Unit Title - All About Me

Unit Title - All About Me Delaware ELA Curriculum Unit Template

Preface: This unit has been created as a model for teachers in their designing or redesigning of course curricula. It is by no means intended to be inclusive; rather it is meant to be a springboard for a teacher’s thoughts and creativity. The information we have included represents one possibility for developing a unit based on the Delaware content standards and the Understanding by Design framework and philosophy.

Subject/Topic Area: ELA Grade Level(s): Kindergarten

Searchable Key Words: text-to-self connections, main character, picture walk, character web, predictions, giggle, perfect, absolutely, huge, enormous, gigantic

Designed By: Stacy Carney District: Christina School District Jen Poppiti Edith Bacon

Time Frame: 3 weeks

Reviewed by: Date:

Brief Summary of Unit (This should include a brief unit summary including a description of unit goals, rationale for the approach taken, and where it appears in the course of study.)

The ‘All About Me’ unit is a thematic focus on the student as a unique and special individual and their relationships and responsibilities in the family and classroom community. Through the study of theme related literature and non-fiction texts, students will be introduced to comprehension skills. Since this unit is at the beginning of the school year text-to-self connections and identification of story elements will be introduced through teacher modeling.

Stage 1: Desired Results (Determine What Students Will Know, Do and Understand) Delaware ELA Content Standards (This should include a list of the DE Content Standards for which instruction is provided in this unit and which are ultimately assessed in the unit.) 2.1 (Pre-K–4) Using appropriate texts, students will be able to select and apply efficient, effective decoding skills and other word recognition strategies to comprehend printed texts.  Phonological Awareness  Identify initial, final, and medial sounds in words  Vocabulary  Use words to describe location, size, color, and shapes  Learn new vocabulary through stories and instruction  Alphabetic Recognition  Recognize all letters upper and lower case with automaticity 2.3a (Pre-K–4) Students will be able to self-monitor comprehension while reading by (a) generating a purpose for reading.  Use “During Reading” strategies by:  Assimilating prior knowledge 2.3c (Pre-K–4) Using appropriate texts, students will be able to self-monitor comprehension while

of 10 Unit Title - All About Me reading by (c) taking appropriate actions (e.g., re-reading to make sense, adjusting rate of reading, seeking the meaning of unknown vocabulary) to enhance understanding of oral and written text.  Use illustrations to construct meaning from text  Make, confirm, or adjust predictions  Reread sentences when meaning is not clear  Connect events, characters, and actions in stories to specific life experiences  Ask questions when meaning is not clear  Retell stories and ideas  Begin to create mental images

2.4a (Pre-K–4) Students will be able to demonstrate an overall understanding of printed texts by (a) making…. predictions as needed.  Predict likely outcomes based on clues in a text by answering teacher-led question (e.g., what do you think will happen next?)

2.4bL (Pre-K–4) Students will be able to demonstrate an overall understanding of literary texts by (b) identifying the story elements (e.g., characters, setting, and plot) and story structures (conflict, resolution, cause/effect).  Identify the main character in a story or poem

2.4c (Pre-K–4) Students will be able to demonstrate an overall understanding of printed texts by (c) recognizing and interpreting figurative language and literary devices (e.g., simile, metaphor, allusion) and (e) differentiating between literal and non-literal meanings.  Listen for alliteration and rhyme

2.4e (Pre-K–4) Students will be able to demonstrate an overall understanding of printed texts by (e) organizing the important points of the text via summaries, outlines, and/or graphic organizers.  Complete a graphic organizer (e.g., webs, charts) that identifies story/literary elements and story structure with teacher help/direction

4.2b (K – 4) Understand the differences between genres.  Listen and respond to poetry and prose

4.3a (K-4) Respond to literary text and media representing the diversity of American cultural heritage inclusive of ages, genders, nationalities, races, religions and disabilities; respond to literary text and media representative of various nations and cultures.  Acknowledge the experiences and feelings of fictional characters based on age, gender, nationality, races, cultures and disabilities.

Big Idea (This should include transferable core concepts, principles, theories, and processes that should serve as the focal point of curricula, instruction, and assessment. Ex: Manifest Destiny, fighting for peace.)

Connections

Unit Enduring Understandings (This should include important ideas or core processes that are central to the unit and transferable to new situations beyond the classroom. Stated as full-sentence statements, the understandings specify what we want students to understand about the Big Ideas Ex: Inverse operations are helpful in understanding and solving problems.) Students will understand that…

of 10 Unit Title - All About Me . good readers employ strategies to help them understand text.

