Title:                        Emma by Wendy Kesselman

Subject Matter/Level:      Reading (decoding and comprehension) for second/third grade

Instructional Designer:       Carol Buesing

Unit Description:  Using an Accelerated Reader book (in this case, Emma  by Wendy Kesselman) to practice decoding and reading comprehension.  Written expression, creative design, and math skills will also be addressed.

Goals:  The main goal is to read and comprehend an Accelerated Reader book.  In addition, written expression, math skills, and creative design will be addressed.  Towards these goals, the following state and district standards will be used:

1.       To use knowledge of consonants, consonant blends, and common vowel patterns to decode unfamiliar words.

2.      To use context clues and prior knowledge to understand unfamiliar text.

3.      To comprehend main idea and supporting details.

4.      To make predictions about information: events in text, reread to extend initial impressions, and use prior knowledge to confirm or reject predictions.

5.      To write to share information or inform a specific audience.

6.      To use the writing process to improve written work.

7.      To use various types of technology for sharing, revising, and editing written work.

8.      To write and solve number sentences from problem situations that express relationships.

9.      To solve story problems involving multi-step operations.

10.  To represent given problem situations using diagrams, models, and symbolic expression.

Assessments:

          1.       Pass AR test with at least 80% accuracy

2.     On-going observations by teacher

3.     Running Record of students’ reading

4.     Reflections by students

Resources/Materials:

          AR book (in this case, Emma by Mary Kesselman)

          Accelerated Reader Program

          Spot and Dot Strategy (PowerPoint and Wall Chart)

          Comprehension Strategies (Herringbone, Venn Diagram, Draw/Read/Draw, and One-Sentence Summary)

          Inspirations software

          Digital Camera/printer

          Excel for graphing

          Helping Your At-Risk Students Be More Successful Readers (Grades 1-3) Resource handbook by Dr. Mary Howard.  Published by Bureau of Education & Research

          Running Records—Marie Clay (Reading Recovery)

DAY 1:

1.       Choose word unknown to student.

2.     Explain that student will be working with a strategy to help him/her read difficult words.

3.     Share Spot and Dot PowerPoint.  Review using wall chart of strategy.

4.     Practice decoding words using this strategy.

Day 2:

1.       What do you think her life was like before she began painting and how did it change after she began painting?

2.     Quickwrite is an “effective way to aid children in accessing what they know about a topic and can be done quickly, in 5 to 10 minutes. The Quickwrite may be unstructured by asking students to write predictions about the story following the preview or it may be structured by asking them to focus on a specific event.  This will aid children in establishing a purpose for reading or listening and provides a motivation for reading…After reading, the text may be compared to with the initial Quickwrite…..Quickwrite is intended to be a brief procedure before reading.  It is important that students get their thoughts down on paper quickly, so spelling should not be a factor.”  (Helping Your At-Risk Students Be More Successful Readers by Dr. Mary Howard.  Bureau of Education & Research)

1.       Do a book walk:  read title, look at pictures, look at how book is arranged, etc.)

2.     Begin to read book together, using Spot and Dot strategy as needed.

3.     Do “Draw/Read/Draw” comprehension activity as book is read.  “Draw/Read/Draw is a prediction strategy which will allow you to enhance the connection between predictions and information provide in the text.  Fold a piece of paper in half and cut two or three flaps on the top half….Examine the text and identify 2 or 3 good stopping points in the story which will encourage and support predictions.  After previewing the text and title, encourage students to draw their predictions on the inside top left section of the first flap.  Discuss the predictions, encouraging students to justify and support their drawings using preview information.  Then read to the first designated stopping point.  Following reading, provide time to respond to the reading. Ask students to draw in the first box on the bottom portion of the page what actually happened in the story as well as to draw a new prediction in the next section at the top.  Then read to the next point and repeat until all boxes are completed.  When the story is completed, students will open the page so that all drawings can be viewed.  The sequence of drawings is shown below:

     Discuss the predictions students made, the events in the story which support or refute those predictions, and any modifications which may have been made….Point out the relationship between predictions and the text as they make, modify, and confirm predictions.  Encourage students to discuss how the event in the text affected their predictions or how these were the result of information provided in the text.”  (Helping Your At-Risk Students Be More Successful Readers by Dr. Mary Howard, Bureau of Education & Research)

Day 5:

1.       Review book orally

2.     Complete herringbone graphic organizer for main idea/details (see attached)

Days 6 and 7:

Day 8:

1. Assessment:  Take running record (Marie Clay, Reading Recovery) of story with student
2. Writing Activity:  One-Sentence Summary (see attached form).  “One-Sentence Summary provides a support as it aids children in consolidating text information by briefly stating it in a single sentence.  Students simply respond to three questions in order to include key aspects of the text in a single sentence:

*What does it begin with?

*What is in the middle?

*What does it end with?

Day 9:

1. Assessment:  AR test
2. If time allows, instruct students in use of Digital Camera and have them think about landscape pictures they could take.

Day 10:

1. Using digital camera, students take 2 or 3 pictures of landscapes around the school. (If students prefer, they can draw pictures of landscapes.)
2. Print pictures
3. Students add captions to pictures

Day 11:

1. Students solve the following math problem:  How many people are in Emma’s family?
2. Students determine how many people are in their extended families and record results on Excel.
3. Print various graphs from Excel and display in room.

Day 12:

Students write a reflection on this unit.  What was the part that was the most fun?  What part was difficult?  Did the activities we did help you with the AR assessment?   

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Clay, M.M. (1993).  Reading Recovery.  Auckland: New Zealand: Heinemann.

Gone, Marilyn.  Georgian Court College.  Lakewood: New Jersey.

Howard, Mary. Helping Your At-Risk Students Be More Successful Readers (Grades 1-3).  Bellevue: Washington.  Bureau Of Education & Research.

Kesselman, Wendy.  Emma.  New York: New York.  Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

(Back to top)