The topics explored in this unit--trade and travel and the influence of Islam in North Africa in the 13th-14th centuries as well as the thriving period of the ancient empire of Mali--will all be relatively new to my young students. I plan, therefore, to build and enrich their background knowledge on these topics before we actually begin our study of the key material. Laura Robb justifies this approach by stating: "Preparing students to read, before the reading takes place, improves their comprehension because learners link new information and experiences to prior knowledge and events" (Robb, Laura. Teaching Reading in Social Studies, Science and Math. New York: Teaching Resources, 2003, p. 31). Envision, if you will, my students poring over time-lines, maps, National Geographic magazine photographs and an array of picture books on the many topics of interest that so easily branch out from our main area of study. In an effort to further pique their interest, I plan to start the unit with an anticipation guide which requires students to read a series of unit-related statements and decide whether they agree or disagree with them. This activity will generate lots of rich discussion on a variety of topics and it will also motivate my students to delve deeper to find out more about these topics. The anticipation guide can be found in Appendix A of this unit. Lesson Plan I offers a step-by-step approach for using this guide.
I plan to provide a bridge linking fiction to nonfiction by reading aloud the book, Mansa Musa, by Khephra Burns. Although this tale of Mansa Musa's childhood is imaginary, it includes interesting snippets of both an historical and cultural nature which provides an ideal segue into our study of Mali and its great ruler. Because the story is long and complex, I plan to break it up into 5 readings so that the students can better digest what they have heard. To deepen their understanding, I will initiate the use of inquiry notebooks (described at length by Laura Robb) where students will pause, reflect and write down their own questions about the particular story segment that they have heard that day. We will use these questions as points of discussion. Lesson Plan II describes how to use these inquiry notebooks.
As my students delve into our nonfiction study, in addition to using inquiry notebooks, they will also participate regularly in using a discussion web (described at length by Robb) where key guiding questions will be written on large pieces of poster board underneath which they will record facts and understandings they have arrived at through their reading and discussions.