Unit Essential Question(s) (This should include open-ended questions designed to guide student inquiry and focus instruction for “uncovering” the important ideas of the content. Ex: What is healthful eating? What is the relationship between fiction and truth?)

. What do good readers do? . Who am I?

Knowledge & Skills (This should include key knowledge and skills that students will acquire as a result of this unit? Ex: Factors affecting climate, The causes of World War II.) It should also include what students will eventually be able to do as a result of such knowledge and skill Ex: take notes, complete a bent-arm pull, compare fiction to nonfiction.) Students will know….

. how to relate events in a story to events in their lives.

Students will be able to…

. complete a graphic organizer to show text-to-self connections.

Stage 2: Assessment Evidence (Design Assessments To Guide Instruction) (This should include evidence that will be collected to determine whether or not the Desired Results identified in Stage One have been achieved? [Anchor the unit in performance tasks that require transfer, supplemented as needed by other evidence –quizzes, worksheets, observations, etc.]

Suggested Performance Task(s) (This should include suggested authentic tasks and projects used as evidence of student competency in the skills and knowledge deemed important in the unit. Ex: a written composition, speeches, works of art, musical performances, open-ended math problems.)

Consider the following set of stem statements as you construct a scenario for a performance task: G – Goal—Ex: Reflect character’s motivation and predict his actions R – Role—Ex: A character in Of Mice and Men A – Audience—Ex: A family member or close friend S – Situation—Ex: Creating a scrapbook chronicling a character’s life, real and inferred P – Product, Performance, and Purpose—Ex: Scrapbook S – Standards and Criteria for Success—Ex: Your scrapbook should include all components on included rubric

of 10 Unit Title - All About Me

After students listen to Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats they will complete a graphic organizer (see below) with teacher assistance. In the graphic organizer the students will compare what the main character (Peter) could not do when he was younger and what he learned to do; and what the students could not do when they were younger and what the students can do now. By using this graphic organizer, students are encouraged to make personal connections to the character in order to learn more about themselves. This organizer also demonstrates the students understanding of the text.

Peter could not do Peter learned

I could not do I learned

Rubrics/checklists for Performance Tasks (This should include holistic or analytic-trait rubrics used as a scoring guide to evaluate student products or performances.)

Text-to-self rubric 3 2 1 Creates graphic organizer Creates graphic organizer that shows a clear Is unable to show that clearly demonstrates understanding of the story understanding of the story understanding of story and or connection to self but or connection to self. connection to self not both.

Other Evidence (This could include tests, quizzes, prompts, student work samples, and observations used to collect diverse evidence of student understanding.)

 ‘Me’ button – I Like Me by Nancy Carlson  Where did your name come from? – Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes - home/school connection  How does your name make you feel? - Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes - discussion  What we can do! graphic organizer - From Head to Toe by Eric Carle  Personal response – Thumbs up/down if you do the same thing as the boy - All I Am by Eileen Roe  Compare two students’ characteristics using Venn diagram – We are All Alike… We Are All Different by Cheltenham Elementary School Kindergarteners

Directions, forms, and graphic organizers for these activities are included in the Christina School District Kindergarten ELA Curriculum. Student Self-Assessment and Reflection (This should include opportunities for students to monitor their own learning. Ex: reflection journals, learning logs, pre- and post-tests, editing own work.)

Students will be reflecting and self assessing: . during classroom discussions . while developing graphic organizers with teacher assistance

of 10 Unit Title - All About Me . in classroom journals . during individual and small group work

Stage 3: Learning Plan (Design Learning Activities To Align with Goals and Assessments) Key learning events needed to achieve unit goals (This should include instructional activities and learning experiences needed to achieve the desired results (Stage 1) as reflected in the assessment evidence to be gathered (Stage 2).

The acronym WHERETO summarizes key elements to consider when designing an effective and engaging learning plan. W – Help the students know Where the unit is going and What is expected? Help the teachers know Where the students are coming from (prior knowledge, interests) H – Hook all students and Hold their interest? E – Equip students, help them Experience the key ideas and Explore the issues? R – Provide opportunities to Rethink and Revise their understandings and work? E – Allow students to Evaluate their work and its implications? T – Be Tailored (personalized) to the different needs, interests, and abilities of learners? O – Be Organized to maximize initial and sustained engagement as well as effective learning?

