Meredith Ward

TCH 238
Thematic Unit on Importance of Family

Theme for Thematic Unit: The importance of family

Book: Walk Two Moons, By Sharon Creech (280 Pages) 770L
Rationale: The importance of this unit is to show how events that take place
in a persons life helps build or decline the idea of family. Also, the discussion
of character development will help solidify the characters idea of family. The
students have not looked closely at the term theme and that is why they will
be reading Walk Two Moons to dig deeper into the theme of family. The main
characters go through a lot in the book with regards to the importance of
family. The book goes back and forth from the past and the present. While
this is happening, the main character is constantly talking or thinking about
her family and others. I decided to do whole class, because I think it is
beneficial for everyone one to read the same book and discuss it together as
a whole. As a teacher, I will be able to reach every student and help them
really understand the activities since we are doing one book/whole class. The
activities that I have chosen will help broaden their thinking and to get a
better understanding on theme. I believe that this book is appropriate for my
6th grade classes. Reading one book for this unit will help the students dig
deeper with the idea of family than what is on the surface of the book. Family
is an important time in their lives, and as they grow older they will not be as
engaged with their families. That is why having a unit on the importance of
family can broaden their thoughts and ideas on what family means to them.
According to the book What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know, Dave
F. Brown and Trudy Knowles states, Early adolescence struggle with the
conflict inherent in the need to depend on parents for support as they move
toward independence (38). This is important to keep in mind so that I know
how my students are feeling towards their parents and the changes in their
behaviors. Also, it is important to know their social and emotional
development. There can be many instances in an adolescents life that can
an effect their social and emotional development. Since middle school is a
new place for my 6th graders, making friends and peer pressure is a major
part of their school career. The expanding social landscape creates
questions in young adolescents minds about how to get peers to like them
(Brown and Knowles, 37). This quotes relates to the book, because the main
character moves to a new school and tries to make new friends. The friends
that she makes has influences that make the main character reacts to with
regards to her family. Jerome Bruner was a psychologist who talked about
how learners obtain knowledge by forming and testing hypotheses. During
this unit there will be many questions about family and what the author was
trying to tell her readers as she was writing the novel. While the students are
writing in their journals they will be asked questions on certain aspects of the
book and to make hypotheses and think about reasoning and the meaning
behind family. The lesson that I want my students to take away from reading
this book and doing the activities is that even though they are going through
changes and developing different feelings towards certain people, in
particular family, that family will and can be a part of their lives and have a
major influence on them. Since this book is longer, the students will be
reading the book Monday through Friday so that they will be able to get it
done in a month and a weeks time. I like the idea of reading everyday so
that it is a constant for the students and it can help them remember the
book more if they do not skip a day of reading. There will be some days out
of the week where there will not be time for reading but rather have time to
do activities.

Organization for One Book/Whole Class:

Since this book is longer, the students will be reading the book Monday
through Friday so that they will be able to get it done in a month and a
weeks time. I thought that 5 weeks was a perfect amount of time to finish
the book, do the activities, and write a paper. I like the idea of reading
everyday so that it is a constant for the students and it can help them
remember the book more if they do not skip a day of reading. There will be
some days out of the week where there will not be time to read. This is
where they will need the full class time to get their work and projects done.
For the words and phrases topic it will be done within three days, because I
am using the gradual release model. I want the students to get a good
understanding of the topic and to have a lot of practice with understanding
what words and phrases mean and how it helps build the personality of
characters. Journals will also be written on days that the students read. The
journal prompts will correlate with what the chapters were about for that day.
Some of the prompts will be asking about family which the students should
keep in mind since the theme of the unit is the importance of family. Since
the students have already written papers, I thought that a week's time would
be more than enough for them to write the paper. Most of these activities will
be done in class, so they have me as a resource if needed.

