Third Grade October: Unit 2 Following Characters into Meaning

Mentor Texts:

Unit Objective: Students will be engaged in reading by Because reading fluently aesthetically and thinking analytically about characters. Students will live as characters by predicting, envisioning and reading fluently. Students will notice specifics about characters personality and develop ideas about character traits, motivations, troubles and actions. Students will focus on the life lessons they can take away from the characters they read and apply it to their own lives. Envisionment Monitoring Part 1:
Walking in a characters shoes: Envisionment and Prediction Today I want to teach you that as readers we become the characters in the stories that we read.Pg. 37 /44 Create mental pictures What does the places in the book look like? What has the reader seen that can help his/her picture the character, the characters home or thelocale in which the bookis situated. Fast writing: Pretend character in story and jot down what the character is thinking RL3.7,3.3

of Winn Dixie

Today I want to teach you that when we read we notice if we are just looking at the words. We as readers need to notice when we are just reading and not taking it all in. pg.37 /44 Stop and pause our reading by rereading Create a sketch or act out and think about the characters actions/feelings/ appearance and possibly discuss with a partner See questions on pg. 37 for discussion RL 3.3 RF3.4a, RF3.4c

Making connections Today I want to teach you that one way we can envision is to make connections to the characters feelings. Pg. 45 We think about times in our lives we went through something similar and we bring those experiences and insights to think about the character Emphasizing with character by thinking about characters feelings RL 3.11, RL3.3, RL 3.6

Revising Predictions Today I want to teach you that not only do we hear, see and imagine the story while we make our mental movie we revise the mental movie. Often as we read on, the story gives us more details and we have to change our thinking. Pg.45 Stop and jot as reading and then go back to revise/confirm your notes Reread and underline/ highlight evidence Utilizing post-its to mark spot where revisions were made. RL3.7, 3.2

Predicting Today I want to teach you that we empathize with main character and we know what they are feeling so we can anticipate what they will do next Pg. 38/45 Reread and think about what will happen next Jot actions/feelings of character and use notes as evidence to form a prediction RL 3.3, 3.11

Third Grade October: Unit 2 Following Characters into Meaning

Part 1 Continued

Synthesizing Today I want to teach you that to predict well we not only think about what happened, what will happen but also how it will happen. We can anticipate how things will happen by remembering what we know about the characters. Pg. 38/45 Readers understand the storys pattern to explain the how and why the story will unfold RL3.2, 3.7

Active Engagement Today I want to teach you that readers connect with a character opening his/her heart to them In a whoosh we can review all that we learned merging everything together Pg. 45 Envisionment Predicting Synthesizing Connecting (empathy) to characters RL 3.2,3.3, 3.6, 3.11

Special Notes: Reading Aloud: It is imperative to model the kind of envisionment and prediction students will be expected to do in this work through the work of read aloud. The easiest way to guide children into the feeling of being caught up into the story is to read aloud chapter books even if the children are not ready to read chapter books independently. See page 36 for more information. Differentiation: Depending on the level of the students they are expected to read generally a certain number of books per week. Levels: A-J 10 or more K-8-10 K/L (4-8) L/M 4-6 M/N (3-6) N-Q 2-4 O and above (1-4) Sustaining partnerships: Charts of prompts to Scaffold Student Talk and Sustain Partner Talk are found on page 34-35.
Literal/Craft Character Study Today I want to teach you that characters are complicated and we notice times characters act out of character p. 40/46 Characters have many sides and act differently in different situations. Do these new sections of text confirm or challenge my ideas about the character? Reflect on how a character acts out of character. Why the author might have made the decision to have the character to do this (student answer has to be grounded accountable and precise.) Discuss how character changes over time

Part 2: Building Theories about Characters

Literal/Craft Character Study Today I want to teach you that readers read closely by noticing how characters act and respond to the events in the story p.39/45 Making and confirming predictions Modeling close reading to understand character

RL3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.6

Strategy/Skill Drawing Conclusions Today I want to teach you that as readers we not only pay attention to what a character does but how a character does these things. P.39/45 Consider why a character acts a certain way (cause/effect) Actions can be windows to the person Let me use what just happened as a window to help me understand this person (motives) Pay attention to how a character thinks, talks and responds to events to understand them more intimately

Literal/Craft Character Study Today I want to teach you that we pay attention to the objects that a character keeps near and dear as one way to grow ideas about what kind of person that character is. P. 46 Objects are windows into the mind and heart of characters Possessions that a character keeps close almost always reveal something important about the person RL 3.2, 3.3

RL3.1, 3.2, 3.3

RL 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.5

Strategy/Skill Looking for Relationships Today I want to teach you that as readers we not only notice the main character but we pay attention to the other characters as well. We think about how the events affect other events and how characters affect other characters. p. 40/46 notice how other people treat and view main character notice voices, body language of other people when talking to a certain character choices made by one character affects others, and single events often have significant impact on other events

RL 3.2, 3.3, 3.5

Third Grade October: Unit 2 Following Characters into Meaning

Part 2 continued

Literal/Craft Character Trait Today I want to teach you that readers sharpen our ideas about characters by using precise language (character traits) to describe them and their actions p. 40-41/46 (See model of Opal on pg. 40 as example) Readers use specific descriptive words vs. generic terms Grasping nuances of synonyms/ plotting words(rating) on a gradient Literary word chart (p.40) RL 3.3
Literal Craft Turning Point Today I want to teach you that when readers come to a part of the story that makes our heart race we know something exciting is going on and there will be a turning point. We can expect that our characters will face a test. Pg. 42/46 When the action in the story speeds (the reader begins to hope, worry or cheer) Mark in book where the turning point occurs and be able to articulate how they knew it was turning point (mid-workshop T& T or at share) RL3.2, 3.3, 3.11

Procedural Note-taking Today I want to teach you that as we read hold onto ideas about characters by taking notes using post-its Ie. Traits, motivations, problems/struggles, lessons and changes Pg. 41 Set up students with structure on how and what to write on postit RL 3.2,3.3, 3.5

Part 3: Growing and Learning Lessons alongside Characters

Literal/Craft Character Study Today I want to teach you that not only do we notice the action we can determine what test the character is faced with and what is at stake for the character to loose or gain. Pg. 42/46 Explain to students types of test (i.e. Physical/emotional pg. 42 What happen What it mean

RL 3.1,3.2, 3.3, 3.5

Literal /Craft Character Study Today I want to teach you that the characters in our stories often discover that they already had what it takes to solve the problems they are faced with.Pg. 42-43/46 See example about Opal on pg. 42-43 Characters may not know they have what it takes Students ground their thinking utilizing the text. Find specific places where author conveys strengths/understanding or ability that the character possess before the character realizes it RL 3.2, 3.3

Literal/Craft Cause/ Effect Today I want to teach you that readers take note of secondary characters in the story and how a secondary character influences or affects the main character. Pg.43/46 Determine roles of characters: advisors, sidekicks, they can pose challenges. (pg. 43) Identify how the secondary character influences the main character and the outcome of their interactions/events. RL 3.2, 3.3

Literary Craft Analysis Today I want to teach you that as our characters resolve their problem, we as readers ask what the character knows now that he or she didnt know at the start of the story. Cite instances in text where the character thinks something new Articulate how the characters new thinking made an impression on the character and on the reader Identify the lesson the character learns by using characters new thinking Wonder how the lesson of the character/book may change or help the way we behave in our own lives pg.43/46 RL 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.5

Third Grade October: Unit 2 Following Characters into Meaning

Third Grade October: Unit 2 Following Characters into Meaning