SAMPLE. Social Studies Identifying biographies and autobiographies; utilizing historical fiction

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1 Introductory Lesson Focus: Say: Think about all the different stories and books in our classroom and the library. Ask: Are all the books the same? (No, some books tell stories while others give information. Accept reasonable responses.) Say: Examine the transparency, page 2. Contrast features of these books. (Allow students to give responses describing the differences among the books.) Ask: Based on the titles of the first two books, do you think they contain factual information or made-up stories? (Factual information One is an encyclopedia and the other is a story about a real-life person, Theodore Roosevelt.) Say: One book includes fairy tales. Describe what you know about these stories. (Students might say the stories are made up, involve fairies, involve magic, etc.) Say: Today we are going to begin examining different types of literature, called genres. We will identify what makes each genre unique and will examine excerpts, or examples, of each genre as well. Statement of Importance: Understanding literary forms and genres is an important reading skill that allows students to choose a particular genre based on its purpose and form. Across the Curriculum Goals: Social Studies Identifying biographies and autobiographies; utilizing historical fiction Objective: Science Finding and utilizing biographies of scientists; using reference books for scientific study and experiments Language Arts Choosing appropriate genres based on purpose; comparing and contrasting various genres At the close of this lesson students will be able to identify a variety of literary genres and their forms and will be able to compare and contrast various genres. Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc. 1 ( T )

2 Objective: Students will contrast a variety of books Encyclopedia of Animals and Insects Best Known Fairy Tales Brian and the Giant The Life of Theodore Roosevelt My Diary: Life in the Year ( T ) Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc.

3 Definition: Literary Form is the usual characteristics, organization, and structure of each type of written material. Genre is a type or category of written material. Each genre has a usual form. 1 Read the passage carefully. Steps for Identifying a Literary Genre 2 Identify the characteristics and form of the passage. 3 Compare the form of this passage with the usual form of different genres. 4 Determine the genre of this passage. Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc. 3 ( T )

4 Objective: Students will identify characteristics of fiction and nonfiction passages; students will compare and contrast fiction and nonfiction 4 Initial Instruction Part I Fiction and Nonfiction Teacher note: In Part I of the Initial Instruction students will be introduced to two main literary genres: fiction and nonfiction. Students will examine two passages and will discover ways to determine if a passage is fiction or nonfiction. Finally, students will be able to compare and contrast the two genres. Group size: whole class Materials:, below and page 5-6; examples, transparency pages 7-8; KWL charts, pages 43-44; science or social studies textbooks Before class: Make two copies of the KWL charts for each student. Gather necessary materials. Directions: Distribute a copy of the KWL charts to each student. Students will fill in the charts as they learn about each genre. Use the and examples to guide students through this portion of the Initial Instruction. Ask: What do you know about fiction? (Allow students to brainstorm what they know about fiction. Have them write this information in the Know column on their first chart.) Ask: Is there anything you want to learn about fiction? (These questions should be written under the Want column on the chart. Possible question: Do all fiction stories have to be about made-up people and places? ) Say: The two main types of literary genres are fiction and nonfiction. Fiction stories are made up. Authors use their imaginations to create stories about people, events, and even places that don t really exist. For instance, E.B. White s story Charlotte s Web is fiction. It involves characters, events, and places that don t actually exist. Usually, in fiction stories, authors try to make the story seem real. However, they might leave out details like specific dates and time periods, or the names of specific places. Ask: Why might someone read fiction stories? (to be entertained, to have fun, to relax) Ask: Why do you think some authors choose to write fiction stories? (to be creative, to entertain others) Ask: Can you identify other stories that are fiction? (Accept reasonable responses.) Ask: What do you know about nonfiction? We should write this information under the Know column. Say: Now let s list any questions we have about nonfiction in the Want column. Say: Nonfiction books and articles are factual. They give the reader real and usually true information about people, places, things, or events. The content in nonfiction writing actually exists or actually happened. The textbooks we use for social studies and science, for example, are nonfiction. Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc.