Differentiation: There are multiple ways of differentiating this unit for my

students. One way would be the literature roles. The students will be
assigned to a role that I think best fits them. If they are lower on the
academic scale, they will be given a roll that has a more manageable task for
them to do. For students who are higher academically, they will be given a
roll that will challenge them and think deeper about the context. That way
each of the students will feel comfortable with their role and be able to
complete it successfully. One theorists that helped in this process was Ernst
Von Glasersfeld. He was a philosopher who talked about social
constructivism. In groups, students construct knowledge by collaborating on
shared meanings and what information they found. A way of differentiating
the alternate consequences project is for them to choose what format they
want to use for their final piece. Depending on the students ability, they will
choose what they are most comfortable with in regards to making the final
project. For the students who are more visual and artsy, they can draw or
make a poster. For students who like technology, they could make a Prezi or
PowerPoint. It all depends on what the students want to do. Assistive
technology will be present if there is a student who has a specific learning
disability. For students who have a vision impairment there can be handouts
that have enlarged text. The audio book will also help this student if he or
she wants to reread a section. I will also be reading out loud to the class, so
the students will be able to listen or follow along as I read. Also, the student
will have access to braille when working on worksheets and reading the
book. For students who have a writing impairment they would be able to use
Snap Type Pro. This technology can snap a picture of any worksheets and
types out the answers for that student. This can help students who struggle
with writing and also those who have dyslexia.

Assessments:
Journal Entries (Formative): After each of the assigned readings the students
will be told to write in their journals. All of my classes have laptops that they
will be using. In Google Classroom, they will be forming a doc that is
specifically for the book. Each time that they are supposed to be writing in
the book, they will be given a prompt to answer. Sometimes it will be asking
to put yourself in one of the characters shoes and think about how he or she
would feel in that scenario. I will also be quoting certain scenes that has
characteristics of the theme of family that the students will have to analyze
and describe why they think that that section describes family. Also, there
will be a good amount of probing questions that the students will have to
answer.
Words/Phrases Meaning (Formative): Since there are a lot of words and
phrases that are different that the author decided to use, it is a good idea for
the students to recognize those words/phrases to understand the meaning
and the reason behind it. I will choose words and phrases from the chapters
that were read for that day. The students will have to look at the context
clues to figure out the definition and how it impacts the meaning of the story.
Their reasoning will be filled out in a chart. Some of these phrases are in the
book multiple times and if the students have an understanding then it will
make the book more meaningful to them. One theorist that had a huge
impact on this lesson was Doug Buehl. He described the gradual release
model. It can also be described or referred to as I do, we do, you do. This
lesson will be taught in 3 days. Each day there will be different instruction
but the same lesson. One day it will be teacher based modeling and whole
class, second day will be partner work, and third day will be individually. I did
this activity for 3 days because I wanted to use the slow release model. I
wanted to see their growth from doing it as a whole class to working on it
individually. This also gives them a chance to see different words and
phrases throughout the 3 days of reading multiple chapters. Although this is
a formative, the students will be given an exit slip at the end of the lesson
that is under the summative section. This will not be graded.

Socratic Discussion (Formative): This is a way for the students to start

discussing the book with one another. This will help them get different
perspectives on what people think of the book. Not everyone thinks the
same so it will be interesting to see what evidence everyone has to say to
support the topics that will be discussed. Before the Socratic discussion,
students were asked to write down questions and discuss with a peer those
questions. This activity is done towards the early beginning/middle part of
the book because some students might have trouble comprehending certain
aspects of the book. Students are able to get some answers and feel free to
talk as much as they want. There will not be a whole class discussion,
because I do not want to put any ideas in their head before they participate
in their Socratic discussion. The students will get into 2 groups where one
group is in the middle talking and the others are on the outside of the circle.
The outsiders will then give feedback to the groups discussion and then they
will switch, so the other group will have a chance to talk.

Alternate Consequences (Formative): The students will be taking a closer

look at what would happen in the book if a characters actions would have
been different. They will each choose a character and write down choices
that he or she made. Then they will think about alternate solutions and
outcomes to those choices. Then they will decide which is the best and
describe why it is. The instruction on how to make this project is very free.
They can make a poster, Google Slides, the project where they use circles
and tape them together on a piece of paper to make a 3D project, etc. The
way they create their project is up to them.

Roles Activity (Formative): This activity consists of 8 roles that the students
will be assigned. The roles are Summarizer, Question Leader, Connector,
Cartoonist, Journey Recorder, Vocabulary Enhancer, Seeker for Quotes,
Information Finder. There are 24 students in my class. That means that when
the students get assigned their literature roles there will be 3 groups of 8
people. They will get in that group first to see who is in it then go into their
expert groups. These are the groups of people who have the same role.
When they are in their expert groups they will discuss their findings and
become experts at their role. They will compare and contrast what they
came up with for their role. They will discuss it and they are allowed to add
information to their work. Then they will go back to their original group, and
everyone will share what they talked about in their expert groups and
present their role. This method is called jigsaw.

