Considering ESL Standards for Pre-K-12 Students, CMT reading objectives, and six reading comprehension strategies being currently promoted in the New Haven school district (please, see Appendix), I identify the following unit objectives:
The students will be able to:
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- become familiar with 4 stories of different countries dealing with the theme of responsibility in children;
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- review the content knowledge of story elements: plot, characters, setting, problem, solution;
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- identify an important message/ theme(s)/ the main idea a story has;
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- make connections between the story's message and personal experiences;
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- analyze a story regarding the main characters' behavior and the consequences it has;
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- recognize the value of responsibility in the character's actions;
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- apply critical thinking to the possible problem solution in a story.
Skills Development
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- Students will write in a diary or personal journal;
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- Students will describe story characters;
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- Students will take notes as a teacher presents information, or during the film,
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in order to summarize key concepts;
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- Students will summarize a story or a film;
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- Students will locate information appropriate to an assignment in text or
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reference materials;
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- Students will take a position and support it orally or in writing;
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- Students will construct a chart synthesizing information;
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- Students will act out a particular scene from a film;
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- Students will work individually and cooperatively in groups.
The balance of academic and moral approaches (strategies)
The ultimate purpose of the unit is to combine academic study and moral teaching. In the beginning of studying a story or film, the academic aspect will be emphasized: students will obtain and process the subject matter, they will learn how to take notes during a film or a mini-lecture (
Taking Notes
), or how to write a summary of a story or a movie (
Summarizing
). At the midpoint of the process the combination of the two main unit goals will come into place. Students will select, connect, and explain information. For example, they will construct a chart synthesizing information about responsible/irresponsible deeds of characters (
Keeping a chart about the kinds of responsibility
), they will hypothesize and guess by taking a position concerning a responsible or irresponsible character (
What If
), and predict his or her actions orally or in writing (
Trying the other person's shoes
). These and other strategies –
Performing a scene, Writing in a journal, Identifying an important message
– are described below. The strategies apply to stories in film and literature.
Taking Notes
The fourth grade is a springboard for students to transfer to middle school grades. We need to ensure that students begin acquiring those complex learning skills such as note taking. We often assume something that is not the case with students, that they know, or will learn on their own, how to take accurate notes while not missing any part of the material related by the instructor. Risking sounding dull, I insist on teaching students how to take notes. Of course, they have to have some sort of writing fluency. But you can also teach them how to abbreviate, use symbols, and write in bullet points, noting only the key components of the material. They need to know that grammatical structures and spelling do not really matter in notes as long as the meaning is not violated. They have to realize that the purpose of taking notes is to use them as a support, as a memory tool to engage in future meaningful discussion or written response. In the case of this unit students will need their notes to write a summary of a film.
A good opportunity to learn note taking is available right away. Before we begin reading a story or viewing a film I plan to provide students with some brief but critical information about the country the story comes from: I will use a world map to locate the country, show pictures of the country's landscapes as well as local people engaged in daily activities; I'll also mention how children in this country organize their regular day. During my ten minute presentation students are to practice being active listeners and taking notes. I intend to model this skill, so during my first lesson I may ask another teacher to present the information and I will write down my notes on a big poster for all students to see.
Summarizing a Story
Summarizing a story also belongs to a group of challenging skills within which even middle and high school students struggle. My favorite technique here again is modeling. Excellent opportunities to write a summary would occur after viewing films like
The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun
and
Children of Heaven
. After viewing the first film I will teach the structure of a summary, which basically has to reflect all key elements of the story in three-five sentences: main character(s), setting, problem, solution. I will model writing a summary of the film
The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun
on a big poster which will be visible on the wall for the duration of this unit. Then students will write a summary using their own words. When they become familiar with the film
Children of Heaven
they will try writing its summary independently or in pairs.
Identifying an Important Message
Chapters 5 and 21 of
The Little Prince
seem to be well-suited to the purpose of painlessly teaching how to identify an important message in a text. During our reading aloud of these chapters I will direct students to seek the answer to the CMT type open-ended question: "What important lesson does the little prince learn in this chapter? Use examples from the text to support your answer." In these chapters it is not difficult to identify an important message. After hearing students' responses and scaffolding the discussion about the moral lesson in chapter 5, I will model writing down the answer to the question. After reading chapter 21 students will practice writing the response on their own.
The same procedure of identifying an important message should be performed after viewing separate scenes of the films
The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun
and
Children of Heaven.