Comprehension and Vocabulary

Comprehension and vocabulary instruction will primarily take place during Teacher Read-Aloud time. During Teacher Read-Aloud, teachers need to talk about the text with the students. Teachers will: . help students tap into past experiences and knowledge. . use open-ended questions and prompt students to move beyond one-word responses and actively use words in dialogue. . use follow-up questions to scaffold students' thinking by encouraging them to elaborate and develop their initial ideas. . give immediate explanations of challenging words. . engage students in actively using words through speaking in order to enrich and deepen students' understanding of word meanings

Directions, forms, and graphic organizers for the activities in the following lessons are included in the Christina School District Kindergarten ELA Curriculum.

Teacher Read Alouds:  Introduce the All About Me theme by reading and interacting with the poem “Special Me”. Ask students what they like about themselves. Inform students that as we read stories throughout this unit we will connect with the characters in the stories.

 I Like Me by Nancy Carlson Before reading: Model how to identify who is the main character in the story. As you read the story stop and think aloud how the pig feels and what made her feel this way. After reading: Discuss with the students how they feel when they make a mistake. How do they make themselves feel better when they are sad? The students will cut out a button with the word “me” written on it and wear it after they tell the teacher something special about themselves. After teacher modeling of alliteration with several names, students will create an alliteration with their name. Using a cut out of a person, students will make a model of themselves using a variety of materials and label it with their name alliteration i.e. Awesome Anna.

of 10 Unit Title - All About Me  Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes (two day lesson) Before reading: Share the story of how you were named. Discuss how you feel about your name. Have each student share how he/she feels about his/her name. Introduce a paper heart telling the students that the heart represents Chrysanthemum’s heart and each time someone says something hurtful to her in the story you will make a crease in the heart. Recall how to identify the main character and lead the students to discover who the main character is in the story. During reading: Have the students predict how Chrysanthemum will feel in each situation. After reading: Compare how she felt about her name in the beginning of the story and at the end. Unfold the heart and show the students how the hurtful words made a mark on the heart. Discuss no matter how much you smooth the heart (say something nice or say I’m sorry) the creases are still there. During reading (second day): Use explicit vocabulary instruction (Isabel Beck model) to introduce vocabulary words – giggle/perfect/absolutely. Have the students complete the Home/School Connection activity, where they will complete a story about the origin of their name with their parents help. The stories will become a class name book.

 From Head to Toe by Eric Carle – Before reading: Sing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes with the students. On repeated singing change the beginning sound of the words i.e. bed, boulders, bees, and bows. Show the students the front and back covers of the book and model predicting what the story is about using an “I wonder…” statement (I wonder what the flamingo and the boy are doing?). Read the title and revise your ‘I wonder…’ statements. During reading: Encourage the students to join in reading “I can do it!” and dramatizing the actions of the animals. After reading: Have the students revisit their ‘I wonder…’ statements to check for accuracy. The students will compare their actions to the animal actions by contributing to a graphic organizer created by the teacher. The students will illustrate what they can do that an animal can do.

We can do Animals can do

 We Are All Alike… We Are All Different by Cheltenham Elementary School Kindergartners Before reading: Call two students to the front of the class. Ask the class to observe one student and record on sentence strips everything they notice about the student. Repeat this activity for the second student. Model how to sort the attributes using the terms alike and different developing a Venn diagram. Read the title of the book and take a picture walk. During reading: Stop at each question and have the students share their responses. After reading: Call up the same two students and review how they are alike and different and add to the Venn diagram if necessary. For a literacy center, sort letters by attributes using an alike and different graphic organizer.

 All I Am by Eileen Roe Before reading: In order to gain an understanding of the story and illicit story related language in advance, take a picture walk of the book with the students. As you turn the pages of the book, direct the students to focus on the pictures without reading the text. Pose questions such as: “What is going on here? Who is this? Why does the character look so excited? When is this story taking place? Where did the character just come from? How do you think the story is going to end?” Do not show the last page. Discuss main character. During reading: Stop and predict what the boy is doing. After reading: Re-read the story and have the students do a thumbs up/thumbs down if they do the same thing as the boy. Create a character web with students. In a character web, students identify the traits of a central character. This reinforces the concept of point of view and helps students understand a character’s actions and motivation.

 Peter’s Chair by Ezra Jack Keats Before reading: Discuss with the students if they have older or younger siblings and how they feel about their sibling(s). Look at the cover of the book and after modeling one ‘I wonder...’ statement, have the students make predictions using ‘I wonder…’ statements. During reading: Pause and model monitoring and clarifying. Have students reflect on their ‘I wonder…’ statements and make, confirm, or adjust their predictions. Have students identify who the main character is and support their choice. Discuss the main character’s feelings and have the students relate as to how they would feel. After reading: Discuss things that students have outgrown and changes that they can remember.

 Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats Before reading: Explain to the students that you will read a poem to them to provide background information and to help them make a connection to the story. Read “Whistling” by Jack Prelutsky. Take a survey of who can and cannot whistle. Have the students demonstrate. Cover the title of the book and have students predict using “I wonder…” statements. Uncover the title and read it. Have the students predict: “Who is Willie—the dog or the boy? During reading: Stop and clarify events in the story. After reading: Have students complete the graphic organizer for the unit assessment. In the graphic organizer the students will compare what the main character (Peter) could not do when he was younger and what he learned to do; and what the students could not do when they were younger and what the students can do now. By using this graphic organizer, students are encouraged to make personal connections to the character in order to learn more about themselves and it also demonstrates the students understanding of the text.

Phonics  Alphabetic Principle o ‘Connecting children’s names to letter sounds’ – Month by Month Phonics by Pat Cunningham o ABeCeDarian Reading Program– Unit 1  High frequency words a and at o Shared Reading books  The Birthday Cake – Wright Group  I Like Me by Nancy Carlson

Phonological Awareness  Initial sounds o ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ song - initial sound substitution o Initial sound of name games and songs - Christina School District Kindergarten ELA Curriculum  Listening and Rhyming o Phonemic Awareness for Young Children – Marilyn Jager Adams  Listening to Sequences of Sounds  Whispering Game  Rhyme Stories Fluency  Alphabet books – teacher choice  Alphabet songs – teacher choice o Traditional o Dr. Jean CDs o Jack Hartman CDs  Nursery rhymes – teacher choice  Letter/sound match activities - Christina School District Kindergarten ELA Curriculum  Shared Reading o The Birthday Cake – Wright Group . Front to back o I Like Me – Nancy Carlson . Tracking print

Did you consider the following unit design principles? IP – International education perspective IL – Information Literacy WR – Workplace readiness/21st century skills FA – Formative assessment, used to check for understanding DI – Differentiated Instruction UDL– Universal Design for Learning TL – Technology Literacy Resources & Teaching Tips (Consider the two questions below when completing this section.)  What text/print/media/kit/web resources best support this unit?

o Software . Kidspiration . Earobics o LeapFrog products o Internet . http://www.starfall.com/ . http://www.eduplace.com/ o CSD Kindergarten ELA curriculum o Phonemic Awareness for Young Children – Marilyn Jager Adams o CD - Is Everybody Happy – Dr. Jean o CD – Shake, Rattle, and Read - Jack Hartman o Alphabet Books . Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr.

of 10 Unit Title - All About Me . A You’re Adorable by Buddy Kaye . ABC I Like Me by Nancy Carlson o Predictable Text . The Birthday Cake – Wright Group . I Like Me – Nancy Carlson . The Box – Wright Group

 What tips to teachers of the unit can you offer about likely rough spots/student misunderstandings and performance weaknesses, and how to troubleshoot those issues?

 This is the students’ first exposure to story comprehension skills and the teacher should provide explicit modeling and instruction.  Teachers will use DIBELS for data analysis and to develop individual instructional plans

Accommodation/Differentiation ideas and tips (This should include a list or description of ways that you will differentiate instruction according to students' needs. This can include any curricular adaptations that are needed to meet special needs students. Ex: using reading materials at varying readability levels, putting text materials on tape, using spelling or vocabulary lists at readiness levels of students, meeting with small groups to re-teach an idea or skill for struggling learners, or to extend the thinking or skills of advanced learners.

 Use Choice Time to offer students multiple experiences with the activities.  Provide small group instruction during Choice Time.  Group students according to readiness determined by DIBELS data for phonological awareness and phonics instruction.  Scaffold questions in order to challenge students to work to their ability.  Throughout this unit opportunities have been provided for the students to be engaged verbally, visually, and kinesthetically.  Use kinesthetic (hands on) activities to engage students to learning.

Technology Integration

 CD player for audio version of literature and songs  Computer for internet and software use  Overhead projector for Graphic Organizer modeling

Content Connections Directions, and forms for the following activities are included in the Christina School District Kindergarten ELA Curriculum.

Art  I like me button

Social studies

of 10 Unit Title - All About Me  Thematic focus is on the student as a unique and special individual and their relationships and responsibilities in the family and classroom community (Civics Standard 2 k-3a).

Music  Dr. Jean and Jack Hartmann CD’s  Songs for phonological awareness – Fall Phonemic Awareness Songs and Rhymes by Kimberly Jordano and Trisha Callella-Jones (CTP)

Math  Sorting (Standard 2 K-5)