Close Reading of Poem (Formative): The students will look at a poem that
involves the theme of family. They will then do a close reading on it by
reading the poem 3 different times with different lenses. It is called The
Lonely Pipes of Scotland by Cheryl Alexander. The first time that they will be
reading it is to look for key and main ideas. The second time that they will be
reading it they will be looking at the craft and structure. This is where they
will take a section of the book and analyze it. The third read is integration of
knowledge and ideas. This section is for them to think even deeper than
what is on the surface of the poem by pulling out certain words.

Informative Paper on Theme (Summative): An informative paper that

describes the theme of the book will be the students summative. This is
where the students will pull evidence from the book and details to support
the theme of family that is presented throughout the book. The students will
not necessarily be graded on the formatting. What I am looking for is the
content and if they were able to use evidence and build off of that evidence
to support their main idea of the paper. The students have been constantly
writing in their journals and talking in groups about the book. Now I want to
see if they can take all of their ideas and form it into a cohesive paper.

Thematic Unit Calendar: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

Introduction Start to read Read out Since we just Read out loud
on theme. the book. I loud. Then talked about the next
Lesson on the will read the they will theme, they chapters. The
theme of book out loud write in their will be able students will
family. This is while each journals. to pull out be asked to
when the student Since the some take out
students will follows along theme of words/phrase sticky notes
be reading in their family is still s from the and write
the short books. After new to them, book that down any
story The Two the book is they will be help support evidence
Brothers by read, given a poem the idea of from the
Leo Tolstoy introduce the called The theme. It reading that
and journal Lonely Pipes might be helps support
underlining entries. The of Scotland hard since it the theme of
any students will by Cheryl is only the book. This
characteristic be presented Alexander. beginning of will help
s that help with probing They will be the book but them in the
the theme of questions looking at it it will help future when
the story. and prompts with different stretch the they are
They will not each time lenses to find students writing their
know the that they the meaning minds to essays. They
theme, so read a behind the think more will keep the
they will section of the poem. analytically. sticky notes
have to come book to write in their
up with it by about. journals for
what they future
underlined. I reference.
will model
this activity
at the
beginning
with a
passage from
Jeremy Fink
and the
Meaning of
Life. Then
introduce the
book and
make the
connection
that the
theme in
Walk Two
Moons is
family.

The students Now that the Intro to roles Read out Literature
will read the students discussion. loud. Write in Circle
chapter have had Talk about journal. There Discussions
assigned and time to write each role: will be time using roles
write in their questions Summarizer/ in class to Jigsaw. Come
journals. and discuss Question work on roles together as a
Then they with a peer Leader/ in class. whole class
will be the previous Connector/ Students are and discuss
instructed to day, it is time Cartoonist, encouraged what they
write down for the Journey to finish in learned and
any Socratic Recorder/ class. If they what they
questions discussion. Vocabulary have any last liked about
that they This is why Enhancer/ minute the activity.
have from there was not Seeker for questions
the chapter a whole class Quotes/ about their
and the book discussion on Information roles they will
as a whole. Monday, Finder be able to
Once their because I Let the get them
questions are want the students solved.
written down, students to know the
they will turn talk amongst quality of
and talk to themselves work that is
their before I add to be
neighbor and my thoughts. expected.
discuss those
questions.

I still want Read out Read out Read out Present their
the students loud. loud. loud. The alternate
to keep the Since the Alternate students will consequence
theme of the students did consequence have a short s project and
importance not read s project will time to write this will be a
of family in yesterday, be in their formative
mind. Today there will be introduced. journals. The assessment. I
we will take a two journal The students rest of the will be
look at a entries that will be able time they will looking at
song called they will to see an need to their work as
Family Tree have to example of complete well as their
by Matthew complete. one that was their presentation.
West. They already done alternate
will listen to from a consequence
it a couple different s project.
times and book. They
underline key will pick a
aspects that character
relate it back from the
to the theme book and
of family. start to write
Today is a down events
refresher of that the
what they character
have done took part in.
previously
and to see
that theme
can be shown
in different
forms.

