Unit 5/Week 2 at a Glance - Benchmark Education Companyblresources.benchmarkeducation.com/pdfs/G4U5W2_Instrctn.pdf · together to consolidate students’ ideas and record them on

TM

LiteracyB e n c h m a r k

Teacher’s Guide Grade 4 • Unit 5 2Unit 5/Week 2 at a Glance

Day Mini-Lessons

ONE • Build Genre Background

• Introduce the Genre: Trickster Tales

• Focus on Genre Features: Trickster Tales

TWO • Model Metacognitive Strategies: Determine Text Importance

• Introduce Compare and Contrast

• Focus on Genre Features: Trickster Tales

THREE • Determine Text Importance to Compare and Contrast

FOUR • Build Comprehension: Analyze Character

• Build Tier Two Vocabulary: Word Origins

FIVE • Synthesize and Assess Genre Understanding

• Make Connections Across Texts

Week

Determine Text Importance/ Compare and Contrast

® B e n c h m a r k e d u c a t i o n c o m p a n y

Day One

Benchmark Literacy • Grade 4 • Unit 5/Week 2 ©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC2

Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Review the concept of genre and previously studied genres.

• Create a Trickster Tale anchor chart to demonstrate prior knowledge.

• Build academic oral language and vocabulary as they engage in partner and whole-group discussion.

Related Resources

• Genre Workshop Whiteboard CD-ROM

• Trickster Tale Poster 1 (BLM 1)

Read-Aloud (10 minutes)

Select a favorite fiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Determine Text Importance.” Use the sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles in the Benchmark Literacy Overview.

Mini-Lessons (20 minutes)

Build Genre Background

Write the word genre on chart paper. Say: Tell me the definition of genre.Allow responses.

Explain: A genre is a category of items, such as literature. The genre has certain traits or features in common. Why is it helpful to know the genre of what you are reading? (The genre tells you what features to expect.)

Say: As readers and writers, we focus on genres of literature. We pay attention to the genre to help us comprehend. When we recognize the genre, we can predict what traits the text will have and anticipate how it will be presented. As writers, we use our knowledge of genre to help us choose a way of presenting our ideas.

Ask: What are some literary genres that we have read and studied in class? (biographies, personal narratives, historical fiction, realistic fiction) Let’s choose one. What are the features of that genre? Allow responses. Post the list on the classroom wall as an anchor chart.

Trickster Tale Poster 1

Day One

©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC Benchmark Literacy • Grade 4 • Unit 5/Week 2 3

Introduce the Genre: Trickster Tales

Display Genre Workshop Poster 1 and distribute BLM 1.

Say: This week we are going to focus on the trickster tale genre. You will read trickster tales in your small reading groups, and you can select other titles from this genre to read independently, too. Let’s spend some time thinking about this genre and create our own Trickster Tale anchor chart to record what we already know about it. Later in the week, we can come back to our chart and reflect on how our understanding of the genre has changed and expanded.

Think/Pair/Write/Share. Have students work in pairs for five to seven minutes to answer the questions on BLM 1. Then bring everyone together to share answers.

Support the academic language development of ELLs and struggling readers by providing the following sentence frames to use as they discuss the genre:

A trickster tale is .The purpose of a trickster tale is to .When you read a trickster tale, pay attention to . People who write trickster tales are .

Invite each pair to share their ideas about one question at a time. Work together to consolidate students’ ideas and record them on Poster 1. (See the sample poster annotations provided on page 4.)

Make Content Comprehensible for ELLs

Beginning Display one or more trickster tales from your classroom library. Point to images of the trickster character in each book. For each book, say: This is [character name]. [Character name] is a trickster. Ask students to point to the images and echo as you say the word trickster.

IntermediateTo help students understand the meaning of tricks and tricksters, pantomime a simple act of trickery. For example, stand by a student’s desk. Point excitedly up or toward the window; the student should look in the direction you are pointing. Then grab a book or pencil from the student’s desk and hold the item behind your back. Smile mischievously when the student turns back to you. Say: That was a trick. Point to yourself and say: I am a trickster.

All Levels If you have students whose first language is Spanish, share these English/Spanish cognates: crocodile/el cocodrilo; intelligence/la inteligencia.

Model the academic sentence frames provided in this guide to help ELLs contribute their ideas to the discussion of trickster tales.

Day One


Support Special Needs Learners Throughout the week, use these strategies to help students who have learning disabilities access the content and focus on genre studies and comprehension strategies.

