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Unit By Valerie Wong

Grade 6: Unit on China Graphic Organizer

Conceptual Focus Statement for the Unit

To develop a greater appreciation for people in China, know about their history, how they live, what they do, what they eat, the geography as well as a global perspective of the relationship of China and Canada.

Learning Outcomes (IRP)

Language Arts

                        Communicate Ideas and Information (Presenting and Valuing):

·        Demonstrate pride and satisfaction in using language to express their thoughts, ideas, and feelings in various written, oral, visual and electronic forms

·        Create various personal and transactional communications, including real and invented narratives, poems or lyrics, summaries or retellings, descriptions, letters, informal oral presentations, charts and posters

Communicate Ideas and Information (Improving Communications)

·          Appraise their own and others’ work and make suggestions for revision

·          Revise for content and clarity

Communicate Ideas and Information (Composing and Creating)

·          Select and shape information appropriately for specific audiences and purposes

Communicate Ideas and Information (Knowledge of Language)

·          Use grammatically correct language when writing and speaking

·          Spell most words correctly

·          Use a legible cursive script if required for their audiences and purposes

Comprehend and Respond (Comprehension)

·          Identify and represent the main ideas or events in informational material

·          Locate and interpret details to complete tasks

Comprehend and Respond (Strategies and Skills)

·          Use summarizing, skimming and scanning to accomplish specific purposes for reading

·          Use table of contents to locate specific information or material

Self and Society (Building Community)

·          Demonstrate a willingness to interact with others in a variety of classroom and school activities involving communication

Self and Society (Working Together)

·          Use established criteria to evaluate their contributions to the group

            Social Studies

                        Applications:

·          Research information using print, non-print and electronic sources

·          Organize information from a variety of sources into a structured presentation using more than one form of representation

                        Society and Culture:     

·          Assess the relationship between cultures and their environments

·          Demonstrate appreciation of contributions of a variety of cultures to Canada and the world

                        Politics and Law:

·          Compare systems of government in selected countries

                        Environment:

·          Interpret and use graphs, tables, scales, legends and various types of maps

·          Locate and describe major geographical features

·          Assess settlement patterns and population distribution in selected countries

            Information Literacy

Locate and Select Information:     

·          Work cooperatively using information technology tools

·          Use atlases to locate and describe major geographic features and nations

  Record, Classify and Organize Information

·          Record key words or phrases using a given format

·          Locate, gather, select and record information for specific purposes from a various human, print, and electronic sources

·          Organize details and information they have read, heard or viewed using a variety of written and graphic forms, including charts, webs, and maps

·          Paraphrase and elaborate on the ideas of others to clarify and extend understanding

Communicate and Present Information

·          Revise, edit and proofread draft

·          Create and present multi-media documents for intended audiences

Unit Sequence

Week 1

            Lesson 1: Introduction of China with KWL and interesting artefacts

            Lesson 2: Guest Speaker and Introduce the Stations

            Lesson 3: Stations (Vocabulary, Maps, newspaper article about current affairs)

            Lesson 4: Continuation of Stations  

Week 2

            Lesson 1: Wrap up Stations and Hand in work

            Lesson 2: Prepare for Test by reviewing all answers for Stations

            Lesson 3: Summary Charts Strategy for Test

            Lesson 4: Unit Test on Geography, Rivers, agriculture, landmarks, religion)  

Week 3

            Lesson 1: Introduce Fine Arts: Chinese Art (Pottery and Paper Lanterns)

            Lesson 2: Continuation of Chinese Art

Lesson 3: Wrap up of Chinese Art

Lesson 4: Read Chinese Folk Tales and Discuss

Week 4

            Lesson 1: Information Literacy (Introduction of Note Taking)

            Lesson 2: Information Literacy (Worksheet of Note Taking from Resources)

            Lesson 3: Information Literacy (Continuation of Lesson 2)

