PANGEA SIOP Academic Conversations Lesson Plan

Sheltered English Lesson Plan

Grade: 6, Science

Unit/Theme: Academic Conversations: Opinion Continuum

WIDA Level: Expanding (Level 4) and Bridging (Level 5)

Can Do Descriptors:

Listening:

• Identify main ideas and details of oral discourse

• Complete content-related tasks or assignments based on oral discourse

• Apply learning strategies to new situations

• Role play, dramatize, or re-enact scenarios from oral reading

Speaking:

Paraphrase and summarize ideas presented orally

• Defend a point of view

• Explain outcomes

• Explain and compare content-based concepts

• Connect ideas with supporting details/evidence

• Substantiate opinions with reasons and evidence

Massachusetts Curriculum Framework:

·         RST.6.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.

·         SL.6.4 Present claims and findings, sequencing ideas logically and using pertinent descriptions, facts and details to accentuate main ideas or themes; using appropriate eye contact, adequate volume and clear pronunciation

·         RST.6.8 Distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment based on research findings, and speculation in a text.

Content Objectives: SWBAT:

• Explain the Theory of Continental Drift and the Theory of Plate Tectonics
• Support an oral position using evidence

Language Objectives:

• Define and use key vocabulary in a conversation
• Use evidence of continental drift and plate tectonics to have a conversation
• Support oral statements using textual evidence
• Build on peer oral responses

Key Vocabulary elaborate clarify Pangea Harry Hess, Alfred Wegner plate tectonics glossopteris mesosaurus lystrosaurus

Supplementary Materials “elaborate” and “clarify” prompt cards opinion continuum strips Science Textbook

Essential Question:

Was there really once the Pangea supercontinent?

Lesson Narrative Summary:

Half of the students in the 6^th grade integration science class will each get an opinion continuum sheet labeled with “Pangea” and “it existed” or “it didn’t exist.” Students with these sheets will pair up with nonsheet students and ask their opinions as to whether Pangea existed or did not exist (just as scientists challenged Alfred Wegner when he first developed his theory.) The sharing student must elaborate and justify his or her opinion with examples and then sign his or her name on the continuum at the point that matches his or her opinion, without being directly in the middle. After rotating partners and conversing with at least three others, each sheet holder must sign his or her name on the continuum and provide elaboration and justification to a nonsheet partner. In closing, sheet students can share out what their partners argued and whether they were swayed by the conversations. If there is time, nonsheet students can get a sheet and the roles reverse.

Review/Assessment:

As an assessment, have students write a paragraph response as to whether they believe there is enough evidence to prove that there once was a Pangea supercontinent, supporting their ideas with evidence from the text.

Extension:

Students can have a debate in front of class, with two dissenting opinions sharing their ideas, supporting both with scientific evidence and key vocabulary.

Reflection to Love Your Body by Barry Taylor, N.D.

C. Mae Waugh

Aspiring Leadership Academy

Framingham Public Schools

May 2014

Reflection to Love Your Body by Barry Taylor, N.D.

Barry Taylor is not a typical doctor. Instead, he provides naturopathic therapy through the ideology of loving one’s body. His ideology examines the dichotomy between health and healing and when he spoke to us on Monday afternoon, he taught that if we want those whom we lead to be healthy, we need to model health and healing ourselves.

He asked what would it look like if our students came into our classrooms well-nourished, rested and ready to learn? Is this an image we wish for? If so, we as leaders must then set examples for our students and staff. It is nonverbal cues that dominate the majority of human communication—so what does sipping a coffee in front of the class everyday say to them? Coffee for breakfast is okay.

This lesson made me think of a message I received from one of my students on one of those warm spring days a few years ago. She sent me me a picture of her prospective outfit that morning: short shorts and and a tank top. She wanted to know if it was appropriate for school. I responded by asking her if it would be okay if I came to school in that outfit? No way! was her response. Well, there’s your answer, I said. As an educator I’ve sought to model organization and professionalism and tranquility, but I hadn’t given much thought about what modeling a healthy lifestyle looks like.

It’s like the emergency procedure message on an airplane: in case of an emergency, secure your air source before helping those around you. How can we expect our students or staff to make healthy choices and have healthy habits if we, ourselves, do not?