Read out loud Read out Read out Read out Read Out
chapters. The loud. loud. loud. loud the last
students will Journal Journal Today is the chapters of
watch a entries. entries. last day for the book.
video on The students The students the Today is a
characterizati will be will be doing words/phrase day for the
on. It will be introduced to the same s activity. students to
explained the lesson of activity as They did it as catch up on
that words the meaning they did the a whole their journals
and phrases of words and previous day, class, with and to look
help build phrases. We but they will partners, now back at their
characters. will complete be doing it it is time for old work to
Students will the activity with pairs. them to do it keep their
go more in as a whole Now that on their own. minds in
depth with a class to make they have This will be a check with
lesson on the sure the been formative the theme of
different students introduced to assessment the book.
types of understand the activity where I can Once they
characters. the as a whole look at their are done,
requirements class, they charts and they are
. This lesson will have see if they allowed to
will relate time to work comprehende read their
back to what on it with a d the task. other books.
 they learned partner for
with the chapters
characterizati that were
on the read today. A
previous day. whole class
discussion
will be on the
topic of how
do these
words/phrase
s help build
the
characters in
the book.

Introduce the Today is a Start writing Get together Today is the

topic of the day where their drafts with a last day to
informative they are able for the paper. partner to work on the
paper on to pick out Creating make editing paper and
theme. pieces of the organizers of and revision they are
Describe it to book that their own to suggestions. instructed to
the class, help support physically turn it in on
give the theme of write down Google
examples, family that their Classroom.
and show the they can thoughts and
rubric and write for their information.
what is to be summative
expected in paper.
their paper.

Lesson Plans:
Middle Level Lesson Plan (based on Danielson Framework)

Intern Name: Meredith Ward

Grade Level: 6th
School: Illinois State University
Lesson Date & October 31, 2017 8:00-8:50, 9:00-9:50am
Time:

Instructions: In the boxes below, include the relevant information

concerning your planned lesson.

Purpose/ The purpose of this lesson is for the students to get a better
Rationale understanding of what theme means and relate it to family
which is the theme of the thematic unit.

Objective Students will be able to read a passage and recognize key words
s that help support the theme of family. They will also be able to
write a summary of the passage and recognize the theme of the
passage.

Academic Students will read the two short stories as a whole class and in
Language partners.
Students will write a summary of the short passage to help show
the theme of family.
Students will listen to the instructions. They will also be listening
to the group discussions and their peers when they are working
on the activity in partners.
Students will speak when they volunteer to discuss what theme
means and also the group discussion at the end of the activity.
They will also talk when they are collaborating with their
partners doing the activity.

Standard RL.6.2
s Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed
through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct
from personal opinions or judgments.
Assessme Formative:
nts To see if students are understanding words and the relationship
between them and the theme, the students will underline words
and phrases that they think relate back to family in the passage
from the book The Two Brothers by Leo Tolstoy. They do not
know the theme when given the story so looking closely at what
they underlined will be crucial. I will be able to see if the
underlined parts of the passage correlate to the theme of family.
Also the students will be writing the main idea/summary of the
passage as well as coming up with the theme of that passage. I
will look at the summary closely to make sure that it relates to
the story and talks about the theme family.
Another way that I will be informally assessing the students is to
facilitate around the room. I will answer any questions that the
students have. This will be done by scaffolding, so the students
will get a deeper thinking of the vocabulary words and phrases
that represent the theme. I will check up on each student and
ask if they need any clarification or have any questions. This
will give me a mental checklist of which students are grasping
the concept and which are not.