            Lesson 4: Collaboration of partners in Worksheet to make unified report

Week 5

            Lesson 1: Continuation of partner work for Report

            Lesson 2: Hand in Reports; discuss letter format

            Lesson 3: Write out individual emails with format discussed from Lesson 2

Lesson 4: Individual emailing to Carisbrooke students in the lab

            Lesson 5: Read Emails and discuss your reports with the class as informal

     presentations

Week 6

            Lesson 1: Information Literacy Introduction of Advertisements

            Lesson 2: Advertisement Lesson

            Lesson 3: Work as individual/partners/small groups to make a 30 sec- 1 minute

     video clip to “sell” China to a layman

            Lesson 4: Continuation of Work

Week 7

            Lesson 1: Continuation of Week 6
            Lesson 2: Continuation of Week 6

            Lesson 3: Continuation of Week 6
            Lesson 4: Video Tape the clips of the class; have viewers to evaluate with criteria

    Sheet

Week 8 and 9

            Lesson 1: Teacher directed information in Trade  

            Lesson 2: Teacher directed information on Immigration

            Lesson 3: Teacher directed information on the Railway

            Lesson 4: Teacher directed information on Global relations of China and Canada

Week 10

            Lesson 1: Unit Test on Week 8

            Lesson 2: Field trip

Lesson 3: Smorgasboard of Chinese Food!

Introductory Lesson Plan

Global Objectives (IRP): 

·          Demonstrate a willingness to interact with others in a variety of classroom and school activities involving communication

·          Use grammatically correct language when writing and speaking

Specific Objective for this lesson:

            TSWBAT:  Participate in the introductory classroom brainstorm of what they

 know and would like to know in a chart format, as well as discuss and 

 observe the different Chinese artefacts and develop an appreciation

 for Chinese culture.  Mainly, the object of this lesson is the expose

 and peak the interest of the students to the unit of China.

Materials:

Chart Paper

Tape

Marker

(6) different interesting Chinese artefacts

Grouping:  Whole class participates and does the KWL strategy.  The class, in their desk groups, look at the artefact placed in their specific group.

Lesson Body:

Assessment:

·          Observe student participation in listening, questioning and adding ideas to the KWL chart

·          When observing the artefacts, watch for student participation in group discussion

·          Ensure that students are including everyone in the group (make sure students are aware that no answers are wrong)

·          Listen to their informal group presentations of what their objects and what they think it is.

Provision for Diverse Learner:

·          For an ESL student, encourage participation in the class KWL strategy more than grammatical preciseness.

·          For an ADHD student, allow for “out-of-the-box” type answers and if the other students laugh, reinforce the class that no answer is wrong.

Additional Comments:

Tell students to treat artefacts with care

Justification: This lesson is to peak the interest of the students and to get them excited about the unit.  The artefacts bring a real aspect to learning and give them an opportunity for some hands-on work.  The presentation at the end ensures that there have been group discussion and gives students an opportunity to practice oral speaking.

Information Literacy Lesson Plan (Week 4: 2^nd lesson)

Global Objectives (IRP): 

·          Record key words or phrases using a given format

·          Locate, gather, select and record information for specific purposes from a various human, print, and electronic sources

·          Organize details and information they have read, heard or viewed using a variety of written and graphic forms, including charts, webs, and maps

·          Paraphrase and elaborate on the ideas of others to clarify and extend understanding

Specific Objective for this lesson:

            TSWBAT: locate, gather and record key words or phrases on a chart

Materials:

China by Trudie BonBernard

China by Michael S. Dahl

Tintin’s Travel Diaries China by Maximilien Dauber and Martine Noblet 

China: Adventures in Eyewitness History by Rhoda Hoff

China the Culture by Bobbie Kalman

China the People by Bobbie Kalman           

Ancient China by Robert Knox (As a spare book to leaf through for students in case there

are not enough resources)

China by Pat Ryan

Food in China by Jennifer Tan

China by Julia Waterlow

http://www.sh.com/china/edu/chedu.htm (Use as a station to find Subjects in Primary School Education)

Grouping: Whole class for the introduction, pairs for the rest of the class

Previous Lessons: They have already learned how to use the index and table of contents to find the information they need.  Last information literacy class, we discussed HOW to note take and did a class exercise on the activity as well as an individual worksheet on note taking.  The worksheet was handed in and marked.

