ELA CCGPS UNIT PLAN: 3rd 9 WEEKS
READING FOCUS: LITERARY AND INFORMATIONAL
THEME: Life Cycle Investigators
PART 1 EXTENDED TEXT (4.5 WEEKS):
Gooney Bird on the Map by Lois Lowry (Pull for small group reading throughout first 4.5 weeks during Part 1 lessons)
THEMATICALLY CONNECTED SHORT TEXTS (mixture of literary and informational):Maps
1. Me On The Map by Joan Sweeney
2. Maps and Globes (Reading Rainbow Book) by Jack Knowlton (available online)
3. There's a Map on My Lap!: All About Maps (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library) by Tish Rabe (available online)
Regions
1. Georgia, My State: Geographical Regions By Doraine Bennett
-series of six books; one for each region
(You may use any reference material on the state’s geographical regions as substitutes for these books)
Rivers
1. The Raft by Jim LaMarche
2. Where the River Begins by Thomas Locker
3. Website: http://www.brownsguides.com/blog/georgia-rivers-posters/
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL:-Webpage to provide background knowledge for teachers on the 5 regions in Georgia; http://dromus.nhm.uga.edu/~gmnh/gawildlife/index.php?page=information/regions
-Webpage that can be used to introduce the basic facts about the 5 regions in Georgia; http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0213900/
-Webpage for follow up lesson on introduction of Georgia’s regions http://www.slideshare.net/JenniferWilson2/the-five-regions-of-georgia-10043656
-Example of book created by a second grade classroom; http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/education/the-regions-and-rivers-of-georgia-4145701
-Me On The Map read aloud on video; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f7ebZMLn08
PART 2 EXTENDED TEXT (4.5 WEEKS):
Velma Gratch & the Way Cool Butterfly by Alan Madison, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes (Schwartz & Wade, 2007). (Pull for small group reading during Part 2 lessons)
THEMATICALLY CONNECTED SHORT TEXTS (mixture of literary and informational):
1. What is a Life Cycle? (Science of Living Things) by By Bobby Kalman and Jacqueline Langille. (1998, Crabtree Publishing)
2. Fish is Fish By Leo Lionni. (1987, Knopf Paperback)
3. A Monarch Butterfly’s Life By John Himmelman. (1999, Children’s Press)
4. The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: A Book about How Living Things Grow By Joanna Cole. (1995, Scholastic)
5. A Log’s Life By Wendy Pfeffer, illustrated by Robin Brickman. (1997, Simon & Schuster)
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL:
Link to several great life cycle books that are second grade readability: http://www.sciencecompanion.com/for-sc-teachers/resources-by-module/life-cycles-resources/life-cycles-recommended-reading/
Great book containing great life cycle vocabulary, activities and projects. Explore Life Cycles!: 25 Great Projects, Activities, Experiments (Explore Your World series) [Paperback] Kathleen M. Reilly Kathleen M. Reilly (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Kathleen M. Reilly PageFind all the books, read about the author, and more.
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(Author), Bryan Stone (Illustrator)
Website gives several links to hands on life cycle projects: http://www.kidskonnect.com/subject-index/15-science/87-life-cycles.html
PART 1 WRITING FOCUS Opinion
This prompt will be your assessment for the first 4.5 weeks:
PROMPT: Explain, with specific examples from books in our unit, what kinds of things students learn from both fiction and non-fiction books. How are the lessons learned from each type of book alike, and how are they different? In your opinion, is fiction or non-fiction the best way for second graders to learn about life?
Provide a list of books used in the first 4.5 weeks of the unit…
Me On The Map
Maps and Globes
There's a Map on My Lap
Georgia, My State: Geographical Regions
The Raft
Where the River Begins
Browns’ Guide to Georgia Website
PART 2 WRITING FOCUS Opinion
This prompt will be your assessment for the second 4.5 weeks:
PROMPT: (Each student in the class will write an article to create a classroom magazine.) Review your journal topics and decide on a subject for your topic. Your job is to persuade the reader to believe something. Some examples could be…
The best life cycle book we explored is…
The most interesting life cycle is…
Learning about adjectives and adverbs can be fun…
Learning about collective nouns can be fun…
If you come up with your own topic to write an opinion on, it must be approved by the teacher.
Students could also create advertisements for made up products for butterflies, frogs, or fish to add to the classroom magazine.
Research Connections:
1. Discover where you are located. Use http://www.google.com/earth/index.html to type in your current location. Start at the picture of the school, then to the town, state, continent, Earth and back again as the story Me on The Map describes.
2. Introduce the six books, Georgia, My State: Geographical Regions By Doraine Bennett, on the regions of Georgia. Explain to the class that for several days small groups will rotate to each book. Each group is required to research each book to find several facts for their journals. Each journal page should be labeled with the name of the region. The topics for each region include: Location in Georgia, Type of Land, Plants, and Animals.
Routine Writing:
Journal Entry 1: (Students are asked to describe in detail the answer to this journal prompt for their first journal entry, citing specific information from the story.)
-Before I read “Me on the Map” by Joan Sweeney I did not know ______
Journal Entry 2: State an opinion and support the opinion with several reasons.
-If maps did not exist, I think the most difficult problem we would face ______
Journal entry 3:
As a class or in small groups define the following words and add to personal journals: map key, scale, grid, compass, globe, legend
Journal entry 4-10:
Information on the 5 regions of Georgia
Journal entry 11:
I am like Nicky from the story The Raft by Jim LaMarche in a few ways.