Summative:
N/A

Resource Pencil
s Paper
The Two Brothers by Leo Tolstoy short story
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass passage
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Opening - To start the class, I will present a passage from the book Jeremy
Engagem Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass. I will inform the
ent students that as a class we are going to be reading it out loud
and underlining any aspect of the passage that they think is
important. I will remind the students to keep in mind to look for
specific words/phrases that can help support the theme in
which we are trying to find. Some words that I want them to be
stating is family, mother, etc.
I will ask the students what they think the meaning behind this
passage is. Then I will see if they can pull out a theme with the
parts that we underlined together. The students and I will come
up with ideas on what the passage was talking about family.
Discussion about how we came about that theme will be
presented.
The students will be told the importance of theme in a book. I
will ask students to think about what theme means and then
turn and talk at their tables to discuss with their partner. The
students will then share in front of the class what they talked
about. Some answers that I am looking for are the main idea,
the lesson, etc.
I will start by asking the students, What do you think the word
family means? Then I will have the students turn and talk at
their tables and discuss their thoughts.
Then I will ask the students to share out loud what they talked
about with their partner.
The definition of family will be read to the class so they will hear
another perspective on what the word means.
Next, I will ask the students to discuss what the perfect family
would be in relation to the ideal family that society has created.
They students will turn and talk at their tables and discuss their
answers.
Once everyone is done, I will ask for volunteers to talk about
what they think the perfect family is. The conversation will be
discussed as a whole class. This will all be in relation to the
passage from the book for the students to get a better
understanding of how the theme of family was portrayed.
Instructio Now it is their turn. They will be given a short story called The
nal Two Brothers by Leo Tolstoy. In partners the students will do the
Strategie same activity by underlining key parts of the short story to help
s them come up with the theme.
(Procedur After they have read and underlined, one person in the group
es) will write what they think the main message of the short
passage is and determine what the theme is.
When all students have completed the task, I will ask them to
talk as a whole table group with what they underlined, share
their message, and what they thought the theme of the
passage was.
After the students are done discussing, I will ask volunteers to
share what parts of the story that they underlined that they
thought involved theme. An explanation of their findings will be
given as well.
The next discussion will be the students sharing their
summaries. Each group will present their summary and what
they thought the theme was and why.
Discussion will be taken place throughout the sharing and after
the sharing is done. I will point out certain connections and
comparisons to the students messages that they wrote and key
words that they underlined.
I will inform the students know that the theme of the book we
will read as a whole class will have the theme of the importance
of family.
I will show the students the book Walk Two Moons by Sharon
Creech. I will give a brief summary and let the students know
that we will start reading it the next class period.

Closure I will end the lesson by asking the students, How did this
activity help you better understand how to find the theme?
Volunteers will raise their hands and share their thoughts.
What are somethings to keep in mind when writing an
objective (free of opinion or bias) summary? Some answers
that I want to hear would be to think about the theme and tie it
in to the summary. Recap what family means and the
importance it shows in a book.
Remind the students that not all families are perfect and that is
okay. You need to make the most out of it and try not to take
anything for granted.
Families can be different for everybody and books show
different types of family scenarios. We will be doing a thematic
unit on the importance of family. Later we will get into a deeper
meaning of this topic when we start reading Walk Two Moons.
Modificati Whole Class
ons/ When a student speaks out loud they are able to collaborate and
Differenti bounce ideas off of one another.
ation This activity will allow students to share their ideas out loud in
front of each other. A student will describe what he or she thinks
of the word family and what theme means. Students will be able to
discuss their summaries and the theme that they came up with for
Two Brothers by Leo Tolstoy. While students discuss, other students
will listen and might be able to learn new ways of looking at the
topic. This is because they are being able to hear what their peers
have to say, instead of a teacher lecturing them about theme and
family.
The directions need to be spoken clear and slow so that the
students will be able to understand what is expected of them for
the activity. The students will know that they will be working in
pairs and be able to collaborate with one another while underlining
and writing the main idea.
Each student will get a sheet of paper that has the passage from
The Two Brothers by Leo Tolstoy on it. This allows the students to
physically have a copy in front of them and to interact with it by
underlining words and phrases.
If the students want to read the text online, they have an option to
access the passage online in a document and they are able to
underline the text.
Groups of students
There are some struggling students that are present in the
class. These students have a difficult time getting their work done
on time because it takes them much longer to complete a task.
The students have surface level knowledge on theme.
Therefore, this lesson has a lot of discussion to help those who
struggle get a better understanding of the topic.
This is a lesson introducing theme and it is simple that the
struggling students will be able to understand the academic
language.
Individual Learners
For students who are blind there will be assistive technology
that will help them succeed. Handouts will have enlarged texts
and Snap type Pro. There will also be braille and audio books for
the student to have.
To meet the needs of individual students, the teachers will be
walking around the room asking if the students need any
clarification or have any questions.
If the teachers see specific students not focused or having a hard
time, scaffolding will be used to help the student think in a deeper
manner of the poetry.
Middle Level Lesson Plan (based on Danielson Framework)

Intern Name: Meredith Ward

Grade Level: 6th
School: Illinois State University
Lesson Date & Wednesday November 23, 2017 8:00-8:50, 9:00-
Time: 9:50

Instructions: In the boxes below, include the relevant information

concerning your planned lesson.