Support students by projecting the posters onto a whiteboard. Allow students to come to the whiteboard and circle, underline, or highlight features of the genre. Invite them to label what they see on the posters.

Provide opportunities for active involvement. For example, provide animal cutouts, masks, or stuffed toys for students to role-play the trickster tales. You might also play a tape-recording of the story for students to listen to or pantomime.

Provide repeated opportunities for students to analyze the features of trickster tales. Find the features of trickster tales in text examples from read-alouds, small-group, and independent reading. Chart the features on graphic organizers and post them in your classroom as examples.

Find high-interest trickster tales that students can relate to. Use the recommended read-aloud titles provided in the Teacher’s Guide as well as other examples from your school library.

Focus on Genre Features: Trickster Tales

Point to the “Features of a Trickster Tale” web on the right side of the poster.

Say: As we’ve discussed, every genre has certain consistent features. Considering our discussions so far, and your own experiences with this genre, what do you think are the consistent features of all, or most, trickster tales? Let’s work together to identify them.

Allow students enough time to generate their own ideas, and record the features they identify on the web. Reread the features together. (See the sample annotations provided below.) Only if necessary, prompt students with the following questions and statements:

•Whoareusuallythemaincharactersofatrickstertale?• Isthemaincharacterperfect?Explain.•Howistheplotofatrickstertalesimilartotheplotofotherfictional

stories?•Howdoesthetrickstersolveaproblem?•Whatisthelengthofatrickstertale?Whatisthemood?

Connect and transfer. Say: Keep these features in mind as you read trickster tales this week. Understanding the features of the genre will help you read with better comprehension.

Trickster Tale Poster 1, sample annotations

Day One


Small-Group Reading Instruction (60 minutes)

Based on students’ instructional reading levels, select titles that provide opportunities for students to focus on the trickster tale genre or to practice comparing and contrasting. See the list provided on the Small-Group Reading Instructional Planner.

Use the instruction provided in the Teacher’s Guide for each title to introduce the text.

Individual Student Conferences (10 minutes)

Confer with individual students to discuss their understanding of the genre. Use the Reading Conference Note-Taking Form to help guide your conference.

Word Study Workshop (20 minutes)

Use the Day 1 instruction provided in Grade 4 Word Study Skill Bag 14.

Comprehension Quick-CheckNote which students do or don’t actively participate in the discussion of genre. Ask some questions at the end of the lesson to confirm students’ understanding. For example:

•Canyoutellmeinyourownwordswhat a genre is?

•Whatdoyoualreadyknowaboutthetrickster tale genre?

Home/School Connection Have students think of a topic for their own trickster tale. Ask them to write three lists: potential tricksters, problems, and clever resolutions. Then they should circle an item from each list to create a funny premise.


Day Two

Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Determine text importance for a trickster tale.

• Compare and contrast using a graphic organizer.

• Use academic sentence frames to discuss strategies and features of a trickster tale.

Related Resources




Select a favorite fiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Determine Text Importance.” Use the sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles in the Benchmark Literacy Overview.


Model Metacognitive Strategies: Determine Text Importance

Display Genre Workshop Poster 2 with the genre annotations concealed. Also distribute copies of BLM 2.

Read aloud the poster passage with students.

Explain: Good readers determine text importance while they read. They figure out which information is important and which is less important so they can focus on the story’s main characters and actions. Let me show you how I determine text importance in this trickster tale.

Think aloud: The title tells me this tale is about a monkey and a crocodile, so I know to focus on those characters. As I read the first sentence, I notice the phrases crocodile’s wife, monkey in a tree, and tasty meal. Those words tell me specifically who is involved, where they are, and what might happen. They are the most important words in that sentence.

Ask students to find other important words and phrases in the rest of the story. Write these important details on chart paper and reread them together. Encourage ELLs to use the sentence frame: The most important words in this sentence are .



Day Two

Introduce Compare and Contrast

Explain: When you read a trickster tale, it helps to compare and contrast the main characters. Look for important information that shows how they are alike or different. By comparing and contrasting, you can better understand what the characters are thinking, feeling, and doing as they try to resolve a particular conflict or problem in the story.

Reread “The Monkey and the Crocodile.” Ask students to compare and contrast the main characters. Prompt students to consider the way the characters look, live, think, talk, and behave. Provide the following academic sentence frames to support ELLs and struggling students:

The crocodile and monkey are alike in the way they .The crocodile and monkey are different in the way they .I think the smarter character is because .

Record students’ comparisons on a graphic organizer like the one shown below.


