Since the students have historical background on the different cultures in the story, they will be able to use this story in the following lesson plans. I can use this lesson as a CAPT activity, but I can also use as an important connection activity without bringing up the CAPT. It is extremely important for students to interact with whatever text we are working with. Connection is one way to do this.
Story: “The Horned Toad” by Gerald Haslam, which is a great short story about a young boy, a mixed race, whose Latin American grandmother comes to live with him. They conflict immediately, but soon gain an understanding of one another. The story reflects generational gaps, as well as cultural. In the end, he learns an important life lesson from the grandmother and teaches the adults.
Objectives: Students will. . .
1. Listen to a story read by the teacher and by class
2. Make a connection between the story and their own lives
3. Display response in a detailed entry in their journals
Procedures:
1. Prereading activity: Students will recall an experience in their lives when they learned a life lesson. They will do a quick-write, 5 minutes, on this and some will share their responses with the class.
2. Students will read the story “The Horned Toad” aloud, each student reading a paragraph.
3. Class will discuss the lessons that the narrator learns in the story. We will explore the ways in which he learns the lesson, including the time in which he learned it, the circumstances, etc.
4. For homework: Students will write a two page minimum entry in their journal, explaining in detail one specific experience they had in their lives, where they learned a life lesson. They will compare their experience to that of the narrators. If they can’t come up with something of their own, they must use the words “if that happened to me” or “I can imagine that” in order to not only relate to the story, but to learn empathy.