His book, Love Your Body was a conversational text that taught through anecdotes and case studies. It gives an alternative to modern medicine, which is filled with antibiotics and reactive practice, instead of preventative practice. Dr. Taylor writes, “In conventional approaches to medicine, the “cure” is defined by whatever makes the symptoms go away.” (p.22) Instead of reacting to aliments by placating symptoms, we should build healthy lifestyles that nurture health and wellness.

Chapter 2, “Foundations for Health,” in particular, instilled a fear in me of dairy, meat, coffee, alcohol and white sugar. Dr. Taylor wrote extensively about “adrenal overload,” which is when blood sugar bottoms out due to frequent consumption of sugary products, habitual dieting, a family history of diabetes, allergies, more than five alcoholic drinks per week, significant distress over an extended period of time, or managed pain for an extended period of time, causing your adrenal system to compensate, since the adrenal system isn’t designed for constant use. I’ve experienced enough adrenaline-filled moments thus far in my lifetime, but I was unaware that when I was running on limited sleep or an unhealthy diet, I was using my adrenaline for survival. According to chapter 2, an optimum diet and holistic approach can alleviate pre-menstrual symptoms, headaches, depression, candida, asthma, eczema, ADD, allergies, lung function, psoriasis, chronic back pain, and arthritis.

In Love Your Body, Dr. Taylor focuses on the importance of nutrition throughout our lives. “As life’s circumstances change, so do the needs of our bodies” (p.29) From birth, to childhood to old age, nutrition demands vary wildly as we grow, according to Dr. Taylor. Children need different nutrients and proteins than do teens, than do adults, because our bodies are ever-evolving. As a former vegetarian, I am aware of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, rich in fruits, vegetables and lean proteins. But I was completely unaware of how our bodys’ needs evolve as we age.

Optimal health lies in balancing our lives, according to Dr. Taylor. In Love Your Body he writes, “The way we relate to our job responsibilities and our pursuit of money, our parenting, our obligations to school and grades, the seemingly endless ‘to-do’ lists—these become so dominant in our lives that we often feel deeply out of balance, or we might be so entrenched in coping strategies that we don’t even see how out of balance we are” (p. 78). Sometimes I get caught up in the Western idea that my character is measured by my successes. However, according to Dr. Taylor, “Healing reminds us that we are human beings, not human doers.” (p.79).

In his presentation and in the book, Dr. Taylor recounts a story of a hiker who falls off a cliff. The hiker calls out for help and God responds, but doesn’t give him the response he seeks. God tells the hiker to let go, which is terrifying, but only because the hiker doesn’t know there is a ledge right below him. The lesson is “Sometimes we need to let go before we can see our way” (p. 105). In order to find a more healthy life, we must let go of the gluttony in which we are currently consumed. In Love Your Body Dr. Taylor quotes Lao Tzu, “Only when we are sick of the sickness/Shall we cease to be sick” (p. 77).

Developing School Culture Norms

C. Mae Waugh

4/16/14

Aspiring Leaders Academy
Framingham Public Schools

            In the first few weeks of school, I always do a brief word study on the word “advocate” with my ELL students. We dissect the word for meaning, by analyzing its word parts. We discuss the Latin root voc, meaning “voice” or “to call.” We identify the prefix ad, meaning “toward,” indicating direction, tendency or addition. And we recognize the suffix “-ate,” which makes the word both an adjective and a verb. I teach the students how to pronounce the word with an emphasis on the o to make it an adjective and an emphasis on the a to make it a verb. And then we come up with a class definition for it together (someone who speaks up for himself or others/ to speak up) and add it to the word wall. I do this lesson for two reasons—one, to model how to use word parts to learn new words and two, to begin our year-long journey to become advocates for ourselves and one another. For as Dewey discerned, schools are not only responsible for the intellectual learning, but also for helping students learn social and moral principles that allow them to become independent thinkers, lifelong learners and productive citizens capable of sustaining democratic life.

            So when Dr. Irwin Blumer asked us to reflect upon why we wanted to become a leader, to advocate was my initial response. I seek to advocate for my population—it is a group that cannot always speak for itself, but they are the backbone of our nation and its future. Immigrants are the living, thriving, continuation of what this country was built upon and as a leader I would like to build understanding and relationship that transcends language, culture and background.

