| Lesson Plan One | Lesson Plan Two | Lesson Plan Three | Lesson Plan Four | Lesson Plan Five |
Tomorrow we are going to start a new book (show book but don�t introduce the book yet). Look at the front cover where do you think this book comes from? What do you think it might be about? Describe what you see. I will give you a little hint about the book. It is a folktale from the Cherokee. Who knows who the Cherokee are? Do you know where they are from? Well, today, we�re going to find out! I draw a circle in the center of the dry erase board and label it �Cherokee.� Now what are some things we would like to know about the Cherokee? (Students might answer by saying: �I would like to know what kind of food they ate.�)As the students generate ideas, I will write the topic off-shooting from the center circle (a web).
After all the ideas have been collected, I will ask the students to prepare to go to the computer lab while I write the topics on separate slips of paper. (I might also have a student write the topics on the board while I write them on separate slips of paper). I will put the slips in a bowl or hat. I will then divide the students into as equal groups as possible by having them number off 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. (the number of groups will depend upon number of topics; it may also be possible to give each group more than one topic).
I will ask the students to gather according to their group number. I will ask a member from each group to select one (or more) topic(s) from the bowl. The topic(s) selected will be the group research topic. We will then go to the computer lab. At the computer lab, I will give the students a list of possible web sites they might begin to research. They are welcome to look at other sites on the list. The students will have approximately 20 min. to conduct their research. I will circle to provide assistance where needed. We will then return to class.
Now that we have our research together, I would like you to write down what you learned about your topic. (This is done with the assumption that this particular skill has been already taught and practiced). I will circle and provide assistance where needed.
Now that we have finished writing our papers, let�s present them to the rest of the class. Please take a couple of minutes to figure out who is going to say what part. Each person in the group should have something to say. Those were wonderful presentations. Thank you all for your hard work. Tomorrow we will do something fun with the information we gathered today and we will read the story.
| Name of Student | Initial Predicitions | Research Participation | Group Participation | Presentation Participation |
| Emma H. | ||||
| Bradley M. |
Let�s go back to yesterday for a minute. What are some of the things we learned about the Cherokee? Well, right now, for a few minutes, I would like you to begin work on a collage that brings together all the information you and your classmates learned about the Cherokee. This is a collage (show them an example). You find pictures and words from magazines and newspapers and you glue them on to the poster board. You need to use pictures that tell about the Cherokee. For instance, if they ate corn then you might find a picture of corn and glue it to the poster. If they liked to hunt and fish, you might find pictures of fishing rods and knives. Let�s get started on that.
After some time, the students are asked to stop on the collage and gather in the floor in the reading circle. I think everyone here has either read a folktale or heard one, right? Who can tell me what a folktale is, or give me an example of one? Well, there are different types of folktales. There�s the tall tales like the story of Paul Bunyon. And there is a type of folktale called a pourqoui tale. Everyone say pourqoui with me. Pourqoui is a French word that means �why.� So, pourqoui tales are stories that tell us why or how something exists. For instance, do you remember the story The Bunyans? Remember how Paul Bunyon and his family were the ones to create the Grand Canyon and the California coastline and Mammoth Cave?
Well, today we�re going to read another pourquoi tale. This tale comes from Cherokee folklore. Why do you think I chose a Cherokee story? What do we know about where the Cherokee lived? (Try to guide the students to say because the Cherokee once lived in the Kentucky/Tennessee area). But today, we�re going to learn just a little bit more about the Cherokee culture by reading one of their pourqoi tales. But before I read the book, I would like to introduce you to some creatures that we�ll see later.
Show a picture of a opossum:
What is this?
What do you notice about the opossum?
What does it look like?
Do you think it always looked like this?
Why do you think he looks like this?
Show a picture of a buzzard:
What is this?
What do you notice about the buzzard?
What does it look like?
Do you think it always looked like this?
Why do you think he looks like this?
Show a picture of a spider web:
Look at the spider web
What do you notice about the web?
Look at the center of the web.
Why do you think there�s a hole in the center of the web?
Read the book.
Stop at selected points in the story and ask guiding questions: Pg. 9:After learning about the animals� plan to steal the sun:
What do you think about Coyote�s plan to steal a piece of the sun? Do you think it will work? Why? What do you think will happen when they decide to steal a piece of the sun?
Pg. 11: After we�re introduced to opossum:
What do you notice about Possum here compared to the picture we looked at earlier?Do you think Possum will succeed in getting a piece of the sun? Why?
