Click here for MATH ENRICHMENT _____________________________________________ READING ENRICHMENT PROGRAM PROGRAM BACKGROUND After conducting reading assessments, the first grade teachers made recommendations for several students to participate in a reading enrichment program that will allow students to engage in higher-level discussions of reading materials that are above the first grade level. Students will learn key terms for analyzing literature (plot, setting, character, personification, theme, etc.) and will also develop more advanced vocabulary and concepts. Students will also work on writing skills through creative responses that demonstrate their knowledge of concepts or techniques used by the poet or author. Students work in a pull-out group scheduled during their regular language arts block: Tuesday mornings from 8:35-9:20. The instructor for the group is Kevin Kendall, gifted education coordinator. OBJECTIVES Reading: Mr. Kendall uses the collective inquiry method of discussion that asks students to present their opinions on questions that may have more than one answer and support their opinions by citing specific evidence from the text of the story. This forces students who are wonderful "word callers" (students who can pronounce words well advanced of the common vocabulary of a child their age) to become careful readers of those words. Students need to be specific about what they like and don't like about characters and express their ideas about themes that are presented in the stories. Literary Terms: Students will continue to add to their knowledge of literary terms: plot, setting, character, personification, point of view, etc. Recent additions to our literary terms are "rhyme scheme" (a way of labeling the pattern of rhyming words in a poem) and stanza ("the paragraphs of a poem"). We also have discussed homophones and homonyms (see sessions 15 and 16 below). Writing: Students will experiment in various kinds of poetry and prose so that they: 1) consider multiple points of view; 2) have opportunities to explore their imagination and express themselves creatively; and 3) learn the initial steps in the writing process - brainstorming, draft, and revision (the emphasis in revision will be on adding more descriptive details to create longer, sustained pieces of writing). CURRICULUM UPDATE Spring 2012 Session 19 - March 13 Students will read examples of "concrete poetry," which are poems that take the shape of the subject matter. Shel Silverstein's poem "Snake Problem" has the snake's body drawn in the shape of cursive letters that spell "I love you." Students will attempt their own concrete poems. Students will also read "Poemsicle" and have some fun inventing some of their own words to create a unique poetic voice in an original poem. Session 20 - March 20 Students will read several poems by Shel Silverstein that center around the issue of why we value people, possessions, and ideas. Students will then be asked to write about something or someone that they value. They will also have the option to write about things they wish to hold on to but cannot, based on Silverstein's poem, "Snowball": I made myself a snowball As perfect as could be. I thought I'd keep it as a pet And let it sleep with me. I made it some pajamas And a pillow for its head. Then last night it ran away, But first - it wet the bed. Session 21 - March 27 Students will read Silverstein's poem, "If the World Was Crazy." The two writing options off of this poem are to write your own poem on "If the World Was Crazy ..." or write your own poem about your ideas on "If the World Was Better..." Session 22 - April 3 Writing Workshop - students will get feedback from their peers and from Mr. Kendall on the poems they have written and complete and/or revise them in preparation for the class collection. April 10 - Spring Break - NO SCHOOL Session 23 - April 17 Students will write poems about their favorite color. The student is to list not only things that are that color, but why it is a favorite color, and what the color makes them think or feel. My model poem, which you can view by clicking on the title, is called "On Blue." Sessions 24 and 25 - April 24 and May 1 Writing Workshop Days - to get poems ready for class collection and "Celebration of Writing" Session 26 - May 8 Extra Writing Workshop Day (if needed) or the following lesson: Students will begin read Flat Stanley (or one of the sequels if too many students have already read it). Session 27 - "Celebration of Writing" - 8:30-9:15 Tuesday, May 15 at the Gazebo Students will read their favorite poems of the year (ones they have written and ones they have read) to their parents. Session 28, 29, 30 - May 22, 29, and June 5 Students will complete the Flat Stanley book. CURRICULUM UPDATE - Fall 2011 Session 1 - October 11 The following terms were introduced, trying to show how there is a "who, what, when, where, why and how" component to every story: Who? Characters - the people, animals, or things who are acting and speaking in the story What? Plot - the key events of the story Where and When? Setting - tells us the time and place of a story How? Writing style - the techniques that the author uses to create characters, setting, and plot sequence. Why? Theme - what is the lesson or "moral of the story" See Glossary of Literary Terms for vocabulary that will be used in first grade and beyond. Students read a French folktale from the Junior Great Books series, "The Black Hen's