Beginning Use simple words and gestures to compare and contrast the characteristics of two objects or people in the classroom. For example, point to a large and a small book simultaneously and say: Books. Then point to each one at a time and say: Big; small. Have students repeat after you.

Intermediate and AdvancedModel the academic sentence frames provided in this guide to help ELLs contribute their ideas to the discussion of trickster tales.

AdvancedInvite students to draw, label, and tell trickster tales from their own culture.

All Levels Compare the animal characters from the trickster tale to real animals. Use simple language to tell how they are alike or different.

If you have students whose first language is Spanish, share the English/Spanish cognate monkey/el mono.

Monkey Crocodile (husband)

Bothsmall, furry

climbs trees

eats bananas, mangos, figs

outwits crocodile to survive

animal

can talk

want food

are tricked

big, scaly

swims in water

eats monkeys

tries to outwit monkey to feed wife

Sample Compare and Contrast Annotations(Note: Your class graphic organizer may differ.)


Day Two

Comprehension Quick-CheckNote which students are or are not able to discuss the features of trickster tales. Use the following strategies to provide additional explicit instruction.

Display Poster 1. Point to one of the genre features (for example, main characters are usually animals).

Say: Let’s look for words that tell us who or what the main characters are. What can you tell me about them?

Choose another feature and repeat the process with students.

Say: A trickster tale is about animals who solve a problem in a clever, funny way. Knowing the features of a trickster tale helps you identify the characters, problems, and solutions.

Oral Language ExtensionDisplay Poster 1 during independent workstation time. Have pairs of students refer to the features of a trickster tale as they compare and contrast the characters, setting, and events in “The Monkey and the Crocodile.” Encourage them to take notes so they can share information during independent conference time.

Home/School ConnectionBefore students turn in their homework from the night before, have them briefly share their ideas for a trickster tale. Distribute BLM 2 for homework. Students should reread the text, then highlight and label the genre features in the passage.

Focus on Genre Features: Trickster Tales

Ask students to name some of the features of a trickster tale that you discussed yesterday.

Say: Now let’s reexamine “The Monkey and the Crocodile” and look for features of a trickster tale. What do you notice?

Work with students to identify the following genre features embedded in this story:

• The main characters are animals.• The tricksters have flaws: they make bad decisions because the

crocodile wants to please his wife and the monkey wants to eat something new.

• The crocodile’s problem is he needs to please his demanding wife; the monkey’s problem is he might be eaten.

• The monkey outwits the crocodile to avoid being eaten.• The tale is short and funny.

Reveal the poster annotations so that students can confirm or revise their ideas. Reread them as a group.

Connect and transfer. Say: As you read a trickster tale today in your small groups, look for these features. Knowing the features of a trickster tale will help you compare and contrast elements of the story. As you read, remember to focus on important words and phrases that help you understand who is doing what and why.


Continue small-group reading instruction from the previous day. Use the instruction provided in the Teacher’s Guide for each text.


Confer with individual students to discuss their understanding of genre and comprehension strategies. Use the Reading Conference Note-Taking Form to help guide your conference.




Day Three

Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Review features of the trickster tale genre.

• Determine text importance.

• Compare and contrast elements of a trickster tale.

• Build oral language and vocabulary through whole-group and partner discussion.

Related Resources



• Compare and Contrast (BLM 4)


Select a favorite nonfiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Determine Text Importance.” Use the sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles in the Benchmark Literacy Overview.


Determine Text Importance to Compare and Contrast

Display Genre Workshop Poster 3 and distribute BLM 3.

Read aloud the excerpt with students. Say: We are going to compare and contrast elements of this trickster tale together. To do that, we’ll focus on important details about the characters and events. Then we’ll use that information to compare and contrast. First let’s look for important information about Anansi in the beginning of the story. What words and phrases in the text tell us about who Anansi is, what he wants, and what he does to get it? (Anansi the spider; delicious dinner; isn’t generous; sends turtle to wash his hands; eats all the yams)

Say: Now let’s look for important information about the turtle so we can compare him to Anansi. What does the text tell us about the turtle? Allow responses. If students are unable to determine text importance to compare and contrast, prompt them to think about the following:

•Whichwordsandphrasesinthetexttellwhattheturtlewants,howhefeels, and what he does?

•WhatdoAnansiandtheturtlesayanddothatissimilar?•Whatdotheysayanddothatisdifferent?

Say: Identifying important text helped us focus on the similarities and differences between the main characters, their problems, and how they solve their problems. Let’s write these details on a graphic organizer. Then we will use the details to compare and contrast.