5 Objective: Students will identify characteristics of fiction and nonfiction passages; students will compare and contrast fiction and nonfiction Initial Instruction Part I Fiction and Nonfiction Say: Explain what is most likely the purpose of nonfiction books. (The purpose of nonfiction books is to inform readers about a particular topic or, in the case of technical documents or manuals, to explain how something works.) Ask: What are some other books that might be considered nonfiction? (Nonfiction books include encyclopedias, almanacs, biographies, autobiographies, etc. Accept reasonable responses.) Place the fiction example, transparency page 7, on the overhead. Say: Let s examine a fictional passage. (Have a student read the passage aloud.) Say: Identify some details that might tell us this passage is not a true story. (There are no actual dates or places mentioned in the story. There is nothing to tell us the story is true; the events do not seem to be based on any real events.) Ask: If someone had actually sunken a boat on purpose, would children be able to get close to the scene of the crime? (Probably not, the area would most likely be roped off.) Ask: In real life, what would probably happen to someone who was dumping waste from toilets into the water? (They would probably be arrested, and there would be no need for anyone to sink the boat.) Say: Fiction stories usually follow a particular pattern, or form. At the beginning of a fiction story, the author establishes the setting and introduces the reader to the characters. As the story continues, a problem or several problems are usually presented. In this excerpt, we are reading about the problem. Explain what problem has occurred. (Noah and Abby s father is in jail for sinking a boat.) Ask: What do you think happens in fiction stories after the problem is established? (Accept reasonable responses. Usually the problem is solved through efforts of several characters.) Say: Once the problem is established, there is usually a climax, or moment of high suspense. After this point, the problems are solved as the story comes to an end. Say: On your genre KWL chart, beside fiction, describe what we should write in the Learned column. (Fiction stories are made up. They involve characters, places, and events created from the author s imagination. Fiction stories follow a particular form involving introduction to setting and characters, problems arising, a climax, resolution of the problems, and story conclusion.) Ask: Have all your questions been answered? Write any information you learned that answers your questions in the Learned column directly across from the question. Place the nonfiction examples, transparency page 8, on the overhead. Say: Now that we have examined a fiction passage, let s read through two nonfiction passages. (Have a student read the passages aloud.) Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc. 5

6 Objective: Students will identify characteristics of fiction and nonfiction passages; students will compare and contrast fiction and nonfiction 6 Initial Instruction Part I Fiction and Nonfiction Ask: Can you identify any details that might make this passage nonfiction? (The passages are about animals or sea creatures that actually exist. They both give facts about the creatures.) Say: List some specific facts from the passages. (Cheetahs have been clocked at up to 70 mph. The man-of-war has long, stinging tentacles. Cheetahs live in protected parts of Africa, etc.) Say: Describe a way we could check this information to make sure it is true. (Students could look up information in an encyclopedia, on the Internet, etc.) Ask: Do you think nonfiction passages follow a particular form or pattern? (Accept reasonable responses. Students may notice the information is divided into paragraphs with a main idea and supporting details.) Say: There are many types of nonfiction, and different types follow different forms or patterns. Essays about particular topics, like cheetahs, are usually organized into paragraphs with each paragraph containing a main idea and details to support that idea. Say: Let s examine a textbook. Explain what you notice about the information within your textbook. (It is all factual information about a particular topic. The information is broken down into small sections and chapters.) Ask: Do you think the author of the textbook included his/her own opinions about different topics? Why or why not? (No, factual works like textbooks should only present facts to the reader and inform the reader. The information is not presented to persuade the reader in any way.) Ask: When we use our textbooks to learn information about a topic, what are some ways we can keep track of the information we read? (Accept reasonable responses. Students may suggest writing down bits of information or jotting down key words. Creating outlines or graphic organizers is also a way to keep track of new information.) Say: Within our textbooks, sometimes words are highlighted. What do you think is the purpose of this? (Highlighted words are usually new vocabulary, or words which are key to a particular topic or subject.) Say: Identify some ways we can keep track of and remember these key words. (Students may suggest having a word wall with new vocabulary words, keeping a list of new vocabulary words, or writing new words on the board. Accept reasonable responses.) Say: Explain the main difference between the genres of fiction and nonfiction. (Fiction passages are made up and involve characters, places, or events that do not really exist. Nonfiction writing gives factual information.) Say: Let s write this information and the other information we learned about nonfiction writing under the Learned column on our chart. Ask: Have all your questions about nonfiction been answered? Write any information you learned that answers your questions in the Learned column directly across from the question. Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc.

