Overview:
Students will be studying various non-fiction resources and accounts of historical events and then using the information they have learned to create a historical fiction children's book to share with others.
Lesson 1: Oct. 30-Nov. 1
We will address the following questions:
"What is history?"
"What makes history?"
"What makes certain events more memorable than others?"
We will discuss what we already know about U.S. History and the events that have helped to shape America. We will rotate through centers using various technologies trying to catch brief glimpses at moments in history by skimming and scanning reference materials, so we can begin brainstorming historical events that we might want to learn more about. Students will collect their findings in decade bubbles to get an overview of the decade.
Skim: When you skim, you glance through a piece of writing quickly to get a general idea of what it is about.
Scan: When you scan, you read quickly to locate specific information, key words or ideas, or to answer a specific question.
Students will be expected to narrow their focus down to 3 historical events of interest. They will write down some things they are interested in learning more about.
**Note** If students have books that need to be returned to the library, they should be sure to do that or to bring them with them to the next AIG meeting, so they can check out resources they may need.
"What is history?"
"What makes history?"
"What makes certain events more memorable than others?"
We will discuss what we already know about U.S. History and the events that have helped to shape America. We will rotate through centers using various technologies trying to catch brief glimpses at moments in history by skimming and scanning reference materials, so we can begin brainstorming historical events that we might want to learn more about. Students will collect their findings in decade bubbles to get an overview of the decade.
Skim: When you skim, you glance through a piece of writing quickly to get a general idea of what it is about.
Scan: When you scan, you read quickly to locate specific information, key words or ideas, or to answer a specific question.
Students will be expected to narrow their focus down to 3 historical events of interest. They will write down some things they are interested in learning more about.
**Note** If students have books that need to be returned to the library, they should be sure to do that or to bring them with them to the next AIG meeting, so they can check out resources they may need.
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/history/
http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/elmer/infocentral/frameset/decade/1920.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States
http://www.westernreservepublicmedia.org/decades/index.htm
http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/elmer/infocentral/frameset/decade/1920.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States
http://www.westernreservepublicmedia.org/decades/index.htm
Lesson 2:
Students will go to the media center to locate both print and non-print resources they can use to learn more about their chosen historical event. Based on resources available, students will select a historical event they are interested in focusing their project on. They will check out books that they want to use and list their sources for bibliographic use later.
Lesson 3 (Nov. 12-15):
The majority of this lesson will be teacher modeling with non-fiction sources and facts that have been taken from a children's book, so the students can identify how facts can be incorporated into fiction.
Students will begin using their resources to determine what information they want to use in their historical fiction story and figuring out what information they still need. Students will be allowed to go to the media center to find additional print materials or to use computers in the classroom to locate extra information. They will be expected to add new resources to their bibliography page.
Students will begin using their resources to determine what information they want to use in their historical fiction story and figuring out what information they still need. Students will be allowed to go to the media center to find additional print materials or to use computers in the classroom to locate extra information. They will be expected to add new resources to their bibliography page.
The following questions will be addressed:
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Lesson 4
The teacher will model using the graphic organizers to combine the non-fictional and fictional elements into a children's historical fiction story. Students will begin using graphic organizers to plan, organize and draft their children's books. Students are encouraged to continue working on their drafts outside of AIG.
Preferably they will keep up with their original graphic organizer at it is very large and more suitable to holding lots of ideas!
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Today students had the idea to re-open the KidBlog for helping each other brainstorm their plot ideas. What kind of teacher can say no to kids wanting to help each other out? I encourage anyone who may be stuck or who may want opinions on their ideas to share. Together we get better!
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Lesson 5
Students will continue working on their drafts. They are encouraged to have completed their draft by the beginning of Lesson 6, so they may be peer edited/revised prior to the holiday break.
Lesson 6-8
Students will have a classmate, parent, teacher, or older sibling edit and revise their stories. They must have the signature of the person who edited and revised attached to their drafts. This will be submitted at the end of the unit.
Students will work to complete their children's books. Students are encouraged to use the graphic organizer to plan which parts of their story they want on each page. Remember, the first page should be a title page.
About the Author pages, glossaries, historical facts and timelines are optional.
Students will work to complete their children's books. Students are encouraged to use the graphic organizer to plan which parts of their story they want on each page. Remember, the first page should be a title page.
About the Author pages, glossaries, historical facts and timelines are optional.
Lesson 9:
There will be no class on Jan. 22-24 due to case 21 testing. Therefore, projects will be due on the 28th, 29th, or 30th.
Students will share their final products and self-evaluate.
They will also be expected to hand in their rough drafts with their signed edit/revision sheets and their bibliography page.
They will also be expected to hand in their rough drafts with their signed edit/revision sheets and their bibliography page.