In order to refine our definition of leader, we discussed the difference between a good leader and a great leader. According to Chinese philosopher Lao Tsu, “The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say ‘We did it ourselves.’” Immediately I connected the last line to the classroom and what makes a good teacher. A successful teacher releases responsibility so that ultimately the students succeed without him or her. In the same way, building personal investment and community among a staff makes them the constituents, working hard for its success. This idea is echoed in the article “Organizational Learning in Schools and School Systems: Improving Learning, Teaching and Leading” Theory into Practice 2006. It states, “When all members may lead and exert professional influence over school and work decisions, individuality and communality are enhanced” (Collins et al 111). In order to create investment among the staff, the leader must also develop a strong community and culture.

But what is culture? Dr. Blumer challenged us to define culture ourselves. To me, culture is a set of beliefs and commonalities shared by a group of people. Values are intricately woven with culture, so to determine and formulate a school culture, we must have clear values. Dr. Blumer posed the question, “How does one know if a value is really a value?” His answers: it permeates the organization, it drives the decisions and there’s a strong reaction when it is violated. The concept of values is not new, but how many people actually understand and internalize the values within their school building? Our school values are Respect, Responsibility, Results and staff and students can parrot the alliteration when prompted, but do they practice this triad everyday in every situation? I could list evidence for the affirmative and the negative.

Collinson et all list the vital components for cognitive change and dissemination of learning: principal involvement, regular dialogue, encouraging teachers, providing common planning time, encouraging collaborative work and “fostering positive norms of continuous improvement of teaching instead of blaming a lack of student learning on external factors such as society or parents” (110). In the article “Good Seeds Grow in Strong Cultures,” published in Educational Leadership, 1985, authors Jon Saphire and Matthew King present the vital components in a list form “The Cultural Norms that Affect School Improvement” and Dr. Blumer renames them as “12 Patterns of Behavior and what they get us…” Whatever their name, these 12 items are norms and values that when integrated into a school, can make a huge difference in the ability of school improvement activities to have a lasting effect. Through strong leadership, leaders instill them and teachers must also commit to them, but then culture can grow and endure.

1.      Collegiality

2.      Experimentation

3.      Reaching Out to the Knowledge Base

4.      Appreciation and Recognition

5.      Caring, Celebration and Humor

6.      Traditions

7.      High Expectations

8.      Protecting What’s Important

9.      Tangible Support

10.  Respect and Confidence

11.  Involvement in Decision-Making

12.  Honest, Open Communication

Due to time constraints, we focused on #1, collegiality, which makes sense because the adults in a building are the models for the students. Saphier and King cite Barth 1984, and explain “the nature of the relationships among the adults who inhabit a school has more to do with the school’s quality and character, and with the accomplishment of its pupils, than any other factor.” (69) Therefore fostering collegiality nurtures the values amongst the adults so that they can instill them in the youth. 

Collegiality pushes teachers to keep learning and energizes and accelerates their growth in insight and skillfulness, according to Dr. Blumer. It includes communication, collaboration, observation, feedback, preparation and teachers teaching each other. Ultimately, it entails and deepens the trust among a staff so that there is a culture of support and inquiry. In the research of Saphier and King, their teacher respondents said, “I wasn’t afraid to bring it up because I know people here are on my side” and “In this school we resist the notion that teaching is [a] private activity.” (68)

Saphier and King characterize an academically effective school by its “structure, process and climate of values and norms that channel staff and students in the direction of successful teaching and learning” (67) Both the readings and Dr. Blumer made it clear that the tenant of leadership is developing a strong culture and sense of values and norms. And “Good Seeds Grow in Strong Cultures” closes with the directive:  “If we are serious about school improvement and about attracting and retaining talented people to school careers, then our highest priority should be to maintain reward structures that nurture adult growth and sustain the school as an attractive workplace.” (74) Although the authors penned this advice nearly 30 years ago, more recently published, Collinson et al reiterates the idea of remaining current and revising norms and theories oftent, “Organizational learning involved changing the theories of action, either by refining them or by questioning shared assumptions and norms to reach new theories-in-use.” (109).

