply 1st grade conventions to the piece and then publish.
8. Celebrate the accomplishments. You may videotape the book reviews and show other classes over closed circuit television, or you may make a newsletter including everyone’s review to go home, or you may have a "Critics’ Corner" and allow students to perform their reviews for their class or grade level.

Student Work Sample with Teacher Commentary (see next page)

Sequence of Instruction and Learning

Weeks 1 and 2
1. The teacher will explicitly teach how to retell a story. A retelling should include major points and supporting details, and points/details should be in the correct sequence.
2. Students will identify the elements of fiction, such as characters, setting, and plot. Graphic organizers will be used for students to use to record the information.
3. The teacher will explicitly teach beginning, middle, and end.
Beginning: How the story begins, characters, and setting
Middle: Problem and events that happen after
End: How the problem was solved, how the story ends

4. Students will practice retelling stories read aloud, in small groups, or independently. These retellings can be a combination of oral and written formats. The teacher will provide feedback.
5. Begin to create the Response to Literature Rubric with students. Add the element ofretelling to the rubric. As a class, define what approaching the standard, meeting the standard, and exceeding the standard look like in a first grade piece referring to retelling. Provide examples of work that are meeting standard for students to reference. Post chart throughout the unit.
6. The teacher will explicitly teach how to summarize including the most important ideas. A graphic organizer called a Story Skeleton will be used to assist students in summarizing.
7. Students will continue to develop their summarizing skills using an Organizational Structure Map. This graphic organizer helps students to tell only the main points and not the whole story.
8. Continue creating the Response to Literature Rubric with students. Add the element of summarizing to the rubric. As a class, define what approaching the standard, meeting the standard, and exceeding the standard looks like in a first grade piece referring to summarizing. Provide examples of work that are meeting standard for students to reference. Post chart throughout the unit.
9. Students write daily.

Story Skeleton

Summarize means including all the important ideas.

Title of the Book:

Author:

Somebody:

Wanted:

But:

So:

Then:

Ending:

Weeks 3 and 4
1. Students will begin to make evaluative statements aboutliterature such as "I liked this book because," or "I thought this book was interesting because... ," and then support the statements with evidence from the text.
2. The teacher will compile the statements from above in a bulletin board/chart called Books We Likefor others to reference.
3.The teacher will model how to make plausible claimsusingliterature with which students are familiar. She will guide students to makeplausible claims, such asMr._____ wasmean. Then she willexplicitly teach how to support the statement with evidence from the text.
4. The teacher will model TEXT-TO-SELF connections through read aloud/think aloud.Prior to sharing a text with students, the teacher will preview the book. She will note 3-4 places where she can make authentic connections. As she is reading she will stop where there is a connection and then model her thinking such as, "When I read that part it reminded me of..."
5. The teacher will explicitly teach questions that help the reader make connections. Create a chart for students to reference.
Samplechart: Text-to-Self Connections
Questions that help READERS make CONNECTIONS.
What did that remind me of?
What time did that make me think of?
How can I relate to what I just read?
What did the setting make me think of?
6. During independent reading, students will continue to make text-to-self connections. They will record their connections on sticky notes and label it T-S.
7. The teacher will assist students in evaluating the usefulness of the connections. The teacher will compile a list of all the connections made to a specific read-aloud. She will then have students sort the connections into two columns with one columntitled Useful Connections, and the other columntitled Not Useful Connections. As students are sorting the connections, they may need to receive some guidance from their teacher. Create a chart for future use.
Connections to one item, person, or onewordmay not be helpful, but connections that connect to something thatkeeps happening in the storyorto the central themehelp the reader comprehend the story.
8. Students will write connections to books read aloud. These connections should be collected in a folder for future use. During the closing of these lessons, a few students will share their connections. The teacher will carefully choose students to share. These students should help to model appropriate connections.
9. Students write daily.