In the film
The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun
there is a scene when Sili, the main character, is hired as a newspaper seller. First, she is met with suspicion and mistrust, because she is a girl. But Sili is determined to get a job and replies in a bold manner. The film
Children of Heaven
on DVD is broken down into 14 scenes, which makes it very convenient to work with the film in the classroom. To develop students' ability to identify an important message I would show scenes
3.
Swapping Shoes For School (
This is the key scene when Ali and his sister Zahra decide to use Ali's pair of sneakers to go to school. Ali acts responsibly toward Zahra's need to attend school, and Zahra takes responsibility for the situation by not telling the parents about the misfortune of Ali.)
, 9. Going Uptown For Work
(In this scene, students will observe how exceedingly problematic it is for
a poor Iranian man to find a job to make both ends meet, and how children participate in providing for the family.)
,
and scene
11. A Race For Sneakers
(This is one of the culminating scenes that shows the challenge of the consequences of Ali's loss, and how admirably he accepts it.).
Keeping a Chart about the Kinds of Responsibility
In the very beginning of the unit I will design a big chart reflecting the four stories under our study and the four kinds of responsibility students should find evidence of while working with these stories and films. After the study of a story/film we will, as a group, fill in the appropriate squares. At the end of the unit, the chart will demonstrate the students' gained knowledge about how children in other countries show responsibility in different aspects of their lives. We will use this chart as a comparative tool to draw conclusions about the nature of responsibility. Besides, having this kind of chart already at the initial stages of the unit will assist students with picking up appropriate information for the chart while continuing to watch movies or read stories.
(table available in print form)
Note: Please, see Lesson 1 for a sample from the story
The Little Prince
.
Trying on the Other Person's Shoes
A broad circle of moral values includes empathy, the ability to understand the other person's feelings and deeds. Not only do I want my students to be sensitive to others' emotions and moods, I also want them to comprehend the motivation of one's actions. That is why it is necessary to first discuss the character's traits and understand the model of his/her acting caused by these traits.
Chapter 8 of the story
The Little Prince
is a rather complicated selection. So, I would like to read this chapter aloud for my students, making stops and discussing the development of the relationship between the prince and the rose. As a whole group we will portray characteristics of the prince and the flower. I am even thinking of graphing the little prince's feelings toward the rose which change from admiration to abashment, then to disagreement and experiencing that the flower is "a complex creature," next to disappointment and doubt, and finally to regret about his premature conclusions. Building on our discussion students will write their prediction about the little prince's future thoughts and attitude toward the rose. (Also, please, see Lesson 2.)
Performing a Scene
In order to understand the feelings and inner motives of a character's actions, I will offer students the opportunity to act out a particular scene during the study of each story or film. I will entrust students with choosing a scene. The only condition would be that the scene should demonstrate responsibility of a character, either through his or her words, or other characters' responses. I will perhaps help students transcribe the scene. I will have students in two, three, or four groups, so we can enjoy watching more than one scene. My role would be monitoring the process and assisting students with selecting a scene and preparation for the performance. This activity should receive special recognition, as the students will utilize their presentation skills and dramatic talents, so I would give each participant a credit for the work and organize voting for the most expressive performance. This kind of activity definitely helps students feel good about themselves, conveys an atmosphere of success, and builds a sense of community in the classroom.
Writing in a Journal
I believe that it is crucial in the course of this unit to allow students enough time to reflect on the theme of responsibility and to observe similarities in the character's and their own actions and experiences. In fact, they should be encouraged to make all three kinds of connections: text to text, text to self, and text to the world(2). When students know the story, they will be asked to write in their personal journals. They will be prompted to make connections giving some meaningful evidence of those bonds. I expect that students will have at least six opportunities to write in their journals in the duration of the unit study: after each chapter of
The Little Prince
(three chapters), after a short story, and after each of the two films.
What if?
This activity goes along with the activity "Trying on the other person's shoes," the assignment on prediction, but it allows students to find out the outcome of the story. Students face the challenge to imagine what would have happened if the character had not acted the way he or she did act. What if a responsible character, such as Ali from the film
Children of Heaven
or the little prince, went another route – not a quite proper route – would the outcome be the same? What would happen to the other characters dependent on them? The unfolding of the situation would be, obviously, profoundly different. How different? I will impose these questions for the small groups in which students will have to come up with their own scenario of the situation "What if..?" I will provide students with exact formulations of the questions to start their thought flow in the needed direction, towards the final product. This activity is targeted at the development of students' critical thinking and ability to foresee the consequences of wrong behavior.
