Bonnie Magagna Author/Illustrator Unit: Paul Goble

Unit Rationale:

The author/illustrator Paul Goble was chosen because he is a Caldecott Award winning

author/illustrator. He earned the award in 1978 for The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses. He was

also chosen because his books are appealing and vary in reading levels for a diverse population

of students. Additionally, students learn about Native Americans early in the school year at the

5th grade level allowing for instruction across the curriculum as well as teacher-librarian

collaboration. This unit is best implemented through 9 1-hour class periods.

Through the unit’s activities, the students will be exposed to several stories covering

Native American myths, culture, and history. Students will present their interpretation of the

stories through Reader’s Theater skits and delve into the life of the author/illustrator, Paul

Goble, through completion of a bio-cube activity that highlights important information about

the author/illustrator.

Unit Objectives:

The student objectives of this unit include:

Critically evaluate an author's themes, characters, and writing style

Make connections between the author's life and work

Bonnie Magagna Author/Illustrator Unit: Paul Goble

Standards Addressed:

The PA Common Core standards covered in this unit include:

CC.1.1.5.E Read with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension: -Read on-level text with purpose and understanding. -Read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings. CC.1.2.5.A Determine two or more main ideas in a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text. CC.1.2.5.G Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently. CC.1.3.5.A Determine a theme of a text from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text. CC.1.5.5.A Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions on grade level topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. CC.1.5.5.B Summarize the main points of written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Unit Assessments:

1. Teacher Observations 2. Rubrics for Reader’s Theater and Bio-Cube 3. Accelerated Reader tests

Bonnie Magagna Author/Illustrator Unit: Paul Goble Unit Materials:

-StoryMap handout

-Computer access

www.wordle.net

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/cube_creator/

-Drawing paper and art supplies

-Venn Diagram hula hoops

-Large posters/construction paper

-Reader’s Theater Rubric

-BioCube Planning Sheet

-BioCube Rubric

-Selection of Paul Goble books (see Book List)

-Suggested Websites for Paul Goble Research

http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/authors/Paul-Goble.aspx

http://www.sdstate.edu/southdakotaartmuseum/explore/Collections/Goble/paul-goble-

biography.cfm

http://monet.unk.edu/mona/contemp/goble/goble.html

http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/birthbios/brthpage/09sep/9-27goble.html

http://www.wisdomtalespress.com/authors_artists-childrens/Paul_Goble.shtml

Bonnie Magagna Author/Illustrator Unit: Paul Goble Book List:

Title: All Our Relatives: Traditional Native American Thoughts About Nature Author: Paul Goble Summary: This book presents the culture of the Plains Indians in their own words and through traditional stories. ATOS Book Level: 5.6 AR Points: 1.0

Title: Death of the Iron Horse Author: Paul Goble Summary: In an act of bravery and defiance against the white men encroaching on their territory in 1867, a group of young Cheyenne braves derail and raid a freight train. ATOS Book Level: 4.5 AR Points: 0.5

Title: Her Seven Brothers Author: Paul Goble Summary: Retells the Cheyenne legend in which a girl and her seven chosen brothers become the Big Dipper. ATOS Book Level: 4.3 AR Points: 0.5

Title: Lone Bull’s Horse Raid

Author: Paul Goble and Dorothy Goble

Summary: A young Oglala Sioux tells how he and his best friend, Charging Bear,

joined a party setting out against the neighboring Crows, and experienced their

first horse raid. The coauthor is Dorothy Goble.

ATOS Book Level: 5.7

AR Points: 1.0

Bonnie Magagna Author/Illustrator Unit: Paul Goble

Title: Love Flute

Author: Paul Goble

Summary: A gift from the birds and animals to a shy young man helps him to

express his love to a beautiful girl.

ATOS Level: 4.0

AR Points: 0.5

Title: Remaking the Earth

Author: Paul Goble

Summary: This is a story of the water birds and animals left behind when the

old world was flooded to hunt for mud so the creator could build land again.

ATOS Level: 4.7

AR Points: 0.5

Title: Star Boy

Author: Paul Goble

Summary: Relates the Blackfoot Indian legend in which Star Boy gains the Sun's

forgiveness for his mother's disobedience and is allowed to return to the Sky

World.

ATOS Level: 4.1

AR Points: 0.5

Title: The Gift of the Sacred Dog

Author: Paul Goble

Summary: The Great Spirit gives the sacred dog to an Indian boy seeking relief

for his hungry people.

ATOS Level: 4.2

AR Points: 0.5

Bonnie Magagna Author/Illustrator Unit: Paul Goble

Title: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

Author: Paul Goble

Summary: Though she is fond of her people, a girl prefers to live among the

wild horses where she is truly happy and free.