Lesson Body:

Assessment:

·          Ensure students are working cooperatively

·          Ensure students are on task and are not wasting their time

·          Circulate and make sure students are writing in note form

·          Ensure students have wrote down the author and title for their notes

·          Ensure pairs have divided the work

·          Mark the chart

* Note: This lesson will probably extend over 2 periods

Provision for Diverse Learner:

While the other students will be expected to finish at least 1 column, the ESL student and ADHD student will have to only finish 4 points. 

Extensions: Students will write a collaborative “letter” in their pairs about life as an 11 year old student in China.  This letter will be emailed to another group of grade sixes in Carisbrooke and be replied to.

Justification:  This lesson is teaching student an invaluable skill of note taking that will be useful for their entire lifetime.  Finding useful information and then transferring that into your own words is a difficult lesson to learn how to do.

Student Worksheet (Information Literacy Lesson 2 and 3)

Take notes in the 5 columns.

Life in the day of an 11 year old student in China

Language Arts Lesson Plan (Week 5: 2^nd/3^rd Lesson)

Global Objectives (IRP): 

·          Create various personal and transactional communications, including real and invented narratives, poems or lyrics, summaries or retellings, descriptions, letters, informal oral presentations, charts and posters

·          Use grammatically correct language when writing and speaking

·          Spell most words correctly

Specific Objective for this lesson:

            TSWBAT: Know the format of writing letters and start the draft of their letter to

      students in Carisbrooke.

Materials:

Letter formalities (salutation, greeting, body, conclusion etc)

Paper

Grouping: Start off as a class reviewing and learning about writing letters and the formalities.  After everyone is clear, go to individual desks to work.

Lesson Body:

Assessment:

·          Watch for participation and question asking during the lesson

·          Ensure students are on task when they are writing their individual letters

·          Watch that students are using grammar and spelling correctly in their writing

·          Mark their letters when they are done

Provision for Diverse Learner: 

Encourage all types of students to participate in this letter writing lesson and inform them how it’s importance.  Allow for students to decorate their letters with artwork or …

Justification:  Letter writing is a useful skill to acquire.  This lesson will be extended to involve technology.

Extensions: This letter will eventually be transcribed into an email which they will type to students in Carisbrooke.  Carisbrooke students will then reply to their emails.

Concluding Lesson Plan

Global Objectives (IRP): 

·          Demonstrate a willingness to interact with others in a variety of classroom and school activities involving communication

·          Demonstrate appreciation of contributions of a variety of cultures to Canada and to the world

Specific Objective for this lesson: 

TSWBAT: Have a greater appreciation of Chinese culture, especially the food. 

      Mostly to have fun and celebrate the end of the unit!

Materials:

(10) types of different foods/dessert  (Pre-prepared and set up food kiosks)

Small tables

Napkins

Plastic Utensils

Grouping: Class rotation in small groups to each of the food kiosks

Lesson Body:

Assessment:

Make sure every student is having fun and is trying the food.

Provision for Diverse Learner:

Allow for lots of discussion and time to try things out.  For the ESL student, make sure they are comfortable with participating in the ‘chaos’.

Justification: It is important to do hands-on appreciation of a culture, and after a whole unit of work, tasting food from that country is absorbing a little of “real-life” culture into their all the theory they have learned.  An appreciation for the culture is gained when the students appreciate the food from that culture.

RESOURCES/REFERENCES

BonBernard, Trudie.  China.  Edmonton, Alberta: Arnold Publishing, 1998.

            * This book was quite thorough in the information and I found that the text was well written with good sub-headings and a clear index.  It might be a little hard to read at times because the text was very detailed, but I would put tabs in for clues for the lower level readers in my class.

Dauber, Maximilien and Martine Noblet.  Tintin’s Travel Diaries China. Hauppauge,

New York: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., 1994.

