Literature-Based Curriculum

1. Literature-Based Curriculum Design and Implementation

2. Putting the Puzzle Together

3. Creating a Successful Unit • Select a Theme • Brainstorm Associations • Establish Guiding Questions • Write Activities

4. Choosing a Theme • Does it have substance and application to the real world? • Are materials readily available? TOPIC http://www.scholastic.com/instructor/special2/k1.htm

5. continued • Is it meaningful and age-appropriate? • Does it tie to other units? • Is it worthwhile?

6. Theme

7. Curriculum planning moves from Materials Centered Student Centered Teacher Centered

8. And reflects the new International Reading Association Standards Listening and Speaking Viewing and Representing Reading and Writing

9. Teachers Share Ideas • Cyberguides http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyberguide.html • Doucette Library of Teaching Resources http://www.educ.ucalgary.ca/litindex/booksind.html • Reading Newbery Books Aloud http://www.scholastic.com/bookclubs/index.htm

10. Snowed In, Barbara Lucas, illustrated by Catherine Stock, Bradbury Press, 1993 In the late fall of 1915, a pioneer family prepares to spend the winter, snowed in. After getting supplies, including a stop at the library for books, the family heads for their homestead and a long winter.

11. Goals • To understand that human needs are the same today as in the past • to gain an appreciation and awareness of the value literature has in our society

12. Contemporary Issues • Children in the upper mid-west spend many months in relative isolation • Winter preparedness is essential • Learning is important

13. Listening/Speaking In the book, Grace asks a riddle. Have the students read aloud riddles found on the Internt. Discuss “play on words” and double meanings. Have the students write riddles and share with each other. Submit the best to the Kidscorner site. • Riddles http://www.bayne.com/wolfBayne/kaitlyn/riddles.html • Kidscorner - submit your own riddle http://members.aol.com/sylviejan/e_scherz.htm

14. Reading Some of the books the children read in the book are the Legend of Sleepy Hallow and the Wizard of Oz. Have students read parts of these books aloud by developing a Reader’s Theater presentation. Find out more about the authors of these classics by researching the following Internet sites. • Legend of Sleepy Hallow ftp://uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu/pub/etext/gutenberg/etext92/sleep10.txt http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/projects/rissetto/irving.html • Wizard of Oz http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/oz/

15. Writing Have the students look at the picture of the Knights fighting and have them write a story about that picture. Use the Story Grammar Chart. Remind the students to write what happened before the picture, during the picture and after the picture. The book mentions spelling. Have the children brainstorm a list of words about knights, damsels, castles, etc. Use these words for a spelling bee. • Internet sites about knights • http://home1.gte.net/joziec/castle/throne.htm

16. Social Studies Much of the west was settled due primarily to the Homesteading Act. Go to the court house and visit with the Registrar of Deeds to see a map of the area and find the locations of early homestead and who were the original homesteaders. Compare an early map of the region with a current map. Homesteading is still available in Alaska. Have the students research on the Internet to see how they could claim a homestead in Alaska.

17. Internet Sites • Homesteaders http://members.aol.com/ntgen/hrtg/hmstd.html • American Life Histories http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/wpahome.html • Alaska Homestaading http://www.corecom.net/fiscus/homest.html

18. Science The winter weather was an important factor in the book and is an important factor in student’s lives today. Have the children track storms. Make weather maps and compare annual snowfall in different parts of the United States or in different years in their own area. • Blizzards, Sioux Falls http://www.crh.noaa.gov/fsd/homepage.htm • National Weather Bureau http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/nationalwarnings.html

19. Math Before the family went to their homestead, they bought supplies. Make a list of the supplies students think would be needed for the winter. Go to the stores and check the price of the supplies. Compare these prices with the prices of the same articles in the early part of this century. Using a spreadsheet, make a graph that displays the differences in costs. • World Fact Book http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/nsolo/wfb-all.htm

20. Art/Music In the book, Luke sings “Home on the Range” . Sing some of the old song. Many lyrics can be found on the Internet. Artist Frederic Remington captured the images of the old west. Look at some of his paintings. • Home on the range http://www.stairway.org/kidsongs/h020.htm • Lyrics for many children’s songs http://www.stairway.org/kidsongs/ • Frederic Remington. http://www.ash.org.au/web/tq/lib/3708/p27.htm

21. Special Activities • Make snow ice cream • Pop Popcorn • Invite a family from the community to talk about home schooling • Invite an older person to talk to children about winter and being snowed in. • Prepare a Winter Survival Kit for the car. Invite a person from the American Red Cross to talk about winter safety.

22. Additional Web Sites • Homeschooling http://www.caro.net/~joespa/ • Jolly Time Popcorn, crafts, etc. http://www.caro.net/~joespa/

23. Literature Links • Dakota Dug Out • First Snow, Magic Snow, John Cech, Four Winds Press • Little House on the Prairie, Wilder http://www.pinc.com/~jenslegg/

24. Final Using an award winning book: • Plan a literature-based curriculum • Use the Thematic Literature-based Planning Guide • Prepare a PowerPoint presentation about your curriculum • Show and discuss the presentation in class • Give me a copy (disk).