TEC Lesson Plan
Contributor Information
Name: Holly S. Atkins
email address: holly_atkins@placesmail.k12.fl.us
School: Bay Point Middle, Pinellas County Schools, Largo, FL
Standards
Sunshine State Standards
LA.A.1.3.2 The student uses a variety of strategies to analyze words and text, draw conclusions, use context and word structure clues, and recognize organizational patterns.
LA.A.2.3.6 The student uses a variety of reference materials, including indexes, magazines, newspapers, and journals; and tools, including card catalogs and computer catalogs, to gather information for research topics.
LA.B.2.3.4 The student uses electronic technology including databases and software to gather information and communicate new knowledge.
LA.E.2.3.2 The student responds to a work of literature by interpreting selected phrases, sentences, or passages and applying the information to personal life.
LA.E.2.3.3 The student knows that a literary text may elicit a wide variety of valid responses.
LA.E.2.3.4 The student knows ways in which literature reflects the diverse voices of people from various backgrounds.
LA.E.2.3.6 The student identifies specific questions of personal importance and seeks to answer them through literature.
LA.E.2.3.7 The student identifies specific interests and the literature that will satisfy those interests.
LA.E.2.3.8 The student knows how a literary selection
can expand or enrich personal viewpoints or experiences.
T.3.3.4 3. Technology productivity tools
4. Use content-specific tools, software, and simulations (e.g., environmental
probes, graphing calculators, exploratory environments, Web tools) to support
learning and research.
T.5.3.6 5. Technology research tools
6. Design, develop, publish, and present products (e.g., Web pages, videotapes)
using technology resources that demonstrate and communicate curriculum concepts
to audiences inside and outside the classroom.
T.6.3.5 6. Technology problem-solving and decision-making
tools
5. Apply productivity/multimedia tools and peripherals to support personal
productivity, group collaboration, and learning throughout the curriculum.
T.6.3.6 6. Technology problem-solving
and decision-making tools
6. Design, develop, publish, and present products (e.g., Web pages, videotapes)
using technology resources that demonstrate and communicate curriculum concepts
to audiences inside and outside the classroom.
Lesson Plan
Title: Where in the World is Young Adult
Literature?
Technology Resource Requirements:
Subject Area(s): Reading, Language Arts
Grade Level: 6-12
Short Description:
This unit requires students, through reading
and writing, to become familiar with the literature (specifically young adult)
of countries other than the United States.
Approximate Time Required: 6 weeks
Gain Attention:
To begin this unit, teacher and students will
share their reactions to the following quotation: “Books can make a difference
in dispelling prejudice and building community:
not with role models and literal recipes, not with noble messages about
the human family, but with enthralling stories that make us imagine the lives
of others … once you see someone as a person flawed, complex, striving
then you’ve reached beyond stereotype.” (Rochman, 1993)
Tasks:
An important and necessary feature of this unit is that it takes place in a reading-writing workshop classroom environment. Therefore, students will be devoting most of each class period to working on their projects independently.
a) Students will view a Power Point presentation introducing the objectives, requirements, and grading policy for the unit.
b) After students have chosen a particular country (other than the United States) of interest, they will search the internet or their local library for novels, short stories, children’s books, and poems connected with that country. Students can also use the country-by-country list of novels found on the Young Adult World Literature Web site created for this purpose.
c) Using a mail merge, the teacher will give each student a book recommendation for the country they have chosen.
d) The teacher will begin each day with a minilesson focusing on a different skill students will use during the unit. Some of these minilessons include how to write an effective summary, responding to literature, creating effective Power Point presentations, and using search engines.
e) Students will spend the remaining class time reading their selected literature, writing in their response logs, writing summaries, and working on their presentations for the class folk fair.
f) Students interested in completing “A” projects will choose from the list of alternative book reports including creating a HyperStudio or Power Point presentation, or a Web page.
g) Students may find the following Internet resources helpful during this unit: http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/multicultural/
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/multicultural/sites1.html
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/spring96/mcdonald.html
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/multipub.htm
http://hometown.aol.com/mcsing29
Interactions:
The teacher will present the PowerPoint introduction
to the unit and subsequent reading/writing minilessons.
Students will work independently for most of the unit, but work cooperatively
during the class folk fair.
Assessments:
The teacher and the students will collaborate on the rubrics for each of the assignments in this unit. The Web site, Project Based Learning allows teachers to select from a number of rubrics for different projects and customize them to fit their particular needs.