7 Objective: Students will identify characteristics of fiction Initial Instruction Part I Fiction and Nonfiction Fiction Example (In the following excerpt from Carl Hiaasen s book Flush, Noah and Abbey, brother and sister, ride to the beach to examine a boat their father sunk the night before.) The Coral Queen had gone down stern-first in twelve feet of water. Her hull had settled on the marly bottom at a slight angle with the bow aiming upward. She was a big one, too. Even at high tide the top two decks were above the waterline. It was like a big ugly apartment building had fallen out of the sky and landed in the basin. Abbey hopped off my handlebars and walked to the water s edge. She planted her hands on her hips and stared at the crime scene. Whoa, she said. He really did it this time. It s bad, I agreed. The Coral Queen was one of those gambling boats where passengers line up to play blackjack and electronic poker, and to stuff their faces at the all-you-can-eat buffet. It... was packed to the rafters every night. 1 My dad had waited until three in the morning, when the last of the crew was gone, to sneak aboard. He d untied the ropes and started one of the engines and idled out to the mouth of the basin, where he d opened the seacocks and cut the hoses and disconnected the bilge pumps and then dived overboard. The Coral Queen had gone down crosswise in the channel, which mean that no other vessels could get in or out of the basin.... He s lost his marbles, Abbey muttered. Who Dad? No way, I said. Then why did he do it? Because Dusty Muleman has been dumping his holding tanks into the water, I said. Abbey grimaced. Yuck. From the toilets? Yep. In the middle of the night, when there s nobody around. That is so gross. And totally illegal, I said. He only does it to save money. 2 Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc. 7 ( T )

8 Objective: Students will identify characteristics of nonfiction Initial Instruction Part I Fiction and Nonfiction Nonfiction Examples A Blue Balloon on the Ocean? The Portuguese man-of-war is like a jellyfish. It floats on the ocean and looks like a balloon. Just looking at it, it seems harmless to most. However, this creature is dangerous. It is part of the same family as jellyfish and coral. It has long tentacles that can sting its prey and even harm humans. In fact, this creature is not just one animal; it is a colony of tiny animals. They all work together to catch and sting fish for food. Be careful if you see a blue balloon floating in the ocean it may just be this dangerous creature! The Fastest Land Animal Cheetahs are often confused with leopards. Both have spots, but the cheetah is thinner and has shorter hair around its shoulders. It also has black lines on its face that the leopard does not have. The cheetah is so fast it has been known to run at 70 mph for short distances! Usually, when chasing prey, it runs at about 40 mph. Sadly, the cheetah is not just chasing food; it is trying to survive. This animal has been chased out of some areas like India and the Middle East. It survives in protected parts of Africa. 8 ( T ) Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc.