Egg," which inspired discussion questions such as, "How can curiosity be dangerous?" and "Why is it important to obey?" We discussed lessons that could be learned from the story as we continue to build our understanding of theme. Session 2 - October 18 Students read "The Shoemaker and the Elves" by the Brothers Grimm and will be asked to compare this story with others they have read to decide which story it is most like - the answer should be "The Black Hen's Egg" because the main character in both stories is the beneficiary of work being done "magically" by someone else. While both are curious about who is doing the work, the consequences of discovering the "helper" are very different in both stories. In this way we will build on the notion of "contrast" and not just "compare." Session 3 - October 25 The literary terms from session 1 will now be applied to the story, "He Lion, Bruh Bear, and Bruh Rabbit," an African-American folktale dating back to slavery. Our version was from Virginia Hamilton's award-winning collection of stories, The People Could Fly. This story included "colloquial" (or "local" language), but students picked up on it quickly and were able to understand what was being said by the main characters. We investigated the theme of selfishness and the potential dangers of pride in our discussion. Session 4 - November 1 Students will read a poem by John Ciardi called, "What Night Would It Be?" which gives a series of clues about what holiday it is (Halloween) but the clues are a little too obvious. Students will then wrote a poem of their own about Halloween, creating images of their own that are hints at the holiday without giving it away to soon. We will revisit this poem later in the year and students will choose which holiday they want to write about. November 8 - no meeting (Mr. Kendall needs to supervise the administration of the Cognitive Abilities Test for third graders) Session 5 - November 15 Students will finish their Halloween poems. If time allows, students will read "The Frog Went A-Traveling," a Russian folktale as told by Vsevolod Garshin. Otherwise, this lesson will become Session 6. In this story a frog convinces some birds to take him traveling with them to see new places in the world and become famous Two birds grasp a stick with their claws and the frog then clamps his mouth on the stick to hold on as they fly from place to place. While traveling some people start to remark about who ever would have thought of birds carrying a frog. The frog is so excited to tell them that it was his idea, that he shouts out and falls into a lake below. We discussed the notion of being "too full of oneself" and how that can lead to problems for that person and others affected by him. We also discussed learning to appreciate what you have rather than getting too distracted by the rest of the world, and how this contrasts with dreams of seeing the world and becoming famous. Session 6 - November 21 (Monday) Students will read an African folk tale from the Junior Great Books collection called "Arap Sang and the Cranes." The story is a myth that attempts to explain something real - in this case, how some cranes got their "golden crowns" of feathers for being helpful and other creatures like vultures ended up bald for being selfish and cruel. Each folk tale, even when creating legends to explain nature, has additional theme "life lessons" that are discussed by students. Session 7 - November 29 Students will read, "Coyote Rides the Sun," a Native American folktale which, like "Arap Sang and the Cranes," attempts to explain how the coyote ended up with the unique black coloring on its back and the tip of its tale. In its efforts to become famous, Coyote decides to call attention to himself by attempting to ride the sun across the sky. Discussion questions included, "Is it a good goal to want to be famous?", "Can it be hurtful to others to call certain tasks 'easy'?" and "Can people suddenly learn that things are not as 'easy' as they think they are at first glance?" We continued to apply the terms plot, setting, character, and theme to this story. We also continue to work on personification. Session 8 - December 6 Students wrote stories, poems, or paragraphs about the holidays to be submitted to the News-Gazette for possible publication. Those decisions will be made the newspaper's editorial staff. Session 9 - December 13 Students will read a story called, King of the Frogs, an African folktale from the Junior Great Books series. Students will discuss the qualities that define a good king or queen. Session 10 - December 20 Students will read, "Bouki Cuts Wood," in which a man foolishly cuts the branch of the tree he is sitting on. Before he makes his final cut a traveler passes by and tells him not to cut the branch or he will fall and then walks on. Bouki does not listen to the warning, and rather than recognizing his own error in judgment, he runs after the traveler calling him a fortune teller. Bouki asks him when and how he will die. The traveler, only interested in separating himself from Bouki, tells him he will die when his donkey brays three times. Bouki, knowing his donkey brays constantly, tries to come up with all sorts of ways to try to keep the donkey from braying, but to no avail. When the donkey brays the third time Bouki falls to the ground because he thinks he must be dead. Members of his town find him, assume he is dead, and begin to carry him home. When he speaks to them in