A strong sense of self and discernment of one’s own values is imperative. According to Dr. Blumer, as a leader, “If you don't know who you are or what you believe, you can't be effective.” So he challenged us to discern what are our core values, how do we know and how do others know. After much introspection, I’ve developed three draft values: growing is hard and that’s okay, everyone has potential for greatness and Listen, Reflect, Respond. I call these drafts because I am still thinking about what they mean to me as a leader, educator and citizen. I know these are ideals I value because I believe life is not easy, but the challenge can be rewarding. I believe that growing can be painful, but without it, people are stagnant and one-dimensional. I believe different is okay, diversity builds understanding and congeniality and that everyone should be bilingual. I seek to inspire others, ask questions and rephrase and reflect upon professional and personal experiences, not so that I don’t make mistakes, but so that I make no mistake twice. It is my hope that through my lessons, leadership and actions, I demonstrate my values to others. I set high expectations for my students by giving challenging yet attainable work. I listen to others and reflect on lessons and conversations and try to change my behavior or practice following reflection. I approach others deliberately and thoughtfully and choose my actions and words in a meaningful way. I also value revision, so as I progress as a leader, I want to hold fast to these values, but allow them also to be fluid and deepened through every learning experience I encounter.

Surviving a Survival Situation

C. Mae Waugh

March 2014

Aspiring Leadership Academy

Framingham Public Schools

Surviving a Survival Situation

If my plane had crashed in the desert on a day that would reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit, even with the 15 salvageable items, I would not have survived alone. Before this simulation, I did not know the value of a raincoat in the desert, the multiple purposes of a compact mirror, and that the bottle of salt tablets was actually the red herring. On my own, I was 65 points off from the expert’s recommendations. Therefore, if I am ever on a plane that crashes, I would want Lori, Cynthia, Christine, Juliana, and Gabriella there with me! Then, they would be able to convince me to not walk in the desert through the night to the mining camp 65 miles away, and I could convince them that a parachute is actually very valuable once you are already on the ground. Our group was a model of synergistic problem-solving, proving that working together gave us a 14% better chance of surviving. Unfortunately, with a team score of a 56 variance, we would have all still perished, albeit together.

Besides learning that I need to carry my compact mirror with me everywhere, the simulation proved the proverb, “Two heads are better than one.” Even with no emergency survival experts in our group, the opportunity to discuss, debate and collaborate greatly increased our chance for survival in the simulation, and stands as a lesson for our survival as leaders. All of the six groups successfully achieved “synergy,” which occurs when the “interactive efforts of two or more people have a greater impact than the sum of their independent efforts.”

I had heard the term synergy before, but had never seen it modeled in such a poignant way. It is a process through which the dynamics that individuals bring to the group help build constructive consensus and is a model of collaboration. The back of the participant’s booklet provides a diagram of what constitutes effective solutions. In order for a group to have synergy, participants must demonstrate four items: 1. Humanistic-Encouraging, 2. Affiliative, 11. Achievement, and 12. Self-Actualizing. In our group, not one single leader arose, but instead we each gave the other members an opportunity to speak and defend their perspectives. The healthy back-and-forth allowed us to convince each other in a respectful way and revise our original responses. This met item #1, “Members are constructive, sensitive, and supportive of one another.” And despite that we were withering in the desert, we “remained friendly, cooperative and relaxed,” item #2.

The only problem is that no matter how successful a simulation is, it is still a simulation. And while we can mimic synergy in an afternoon reproduction of a plane crash, how do we transfer these skills into the school? One reason we were so open to collaboration in the desert, was that none of our group members knew anything about emergency survival. We had a few ideas, like the parachute could be used as a visual target and give us a shady respite from the sun, but overall we were stakeholders in survival in general, not married to the specific items on the list. However in staff meetings, each participant lobbies for their constituents--their students or staff, for whom they are very emotionally and professionally invested. Where everyone is an expert there is enthusiasm and concern, but it is more difficult to maintain the cooperative atmosphere. In our staff meetings and grade-level meetings a “norm” that is always included is “assume positive intent,” but often destructive styles of Competitive, Power and Oppositional arise. Therefore it is not surprising when the outcome is an ineffective situation.

The feat of a leader is to channel all of this energy into something productive. In order to create an effective solution, participants must produce a balance between quality and acceptance that incorporates rational skills and processes, task skills knowledge resources and interpersonal skills and processes. For synergy to occur, not only does each group member need proficiency in thinking through problems to solutions, he or she also needs to be able to do so while listening and supporting the perspectives of others to reach a consensus.

