Pamela Tyson Georgia Southern University - Georgia OnMyLine Reading Enrichment Unit Read Across America Week

Understanding By Design Backwards Design Process Unit for Reading Enrichment Activities Dr. Suess Theme and/or Read Across America Week (Developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, 2002) Stage 1 Content Standard(s): Desired Results

ELAKR2 The student demonstrates the ability to identify and orally manipulate words and individual sounds within those spoken words. The student a. Identifies and produces rhyming words in response to an oral prompt and distinguishes rhyming and non-rhyming words. b. Identifies component sounds (phonemes and combinations of phonemes) in spoken words. c. Blends and segments syllables in spoken words. d. Segments the phonemes in high frequency words. e. Blends spoken phonemes to make high frequency words. ELAKR3 The student demonstrates the relationship between letters and letter combinations of written words and the sounds of spoken words. The student a. Demonstrates an understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between print and spoken sounds. b. Recognizes and names all uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet. c. Matches all consonant and short-vowel sounds to appropriate letters. d. Blends individual sounds to read one-syllable decodable words. e. Applies learned phonics skills when reading words and sentences in stories. ELAKR6 The student gains meaning from orally presented text. The student a. Listens to and reads a variety of literary (e.g., short stories, poems) and informational texts and materials to gain knowledge and for pleasure. b. Makes predictions from pictures and titles. c. Asks and answers questions about essential narrative elements (e.g., beginning-middle-end, setting, characters, problems, events, resolution) of a read-aloud text. d. Begins to distinguish fact from fiction in a read-aloud text. e. Retells familiar events and stories to include beginning, middle, and end. f. Uses prior knowledge, graphic features (illustrations), and graphic organizers to understand text. g. Connects life experiences to read-aloud text. h. Retells important facts in the students own words.
Understanding (s)/goals Students will understand that: y the definition of rhyming words y the morals of each story y gains the ability to listen to read alouds and derive meaning y manipulation of letters in a word changes the sound of the word Essential Question(s): y How would you explain rhyming words to a friend? y What do you think this story is trying to teach us? y If you could write like Dr. Suess, what words would you create? What would those words mean to you and to other people?

Student objectives (outcomes): Students will be able to: y identify rhyming words y complete word families y graph personal preferences y answer questions about narrative elements y recall events of the stories Stage 2 Assessment Evidence Performance Task(s): Other Evidence: y create wordle of Dr. Suess rhyming words y before and after versions of Wordle y review Glogster site y teacher observation and anecdotal notes for y work on suessville.com games Glogster review and website games (sorting, y cook green eggs and ham matching, fill in the blank) y write journals y before and after chart of student preference on green eggs and ham recipe y journal entry Stage 3 Learning Plan Learning Activities: Introduction to Dr. Suess y Teacher uses http://gwatkins.edu.glogster.com/dr-seuss/ or www.suessville.com to introduce Dr. Suess and his stories. Students can explore the Glogster and suessville websites later in the unit. y Teacher defines and gives examples of rhyming words to front load the students. y Teacher asks students to share some words that they know Dr. Suess uses in his writings. Teacher records the words and works with class to create a Wordle. This Wordle will serve as a before snapshot of the students vocabulary knowledge. Oh, The Place You Will Go y Teacher reads the story. During the story teacher discusses the main theme, rhyming words, and alliteration. y After the story is completed, the teacher serves as a facilitator for a class discussion on what the students want to do or be when they grow up. y Students then use template from http://www.seussville.com/activities/OTP_WhenIGrowUp_2.pdf to draw and write about what they want to be when they grow up. Student work can be displayed on classroom door for Read Across America Week. The Sneetches y Teachers pass out your class set of the book. Teachers use SmartBoard or TV Link to go to http://gwatkins.edu.glogster.com/dr-seuss/ . Play the video of The Sneetches movie. Have the children follow along in the book as the movie plays. Remember to turn on Closed Captioning so that the students can also see the words. After the movie, use the link to suessville and introduce the activities and games site. Make sure the students all get a turn on the computer center throughout the week, so that they can use this great interactive resource. Green Eggs and Ham y Teachers begin by creating a yes/no chart for the class. Have the students write their names on the yes side of the chart if they think they will like green eggs and ham and no side if they don t. y Teachers explain who President Barack Obama is. Place an emphasis on his love of reading. Ask the children what books they think they President would like to read and do they think he likes green eggs and ham. y Play the video of President Obama reading Green Eggs and Ham on the White House lawn. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imFTk5exiDY

As he reads the first few pages of the story, stop the video to review the rhyming words on each page. Be sure to have a copy of the book handy to point out words. It also helps to activate the closed caption option. y Encourage your class to finish the sentences in the story with the children in the video. y After the video is finished, review rhyming words that were found in the story. y Write a few of the words on chart paper. Make deliberate choices about the words you write on the paper. The children should be able to see the word families. Keep it simple! y Cook the green eggs and ham. Be sure to involve the children in every step of the recipe. y After the children have tasted the food, ask them if they liked the green eggs and ham now. Compare the before and after responses with the class. y End the activity by discussing the moral and plot of the story. Conclusion of Dr. Suess Activities y Repeat the Wordle activity used for the introduction of the unit. The class now has an after snapshot. Students and teachers should be able to see significant growth in the size of the wordle (indicating growth in student vocabulary and listening comprehension). Wordles can focus on general vocabulary, rhyming words, or narrative elements. y Students work together to create a class chart showing the students favorite Dr. Suess book. y Students write in their journals at the end of the unit describing the lessons/morals that Dr. Suess tries to teach through his books. y