For the past few weeks, my 5th grade class has been working on Point of View. We've gone beyond simply identifying 1st or 3rd person and are really analyzing how the narrator's/character's point of view/perspective affects the story and the message that readers receive. I found two great clips in Finding Nemo that are great for instruction or practice. I've listed the time that correlates to the clips on the DVD.
Example 1
@ 25:11-25:48 minutes- Nemo is being dumped into the dank in the dentist's office. I had the kids identify the setting and situation from Nemo's point of view/perspective. What does he see? How does he feel? What is he thinking? How did he get here?
@ 25:49-26:00 minutes- In this clip we get a look at the situation from the dentist's point of view. (He says he found Nemo struggling for his life in the reef, and he saved his life.) After watching this clip, the students had a quick discussion about perspective and how the same event can be perceived multiple ways. We then talked about how the perspective changes the story.
Example 2
28:40-29:22 minutes: The dentist shows Nemo (and company) the picture of his niece Darla and explains how Nemo is going to be her birthday gift this year. The other fish explain what happened to her birthday fish last year. I had the kids give me Darla's point of view about receiving a fish for her birthday, and then Nemo's point of view about being given to Darla.
On the docket today was to read a biography about Jane Addams and practice the skills we've been learning so far in our ELA unit. You know, summarizing, author's view point.... As I planned the lesson, I just couldn't, in good conscience, have them read, take notes and then write yet another summary. I feel that that's all we have been doing lately. Deciding to not do a basic summary was easy; figuring out what to do instead was not. What task can they do that's "real world", tests their comprehension, and encourages connections and higher level thinking? Then it came to me....
To demonstrate their comprehension of Jane Addams, her life, and accomplishments and to give them a chance to synthesize and use this knowledge, I had them create a Pinterest page they think Jane would have if she was alive today. Based on the information they learned, they needed to decide what books, movies, hobbies, organizations, etc. Jane would like and be interested in. They really enjoyed the activity and it made them REALLY think! They drew pictures, symbols, and wrote description, just like a real Pinterest page. I found the above "Pinterest like" template made by Best Teacher Resources on TPT for only a dollar! Her blog can be found here, and a link to this template here. For an extension, students could be asked to justify why they chose the items they did. This would give them the opportunity to cite the text.
Common Core Standards: Reading Informational Text Anchor 1, 2, and 3
In the day and age of testing and the endless roll out of new standards, some times we forget the simpliest things...
Yesterday I read a picture book to my 5th graders. They so enjoyed it, and today they asked if I could read to them again.
Fear not, Standard Sticklers, I made sure to pick a good mentor text which led to a lot of rich discussion and the practice of some essential CC skills.
Wednesday's pick...
- Grace is a wonderful character to analyze for traits based on her thoughts, actions, and feelings.
- Good text clues in which to make inferences
- A great story for determining theme
- Has a very positive message about self-confidence and perseverance
Thursday's pick...
- This book is great for inferring Grace's feelings and thoughts; not just what they are, but why she has them
- There is opportunity for self-to-text and text-to-text connection as concepts of family and divorce are discussed
- A few opportunities for predicting
- A great story for determining theme
- Seeing a "known" character on another adventure allowed for deeper character analysis
- It would be easy to look at story events from another character's perspective (ie. her dad's or stepmother's)