Pg. 12-15:
How did Possum�s appearance change?
Pg. 16-19: After we�re introduced to buzzard:
What do you notice about Buzzard here compared to the picture we looked at earlier? Do you think Buzzard will succeed in getting a piece of the sun? Why? How did Buzzard�s appearance change?
Pg. 20-27: After we�re introduced to Grandmother Spider:
How do you think Grandmother Spider felt when Wolf told her she was too old, small and slow? Do you think that because she�s old, slow and small that she cannot succeed in stealing a piece of the sun? Why?
Pg. 31: After reading the end of the book:
Show the picture of the spider web again and say: Now here�s the spider web picture again. Remember when I asked why there�s a hole at the center of a spider web? Well now we should be able to answer that question.
There is one very important lesson that this book has taught us. What do you think it is? Tell me why this is a pourquoi tale. Now, let�s learn a little something about the Cherokee and clay pots. Read the author�s note about how clay pots are made and used in the Cherokee culture. Now, we are also going to make a clay pot like this one (show an example) and draw your favorite scene on the pot. The scene must come from your memory. Make your drawings colorful. Let�s go. When you are finished we will present to the rest of the class at the end of the day, if there is time. When you are finished with your drawing, you may work on your collage.
| Name of Student | Collage Participation | Read Aloud Participation | Clay Pot Participation | Presentation Participation |
| Emma H. | ||||
| Bradley M. |
Yesterday, we read the book Grandmother Spider Brings the Sun. Who can remember what Wolf said to Grandmother when she volunteered to steal a piece of the sun?(Divide the dry erase board in half on one half write all the things the students say for the following question). How do you think that made Grandmother feel? Has there ever been a time in your life when someone told you that you couldn�t so something because you were too old or too young, too tall, short, etc? (write these answers on the other side of the board). How did that make you feel? Don�t answer. Just keep it to yourself for now because I�m going to ask you to do something with that. What did Grandmother show us about success?
Well, right now, I think we can all relate to Grandmother Spider because we�ve all been told that we couldn�t do something because of our size, or our age, or how fast we move or don�t move. I would like you to write a personal narrative. Who can tell me what a personal narrative is? What does a personal narrative have in it? Your classmates will be your audience.
I would like you to write your personal narrative about a time in your life when you were told you couldn�t do something because of how you looked, or because of your age, your size, even if because you are a boy or a girl. Think about how it made you feel. Put details in your writing like we have discussed before: things you saw, smelled, tasted, heard, felt. You will begin your story by filling in this sentence: �I think Grandmother Spider felt _________ when she couldn't go take a piece of the sun, because I felt the same way when ________ told me I couldn�t _________ because I was too _________.� Then I want you to write out the whole story for me. What happened in the very beginning, what happened after that, what happened next, and so on until you�ve told me the entire story. At the end of your story, tell what you could or would do differently if you could go back in time and do everything differently. You may begin. When you are finished, you may conference with me (again, assuming they know the process and procedures) or with another student who is also finished. After you have finished conferencing, you rewrite your piece, or you may work on your collage.
| Name of Student | Q&A Partcipation | Writing Activity Participation | ||
| Emma H. | ||||
| Bradley M. |
We have been studying the Cherokees and the folktale, Grandmother Spider Brings the Sun. What can you tell about what kind of story it is?Let�s take a closer look at what makes a pourquoi tale.(As students give answers write them on the board). Today, we are going to write and illustrate our own pourquoi tale. Is there an animal that when you look at it or see a picture about it that you wonder why it looks the way it does? Look at this picture of a platypus. Why do you think it looks the way it does? What�s the story behind it? What made it look that way? Or what about this zebra? Why is it colored like this? Or this emu? Or why do leopards have spots or tigers have stripes?
Your task is to pick an animal, it can be one of these or you can choose your own, and write an explanation story, a pourquoi, about why this animal is the way it is. You are to make this story like a book, with a fold down the center of the page and illustrations. After you fold your paper, you will use this hole punch to make holes in book and then you will tie yarn through the holes to bind your book. If you need assistance with this I will be walking around to help you.
This is also a day for us to finish all the projects we have been working on all week. If you need to complete your collage, please work on that after you�ve finished your story. For those who have already completed your projects, we will have presentations at the end of the day. We will present our pourquoi books on Monday. Please begin your books now. I will then walk around and assist students as needed.
| Name of Student | Book Activity Participation | Presentation Participation | ||
| Emma H. | ||||
| Bradley M. |