Work with students to identify important information in the text to compare and contrast the main characters and their actions. Reinforce how the key details of a trickster tale are related to the specific features of the genre. Record and compare the details on a graphic organizer like the one shown on page 10.



Day Three


Beginning Use labeled pictures to help students identify the animals and settings in the story.

Beginning and IntermediateUse gestures to clarify the meanings of difficult words, such as delicious, generous, cruddy, and disappointed. You might also demonstrate actions such as washing hands.

All LevelsIf you have students whose first language is Spanish, share these English/Spanish cognates from the text as needed: turtle/la tortuga; rocks/las rocas; jacket/la chaqueta.

Comprehension Quick-CheckNote whether students can compare and contrast elements of the story. If they need additional support, underline important details about Anansi and the turtle on Poster 3. Say: Certain words and phrases help you understand and compare the important parts of the story. By focusing on those words, you can more easily understand and compare the main characters, actions, and events. Have students underline or highlight additional key words and phrases on the poster.

Home/School ConnectionHave students take home the Compare and Contrast graphic organizer (BLM 4) to compare and contrast the characters of their own trickster tale or a tale they choose from the classroom library.

Connect and transfer. Say: As you continue to read trickster tales this week, focus on the important text to help you compare and contrast the main characters, actions, and events.

Anansi Turtle

Bothsmall, lightweight

lives on land

not generous

tricks turtle to eat all the food himself

animal

can talk

join the other for dinner

focus on manners

big, heavy

lives in river

hungry

tricks Anansi to teach him a lesson

Sample Compare and Contrast Annotations




Confer with individual students to discuss their developing understanding of genre and comprehension strategies. Use the Reading Conference Note-Taking Form to help guide your conference.




Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze character.

• Extend Tier Two Vocabulary by focusing on word origins.

• Build oral language and vocabulary through whole-group and partner discussion.

Related Resources



Day Four


Select a favorite nonfiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Determine Text Importance.” Use the sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles in the Benchmark Literacy Overview.


Build Comprehension: Analyze Character

Say: When you read a trickster tale, you learn about an animal that outwits another animal to solve a problem. The author includes important information that you can use to form an understanding of, or analyze, what the characters are thinking, feeling, and doing. Let’s analyze Anansi’s character based on information in the text.

Reread Poster 3 with students.

Say: We are going to make a character chart. We will put on our chart information from the text that helps us analyze Anansi’s character. What kinds of information will you look for to understand his character? Allow responses.

Engage students in a discussion to ensure they understand that they must pay attention to both visual and textual details about Anansi’s physical characteristics and personality traits, words and phrases that help readers understand his values and point of view, and actions that reveal more about Anansi’s thoughts and feelings with regard to others.



Day Four


Beginning As you identify character information in the text, use gestures and role-play to make sure ELLs understand the meanings of key words in your chart (invite, selfish, behavior).

IntermediateUse synonyms to help students understand difficult descriptive words from the story such as delicious and scrumptious (yummy, tasty) and disappointed (upset, sad).

Intermediate and AdvancedWork with ELLs to look up the origins of favorite words using dictionaries or online resources. Point out words that originate from students’ first languages.

All LevelsPair ELLs with fluent English speakers during partner discussions and activities.

Comprehension Quick-CheckTake note of students who may need additional support identifying important details about and analyzing the main characters in a trickster tale. Provide additional modeling during small-group reading, and have them practice during independent workstation time by analyzing the main characters in other trickster tales that you assign.

On chart paper, draw a three-column chart like the one shown below.

Think/Pair/Write/Share. Tell students they will complete this chart. Say: Work with a partner to identify story details that tell about Anansi’s physical appearance, personality, and point of view. Make a chart like the one I just drew, and fill in your ideas. Then we will share them as a group.

As partners share story details and conclusions about Anansi’s character, add their information to the chart.

Connect and transfer. Say: Remember, when you read a trickster tale, you should analyze the characters you are reading about. Look for information in the text that helps you understand them.

Story Details My ConclusionsPhysical Characteristics

spider

not heavy

small

light

Personality Traitsnot generous

invites the turtle to dinner

selfish but polite

Actions/ Behaviors

eats all the yams while the turtle is gone

goes to the turtle’s home for dinner

trickster

unaware of or doesn’t care about his bad behavior


Day Four

Build Tier Two Vocabulary: Word Origins

On chart paper, write the word hospitality.

Say: The word hospitalitycomesfromOldEnglish.Itoriginallymeant“friendliness to guests.” Does knowing the original meaning, or word origin, of hospitality help you understand what the turtle means when he says he’d like toreturnAnansi’shospitality?Explain.