Purpose/ To show students that specific vocabulary words and phrases

Rationale that the author chose have specific meaning in a text to help
show character development and personality.

Objective The students will be able to look at certain words and phrases in
s a text and be able to come up with the denotation and
connotation meaning. This will help them think how those
specific words and phrases changes the tone and meaning of
the text.

Academic Students will listen to me explain the overview of what will be

Language done during class as well as discussion.
Discussion will take place during the beginning of the class
period. Students will talk with one another about what they
have previously learned last week. Then they will be able to
have a whole class discussion on vocabulary words, phrases,
denotation, and connotation. The review at the end of the
lesson will give the students a chance to express what they
learned and how this activity will help them with future reading.
Students will read the directions, chart, quotes, and the Exit Slip
while they are working on completing the activity.
Students will write their answer to the Exit Slip on their index
cards. They will be writing an answer to the question, Overall,
how does the unique language used by many of the characters
in Walk Two Moons impact the overall meaning or tone of the
story?
Standards RL.6.4 (two parts)
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used
in a text, including figurative, connotative and technical
meanings.
Analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and
tone.

Assessme Formative:
nts To see if the students are understanding the concept of
language, they will be given a chart that they will need to fill
out. The chart will have a list of words from chapter 27 from the
book Walk Two Moons. They will have two columns to fill out for
each word. The columns are, What does the word/phrase
mean in context? And How does this word/phrase impact the
meaning or tone of the story? This will give me an idea if they
are understanding what is being asked of them and to see if
they can create that deep thinking of why a certain word or
phrase was used in the text rather than any other statement.
Further discussion will take place when talking about how the
words/phrases help create the characters.
Another way that I will be informally assessing the students is to
facilitate around the room. I will answer any questions that the
students have. This will be done by scaffolding, so the students
will get a deeper thinking of the vocabulary words and phrases
for the activity. Even though they are working individually, I will
check up on each student and ask if they need any clarification
or have any questions. This will give me a mental checklist of
which students are grasping the concept and which are not.
 Summative:
There will be an Exit Slip that the students will be partaking in at
the end of the lesson. This will not be graded but more so as a
wrap-up of the entire lesson. The Exit Slip will be projected on
the screen for the class to see. Each student will get an index
card to write down their answer. There will be one question that
the students will have to think about. The question will be
projected on the board stating, Overall, how does the unique
language used by many of the characters in Walk Two Moons
impact the overall meaning or tone of the story? This will get
the students thinking more in depth about the text and the
meaning behind the words that the author chose. I will be able
to assess if they understand the meaning behind the activity,
because this is a question that they were asked to fill out for the
vocabulary words and phrases. Instead of finding the meaning
behind the words and phrases, they will be thinking about the
overall meaning of the story.
If there is not enough time left, I will have them answer the
question verbally. I will ask the question to the class, have
them think about it, and then take volunteers to share their
thoughts.

Resources Computer
Chart
Index cards
Pencil
Walk Two Moons book
Sheet that has the quotes that the vocabulary words/phrases
are presented on