            * Excellent layout with vibrant pictures.  Looking at it is entertaining and there is a lot of supportive text.  It is easy to follow and find information because of a clear Table of Contents.  There are also bolded focus words through the pages and the amount of text versus pictures on each page is in proportion to a grade 6 reader.

Dahl, Michael S.  China.  Mankato, Minnesota: Bridgestone Books, 1998. 

            * I found this text a little dry, but sufficient if you want to indicate to the students where to find the information.  It might be more useful for higher level readers.

Heinrichs, Ann.  China.  New York, New York:  Children’s Press, 1997.

            * I didn’t enjoy using this book too much because I thought the text was a little too easy for my grade 6 class.  The information was clearly laid out with lots of pictures.

Hoff, Rhoda.  China: Adventures in Eyewitness History.  New York, New York.  H. Z.

Walck Publishing, 1965.

            * I liked using this series because it is clear and text is well written.  There are supporting pictures and bolded words.  The only problem is that it is a little older, so I would use this text for information like geography, rivers and city locating. 

Kalman, Bobbie.  China the Culture.  New York, New York: Crabtree Publishing

Company, 2001.

            * The text is clear and easy to understand, there are supporting pictures as well as a Table of Contents.  Although the Table of Contents is not too detailed, there is lots of supporting sub titles on each page, making information skimming easier on the students.  There are bolded text, however, it isn’t very strong.  These series are updated yearly.

Kalman, Bobbie.  China the People.  New York, New York: Crabtree Publishing

Company, 2001.

            * As the above.

Kent, Deborah.  China Olds Ways Meet New.  Tarrytown, New York: Marshall

Cavendish Corporation, 1996.

            * Very detailed text with a nice introduction about the history and geography of China.  There is a clearly labelled map at the beginning of the book.  I think it is a good reference book for the teacher, but I wouldn’t let my grade 6 class use it on their own to do research.  Not too many pictures. 

Knox, Robert.  Ancient China.  New York, New York: Warwick Press, 1979. 

            * The layout of the text was clear and there were lots of interesting pictures to support the text.  I didn’t need this text because I found that the focus was on “ancient” China rather than what I needed for my class to find information from.  This would be useful as a teacher resource to tell students interesting facts about the history of China.

Ryan, Patrick.  China.  Plymouth, Minnesota:  Child’s World, 1998.

            * A reasonable source of information with a variety of topics covered, as most books are.  I didn’t find this book particularly special; it has a thorough text with a solid Table of Contents and pictures, but I liked the other sources better. 

Tan, Jennifer.  Food in China.  Vero Beach, Florida:  Rourke Publishers, 1989.

            * This is a book solely devoted to the different types of food in China.  There are recipes and interesting facts, and I would be able to give this text to my grade 6 class and allow them to find certain information about a specific kind of food.  Vivid pictures.

Waterlow, Julia.  Country Insights China.  Austin, Texas: Raintree Steck-Vaughn

Publishers, 1997.

            * This book has larger text and supporting pictures.  There is a quote from a person every couple of pages relating to what the information is about, giving a more realistic view of the situation.  There are also little pictures near the titles on each page to indicate what the section is about.  Each page has a “key idea” section where it is set apart from the body of text and gives important detail points.

http://www.sh.com/china/edu/chedu.htm

*There aren’t too many great websites for information on China.  This was on of the better ones for my grade 6 class, however, I think that it would be hard for them to skim through the whole page of information and find what they needed.  There are sub headings, but there aren’t a lot of pictures and the text is a hard read.  I would highlight the area I want the students to focus on and let them find what they need just from that section.

http://www.chinatoday.com/

            * This website was a tough read and although there was a map to put China in perspective on the globe, the information was too detailed and not useful for the purposes of my unit.

Davies, Sandra, and Sandra Jang.  The Chinese People: Music, Instruments, Folklore. 

(31 slides).  Vancouver, British Columbia: Western Education Development

Group, 1982.

* I found these slides quite interesting, and I would show them to my class as a “break” from some of the topics we were learning.  It is interesting, short, and well made.