Turn and talk. Ask students to turn and talk with their neighbor for a moment to discuss what the word hospitality means in the trickster tale.

Ask students to share their ideas, and record them on chart paper.

Students should understand that in this tale, hospitality refers to Anansi’s hosting abilities.

Point out that many English words have been borrowed or adapted from different times and languages. Knowing an unfamiliar word’s origin might help readers determine the word’s meaning.

Connect and transfer. Have students use a dictionary or online resources to look up origins of other words from the trickster tale. You might also have them sort the words by language or place of origin.




Confer with individual students to discuss their developing understanding of genre and word-solving strategies. Use the Reading Conference Note-Taking Form to help guide your conference.



Oral Language ExtensionDuring independent workstation time, have partners compare and contrast the premise of the trickster tales they came up with for homework on Day 1.

Home/School ConnectionHave students take home BLM 3 and read it with a family member to practice fluent reading. Encourage them to compare and contrast the characters and other important elements of the story after they read. Tell students to have their family members sign the page to indicate they participated in the reading.


Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze and compare trickster tales.

• Review features of the trickster tale genre.

• Make text-to-text connections.

• Build academic oral language and vocabulary through small-group and whole-group discussions.

Related Resources



Day Five


Revisit the week’s read-alouds to make text-to-text connections and provide opportunities for reader response. Use the suggested activities in the Benchmark Literacy Overview, or implement ideas of your own.


Synthesize and Assess Genre Understanding

Synthesize genre understanding. Ask students to work in teams to analyze the trickster tale models on Posters 2 and 3, using their knowledge of the genre. Distribute a copy of each model (BLMs 2 and 3) to each group. Allot five to seven minutes for groups to write a check mark next to each instance of a trickster tale feature. Ask students to analyze whether the existence of more features means one trickster tale is better or more entertaining than the other.

Tell students that all group members should contribute an idea to the discussion. Each group should select a recorder and a spokesperson.

Have the spokespeople share their groups’ ideas, and then discuss students’ literary analyses. Encourage teams with conflicting analyses to participate in a lively but respectful debate about the merits of each genre model. Remind students that they must support their positions with examples and references to the texts.

Self-assessment. Display the class Trickster Tale anchor chart from Day 1. Ask the groups to compare their ideas to the information they recorded on the anchor chart on Day 1.

Ask: Howhasyourunderstandingofthetrickstertalegenredeveloped?Whatdo you know now that you didn’t know before? Encourage individual students to share their personal insights.

Connect and transfer. Say: Howcanyouuseyournewunderstandingofthisgenrethenexttimeyoureadatrickstertale?Howcanyouuseyourgenreknowledge as a writer?

Make Connections Across Texts

Display Trickster Tale Poster 4, and distribute a copy of BLM 5 to each group.

Say: Let’s make a chart to help us compare and contrast these two genre models.



Day Five

Ask each group to use their annotated poster BLMs to fill in the graphic organizer on BLM 5.

Give students about five minutes to record their ideas, and then bring the groups together. Ask students for their ideas, and fill in Poster 4 as a whole group.

Challenge students to express their own opinions about the trickster tales:•Whichtalewasmoreentertaining?Why?•Whichstorytaughtabetterlesson?Inwhatway?•Whichtricksterwasmostclever?Whydoyouthinkso?

Connect and transfer. Say: When you compare and contrast two trickster tales, think about how each story reflects the features of the genre. Are the main characters fictional animals who think and talk like people? Does a problem get solved in a funny, clever way? Is there a trickster who outwits another character to solve that problem?




Ask students to reflect on what they have learned about the trickster tale genre. Use the Reading Conference Note-Taking Form to help guide your conference.




BeginningAllow beginning ELLs to participate as active listeners in their groups. Have them give a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down to show how they feel about the characters, actions, and events.

Intermediate and AdvancedProvide sentence frames to help ELLs contribute to their groups’ discussions. For example:

One feature of trickster tales is .

The trickster tales are alike because .

The trickster tales are different because .

All LevelsPair ELLs with fluent English speakers during all partner and group activities.

Encourage ELLs to revisit the trickster tales they are comparing and to find and read specific information in the text to help them communicate their ideas. Remind them to focus on the features of the trickster tale genre.

Documents

Unit 5/Week 2 at a Glance - Benchmark Education Companyblresources.benchmarkeducation.com/pdfs/G4U5W2_Instrctn.pdf · together to consolidate students’ ideas and record them on