9 Objective: Students will identify characteristics of biographies and autobiographies; students will compare and contrast biographies and autobiographies Initial Instruction Part II Biography and Autobiography Teacher note: In Part II of the Initial Instruction students will examine biographies and autobiographies and will identify the characteristics and form of each genre. Group size: whole class Materials:, below and page 10; examples, transparency pages 11-12; KWL charts, pages 43-44; overhead markers Before class: Gather necessary materials. Directions: Use the and examples to guide students through this portion of the Initial Instruction. Say: Biographies and autobiographies are both nonfiction genres. Explain what this means. (Both biographies and autobiographies provide factual information.) Say: List what you know about biographies. (Students may only know what you have just told them that biographies are nonfiction. Have them write this in the Know column on their charts.) Ask: What questions do you have about biographies? Write these under the Want to Know column on your chart. Say: Biographies are written works about a person s life. They are true stories of the events in a real person s life, written down by someone else. Let s write this information on our genre chart beside biography. Ask: Why do you think someone might write a biography? (A person might want to inform others of the life of a famous person or a person who has inspired him/her.) Say: Summarize some ways you could use biographies. (Students can use biographies to learn more about a person of interest to them. They can also use these books for research on a particular topic. For example, when learning about gravity, students might read a biography of Isaac Newton.) Place the biographical passage, transparency page 11, on the overhead. Say: Let s read part of the biography of Annie Oakley. (Allow time for students to read the biography, or read it aloud.) Ask: Can anyone identify a fact in the passage about Annie Oakley? (Accept reasonable responses such as: Her real name was Phoebe Ann Moses. She lived from She liked to hunt; she was a sharpshooter.) (Underline facts in the passage as students identify them.) Say: Explain how the reader might know this passage was not written by Annie Oakley, herself. (It is written in third person; it does not use I. ) Ask: Since this is nonfiction, is there a way for us to check the facts presented in this passage? (By using an encyclopedia, the Internet, or a book on Annie Oakley, the facts in the passage can be checked for accuracy.) Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc. 9

10 Objective: Students will identify characteristics of biographies and autobiographies; students will compare and contrast biographies and autobiographies 10 Initial Instruction Part II Biography and Autobiography Say: Biographies follow a particular pattern, or structure. Predict what you think this structure might be. (Usually, biographies are written chronologically from the early life of a person to the most recent events about the person.) Say: Summarize the details we can list under the Learned column on our chart about biographies. (stories written about a real person by someone else, nonfiction, include facts which can be checked or verified, written in sequential order from early life to most recent events, written to inform readers about the life of a particular person) Ask: What do you know about autobiographies? (Have students write this information under the Know column on their charts.) Ask: Is there anything you want to learn about autobiographies? Write these questions under the Want column on your chart. Say: An autobiography is also the story of a person s life. However, autobiographies are written by the person the story is about. He/She tells his/her own story. For example, an autobiography of Rosa Parks would have been written by Rosa Parks, herself. Place the autobiographical passage, transparency page 12, on the overhead. Say: Read the excerpt from Rosa Parks autobiography. Identify facts in the passage. (Students might mention that Rosa Parks lived in Pine Level, Alabama. Moses Hudson owned the plantation next to them. Her father was a brick- and stonemason. Underline facts from the passage as students identify them.) Ask: How do we know that Rosa Parks wrote this story of her life? (The story is written using I, which means it was written from the first-person point-of-view.) Ask: Why do you think Rosa Parks wanted to write her autobiography? (Accept reasonable responses. She most likely wanted others to know the story of her life and her struggle for an end to segregation.) Say: Based on this information, describe the purpose of Parks autobiography. (The purpose is to inform others of the injustices done to African Americans and the steps people like Rosa Parks took to overcome those injustices.) Ask: How are autobiographies different from biographies? (Autobiographies are written by the person/subject of the story, whereas biographies are written by someone else.) Say: The form of these two genres is similar. Like biographies, autobiographies are usually written from the beginning of a person s life to the most recent events about that person. Say: List any new facts we have learned about autobiographies in the Learned column of your chart. (Students should include that autobiographies use I, or the first-person point-of-view, are nonfiction, and are written to inform. Students should also include the pattern or structure of autobiographies sequential order from the beginning of a person s life to most recent events.) Say: Explain why all nonfiction is not considered a biography or autobiography. (Not all nonfiction passages are about a person s life.) Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc.

