Guide for Developing Literature

Guide for Developing Literature-Based Unit

LTCY 420

LTCY 420 Syllabus

Rationale:

As a teacher of reading, you will be required to plan literacy instruction using quality children’s literature. The purpose of this assignment is to provide LTCY 420 students with an opportunity to plan units of instruction based on trade books encompassing a variety of genre of literature.

Product/Task (identified):

You will be expected to plan and teach at least one day of a 5-day literature-based unit focusing on pre/during/ and post reading strategies, integrated technology, and using a variety of quality children’s literature. You will turn in daily lesson plans and summary sheets as indicated.

Performance Criteria:

1) Write an Interest Inventory to determine student interests and needs and discuss with your cooperating teacher what content area topics will be covered during the time you will be teaching a day of your unit. In the BEST case scenario YOUR instruction will fit hand-in-hand with the current instruction in the classroom. Example: If your cooperating teacher is doing a unit or lesson sequence on the Civil War, you could plan to do your literature-based instruction unit on historical fiction and use children's literature to help students understand more about that period in history. Your focus would ALSO be to increase students' abilities to use PRE/DURING/and POST reading comprehension strategies.
NOTE: If you and your cooperating teacher agree on a topic of study (genre, author, core book/text set/cross-curricular) then you may SKIP doing the Interest Inventory. If the teacher does not work with you to plan a topic then you might want to consider doing an interest inventory. (updated 2/23/03)

2) Design a 5-day Literature Based instructional unit on one of the following. Each day's lesson plan MUST include PRE/DURING/POST reading strategies for the literature being used that day. Your unit must be either a genre study, an author study, or a core book used with a text-set for cross-curricular studies:

A genre of literature (fiction, non-fiction, biographies, autobiographies, poetry, traditional literature – tall tales, fairy tales, folk tales, myths, legends, information books, etc.)
An author study (you provide information about the author and then include a series of books by the SAME author - students should get to know the author as a real person and to understand the way they write)
A single piece of children’s literature (you would plan cross-curricular thematic instruction with one CORE book using other children's literature to support your theme - in other words, your unit would include language arts, science, social studies, math, music, art, etc.)

3) The Unit must include all aspects of literacy: reading, writing, listening, speaking, thinking, and technology. The writing component must be strong. You will work with your classroom teacher to prepare and execute a writing exercise with students based on the selected literature for your 5-day instructional sequence ... there MUST be a strong writing exercise in the lesson you actually teach.

Examples: These are examples of using children's literature in units of instruction. These examples are NOT to be followed exactly as your requirements for this assignment are slightly DIFFERENT than the way these units are put together. IF you do your assignment EXACTLY like one of these examples it will NOT fit the criteria ... I am only providing these as GENERAL examples of how children's literature (trade books) can be used in the classroom.
Author Study: Jan Brett: http://trackstar.hprtec.org/main/display.php3?option=frames&track_id=24642
Ideas for Dr. Seuss books: http://www.pampetty.com/drseuss.htm

Mem Fox An Author Study
Leo Lionni Author Study
Author Study
Van Allsburg
English Language Arts Author Study William Bell - this is designed for 8th grade students, but it offers some good ideas for incorporating reading, writing, listening, and speaking COMBINED with an author study.
English Language Arts 6-9 Sample Unit Author Study - ditto above - designed for older grades, but offers some good ideas for ACTIVE learning during an author study.

4) You must select at least ONE day from your 5-day sequence and teach that lesson according to your lesson plan. You should notify your university instructor when the date to teach your lesson is set to arrange for an observation. You must provide a lesson plan to your instructor at least two days before you plan to teach the lesson (this allows for feedback to help make your lesson MORE successful).

5) A title page for your unit should be included that includes the following information:

Title of Literature Based Instructional Unit

Target Grade/Level

Your Name

Course Name and Site Location

Date

6) Each day's lesson must contain integrated technology.

7) All materials must be typed in New Times Roman font, 12 pt., double-spaced, standard default margins, no front and back printing, pages must be numbered, and all materials will be scored for grammar and neatness.

On-Line Resources:

Since your entire 5 day literature-based unit will be placed on a web page, it would be wonderful for you to include on-line resources. You might include:

a link to author pages for authors used in your unit
a link to other on-line lesson plans for a book or books used in your unit
information sites relating to characters or topics in the books (like I did with bears and pigs)
other sites that work the same skills/strategies you use in your unit (http://www.joelson.addr.com/makingwords.htm This might be a site you would include if you have done any Making Words activities with students.).

How do most students lose points on this assignment? They fail to provide OUTSTANDING pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading strategies for EACH reading experience. (substitute "writing, viewing, and speaking" for "reading" in the previous statement as these must be provided also)

Resources you might find Useful in Planning your Unit:

http://wizard.hprtec.org/
This web-based utility will allow you to create a lesson, worksheet or class page on the World Wide Web.

http://www.asbj.com/2001/11/1101research.html
Thinking about Teaching: How Teachers can put Reflection at the Heart of their Teaching - by Susan Black

http://poster.hprtec.org/
Fantastic site for STUDENTS to make their own web-based page. What a GREAT idea it would be to include this as one of your applications of technology use that is REQUIRED in each day's lesson plan.

http://ofcn.org/cyber.serv/academy/ace/lang/elem.html
Academy Curricular Exchange Language Arts Lessons - Elementary K-5.

http://www.ceismc.gatech.edu/busyt/toc.html
Busy Teacher's Website.

http://www.halcyon.com/marcs/lessons.html
Marc's Lesson Plans. A variety of subjects and links.

http://www.col-ed.org/cur/lang.html#lang1
Language Art Lesson Plans.

http://members.tripod.com/LBrock44/lessplans/
Links to many more collections of lesson and unit plans.

http://www.teachers.net/cgi-bin/lessons/sort.cgi?searchterm=Literature
Four Blocks Lesson Plans based on Children's Literature

http://readinglady.com/Readers_Theater/Mosquitoes/mosquitoes.html
Example from the Readinglady.com Four Blocks collection

Children's Literature On-Line Resources:

Through the Eyes of a Child - Donna Norton. (Click the drop down menu at the top of the screen to explore the VAST information/resources provided for this book.

Collaborative Lesson Archive

IPL Kidspace

The BookHive

CanTeach English Language Arts Novel & Picture Book Activities - Specific Novel & Picture Book Activities

YRCA Sample Book Ideas

Curriculum Areas from Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site

CLWG Children's Literature Web Guide

Fairrosa Cyber Library of Children's Literature

Marilee's List of Picturebook Authors and Illustrators Links

Children's Book Council

Children's Authors & Illustrators on the Web

Biographies