Taft,+Monica-920

Monica Taft 8th grade math Portsmouth Middle School May 1, 2009 EDC 920


 * Unit Title**: __The boy in the striped pajamas__ by John Boyle

This unit was created for the 8th grade ELA teachers. Every year they teach a unit that is based on books of the Holocaust. They have used a variety of novels that are based on the Holocaust and show the impact on the children of that time. Before reading any of the books they are shown a video, “The Holocaust: In Memory of Millions” in order to get some background knowledge of the Holocaust.
 * Introduction**:

The unit should take from approximately 3 weeks to complete, using one of those weeks in order to introduce literature circles using what the ELA teachers refer to as “thin” books: __The Butterfly__ by Patricia Polacco and __Who was the woman who wore the hat?__ By Nancy Patz.

v  Use Literature Circles to read and discuss the novel in order to help them to prepare to write their responses for the classroom blog v  Use the classroom blog, [], in order to   o   Create their own questions about the novel they are reading o  Respond to each others’ posts o  Respond to writing prompts created by their teacher W 8-2 In response to literary or informational text, students show understanding of plot/ideas/concepts by: ·  Selecting and summarizing key ideas to set context ·  Connecting what has been read (plot/ideas/concepts) to prior knowledge, other texts, or the broader world of ideas, by referring to and explaining relevant ideas W 8-3 In response to literary or informational text, students make and support analytical judgments about text by: ·  Stating and maintaining a focus (purpose), a firm judgment, or point of view when responding to a given question ·  Making inferences about the relationship(s) among content, events, characters, setting, theme, or author’s craft ·  Using specific details and references to text or relevant citations to support focus or judgment ·  Organizing ideas, using transitional words/phrases and drawing a conclusion by synthesizing information (e.g., demonstrate a connection to the broader world of ideas) W 8-5 Students demonstrate use of narrative strategies by: ·  Creating images using details and sensory language to advance the plot/story line ·  Using dialogue to advance plot/story line ·  Developing characters through description, dialogue, actions, and relationships with other characters, when appropriate W 8-9 In independent writing, students demonstrate command of appropriate English conventions by: ·  Applying rules of standard English usage to correct grammatical errors ·  Applying capitalization rules ·  Applying appropriate punctuation to various sentence patterns to enhance meaning W 8-11 Demonstrates the habit of writing extensively by: ·  Writing with frequency, including in-school, out-of-school, and during the summer ·  Sharing thoughts, observations, or impressions ·  Generating topics for writing
 * Goals**:
 * Standards Addressed: **

OC 8-1 In oral communication students demonstrate interactive listening by: ·  Participating in large and small group discussions showing respect for a range of individual ideas ·  Group work rubric ·  Writing blogs rubric Materials for unit: ·  Each student will have a copy of the novel, __The Boy in the Striped Pajamas__ ·  The mobile laptop lab will be available every day ·  Copies of the Literature Circle roles http://mrstaft.wikispaces.com/ ·  Copies of __The Butterfly__ by Patricia Polacco ·  Copies of __Who was the woman who wore the hat?__ By Nancy Patz. __ Week 1 __ The first week of instruction will be to introduce the students on how to use Literature Circles in order to read and discuss a book. The four roles are Discussion Director, Literary Luminary, Vocabulary Enricher, and Illustrator/Connector. There are handouts for each of these roles. They will use the book __The Butterfly__ by Patricia Polacco to learn how to perform each role in a Literature Circle. Each day a different role will be examined and each student will have the opportunity to practice that role. On the fourth day they will all receive a role and will use a Literature Circle to discuss the book __Who was the woman who wore the hat?__ By Nancy Patz.
 * Assessment: http://mrstaft.wikispaces.com/ **
 * Lessons: **

The last day of the week we will use the mobile computer lab in order to learn about the classroom blog. The students will be given a prompt and will use class time to respond on the blog to that prompt.

Blog writing prompt – You have been given a copy of the book, __The Boy in the Striped Pajamas__ The blurb, a brief publicity notice, as on a book jacket, states The story in this book is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the jacket, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about.

If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn’t a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence.

Fences like this exist all over the world. We hope you never have to encounter such a fence. Write one paragraph describing what you think the book might be about. __ Week 2 - 3 __ Students will be placed into groups of four for Literature Circles in order to read __The Boy in the Striped Pajamas__ by John Boyne. They will each have a copy of the appropriate handout for their particular role. They will be expected to read chapters 1 and 2 in class and use the remaining time in class for discussion using their Literature Circle. For homework they will be assigned chapters 3 and 4 in the book and will have to create two questions they may have about the characters and the story.

Students will post their two questions to the classroom blog at the start of the second class. They will then join their Literature Circle and discuss the questions they had and the chapters that they completed for homework. For homework they should answer the following writing prompt in a blog entry. “You have read the first four chapters of the novel, the last page of the fourth chapter is the first time that Bruno refers to the pajamas, what are your thoughts about the pajamas? Why do you think Gretel might not call them pajamas?” At this time they will be expected to begin responding to at least one of the other posts per week.

As students continue to read the novel there will be writing prompts given and they will be expected to post their blog entries and to respond to entries of others. The prompts are as follows: __Extension__ – Students will be asked to create a character; they get to choose “which side of the fence he is on”. They should create dialog using their character, Bruno and Shmuel.
 * When Bruno asks his father about the people he sees outside his father responds that they are not people at all, what makes this statement so horrible and what does Bruno decide to do to find out about the people?
 * The title of Chapter 7 is “How mother took credit for something that she hadn’t done” why did the author choose this as a title and explain why you might disagree that what she did was “terribly selfish” as Bruno does.
 * Clothes are sometimes considered status symbols, find 3 instances in the novel that discuss what people are wearing, list the page numbers, who is being discussed and what they are wearing. Compare the 3 people and what their position in society might be.
 * Why do you think Bruno and Shmuel become friends? Is this friendship different from his friendships in Berlin?
 * Think about how Bruno described his trip to Out-With at the beginning of the novel and then how Shmuel describes his journey, using the adjectives in their stories, compare their journeys.
 * After reading Chapter 18 what do you think is going to happen at the end of the book? Write at least 2 paragraphs.
 * What does the end of the story symbolize? Why do you think the author chose to end it this way?
 * Reflect back on your first blog entry in response to the blurb, explain why you believe the publisher wrote what he did.