order to give them directions to his house, the men drop him and flee, surmising that Bouki's ghost has returned to haunt them. Bouki continues to evaluate his condition, recognizing that he does not feel dead, and eventually decides he is too hungry to be dead and heads home for a "big bowl of rice and beans." Students were very amused by this Haitian folktale and we will discuss the notion of "false conclusions" and what it means to be "logical." CURRICULUM UPDATE Winter 2012 Session 11 - January 3, 2012 To follow up on the idea of logical conclusions (or more to the point, illogical conclusions) students will read "The Emperor's New Clothes," by Hans Christian Andersen. We will discuss the concept of "vanity" and how this caused the emperor to "maintain appearances" rather than admit the truth. We will also discuss how the emperor fell short on several of the characteristics of a good king or queen we defined during session 11. Session 12 - January 10, 2012 Students will read "Lion at School," a fantasy short story by Philippa Pearce, in which a little girl meets a lion who threatens to eat her unless he takes her to her school. During the day the girl tells the lion about a bully on the playground. The lion decides to teach the bully a lesson (even though he would rather have eaten him!) and tells him to leave her alone. The bully says he won't leave, prompting the lion to growl louder and louder until the boy runs home to his mother. The little girl says, "I don't think much of him [Jack Tall, the bully]. I shall never be scared of him again." The next day the lion is not with her at school and the bully asks whether or not he is coming back. She replies, "He easily might. So you better watch out Jack Tall." We will use this story as a launching pad for the students to write true stores about when they were able to conquer a fear or when they were able to get past being shy about something. NO SCHOOL - January 17 - Teacher Work Day Session 13 - January 24 Students will work on their stories about when they were able to conquer a fear or when they were able to get past being shy about something. Sentence and Idea Starters: 1) I used to be afraid of ... afraid to ... to be shy about ... 2) When I was afraid (shy) ... I felt ... I thought ... I didn't ... wasn't able to ... 3) Optional Detail Sentence here 4) One day I decided to face my fear (shyness) ... 5) Write about how hard it was to conquer your fear (shyness) OR if someone helped you conquer it (OR BOTH) 6) Now I am not afraid ... (go back to sentence 1 key words) Session 14 - January 31 Complete writing "fear" stories. Session 15 - February 7 Students will read the poem, "The Bed Book," by Sylvia Plath. In this poem, Plath fantasizes all sorts of beds that are much better than a "white little, tucked-in-tight little, nighty-night little, turn-out-the-light little bed." She envisions beds you can keep in your pocket and pull them out when you need a nap, beds that fly, and even a "North-Pole Bed" for explorers. The students will use this poem as inspiration to write about what their "perfect room" would be like and what things they would have in them (*** they will do their writing on Feb 14). The teaching emphasis is on descriptive writing and "expressing your imagination." We will review the concept of "personification" discussed in the fall, applying it to several poems, "The Table and the Chair" by Edward Lear, and a poem by Lewis Carroll: "The Lobster Quadrille." Session 15 - February 14 We will read a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye entitled, "Valentine for Ernest Mann," which begins "You can't order a poem like you order a taco. Walk up to a counter and say, 'I'll take two' and expect it to be handed back to you on a shiny plate." Later in the poem a man presents to skunks as a valentine to his wife and "can't understand why she was crying" because he thought "they had such beautiful eyes." The poet discusses how "poems hide" in strange places like the eyes of skunks and that we "should live in a way that helps us find them." These poems allow us to "reinvent" things in ways unique to us. We will discuss the concept "point of view" in relation to this poem and will follow up this idea in the next session. *** Students will write their "perfect room" stories or poems that we did not have time to start on Feb. 7. Students will have the option to personify things in their rooms. Sessions 16 - February 21 Students will read "The Walrus and The Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll and review the concept of "point of view." Students will write a poem in which they "reinvent" something that most people do not like, but they like from their point of view. Each student will describe the aspects of that thing that makes it unique to him or her. We will discuss the differences between poetry and prose to improve their focus on using specific adjectives and verbs. Session 17 - February 28 Students will read several poems by Shel Silverstein that use homophones ("words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings," such as "hole" and "whole") and homonyms ("words that have more than one meaning for the same spelling" - such as "I saw the table with my own eyes" vs. "I saw the table in half with my chainsaw"). Students will write their own poem that uses homophones. March 6 - NO SESSION - Mr. Kendall will be supervising middle school students at the regional science fair at James Madison Univ. |