Opening - The class will start by the teacher telling the class, Today is
Engagem going to be an extension of what we did on Tuesday and
ent Wednesday of this week. I want you to turn and talk at your
table groups and discuss the activity that we completed. Once
the students are finished conversing, there will be a group
discussion of what the students talked about at their tables. I
will want to hear students talking about how they filled out the
chart by finding the connotation and denotation of the word or
phrase. Then I will ask the question, Can anybody tell me why
particular words and phrases are important to be present in a
book? The students will have time to think then turn and talk
to share the reasons behind why the words and phrases in a
book are important. After the mini discussions, I will take
volunteers to share their thinking on the topic that was
discussed with their partner. Some words that I will be looking
for is, to give expression, to make it unique, and to give it more
description.
Instructio Once the class has discussed what they learned last week, I will
nal ask them if they remember discussing connotation and
Strategie denotation and what both of those words mean. I will ask,
s Who remembers which word means the literal definition of a
(Procedur word? Answers that I will be looking for is that denotation is
es) the literal definition of a word and connotation is emotions and
associations connected to a word that can have positive or
negative connotations.
I will then remind them of the example about the words cheap
and inexpensive and give them different words to think about.
The words will be lazy and relaxed. This will help them see new
words that can have positive and negative connotations. I will
ask the class what word they think has a negative connotation.
The students answer should be lazy.
I will then explain to them that lazy has a negative connotation,
because when people hear lazy they think the person is lying
around doing nothing. Whereas if you hear the word relaxed
you think a person is taking a break and it has a more positive
connotation.
Once the review is done, I will explain to the class that they will
be doing the same activity that they have done the previous
week but on their own.
The class will be reminded of what is expected of them to
complete the activity. They will be told that they will have to
find the definition of what the word is and what the phrase
means. Then they will have to describe why the author chose
those words/phrases in the text and how does it change the
mood or tone of the story?
I will read off the list of words/phrases that they will be using:
birds of sadness nesting in their hair, fizzled out, quivering
voice, exchanged an eyebrow message, besieging.
The students will be informed that in Google Classroom there
will be the chart document as well as the document that has all
of the quotes that the vocabulary words/phrases are in. This is
to help use context clues to figure out the definition and the
reason behind using the particular word/phrase. There will also
be enough books per table that the students will be able to use
as well.
The standards will then be presented to the students for them to
make sure that there is a purpose behind this activity. I will
relate the lesson to the standards by reading them out loud to
the class, Determine the meaning of words and phrases as
they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative and
technical meanings. Analyze the impact of a specific word
Closure After the discussion is over, the students will be given a
question to answer as their Exit Slip. The question that will be
prompted on the board is, Overall, how does the unique language
used by many of the characters in Walk Two Moons impact the
overall meaning or tone of the story? I will also read the question
out loud.
In the middle of their tables there will be index cards that the
students will be writing down their answer for the Exit Slip. I will
remind them to put their names and numbers at the top of their
index card.
When all students have finished, I will ask the yellow dots to
collect the index cards and to place them in the bin.
Modificati Whole Group
ons/ When a student speaks out loud they are able to collaborate
Differenti and bounce ideas off of one another when there is the whole
ation group discussion at the beginning and the end of the lesson.
This activity will allow students to share their ideas out loud in
front of each other. The students will be able to converse about
what the definitions and meanings of the words and phrases that
they were supposed to find.
The directions need to be spoken clear and slow so that the
students will be able to understand what is expected of them for
the activity. The students will know that they will be working
individually completing the chart.
Each student will get a chart that they will need to fill out on
their computers.
The quotes that the words and phrases are in are in the books
at each table, or they can use the online document that is
available to them in Google Classroom.
Groups of students
There are some struggling students that are present in the
class. These students have a difficult time getting their work done
on time because it takes them much longer to complete a task.
Also, everyone will be given examples of fizzled out and
besieging. This is because I thought that they needed an extra
push with two difficult sayings.
Individual Learners
For students who are blind there will be assistive technology
that will help them succeed. Handouts will have enlarged texts
and Snap type Pro. There will also be braille and audio books for
the student to have.
o To meet the needs of individual students, the teachers will be
walking around the room asking if the students need any
clarification or have any questions.
I will make sure to check up on these students to see if they
need any help and scaffolding on a section of the chart. I will
be there for clarification or remind them of what they are
supposed to be completing.
I will be reading the vocabulary words, phrases, the chart
questions, and the Exit Slip out loud so that the visually
impaired student will be able to hear the instructions since
he/she will not be able to see the board. This will also make
him/her feel a part of the class since everyone is being read to.
The Exit Slip answers will be written on an index card, but for
the vision impaired student he/she will type their answer in
 Google Classroom and send it in electronically.
Students who are hard of hearing or hard of seeing will be
placed at the front of the room. They will be able to get a better
look at the board as well as being close to the teacher. Lips can
be read and the student will be close to possibly hear what the
teacher is saying.

Standards assessed:
 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative and technical meanings.
Analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, nuances and figures of
speech in context.

Chapter 27 (You may write in bullet points for this chart.)

What does the How does this word/phrase impact
word/phrase mean in the meaning or tone of the story?
context?

