Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Program Learning Activity Plan. Point of View: LAP 3

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1 Point of View: LAP 3 I. Content: Describe what it is you will teach. What is the content? Sarah McNamara November 11, 2013 Ways of Knowing Humanities Maureen Reddy This lesson will teach students that the way we understand a story can change drastically based on the point of view. Students will analyze the differences between James Marshall s original version of The Three Little Pigs and Jon Scieszka s The True Story of The 3 Little Pigs, told from the wolf s point of view. Students will then write about a time when they had a different point of view about something from a friend. II. Learning Goal(s): Describe what specifically students will know and be able to do after the experience of this class. Students will understand that the term point of view refers to the perspective from which a story is told. Students will understand that our understanding of a story may change drastically based on whose point of view it is told from. Students will be able to make personal connections by talking and then writing about a time in which they had a different point of view about something from a friend. III. Rationale: Explain how the content and learning goal(s) relate to your Curriculum Unit Plan learning goals. In my first two lessons, students learned that point of view is the perspective from which a story is told, or who is telling the story. We have read two books, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, as well as Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard. Students have learned what first person point of view is, as well as what third person point of view is, and the characteristics of each. I think that students are comfortable enough with the concept of point of view that they will be able to handle an analysis about how one story told from two different points of view can affect our understanding of the plot and the characters. Additionally, my culminating assessment for this unit will require students to rewrite a story from a different point of view. By reading two versions of the same story, students will be able to see a model of what I am expecting. Because this lesson has two read-alouds, I decided to break it up into two days, so that students will not have to sit for extended periods of time. IV. Assessment: Describe how you and your students will know they have reached your learning goals.

2 Much of my assessment will stem from paying attention to the ideas students contribute to our discussions. I will also listen closely to students while they are talking to their partners, moving around the rug and listening to different pairs for each question. Additionally, the writing assignment in which students give an example of a time when they had a different point of view about something from a friend will show me how well they understand the term point of view. V. Personalization and equity: Describe how you will provide for individual student strengths and needs. How will you and your lesson consider the needs of each student and scaffold learning? How specifically will ELL students and students with learning disabilities gain access and be supported? This lesson will be suitable for academically advanced students, students with IEPs, and ELLs alike. By reviewing the term point of view first and foremost, I will ensure that all students are beginning the lesson on the same page; their understanding of this lesson will not be determined by how much they remember from the last lesson. Also, turn and talks will allow shy students to formulate their thoughts in a low-risk context before sharing out with the whole class. Additionally, by recording the main elements of the original version of The Three Little Pigs on chart paper, ELLs will have an additional point of entry. Some students may miss some of the subtleties of the verbal discussions, so the chart that we create will help to fill in these gaps. It will also be a powerful aid for visual learners to use as a reference with which to compare The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. Lastly, having some students share their examples about times when they had a different point of view about something from a friend will help jog the memories of students who may have more trouble coming up with their own instances. VI. Activity description and agenda a. Describe the activities that will help your students understand the content of your class lesson by creating an agenda with time frames for your class. Be prepared to explain why you think each activity will help students on the path toward understanding. Time Student Activity Day 1: 10:00- Participate in 10:05 discussion about point of view. 10:05-10:10 Participate in discussion about third person point of view. Teacher Activity Review with students the term point of view. Explain that The Three Little Pigs is told in third person point of view. Turn and talk: Who remembers what third person point of Materials Third person point of view chart

3 10:10-10:30 Listen to story. Participate in turn and talks and share out ideas with whole class. 10:30-10:40 Participate in turn and talks and share out ideas with whole class. view means? Discussion about third person point of view, return to chart about third person point of view if necessary. Explain that although the story is told in third person point of view, we learn more about the thoughts and feelings of some characters than others. Instruct students to think about which characters they are rooting for as they listen to the story. Read The Three Little Pigs by James Marshall. Stop throughout the story to ask comprehension questions and explain vocabulary. Discussion about book: Which characters were you rooting for? The pigs or the wolf? Who would you say the bad guy was in the story? If this story was told from the wolf s point of view, how would it be different? Explain that sometimes, the same story can sound very different when it is told from different points of view. Instruct students to keep thinking about how the wolf s version of the story might be different. Explain that we will read his side of the story tomorrow. The Three Little Pigs by James Marshall

