Technology
Connections
The text of “The Bracelet “ can be found at:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/online/eoc00/engii/writ5.html
Background information on Japanese American internment camps can be found on these web sites:
LESSON SIX: “The Bracelet”
LESSON DESCRIPTION
Students continue to use details from text to analyze the influence of setting on characters, plot and resolution using the story “The Bracelet” by Yoshiko Uchida. Students explore how sensory details enhance writing by helping the reader create a mental image. The lesson includes sharing their homework, completing a sensory detail bracelet project, and writing the fourth journal entry of the unit.
GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS
R2C Use details from text to analyze the influence of setting on characters, plot and resolution.
W3A Write a personal narrative that …includes sensory detail.
Students complete an exit slip after the F. I. R. E. activity.
Students draw and label a Sensory Detail Bracelet showing their understanding of sensory details were used in the text. Scoring guide included.
LESSON MATERIALS
§ Source of Literature
o “The Bracelet” by Yoshiko Uchida
§ Supplies
§ Handouts provided
§ Words to know
o setting
o plot
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
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Questions for Students |
Write the guiding question for the lesson on the board.
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1. Students share their answers to last night’s homework using the Pinwheel Discovery strategy (Billmeyer 2003).
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Strategy
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Pinwheel Discovery: Divide students into two equal groups. Students stand in two concentric circles. Students in the inner circle face outward; students in the outer circle face inward. Student pairs will have a reflective conversation about the topic. This means one student (speaker) will spend a brief time explaining their ideas. The other student (coach) will listen actively, restate what is said, and ask inquiry questions. Students switch partners/roles after the allotted time. |
2. Discuss why we value certain items.
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Questions for Students |
Would your list look any different if you had been asked to make it when you were in third grade? Why? Do you think your list will look different a year from now? Why? |
3. Explain that the story they are going to read deals with a lost valuable. Give students background information on the story: setting and historical time period. Remind students to keep this in mind as they read the story “The Bracelet” by Yoshiko Uchida.
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Technology Connections
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The text of “The Bracelet “ can be found at: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/online/eoc00/engii/writ5.html
Background information on Japanese American internment camps can be found on these web sites: |
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Idea
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A picture book with the same setting using a male main character is Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki. This is an excellent supplementary piece. |
4. Read the story, aloud or independently. After the story is read, pair the students and have them use the F. I. R. E. strategy (Billmeyer 2003). Encourage students to support their answers with details from the story.
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Strategy
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F. I. R. E. Strategy: F=Formulate a question that causes students to think critically about a topic (see question box below); I=give students time to internalize the question and formulate an answer; R=students record their thinking; E=students exchange their ideas with another student.
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Questions for Students
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Use these questions to begin discussion.
Use these questions for the F. I. R. E. Strategy.
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Assessment
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Students complete an Exit Slip (Janet Allen 2004) listing one idea they got from their partner in the F. I. R. E. activity.
How did your partner think setting influenced the character or plot?
Exit Slip – short prompt for a focused writing that gives teachers feedback about student learning. |
5. Students complete Journal Response Four: Suppose you are faced with a crisis situation such as Emi’s and may only take five personal items. Write a journal entry about how this crisis would force you to prioritize the ten items from your list. Be sure to explain why you selected the items you did.
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Ideas |
Students may write their Journal Response in their own notebook, on their own paper or on a printed copy of Journal Response Four. |
6. Remind students that we receive information through our five senses.
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Questions for Students |
What are our five senses? Which sense do you think is the strongest? Weakest? Can you find examples of sensory details in “The Bracelet”? |
7. Students close their eyes and experience a passage from the story with all their senses. What are they smelling, feeling, tasting, hearing, seeing?
Read the following passage from “The Bracelet”
No matter what anybody called it, it was just a dark, dirty horse stall that still smelled of horses. And the linoleum laid over the dirt was littered with wood shavings, nails, dust, and dead bugs. There was nothing in the stall except three folded army cots.
As a class brainstorm an example of a sensory detail for each of the five senses. Discuss how these sensory details help create a mental image of the scene.
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Questions for Students |
What phrases do you remember from the passage just read? What senses are appealed to by each of these phrases? How do these phrases give you a stronger mental image? How would the passage be different without these sensory details? |
8. Pass out the Sensory Detail Bracelet handout. Read through the directions with students and have them complete the assessment.