Birds of
sadness
nesting in
their hair

Fizzled out

Quivering
voice

Exchanged
an eyebrow
message

Besieging

Quotes for Ch. 27 Walk Two Moons

Birds of It was fortunate that it was there, though [hope]. If not,

sadness people would have the birds of sadness nesting in their hair
nesting all the time, because of the nuclear war and the greenhouse
in their effect and bombs and stabbings and lunatics. Pg. 174-175
hair

Fizzled they had a huge argument, but at last Phoebe fizzled out.
out Pg. 171

Quiverin she began in a quivering voice. Pg. 172

g voice

Exchang Mary Lou and Ben exchanged an eyebrow message. Pg. 172
ed an
eyebrow
message
Besiegin she did not have a chance to respond, because we were at
g her house, and she was more interested in besieging her
father with questions. Pg. 170

Examples:

Fizzled out: A person is constantly arguing and talking with another

person so much that the other person fizzles out, becomes tired, and
doesnt want to argue anymore.

Besieging: A student becomes besieged at the end of the school year with
homework and summatives.

Description of Classroom:
In the classroom there are 6 groups of 4 desks per group. The table groups
will help the students on their collaboration and communication skills. It will
make it easier for the students to turn and talk when instructed. There are
only four people per groups to make sure that it is even when partner work is
applied for an activity. There is a white board to the left of the room and to
the right is a Smartboard. The teacher will be able to use the Smartboard to
display documents and be able to write on it for the visual learners. The
teachers desk is a round table placed at the back of the room. That way I
will be able to watch over the entire class while they are doing their work. I
will also be out of most of their vision, so they do not get distracted. On the
side of the room there is an entire row filled with books from all different
types of genres. The students are allowed to take any book they want to read
during free time. On top of the book shelf are 2 bins for each of my 6th grade
classes to turn in their work. Lastly, there are anchor charts around the room
that reference back to the topics that the students have discussed in the
past and the unit of the importance of family that they are in right now.
List of supporting
texts to support this unit:

Video on Characterization
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZnD0AGqQ7I
This is a video on characterization. It uses the movie Frozen and shows clips
from the movie that help support the different characterization. Even though
this does not talk about family, I will help make the connection to students
that a characters development can help them see their views on family.

Poem on Family
https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/tradition-poem-the-lonely-pipes-
of-scotland
This is a poem that has the theme of family. It is called The Lonely Pipes of
Scotland by Cheryl Alexander. The students will be doing a close reading on
this poem in 3 steps. The students will be looking at it with 3 different lenses.
key and main ideas, craft and structure, and integration of knowledge and
ideas. This will help the students see different ways that the theme of family
can be presented. This is done the first week since the students did a similar
activity with the short story. This is to help them really get the idea of family
and how to look for clues in a different piece of writing and their books.

Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-opi1Qre8Cc
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/matthewwest/familytree.html
This song will be played for the students. The song is called Family Tree by
Matthew West. They will also have the lyrics in front of them so they can
follow along and that is why there is a second link. The students will be doing
a similar activity like the poem one but a little different. They will listen to
the song once taking down any notes that they feel is important. Then the
second time they hear it they will underline any aspects of the song that
reminds them of family and explain why that this song has the theme of
family and what the message of the song is. This is to let the students know
that there are other forms of showing the theme than having it written on a
piece of paper.

Short Story
http://education.ucf.edu/litsymposium/Resources2012/Smith%20&
%20Lee/THE%20TWO%20BROTHERS%20text%20by%20Leo%20Tolstoy.pdf
The students will be reading the short story The Two Brothers by Leo Tolstoy.
While they are reading the story, the students will be instructed to underline
any words, phrases, and/or sentences that can help them come up with the
theme of the story. This activity will be done during the theme introduction of
the unit. The students will have to find the theme of the story based on what
information they underlined.

Insert from a Passage from the book Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by:
Wendy Mass
Lizzy and her dad moved to the apartment next door when she and I were
one year old. Her mother had left the family and moved to one of the
Dakotas with some guy who worked on a cattle ranch (which explains why
Lizzy became a vegetarian as soon as she was old enough to realize what a
cattle ranch was). So Lizzy stayed with us during the day while her father
went to work at the post office. My mom used to change our diapers next to
each other.
 Works Cited

Mass, Wendy. Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life. Little, Brown and
Company, 2006.

Brown F. Dave, Knowles Trudy. What Every Middle School Teacher Should
Know. Portsmouth,

NH: Heinemann.