LESSON ONE: Recognizing Text Features of Fiction, Poetry, and Drama
LESSON DESCRIPTION
Introduce students to the book The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare. Students complete a literature response entry and develop and learn to complete a bookmark glossary for vocabulary development.
GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS
R2A Recognize text features of fiction, poetry, and drama in grade-level text.
LESSON MATERIALS
§ Sources of literature
o The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
o Nonfiction Text
§ Supplies
o Copies of The Sign of the Beaver for each student
o Spiral notebook for each student’s use as a literature response book
o Literature Response Log scoring guide
§ Handouts provided
o Literature Response Log for formative assessment
§ Words to know
o text features
o fiction
o nonfiction
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Bookmark glossary and Literature Response Log entry
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
1. Review and discuss text features such as: title, author, copyright, dedication, page numbers, table of contents, captions, glossary, index, illustrations, graphs and charts. Use The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare and a nonfiction text of your choice. (Note: The Sign of the Beaver does not have a glossary or a table of contents. Students create these text features during the unit.)
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Questions for Students
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Which text features are missing from The Sign of the Beaver? Which text features are present in The Sign of the Beaver? After reading the title and looking at the cover of the book, what do you predict the relationship is between the two boys What do you predict will happen in this story? |
2. Introduce the ‘bookmark glossary’ and its use. Students create their own bookmark glossary as they read the book The Sign of the Beaver.
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Strategy
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On an overhead transparency or chart paper, model how to complete the bookmark as you read chapter one aloud to the students. Find three to five words to list on the bookmark along with the page number. These words could include time period words, words of importance to the story, or unknown words. 10 of these words will be used to create a glossary at the end of the unit.
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3. Read chapter two to introduce the use of the Literature Response Log journals. Introduce the chapter and set a purpose for reading, such as: as you read chapter two, think about matt’s life alone in the woods. How is your life different? After students finish reading, work as a group to develop an acceptable response for their journals. Give students requirements for journal responses.
4. Students independently read chapter three through five, adding three to five words to their bookmark glossary and writing a personal connection to the chapters in their journals.