The Trapp Family Singers

LESSON 5 TEACHER’S GUIDE The Trapp Family Singers by Joan McElroy Fountas-Pinnell Level X Biography Selection Summary The Trapp family in The Sound of Music was loosely based on the real Trapp family from Austria. While there are many similarities between the families—such as children with musical abilities and a governess who marries a widowed father—the actual Trapp family was different from the movie family. Number of Words: 2,961

Characteristics of the Text Genre • Biography Text Structure • Third-person narrative organized in eight sections with headings • Ends with a comparison of real Trapp family and fi ctitious family in The Sound of Music Content • Trapp family members • The Great Depression • Nazi Germany and the Secret Police Themes and Ideas • Working together to achieve a common goal • Appreciation of music • Art often imitates life Language and • Settings distant in time and place from students’ experiences Literary Features • Some fi gurative language (a religious awakening) Sentence Complexity • Complex sentences with embedded clauses • Some long sentences covering two to three lines of text • Amplifying information set off by dashes for emphasis Vocabulary • Some terms related to Nazi Germany: Gestapo, war criminals, death camps Words • Many multisyllable words: accordion, innovation, antibiotics, territories, missionaries • Words with affi xes such as economic, unemployed, neighboring, attraction, producers Illustrations • Photographs • Map of Austria and surrounding countries Book and Print Features • Table of Contents, timeline, chart, bulleted list •Sixteen pages of text with illustrations on most pages © 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

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6_308166_AL_LRTG_L05_trappfamily.indd 1 1/9/10 4:27:46 PM The Trapp Family Singers by Joan McElroy Build Background Help students use their knowledge about talented families to visualize the text. Build interest by asking questions such as the following: Do you know of any talented families that perform together? Read the title and author and talk about the cover photograph. Explain that the people in the photograph are members of the real-life Trapp family. The movie, The Sound of Music, was based on their lives. Tell students that this text is a biography, so it will provide facts about the lives of members of the Trapp family.

Introduce the Text Guide students through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some suggestions: Pages 2–3: Have students look at the table of contents on page 2. Ask: What is the likely subject of the chapter beginning on page 17 (Real Life vs. Reel Life)? How do you know? Then direct students to the ﬁ rst sentence of the sidebar on page 3. Ask: What does an apprentice do? Page 5: Have students look at the map of Europe to locate Austria and identify its bordering countries. Which countries besides Germany were options to pass through for someone wishing to leave Austria? Page 6–7: Draw attention to the timeline. Explain that it identiﬁ es important events in the lives of the Trapp family and the history of the time. What major historical events intersected with the family’s experiences? Page 9: Read the second sentence about the Great Depression: It was the longest and worst economic crisis ever experienced by industrialized countries. Ask: What makes a country an industrialized country? Page 11: Explain that the Nazis brutally interrogated their victims. What do you think is the difference between interrogating and questioning? Now turn back to the beginning and read to learn about the experiences of the real- life Trapp family.

Expand Your Vocabulary

apprentice – one who is learning discrepancies – disagreements ultimately – lastly or eventually, a trade, p. 3 between facts, p. 17 p. 8 chancellor – an ofﬁ cial of high interrogated – questioned closely rank, p. 10 or repeatedly, p. 11

Grade 6 2 Lesson 5: The Trapp Family Singers © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

6_308166_AL_LRTG_L05_trappfamily.indd 2 11/5/09 2:04:00 PM Read Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their understanding of the text as needed.

Remind students to use the Summarize Strategy and to pause brieﬂ y to paraphrase important parts of the text as they read.

Discuss and Revisit the Text Personal Response Invite students to share their personal responses to the biography. Suggested language: Which chapters did you ﬁ nd most interesting—the ones that explained how the Trapp Family Singers came to be, the ones that discussed the Great Depression and the Nazis, or the ones that described the Trapp family’s life after they settled in the United States? Why?

Ways of Thinking As you discuss the text, help students understand these points: Thinking Within the Text Thinking Beyond the Text Thinking About the Text • The Trapp family was very • In difﬁ cult times, people often • A map pinpoints the location of musical. need to change their strategies Austria in central Europe. and goals in order to survive. • During the Great Depression, the • A timeline identiﬁ es world events Trapp family earned a living by • It is important to work together and events in the lives of the singing professionally. The family toward a common goal. Trapp family. moved to the United States in • Art sometimes imitates life. • A chart compares unemployment order not to live under Nazi rule. numbers in European countries • The Sound of Music was loosely during the Great Depression. based on the real Trapp family.

Choices for Further Support • Fluency Invite students to choose a passage from the text to act out for a readers’ theater. Remind them to move smoothly from one word to another, one phrase to another, and one sentence to another, using punctuation as their guide. • Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion, revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go back to the text to support their ideas. • Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with related words in word families, using examples from the text. Point out the word government on page 10 and the word governess on page 17. Identify the base word govern and discuss how it relates to both words. Begin a word web centered on the base word govern and have students identify other related words.

Grade 6 3 Lesson 5: The Trapp Family Singers © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

6_308166_AL_LRTG_L05_trappfamily.indd 3 11/5/09 2:04:59 PM Writing about Reading

Critical Thinking Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 5.9.

Responding Have students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill.