4 Day 2: 8:45-8:55 Participate in turn and talks and class discussion. 8:55-9:10 Listen to story. Think about similarities and differences between The Three Little Pigs and The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. 9:10-9:20 Participate in discussion. Review of the term point of view. Have a couple of students retell The Three Little Pigs. Record main story elements on chart paper. Explain that sometimes, two people can have different points of view about the same event. Turn and talk: If The Three Little Pigs was told from the wolf s point of view, how do you think it would be different? Explain that we will be reading The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka, which tells the story from the wolf s point of view. Instruct students to listen for the similarities and differences between the two stories as I read, and to use the elements we recorded on chart paper to help them. Read book, and ask comprehension questions and define vocabulary throughout. Lead discussion about story. How was it similar from the traditional version? How was it different? Which characters did you find yourself sympathizing with/rooting for? Did the wolf still seem like the bad guy? Or was he Chart paper, markers The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

5 9:20-9:30 Write about a time when they had a different point of view about something from a friend. just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Were the pigs really as nice and innocent as they seemed in the original version? Turn and talk: Talk about a time when you had a different point of view about something from a friend. Have a few students share out. Explain worksheet. Walk around as students are writing to help those who are having difficulty coming up with an example. Worksheets b. What particular challenges, in terms of student learning or implementing planned activity, do you anticipate and how will you address them? One challenge that I am anticipating is that students may have trouble coming up with their own examples of times when they had a different point of view about something from a friend. To address this, I will have students turn and talk about the prompt, and then have a few students share out their own instances. Hopefully hearing others ideas will help students to come up with their own examples. VII. List the Massachusetts Learning Standards this lesson addresses. RL.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. RL.3.6: Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters. VIII. Reflection a. In light of all areas of planning, but especially in terms of your stated purpose and learning goals, in what ways was the activity(ies) successful? How do you know? In what ways was it not successful? How might the activity be planned differently another time?

6 I was pretty happy about how this lesson went, as I believe it accomplished the majority of both my learning centered and practice centered goals. I thought my students did an excellent job of identifying the similarities and differences between the traditional version of The Three Little Pigs and Scieskza s The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. They noted aspects of the wolf s story that were entirely missing from the original version, such as the fact that there was no mention of the wolf s cold or his need for sugar. They were also very aware of the differences in the ways that the characters were portrayed in the two books, as evidenced by observations like The pigs are a lot ruder in this book. I was thrilled when a student remarked, The pigs are acting like the wolf in the other story. Their comments indicated to me that they had a firm grasp on how our understanding of a story can change based on the point of view from which it is told. One aspect of the lesson that I was a bit concerned about was whether students would be able to come up with examples of times in which their point of view differed from that of a friend. However, they did very well with this activity. As soon as I gave them a couple of examples, they were able to come up with their own, all of which showed an understanding of the term. One student wrote about how she and a friend had different points of view about the outcome of the presidential election in 2012 because they were rooting for different candidates. Another wrote about how he had a different point of view than his brother about what the best pizza topping is. During my post round, there was some debate about whether these were truly examples of differing points of view. After putting a lot of thought into it, I believe that this was a beneficial activity for my students. Point of view is a term that can be applied to several different aspects of life, and limiting our exploration to literary point of view would prevent their full understanding of it. If I were to teach this unit again, I would probably use this activity earlier on. I think it is a bit easier for students to grasp the idea of personally having a different point of view from someone, and considering it in the beginning might help them comprehend literary point of view more deeply. b. What did you learn from the experience of this lesson that will inform your next LAP? Something that I think could have made this lesson better would be laying out clearer expectations for turn and talks. When I was watching the video of the lesson, I noticed that many students, particularly those in the back of the room, did not talk to their partner the entire time, were not listening to their partners, or were unsure about who their partners were. There were groups of three and four, and students who were not participating at all. During my video round, I was given a number of helpful ideas about how to improve this. In the weeks since the lesson, my students and I have talked about what good listening looks like, and that it is essential that both partners have the chance to share. Additionally, after turn and talks, I no longer ask them, Who would like to share what they discussed with their partner? but rather, Who would like to share what their

7 partner said? This question ensures that they are held accountable for listening to their partner.