11 Objective: Students will identify characteristics of biographies and autobiographies; students will compare and contrast biographies and autobiographies Initial Instruction Part II Biography and Autobiography Who was Annie Oakley? Biographical Passage Her real name was Phoebe Ann Moses, and she ignored rules all her life. In an age when ladies did not handle guns, she became a sharp-shooting legend. While most women stayed at home with their children, she traveled the world performing for enormous crowds, living happily in a big canvas tent. She was quiet, even shy, yet a brilliant performer. During her lifetime, , women were paid far less than men, but at her peak she earned as much as the President of the United States. She was one of the best-known women of her age, and the public loved her, yet she was never anything but modest and down-to-earth. 3 Phoebe Ann Moses was born August 13, 1860, in Darke County, Ohio. Her birthplace a rough settler s cabin built by her father, Jacob was near the tiny village of Woodland. It was also close enough to the woods for good hunting. Even as a tiny girl, Annie loved to go hunting with her father. Sadly, Jacob Moses died of pneumonia when Annie was five years old. 4 Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc. 11 ( T )

12 Objective: Students will identify characteristics of biographies and autobiographies; students will compare and contrast biographies and autobiographies Initial Instruction Part II Biography and Autobiography Autobiographical Passage One of my earliest memories of childhood is hearing my family talk about the remarkable time that a white man treated me like a regular little girl, not a little black girl. It was right after World War I, around I was five or six years old. Moses Hudson, the owner of the plantation next to our land in Pine Level, Alabama, came out from the city of Montgomery to visit and stopped by the house. Moses Hudson had his son-in-law with him, a soldier from the North. They stopped in to visit my family. We southerners called all northerners Yankees in those days. The Yankee soldier patted me on the head and said I was such a cute little girl... 5 I was raised in my grandparents house in Pine Level, in Montgomery County, near Montgomery, Alabama. All my mother s people came from Pine Level. My mother s name was Leona Edwards. My father came from Abbeville, Alabama. His name was James McCauley. He was a carpenter and a builder, very skilled at brickand stonemasonry. He traveled all around building houses ( T ) Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc.

13 Objective: Students will identify characteristics of historical fiction and diary entries or journals; students will compare and contrast historical fiction passages and diary entries Initial Instruction Part III Historical Fiction and Diary Entries Teacher note: In Part III of the Initial Instruction students will examine both the genre of historical fiction and diary entries or journals. Students will examine excerpts from each genre and will compare and contrast the two genres. Group size: whole class Materials:, below and pages 14-15; examples, transparency pages 16-17; KWL charts, pages 43-44; overhead markers Before class: Gather necessary materials. Directions: Use the and examples to guide students through this portion of the Initial Instruction. Say: Describe what historical fiction might include, based on its name. (Accept reasonable responses from students, and have them include this information under Know on their charts.) Say: List any questions you have about historical fiction under the Want column on your chart. Say: Historical fiction involves a made-up story with characters or events that occurred during a particular time in history. This might include a fictional account of the California Gold Rush, or the story of a mouse who lived in the castle of Queen Elizabeth. Historical fiction combines fiction, made-up events or characters, with a real historical time period. (Have students write this information on their genre charts.) Ask: Based on this information, what contrasts are there between fiction and historical fiction? (Fiction does not base itself around a particular time or event in history, but historical fiction does.) Say: Sometimes historical fiction stories are based on the life of a famous person, like Cleopatra or Queen Elizabeth. These stories often use some factual information and some fictional information. They are used as entertaining stories about what probably happened in a person s life. These are different from biographies because not all of the information is true, and their purpose is to entertain rather than to inform. Ask: Why do you think people might choose to read historical fiction stories? (They provide entertainment, but also provide a little factual information on certain historical periods. They are fun to read and may be more realistic than other fiction stories.) Ask: If you were writing a research paper on Queen Elizabeth, would it be better to use a historical fiction book about her or a biography? (A biography would be a better source because all of the information in a biography can be proven true. Its purpose is to inform. Historical fiction stories are written to entertain.) Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc. 13