What I find missing in this Synergistic Problem-Solving Model and in many grade-level and staff meetings gone awry is trust. While perhaps implied in the model diagram, without a baseline of trust among a group, it is nearly impossible to achieve an effective solution. Professionals must trust that their counterparts are all striving for consensus and supportive. With trust, participants are willing to compromise and cooperate. As an aspiring leader, I hope to broaden my strategies for building and fostering trust among a staff, through experiences such as this simulation.

What Makes a Leader?

C. Mae Waugh

Aspiring Leadership Academy

Framingham Public Schools

March 12, 2014

                Teachers are innate leaders, for they lead students everyday in the journey of learning. While I haven’t been the leader of every single activity like Mr. Barry Jentz (class president, football captain, CEO), I have felt predisposed for leadership and I found his council quite compelling. He was a dynamic, candid, and genuine consultant, with anecdotes that were apropos and enlightening and I liked the interactive format of the lecture-turned discussion.

What rang most true with me was how he advised us to placate those who disagree with our decisions, because inevitably, there will always be people who are dissatisfied with the verdicts of the leadership. Obviously, one person cannot appease everyone on staff, but the way to make people valued is to actually listen to them. A leader does not have to agree with each operative, but she must validate them as contributors. According to Mr. Jentz, a good leader is not one who delegates decisions, but educates herself by connecting with each involved party in order to develop an educated view of the situation. In the classroom, we teach the students to paraphrase texts and their partners, but how often do we as adults actually paraphrase each other? Instead, conversations are competitions for air time. In order to be an admirable leader, we must first learn how to listen and then how to respond.

Mr. Jentz shared a story to illustrate how an exceptional leader manages a catastrophe: by communicating to learn and admitting that he or she does not have the answer always and immediately, but by researching solutions and gaining knowledge from invested parties, he or she can deduce a course of action. In his article, “First Time in a Position of Authority” he phrases it this way: “It’s critical to your success at the outset that you commit yourself to learning how to communicate to learn, as opposed to communicate simply to persuade, direct, or inform.”

What struck me as I read his article before the lecture was his section explaining the continuum of being too authoritative or too collaborative. I think about neophyte leaders with whom I have worked or been in contact and I can identify their exact places on the continuum. Some are far too collaborative and therefore lose authority, while others are so authoritative, their employees don’t feel like their opinions are heard. But what I never conceded was the idea that leaders who act this way are actually “blind” to the discrepancies between their professed and actual practice. Shortsightedly, I have judged them. Therefore, Jentz recommended finding a colleague who could double as an evaluator—someone who could step back and give you true feedback about the way in which you are truly representing yourself to the staff.

With refreshing honestly, Mr. Jentz spoke with us regarding the challenges and difficulties of first time-leaders. Those who become leaders often aspire due to their strong interpersonal skills, but according to Jentz, true leaders thrive when they become intrapersonal.  He said in his article and reiterated in his lecture: “The task is onerous because you’ll inevitably be thrown back on yourself as never before and experience a heightened questioning of how much of what is going on is ‘me’ and how much is ‘them responding to my role’ or the ‘situation.’”

The solution? In the article, Mr. Jentz writes, “So you’ll need to look inward and take on the task of discovering and changing your attitude toward confusion so that you experience it not as a liability but as a resource, as a starting place for personal and organizational learning.” In the lecture, he surmised the advice concisely in one word: therapy. That was a concept that had never crossed my mind—that leaders need therapy, but it reminds me of a study I read while I was in college.  “Avoidance behavior and the development of gastroduodenal ulcers” Brady et al (1958) is an often-cited study on stress in primates, in which rhesus monkeys were endowed with the ability to control whether they received electric shocks. T those with the control developed more ulcers than those monkeys who passively received the shocks, illustrating how leaders suffer from executive stress syndrome. Now we as aspiring leaders will not face that particular scenario, but we will struggle with the dynamics of authority, as Mr. Jentz presents. Although we may feel the same as yesterday, our place in the hierarchy has changed, and therefore so have we, and as soon as we reconcile this difference, we can harness it and not have it harness us.

Reflection from a workshop titled "Hands On Differentiated Instruction"

As an ESL inclusion teacher by day, I’ve heard the word and used the word “differentiation” very often, but usually in a way of accommodation and making text or content more accessible for my ESL 3 middle school students. That being said, when I hear the word “differentiation,” I translate it to be “more work for me” because it entailed a teacher handing me her lesson plan, saying, “differentiate this for your students.” Or sitting in a workshop, thinking about how we could differentiate for ESL’s and SPED students and it included lesson plans, write-ups, long discussions, internet searches and all sorts of extra work. To the point when I would hear “differentiation” and recoil a little bit.

