What is Authentic Teaching?
"Working on a real topic or issue aimed at a real audience for a real purpose using a real genre that real people use in the real world." -Dr. Timothy Murnen, Bowling Green State University
Print my 6+1 writing rubric for this unit!
Unit Goal and Overview:
The goal of this unit is to use multiple literacies to teach students the plot and character elements specific to fairy tales. This will be used to connect fairy tales in books to reader’s theater, animated films, and then students’ own written fairy tale stories to share with younger students in their school and online.This unit is aimed at third grade students.
In this unit, students are guided through several discussions about literature. After reading fairy tale books and acting our Reader’s Theater scripts, students are able to respond with connections they made. “Both our classroom atmosphere and the selection of reading materials should therefore be guided by the primary concern for creating a live circuit between readers and books” (Rosenblatt, 2005, p. 66). The overall intent of this unit is to help students see fairy tales as authentic in the sense that writing and reading come to life through live theater and motion pictures. These mediums reflect actions and themes found in general human nature, as well.
By varying the difficulty and type of texts used in this unit, students are likely to connect with the reading level of at least one. Some may be motivated to read ones already at their reading level, ones at their instructional level, or those more challenging. “Given a good assortment of subjects, authors, and difficulty levels, kids will usually group themselves wisely: in general, they’ll pick books they can read comfortably and want to read” (Daniels, p. 96). When motivated to read the books on their own, students are more likely to interact with the literature and enhance their comprehension. The activities planned are authentic as they relate to students’ real lives for a real audience. “…language is best learned as it is being used. But students also had reason to write and read better” (Duke et al., 2012, p. 13). The students will be able to connect with the multiple texts, videos, and then their own written fairy tale as they become actively involved in the process of making books come to life.
In this unit, students are guided through several discussions about literature. After reading fairy tale books and acting our Reader’s Theater scripts, students are able to respond with connections they made. “Both our classroom atmosphere and the selection of reading materials should therefore be guided by the primary concern for creating a live circuit between readers and books” (Rosenblatt, 2005, p. 66). The overall intent of this unit is to help students see fairy tales as authentic in the sense that writing and reading come to life through live theater and motion pictures. These mediums reflect actions and themes found in general human nature, as well.
By varying the difficulty and type of texts used in this unit, students are likely to connect with the reading level of at least one. Some may be motivated to read ones already at their reading level, ones at their instructional level, or those more challenging. “Given a good assortment of subjects, authors, and difficulty levels, kids will usually group themselves wisely: in general, they’ll pick books they can read comfortably and want to read” (Daniels, p. 96). When motivated to read the books on their own, students are more likely to interact with the literature and enhance their comprehension. The activities planned are authentic as they relate to students’ real lives for a real audience. “…language is best learned as it is being used. But students also had reason to write and read better” (Duke et al., 2012, p. 13). The students will be able to connect with the multiple texts, videos, and then their own written fairy tale as they become actively involved in the process of making books come to life.
Third Grade Common Core Standards Addressed:
Writing Standards.
Text Types and Purposes. |
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
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a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
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b. Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations.
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c. Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.
d. Provide a sense of closure. |
Writing Standards. Research to Build and Present Knowledge.
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8. Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
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Reading Standards. Key Ideas and Details.
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2. Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
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3. Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
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Reading Standards: Foundational Skills.
Fluency. |
4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
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a. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
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b. Read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings
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c. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
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References
Daniels, H. (2002). Literature circles: Voices and choices in book clubs & reading
groups (2nd ed.). Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.
Duke, N. K., Caughlan, S., Juzwik, M. M., & Martin, N. M. (2012). Reading and writing genre with purpose in K-8 classrooms. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Rosenblatt, L. (2005a). Literature—S.O.S.!. Voices from the Middle, 12(3), 34-38.
Duke, N. K., Caughlan, S., Juzwik, M. M., & Martin, N. M. (2012). Reading and writing genre with purpose in K-8 classrooms. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Rosenblatt, L. (2005a). Literature—S.O.S.!. Voices from the Middle, 12(3), 34-38.