ATOS Level: 4.1

AR Points: 0.5

Title: The Legend of the White Buffalo Woman

Author: Paul Goble

Summary: A Lakota Indian legend in which the White Buffalo Woman presents

her people with the Sacred Calf Pipe which gives them the means to pray to the

Great Spirit.

ATOS Level: 4.6

AR Points: 0.5

Title: Mystic Horse

Author: Paul Goble

Summary: After caring for an old abandoned horse, a poor young Pawnee boy is

rewarded by the horse's mystic powers.

ATOS Level: 4.6

AR Points: 0.5

Bonnie Magagna Author/Illustrator Unit: Paul Goble

Promotional Strategies:

1. Tri-fold display board with the author's name and photo. Fun facts about the author were included to get students interested in his unique qualities. Students also guessed about the meanings of the Native American symbols used to decorate the board.

2. Book display with Native American items to promote student interest. This was a collection of both fiction and non-fiction titles.

Bonnie Magagna Author/Illustrator Unit: Paul Goble

3. Student created Wordle highlighting prior knowledge and used as a motivational set

prior to unit.

Bonnie Magagna Author/Illustrator Unit: Paul Goble Unit Implementation:

Day 1:

Review the concepts of plot, character, and setting

View the Story Map handout that students will complete after reading each title

Discuss the overview of the weeklong unit

Assign groups and 2 Goble books per group

Allow groups to preview the materials and create a Wordle to demonstrate their prior

knowledge of Native Americans before beginning the unit

Day 2:

Students choose one of their titles to read as a group

After reading, students should complete their Story Map handout

Students finish out the period by illustrating what they feel to be the most important scene of

the book. A caption explaining the scene and its importance should be included

Day 3:

Students read their second title as a group

After reading, students should complete their Story Map handout

Students finish out the period by illustrating what they feel to be the most important scene of

the book. A caption explaining the scene and its importance should be included

Day 4:

Students in groups compare the two assigned stories pertaining to characters, setting, and plot.

This is completed by creating diagrams on the floor with large construction paper and hula

hoops

Students vote on which story to present to the class as a Reader’s Theater presentation

Students must create a rationale for their book choice and present to the teacher for approval

Bonnie Magagna Author/Illustrator Unit: Paul Goble Day 5:

Review grading rubric

Groups divide their story into parts for the Reader’s Theater presentation and decide on props

and presentation style

Day 6:

Each group presents their Reader’s Theater interpretation

Day 7:

Group discussion of the presentations

Focus on overall theme of stories and knowledge gained about Native Americans

Guide discussion towards Paul Goble and prompt students to question the author, their

knowledge, and purpose in writing children’s books

Develop questions on the board for research

Day 8:

Research day

Remind students of questions generated

Review bio-cube planning sheet and appropriate websites

Allow time for student to gather information of their planning sheet

Day 9:

Students use gathered information to create a bio-cube on the author/illustrator Paul Goble

Students share one of the findings with the class that they feel is unique

Students complete AR Tests for their titles

Bonnie Magagna Author/Illustrator Unit: Paul Goble Unit Reflection:

The student genuinely enjoyed this unit. The use of promotional strategies helped the students

to become excited about studying Native American myths, legends, and stories. The students brought a

lot of knowledge with them to the unit as evidenced through their creation of the Wordle. The display

board was motivational, especially pertaining to the Native American symbols that were used to pique

their interest. In future uses of the unit, I would create a display board just for this purpose with an

interactive feature of lifting the picture to immediately find the meaning of the symbol. The book

display was helpful for previewing some of the readings as well as in providing access to information for

students. In the future I would include more titles covering Native American artwork as students were

very interested in Paul Goble’s artwork and I felt that the visual aspect of Paul Goble’s work was not fully

covered through this unit.

The Reader’s Theater performances took longer than I had expected. In the future, I may break

the class into fewer groups with larger numbers in each group to cut down on this time. The students

performed their skits well with the guidance of the rubric. This allowed all of the students to hear the

stories of Paul Goble without having to read each individual story. Students learned the many different

themes and lessons of Goble’s books through this activity.

Students really enjoyed creating their bio-cubes. The research process was simplified through

providing websites for students to utilize. The bio-cube generator is easy for students to use, and the

planning sheet made this process much simpler. The rubric was clear and concise for students.

Students enjoyed comparing their bio-cubes with others and learning new information about Paul

Goble. Many students were surprised to read about Paul Goble’s deep immersion into Native American

culture having moved from England to live with Native American groups for extended periods of time.

Bonnie Magagna Author/Illustrator Unit: Paul Goble Students truly learned about the different approaches to the writing process that many authors take.

Overall, the unit was successful and I will repeat it in upcoming years.