LESSON FOUR:  Chronicling the Journey

 

LESSON DESCRIPTION

Students summarize information clearly and concisely in a multi-paragraph text using an appropriate method for note-taking.

 

GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS

W3B  Routinely use an appropriate method for note-taking.

W3D  Write a multi-paragraph text that summarized large amounts of information clearly and concisely and

           complete research papers/projects that develop a thesis, contain information from multiple sources and

           conforms to a style manual (e.g., APA, MLA).

 

LESSON MATERIALS

§         Sources of literature 

 

§         Supplies: 

o        Internet access

o        Taped segment of CBS’s Without a Trace (must be taped no more than 10 days prior to use, then erased)

 

§         Handouts provided

o        Life is Journey graphic organizer

o        Narrative Frame Questions

 

§         Words to know

o        graphic organizer

o        summary

 

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 

 

                    Assessment (Teacher)                        Assessment (Student)                            Scoring Guide

 

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

 

  1. Show the segment from Without a Trace that contains the timeline of events before and after the disappearance. Before viewing, explain detectives create this graphic organizer to examine the important events and remember the information in a concise way. Students use a similar graphic organizer for the literature they read.

 

Idea

 

 

 

Note

 

Teachers may use any literature containing a journey. The unit is designed to be used with The Odyssey, but can be adapted to other journey/episodic literature. (See suggestions in the bibliography.)

 

Episodic literature often contains several smaller “journeys” in the entire work. Teachers may utilize this section of the unit in three ways, depending upon time and objectives.

  1. Students take notes and summarize the entire work. (Life is a Journey graphic organizer provided.) 
  2. Students take notes and summarize one episode in the entire work using the Narrative Frame Questions graphic organizer handout.
  1. After viewing the segment, give each student a large slip of paper containing a specific event from a piece of  literature read previously (or from a fictitious disappearance). Students arrange themselves chronologically in a timeline. Explain an understanding of the events and their sequence will be important in the literature they are about to read. Students trace the events and summarize them in a graphic organizer.

 

  1. Using the Narrative Frame graphic organizer handout, review the elements of the Narrative Frame note-taking method: characters, setting, conflict, consequence, and resolution.  Model this method with a well-known fairy tale.

 

  1. Or, do a Think-Pair-Share-Square activity to refresh students’ memories about journeys. Explain the literature they read involves a series of journeys, and they need to be able to organize information about the journey and summarize it when they have finished.

 

Problem Solving:  Think-Pair-Share-Square

 

In groups of four, use the questions provided below in Discussion Questions to complete the following activity:

 

§         Think – Think about each question.  Write down your response in your journal.

 

§         Pair, Share – Turn to your partner and share your responses.

 

§         Square – Turn to the other partner and share your responses.

 

Be ready to represent your square by orally sharing your response with the class.

 

 

Discussion Questions

 

§         Describe a time when you faced a problem.

 

§         What decision did you make?

 

§         Were the results effective?  Why or why not?

 

 

  1. The class brainstorms elements included in a good summary.

     

  1. Remind students

§         it is necessary to take notes before they write the summary.

§         the summary must be in a multi-paragraph format.

 

  1. Students read the first section using either the reading strategies described in this unit or one of teacher’s choice. Model using the Life is a Journey graphic organizer for the first episode. Model a Think-Aloud strategy to show how you decided to write the summary, focusing on the above points about summarizing.

 

Think-Aloud Strategy

 

 

 

 

 Students need to think and ask questions while they read; however, struggling readers do not always know to ask the questions good readers automatically ask. The Think-Aloud strategy helps students make predictions about the text; compare and contrast events, ideas, and characters; visualize the information that is described in the text; and make connections to prior knowledge.

 

  1. Students read the next section of the literature and take notes.

 

  1. Students complete the remainder of the Life is a Journey graphic organizer independently.

 

  1. Students write a multi-paragraph summary.

 

Questions

      for

Students

 

 

 

 

How do you define a graphic organizer?

How is a graphic organizer helpful as you read the literature?

What are some of the elements of a narrative?

What kinds of journeys do people take?

Why do people go on a journey?

Is it possible to take a journey emotionally?

If you were to take a physical journey, what would you consult to guide you?

How would the map you use on a journey compare to note-taking methods?

Why do people keep a journal? How is it a summary?

How does a journal help in comprehending and evaluating a journey?