Catalog display for The Family Under the Bridge

This project is a culminating activity for the novel The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson. Rather than writing the traditional book report, students will create a catalog of items, characters, places, themes, ideas, etc. from the novel. The students will create the catalog on the computer.

A lesson plan for grade 4 English Language Arts

By Jane Hudson

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the novel through creative descriptions
• learn the importance of word choice in descriptive writing
• implement the technology skills such as searching the internet, typing, cutting and pasting, graphic design, and spreadsheet manipulation

The lesson is designed to generate higher order and critical thinking.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

8 days

Materials/resources

• The novel, The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson
• Several samples of department store and mail order catalogs
• Index cards
• One diskette per student (or other means of saving information used on the computer)
• Plastic report covers (optional)
• Paper and pencil

Technology resources

• computer with internet access and a printer
• Microsoft Works

Pre-activities

The students should have finished reading The Family Under the Bridge. This can be done as a read-aloud or students may read the book independently. The students will view various catalogs and analyze the use of descriptive terms used in the entries. Students will differentiate the parts of the catalog entry such as price, order number, size, color, etc.

Activities

After finishing the novel, the students should complete the following steps. The written activities will be the students’ “ticket” into the computer lab.

Day 1

Students must choose at least three or more items for their catalogs. The items can be objects from the novel such as Armand’s overcoat or a family photo album for the Calcet children. The items or ideas should reflect an understanding of the novel. Then the students will compose an entry for each item on a separate index card. The entry should include a detailed written description as well as size, quantity, catalog number etc.

Day 2

The students will create a logo and company name for their catalog on a clean sheet of paper.

Day 3

The remaining activities require use of the computer lab. Students are now ready to type their written descriptive entries and save to a disk.

Day 4

The students will visit Classroom Clipart for graphics to illustrate their entries. Students will cut and paste the graphics into the word processing file and save them.

Day 5

In Microsoft Works, students will modify the template and design their catalog covers. Tell students, “Once you open the template, double click on Company Name and type your company name. Then click once on the Graphic and replace with clip art. Finally, type your own company address, phone number, and fax number.”

Day 6

Students will customize an order form in Microsoft Works following these steps:

1. Click on Task Wizards then Billing, then Order Form, then OK.
2. Click Yes for Task Wizards. Then click Create It.
3. In order to edit the template you must go to Format, then Protection, and make sure there is not a check in either box. This unlocks the cells.
4. Double click on Cell 1 to customize company name and address. You may also want to click on 19-… to list the entries.

Day 7

The students will need time in the lab to edit and customize their work. The students will want to work with font, graphics, etc. to embellish their products.

Day 8

Finally, students type a title page for their assignment and print the final product. Clear plastic report covers serve as an excellent method for display.

Assessment

The catalog will be assessed using the attached rubric.

Supplemental information

Better Than Book Reports by Christine Boardman Moen

Comments

This lesson proved to be a most rewarding experience both for the students and me. Students of all levels participated and were successful. I have used the catalog idea for a few years but this was the first time to integrate technology. I definitely think this is a great plan. Use of the computer lab is very productive, however, if you have access to only one computer, you could create a class catalog and let each child submit one entry.