Reading and writing about whales using fiction and nonfiction texts
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=196
A lesson plan for grades K–2 English Language Arts
This lesson from ReadWriteThink teaches students how to formulate research questions and write letters. The lesson uses the nonfiction picture book Big Blue Whale by Nicola Davies to present factual information about blue whales and the fiction picture book Dear Mr. Blueberry by Simon James to demonstrate how a letter can be used to ask questions and foster inquiry about blue whales. Letters about blue whales are then written, revised, and sent to an online scientist. This lesson incorporates links to a variety of online resources.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 1
- Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
- Objective 2.03: Read and comprehend both fiction and nonfiction text appropriate for grade one using:
- prior knowledge.
- summary.
- questions.
- graphic organizers.
- Objective 2.03: Read and comprehend both fiction and nonfiction text appropriate for grade one using:
- Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
- Objective 4.05: Write and/or participate in writing by using an author's model of language and extending the model (e.g., writing different ending for a story, composing an innovation of a poem).
- Objective 4.06: Compose a variety of products (e.g., stories, journal entries, letters, response logs, simple poems, oral retellings).
- Goal 5: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
- Objective 5.04: Use complete sentences to write simple texts.
Grade 2
- Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
- Objective 2.01: Read and comprehend both narrative and expository text appropriate for grade two by:
- determining purpose (reader's and author's).
- making predictions.
- asking questions.
- locating information for specific reasons/purposes.
- recognizing and applying text structure.
- comprehending and evaluating author's decisions and word choice.
- determining fact and opinion.
- recognizing and comprehending figurative language.
- making inferences and drawing conclusions.
- Objective 2.02: Use text for a variety of functions, including literary, informational, and practical.
- Objective 2.03: Read expository materials for answers to specific questions.
- Objective 2.01: Read and comprehend both narrative and expository text appropriate for grade two by:
- Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
- Objective 4.07: Compose first drafts using an appropriate writing process:
- planning and drafting.
- rereading for meaning.
- revising to clarify and refine writing with guided discussion.
- Objective 4.07: Compose first drafts using an appropriate writing process:
Kindergarten
- Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
- Objective 2.02: Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of types of books and selections (e.g., picture books, caption books, short informational texts, nursery rhymes, word plays/finger plays, puppet plays, reenactments of familiar stories).
- Objective 2.03: Use preparation strategies to activate prior knowledge and experience before and during the reading of a text.
- Objective 2.08: Distinguish fantasy from reality when reading text.
- Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
- Objective 4.05: Use a variety of sentence patterns such as interrogative requests (Can you go with me?) and sentence fragments that convey emotion (Me, too!).
- write from left to right and from top to bottom.
- write most letters and some words when dictated.
- Objective 4.06: Write and/or participate in writing behaviors by using authors' models of language.
- Objective 4.05: Use a variety of sentence patterns such as interrogative requests (Can you go with me?) and sentence fragments that convey emotion (Me, too!).