Journal entry 12:
The two stories The Raft and Where the River Begins have similarities and differences. In your opinion, which story is the best story? Use the similarities and differences to support your opinion.
Journal entry 13: Information from your own research: 1. Plants 2. Animals 3. Where your river is located 4. History Fact 5. Two interesting facts that you think will be different from any of the other rivers presented by the class.
Journal entry 14-19: Notes taken from other group’s presentations about their river.
Journal entry 20: Shared non-fiction writing on introducing life cycles.
Journal entry 21: The book The Life Cycle of Fish, by Darlene Stille introduces the stages in a fish’s life. In my opinion the most dangerous stage for survival is …
Journal entry 22: Write the noun and irregular plural noun grouped according to spelling pattern. Label each group.
Journal entry 23: Glossary page for Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni, including definition and sentence for each word
Journal entry 24: Write the original, rearranged and combined sentences about your butterfly.
Journal entry 25: Record the list of collective nouns in your journal.
Journal entry 26: Lima bean experiment.
Journal entry 27: Pretend that you are one of the animals that depend on the tree. Discuss which part of the life cycle the tree is in and why you need the tree to survive.
PLANS FOR ASSESSMENT 1: CONNECTING READING TO WRITING AT GRADE-APPROPRIATE LEVEL
PROMPT: Explain, with specific examples from books in our unit, how students learn from both fiction and non-fiction books. In your opinion are fiction or non-fiction books the best way for second graders to learn?
Provide a list of books used in the first 4.5 weeks of the unit…
Me On The Map
Maps and Globes
There's a Map on My Lap
Georgia, My State: Geographical Regions
The Raft
Where the River Begins
Browns’ Guide to Georgia Website
SKILL BUILDING TASKS
This unit is intended to meet the shared reading and writing workshop segments of a balanced literacy program. Reading foundation standards (RF), while reinforced in this unit, should be taught directly during daily guided reading and explicit phonics instruction.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How can a fiction book teach me facts?
Task: Introduce Unit/Find facts from a fiction book
Standards:
ELACC2RI1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
ELACC2RI2: Identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
ELACC2RI5: Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
ELACC2RI6: Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.
ELACC2RI7: Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text.
ELACC2SL1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
ELACC2W2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
ELACC2L2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
a. Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names.
b. Use commas in greetings and closings of letters.
c. Use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives.
d. Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words (e.g., cage → badge; boy → boil).
e. Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.
Instruction 1-2 days: Introduce the unit by reading the ‘Dear Second Grade’ letter. Explain to the students that they are on a mission to solve the animal mix up problem and they will start this investigation by exploring maps about Georgia. As a group, discuss several ways the class can keep all of their information organized during this mission. (Journal, typing notes, folder, etc.) Decide as a class how each student will organize the gathered information. This will give you time to prepare materials for the students to record their information on for the unit when you start the map investigation portion. Post the ‘Where we are’ paper in a visible location and clip a paperclip next to maps. Move the clip at the appropriate times in the lesson so that the students have visual to their progress throughout the unit.
Before Reading:
As a class generate a list of ideas about maps labeled ‘We think maps…’ Explain that these might be facts and they might not. The class will have to determine if they are true during their investigation. Show the class the book “Me on the Map” and ask the students if they think this story will give them facts about real maps, non-fiction, or if this is a make-believe, fiction book. Explain that sometimes it can be a little bit of both. This book gives facts about maps through a fiction story. Ask the students to watch for ways that the author teaches facts through this fiction book and through the diagrams and illustrations.
During Reading:
Discuss the illustrations on each page. Compare them to the previous pages; How are they similar/different? Where else have you seen this type of map?
After Reading:
Compare the illustrations and discuss. Discuss how the map starts out showing a small space (the child’s bedroom) all the way to a huge space (the world). How did the illustrations help you understand the story?
In partners, or small groups, challenge the students to recall each map in the correct sequence from the story. Then review the correct order from the book. Turn to the page that shows the map of the state. Explain to the students that during the first part of this unit you will concentrate on this type of map, but our state. Ask the students to observe the picture and make a guess at what is missing from this map that should be on an official map. (Title, map key, map symbols, compass)
Use http://www.google.com/earth/index.html to type in your current location. Start at the picture of the school, then to the town, state, continent, Earth and back again as the story did.
Journal Entry 1: (Students are asked to describe in detail the answer to this journal prompt for their first journal entry, citing specific information from the story.)
Before I read “Me on the Map” by Joan Sweeney I did not know ______
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How is learning from a non-fiction book different/similar to learning from a fiction book?
Task: Discover the beginning/need for maps
Standards:
ELACC2RI1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
ELACC2RI2: Identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
ELACC2RI4: Determine the meanings of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.
ELACC2RI6: Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.
ELACC2RI8: Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.
ELACC2RI9: Compares and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.
ELACC2RF4: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
a. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
ELACC2SL1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
ELACC2W1: Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.
ELACC2L2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
a. Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names.
b. Use commas in greetings and closings of letters.
c. Use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives.
d. Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words (e.g., cage → badge; boy → boil).
e. Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.
g. Creates documents with legible handwriting.
Instruction: 1 day
Before Reading-
Read the following questions to the students:
-List reasons the book gives that explain why maps might have been created?