Previewing: Probable Passages for Boy

Sample words from the story:

• chocolate bars• old people• tragedy

• Catholic school• 1920’s• Britain

On day one of the Roald Dahl unit, we will begin reading Boy, which is a story he wrote about his childhood. This will give the students an idea of where he came from as well as let them see where much of his creative writing came from.

I will explain to them that we are going to begin the unit about

Roald Dahl. Before they are able to converse

amongst their group, I will use the Guided

Comprehension Model (GCM) to show them how to use probable

passages with the 1st chapter (“Papa and

Mama”) before reading it, then have them try it

for the 2nd chapter (“Kindergarten”) with their partners. I will

then have them create probable passages for the 4th and 5th on their

own.DAY 1

Questioning: “I Wonder” Statements for Boy

As we continue to read Boy, I will use the 6th and 7th chapters (“Mrs.

Pratchetts Revenge” & “Going to Norway”) to demonstrate how to

create “I Wonder” statements. I will explain to them that these statements

help us to create questions that we think of as we are reading. I will pause

throughout reading these chapters and ask questions aloud as I write

them on the board. I will then have them practice using the following two chapters (8th & 9th) as I read aloud and

pause for them to write their questions. They will then be

completing the 10th through 15th chapters on their own.DAY 2

Making Connections: Bio-PyramidFor Roald Dahl

Roald DahlCreative authorBorn in Wales

Father died of pneumoniaHas written over sixty stories

Continued writing well into his seventiesMany of his books have become movies

Children everywhere keep his stories close at heart

This activity will take place after we have finished reading Boy. In whole group, I will begin writing the Bio-Pyramid with things that I come up with about Roald Dahl. After explaining what each of the lines are supposed to entail, I will finish lines 2-3. I will ask the class for suggestions of what to write for lines 4-6 and write them on the board. Then I will have them write the last

2 lines at their desk. I will have them share their answer and we will vote on the ones to write in our pyramids. This will follow up with the students writing Bio-Pyramids about themselves.

DAY 3

Visualizing: Photographs of the Mind for “The Crocodile” poem

DAY 4-5

I will begin by first, reading the poem aloud to the class. I will then

explain that I will be creating a drawing on a piece of paper of

what I am visualizing as I read the poem again. I will ask them to

close their eyes and imagine what they think is going on, and to

sketch their drawings on their own paper. Rather than do a complete GCM lesson for this, they would

really just be “winging” it, because I think this is one of the more

simple activities. When I am done with the poem, I will wait for them to finish their drawings, and then we will share what we have drawn

on the Elmo projector as we compare the different

visualizations that each person has.

• Students will be set up in pairs and asked to do their own research in the library, to find interesting differences and similarities between crocodiles and alligators

Crocodiles:Crocodylidae

Narrow V-shaped snoutTeeth overlap

Salt glands on tongueSalt water

BOTH:Amphibians

Thick scaly hidesIntegumentary sense organs

Alligators:Alligatoridae

Broad U-shaped snoutUpper jaw overlaps

Fresh water

Science: Venn Diagram Comparing Crocodiles and Alligators

DAY 5

How Words Work: Diamante for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

CharlieDark, mysterious

Plotting, chanting, winningDentist, Explanations, Music, Questions

Singing, laughing, eatingBright, childish

Willy

After reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I will have my students take notes on things that they found are different between

the book as they watch Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. After the movie is complete, they will be creating Diamantes examining the

differences between the book and the movie.DAY 6-10

Evaluating: Contrast Charts for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Using the stories The 3 Little Pigs and The True Story of the Big Bad Wolf as my example and model in Stage 1, I would create the 1st 2 differences between the stories. Then I would guide the students to finish the chart with 4 more differences.

I would then explain to them

that there is a very big

difference between the way we see

Willy Wonka in the book

compared to the way he is

portrayed in the movie. They

would follow up Stage 2 with

creating their own using

these, then reflecting in

Stage 3. DAY 6-10

Geography: “Candy Quakes” Activity

As a lesson on the different types of plate boundaries that exist in the Earth’s crust, students will each be given a Milky Way candy bar. I will model to them (as they follow along) how the plates move during earthquakes.1. Divergent Plate Boundaries: I will model slowly pulling the bar apart from the ends,

emphasizing that they should not pull the bar completely in two pieces. The chocolate is the brittle lithosphere, the caramel that is stretching is the material that would be used to form the new crust.

2. Convergent Plate Boundaries: I would again model pulling the bar apart. When pushing back together this time, I would explain that there are 2 possibilities in the Earth’s crust: they will forma a mountain or one piece will get pushed underneath the other (showing both of these on the candy bar). I would then ask them to try the same thing.

3. Transform Plate Boundaries: Again, modeling and then having them practice, I would show them how to slide the 2 parts of the candy bar past each other. This shows that there is minimal damage and no new material would appear or form.

DAY 11Activity idea borrowed from: K. Halford, Spring 2011

Monitoring: Mind Portraits for The Twits and George’s Marvelous Medicine

DAY 11-12

Stage 1: I will begin by explaining how we can use Mind Portraits as a way to monitor ourselves as we read. I will then read part of George’s Marvelous Medicine and model for them a sketch of George’s head and the Mind Portrait for him. Then I will then guide the students to complete a mind portrait for George’s grandmother. Following this I will read more of the book, and have them choose their own character to practice creating a Mind Portrait for on their own.

Stage 2: Students will have began reading The Twits; the next day in circle I will review what the learned the previous day about Mind Portraits and how they help us to monitor our reading. At their seats, I will have them then create Mind Portraits on any character they choose from the story. As a center activity, I will have them break into their reading groups and continue to read the book and then they will create Mind Portraits for another character.

Stage 3: I will again reflect with the class on how Mind Portraits can help to monitor our comprehension of the stories we read by letting us “into the minds” of the characters. Depending on students’ understanding, I will move on to explaining how Mind Portraits differ from Thinking Hats.

Summarizing: Comic Strip Summary for James and the Giant Peach

James’ parents were killed in a car accident, so he was forced to live with

his horrible aunts!

A magical man gave him a magical bean to help change his life…

The beans fell in the peach and it grew bigger than a house! He climbed

inside and met his new bug friends.

They had lots of fun times, but all wanted to move to America, so they

set sail.

A giant robot shark tried to kill them all! But they got away and made it to

America.

They all remained friends, in fact they became a family & never forgot their

adventure!

I would use the GCM to teach the class how to create Comic Strip Summaries. I would model with the first chapter of the book, then as we read the entire story, they would be

able to use drawings, computer graphics, magazine cut-outs or anything else to create their own.

DAY 13

Biocrostic - Summary

Rotten adults in every story

Outside the normal children’s author’s box

Always writing about kids that struggle

Loud, rambunctious characters

Descriptions that touch all senses

Dives right into the character’s mind

Action surrounding every story

Hard to believe his biography is true

Laugh in shock of what happens

Students will write another biocrostic for a character from any Roald Dahl book that includes

information about their story. This will be a summarization activity.

DAY 14

“If you can’t learn the way I teach, I will teach the way you learn!”

“Literacy is about comprehension. Comprehension is about making connections. Connections are

demonstrated through authentic activities.”1. Bun = Preview

2. Shoe = Question3. Tree = Make

Connections4. Door = Vizualize5. Hive = How Words Work6. Sticks = Monitor7. Heaven = Summarize8. Eight = Evaluate

Guided Comprehension Model

• Stage 1: Teacher-Directed Whole-Group

• Stage 2: Circle, Seat Center

• Stage 3: Teacher Facilitated Whole Group Reflection