Target Comprehension Skill Fact and Opinion Remind students that they can distinguish between facts and opinions. A fact can be proved. An opinion is a feeling or a belief that cannot be proved. Model how to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:

Think Aloud The text states that the Trapp family opened a guest lodge on their Vermont farm. Since this can be proved, add it to this to the chart under “Facts.” Someone might say that the lodge is the best tourist attraction in Vermont. That would be a belief that cannot be proved, so add that statement to the chart under “Opinion.”

Practice the Skill Have students identify facts in other selections they have read, then state related opinions for each fact.

Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understandings.

Assessment Prompts • What does the word ace mean in the third paragraph on page 4? • What is the main purpose of the chart on page 9? • What do you learn about Georg von Trapp in the two paragraphs on page 12?

Grade 6 4 Lesson 5: The Trapp Family Singers © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

6_308166_AL_LRTG_L05_trappfamily.indd 4 11/5/09 2:05:08 PM English Language Development Reading Support Make sure the text matches the students’ reading level. Language and content should be accessible with regular teaching support.

Idioms The biography includes an idiom that might not be familiar to students. Point out the phrase drum up singing engagements on page 16. Explain that the idiom drum up means “to gain or ﬁ nd support.”

Oral Language Development Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’ English proﬁ ciency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student. Beginning/Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced/ Advanced Speaker 1: What European country did Speaker 1: Why did Georg Trapp hire Speaker 1: Why did the Trapp the Trapp family live in? Maria? family become a group of professional singers? Speaker 2: Austria Speaker 2: He needed a tutor for one of his daughters. Speaker 2: They had lost most Speaker 1: What was the name of the of their money in the Great movie about the Trapp family? Speaker 1: What is one way that the Depression. They needed to real Trapp family was unlike the Trapp Speaker 2: The Sound of Music make money. family in the movie? Speaker 1: What political party elected Speaker 2: The real family had 10 Hitler? children, not 7. Speaker 2: the Nazi Party

Lesson 5 BLACKLINE MASTER 5.9 Name Date

The Trapp Family Singers Critical Thinking Critical Thinking

Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.

1. Think within the text How did the Trapp family meet Maria? Maria came to tutor Captain Trapp’s daughter. 2. Think within the text What is an example of a difference between the Trapp family’s true story and the ﬁ lm version of their lives? Maria had a temper in real life, but not in the fi lm. 3. Think beyond the text Why do you think people are so fascinated by the Trapp family’s story? People like musicals and movies, and a big family all singing together is interesting. I think people are struck by how the family escaped the war, too. 4. Think about the text Did you ﬁ nd the Trapp family interesting? What did you like or dislike about their story? Yes. The story of Maria coming into their lives is fascinating. I liked how music and Maria’s presence helped heal the family’s sorrow and bring them together.

Making Connections Many books and movies are based on the lives of real people. Think about movies you have seen or books you have read about real people. Compare one of those books or movies with this book about the Trapp family. How are they the same? How are they different?

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

05.09_6_246260RNLEAN_Crtl Thk.in11 11 6/12/09 7:27:34 PM Grade 6 5 Lesson 5: The Trapp Family Singers © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

6_308166_AL_LRTG_L05_trappfamily.indd 5 11/5/09 2:05:23 PM Name Date The Trapp Family Singers

Thinking Beyond the Text Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in three paragraphs.

Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal knowledge to reach new understanding.

In the final paragraph of the biography, the author states that the legacy of the Trapp’s lives “shows what a family can do under difficult circumstances if they have courage.” How do you define courage? How do you think they family demonstrated courage? What difficult circumstances did they encounter? Use examples from the text to support your responses.

66_308166_AL_LRTG_L05_trappfamily.indd_308166_AL_LRTG_L05_trappfamily.indd 6 77/29/09/29/09 11:32:18:32:18 PPMM Lesson 5 BLACKLINE MASTER 5.9 Name Date

The Trapp Family Singers Critical Thinking Critical Thinking

Read and answer the questions.

1. Think within the text How did the Trapp family meet Maria?

2. Think within the text What is an example of a difference between the Trapp family’s true story and the ﬁ lm version of their lives?

3. Think beyond the text Why do you think people are so fascinated by the Trapp family’s story?

4. Think about the text Did you ﬁ nd the Trapp family interesting? What did you like or dislike about their story?

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

66_308166_AL_LRTG_L05_trappfamily.indd_308166_AL_LRTG_L05_trappfamily.indd 7 77/29/09/29/09 11:32:19:32:19 PPMM 66_308166_AL_LRTG_L05_trappfamily.indd 8 _ 3 0 8 1 6 6 _ A L LEVEL The Trapp Family Singers Student _ L 4Likemanyimmigrants,theTrapp familyhadadifficulttime 14 R Grade 6 Grade © Houghton Publishing Harcourt Mifflin Company T aeSlcinTx rosSelf-Corrections Errors SelectionText page G _ L Read wordcorrectly Omission sentence, orphrase Repeated word, 0 5 _ t r a p eairCd Error Code Behavior p X f a m Comments: military. intheUnitedStates group. Thetwooldersonslefttoserve The waralsobroughtaboutchangesinthefamilysinging took themtoconcertsaroundthecountry. permanent home.Theylivedmostofthetimeinbusthat wore. FortheirfirstfewyearsinAmerica,theyhadno and singinEnglish.Theyevenhadtochangetheclothesthey adjusting tolifeinanewcountry. Theyhadtolearnspeak i l y . i n d d

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