14 Objective: Students will identify characteristics of historical fiction and diary entries or journals; students will compare and contrast historical fiction passages and diary entries Initial Instruction Part III Historical Fiction and Diary Entries Place the historical fiction example, transparency page 16, on the overhead. Have a student read the passage aloud. Ask: Is there any information in the passage to help us determine the time period in which the story is set? (Yes, there is information about Native Americans in the passage. This helps the reader to know the story is set in frontier times when Native Americans still lived free on the plains.) Say: Describe what else might make this passage historical. (It discusses Native Americans massacring people in the North; events like this did occur when Americans first began to move into Native American territory.) Ask: Why is this passage not considered nonfiction, since it discusses Native Americans and actual events from history. (The passage discusses a fictional family, the Woodlawns. The information here about Caddie enjoying the smell of birch smoke and hot pitch, for instance, cannot be proven.) Say: While events similar to this occurred during this time period, an actual event with exactly these details and people did not occur. Say: Summarize information we should list under the Learned column for historical fiction. (It is based around a particular time period and includes some factual information about the time period, but it also involves some made-up characters or events.) Ask: Since historical fiction is a type of fiction, do you think the pattern, or form, of the story is similar to a fiction story? (Accept reasonable responses. The pattern is similar in that historical fiction stories usually have an introduction, problems, a climax, and resolution of any problems.) Say: Describe what you know about diaries, or journals. Let s add this information to our KWL chart. List any questions you have about diaries or journals. These need to be placed in the Want column on your chart. Say: A journal or diary, like historical fiction, usually follows a particular time in history. It is usually a day-by-day account of events in a person s life and is written in first person, using I. Some of you may keep diaries at home or school. Sometimes, however, journals can be part of historical fiction. They may follow a particular time in history, but may be a fictional character s account of events during that time period. 14 Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc.

15 Objective: Students will identify characteristics of historical fiction and diary entries or journals; students will compare and contrast historical fiction passages and diary entries Initial Instruction Part III Historical Fiction and Diary Entries Place the diary entry examples, transparency page 16, on the overhead. Say: The easiest way to tell a diary or journal from a historical fiction story is the form. Historical fiction stories are written in chapters, like other fictional works. Diaries and journals usually include dates and short passages, which are called entries. Also, journals can be fiction or nonfiction. For example, a diary kept by you might contain facts about your life. An author might also write diary entries about his/her life. However, diary writing can also be used as a different way to present fictional information. So, a story about a fictional character s life can be written as diary entries as well. Let s examine diary entry excerpts. (Have a student read the passages aloud.) Ask: What information from Nellie s diary would help us to see that this diary includes some historical information? (She talks about the war being over and her uncle fighting in France; the dates are specific and would help the reader to understand that the war is most likely World War I.) Say: Describe some differences between this diary excerpt and the earlier historical fiction excerpt. (The diary excerpt is told from the first person point-of-view; it gives Nellie s personal feelings about different issues. The historical fiction excerpt is told from the third-person point-of-view and does not show the reader Caddie s own thoughts and feelings.) Ask: How is the form of this excerpt different from the earlier excerpt about Caddie Woodlawn? (The Caddie Woodlawn excerpt is in paragraphs; the diary excerpt is separated into entries that have dates to show when they were written.) Say: List some reasons people might keep a diary. (Diaries can be kept to record dayto-day events, to remind one of special occasions, or even just to write down thoughts a person doesn t want anyone else to know.) Say: List any facts about diaries/journals that we need to add to our chart. (They follow a pattern, or form, which includes dates and short entries. They can be fiction or nonfiction. They use the first-person point-of-view.) Gourmet Curriculum Press, Inc. 15