EQ: How Do Teachers Make Learning Exciting and Fun for Their Students? ELA Week Theme: Teachers

EQ: How do teachers make learning exciting and fun for their students? ELA Week Theme: Teachers Learning Target: I can describe the interactions, relationships, and changes in the students in Mrs. Hartwell’s classroom (characters in books by Danneberg). Genre: Narrative

Materials / Resources books by Julie Danneberg: First Day Jitters E DAN First Year Letters E DAN Last Day Blues E DAN

Prior Knowledge: Students are reading First Day Jitters in their anthology. This is the story of Sarah Jane Hartman, teacher extraordinaire.

Procedure 1. Ask students to share the most surprising event in First Day Jitters. Ask students who they thought was under the covers on the first day of school. Briefly review the power of a twist at the end of a story. 2. Tell students that First day Jitters was so successful that Julie Dannenberg decided to write a sequel to that story. Show them First Year Letters. That book was very successful, so Ms. Danneberg wrote a third book, Last Day Blues to complete the trilogy. 3. Explain the meaning of sequel and trilogy. Introduce the term quadrilogy and remind students that 5 or more books featuring the adventures of the same character or characters is called a series. 4. Based on Mrs. Hartwell’s first day, do you think she will have a successful school year? Why or why not? Listen to the story to see how Mrs. Hartwell makes learning fun for her students and to see how her students grow during the year.

Guided Practice 5. During reading, ask students to comment on the events and characters in the story. There are so many rich situations and interesting characters that it is fun to talk about them as the story develops. 6. As the story develops, ask students who is telling the story? Is it being told by a narrator, by Mrs. Hartmann, or by a student in the class? Reflection 7. After reading, ask students if they would have enjoyed being in Mrs. Hartwell’s class. Why? 8. Which students showed improvement during the school year? How did they improve or change? 9. What evidence in the story supported the idea that Mrs. Hartmann had a very successful first year in her new school?