But at the workshop, Debbie Centamore gave me a new perspective on what differentiation means, and it doesn’t mean all the work that I thought it did, or that I have put into it. Now does that discredit all the work I have done? Of course not. And have those accommodations that I have written for my ESL 3 middle school students helped them a lot? Of course. But when we were talked about differentiation strategies in the workshop, I saw that differentiation can just be as attainable and simple as a thought as you are leading the lesson.

For example, she had these cards that depicted different situations; I had never seen them before, but I loved them and I want to get myself some. In adult ESL classes, she said she passes them out and the students talk, write or work with a partner about what’s on the card, building oral or written language. What I learned was that she differentiates as she hands out the cards deliberately, knowing what your students’ levels are, what their interests are, what their background knowledge is. Hence, she makes the activity accessible to them and meets them where they are and I thought, wow, she didn’t have to research that online or back it up with buzzwords; she didn’t have to spend hours writing a lesson plan, it was just an in-the-moment decision that made her students more successful in the class.

Now how do I transfer that to the ABE program? I’m still thinking through that question. One thing we also talked about during the differentiation workshop was that teachers could use different types of learners and multiple intelligences as a means of differentiation and I thought that was something my ABE students could relate to. Because ABE students as the lowest-performing adults, sometimes have academic anxiety because they are low, they’ve have interrupted education, they are ELL’s… whatever their struggles may be, somehow are only at a 3^rd or 4^th grade reading level or math level as an adult. So with Gardner’s multiple intelligences and the types of learners (audio, visual and kinesthetic) in mind, I thought wouldn’t that be a great opening week activity with my ABE students, and differentiate it in that they discover which “smart” they are and in which ways they are smart, just to build some self-efficacy at the beginning of the semester, and then I can use that information and use that data to make those split-second differentiation decisions to be able to support those students.

Before this differentiation workshop, I had no idea the students I would be getting, except for Carmen; I knew Carmen would be coming back to me. After our “reaping” as it were (the registration night) and getting to know my new students just a little bit, I see that they will be at different places and those little decisions and differentiating my lessons will be of utmost importance for their success this semester.

Exploring China through Folktales SIOP lesson plan

 

Exploring China through Folktales

Developed for Middle School Social Studies (Grades 6, 7 or 8)

By: Crystal-Mae Waugh

ESL Inclusion Teacher

Framingham Public Schools

Exploring China East and West Study Tour

Primary Source Educating for Global Understanding

Lesson Introduction:

“Exploring China through Folktales” is a middle school (6^th/7^th/8^th grade) social studies unit developed for an inclusion classroom setting. It can be adapted for Sheltered English Instruction or mainstream student populations. The lesson fosters conversation and higher order thinking skills and text has been adapted to be more accessible for English language learners. This unit fits into the middle school study of world geography and civilizations. The lesson incorporates multimedia footage of today with folktales from the 7^th century B.C.E. Students will analyze the impact of folktales on the development of Chinese culture by observing video footage and retelling a folktale. The folktales give students a sense of the people and the culture. These stories are an integral part of Chinese history, rich in language that describes both environment and sentiment. The tales show the students the history of Hangzhou through the folklore and oral tradition of its local people. The footage of the Chinese opera will allow them to see the authentic ways of oral tradition and compare the different modes of storytelling. The Chinese opera is an iconic depiction of Chinese storytelling and history. In this unit, students will analyze the ways in which a folktale can give Westerners a glimpse of Eastern history and culture.

Teacher Name: Mae Waugh		School Name: Primary Source	Class: Middle School Social Studies/ESL
Date: October 2012		Unit Title: Exploring China through Folktales	Unit Length: One week (45 minute blocks)
Lesson Overview: In this lesson, students will learn about Chinese history and culture through a famous Chinese folktale. Students will compare and contrast the merits of reading a text versus watching a traditional Chinese opera.		Standards: Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks: • 6.RL.7 Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story to listening to or viewing an audio, video or live version of the text, including contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch • 6.RIT.3 Analyze in detail how a key individual, event or idea is introduced, illustrated and elaborated in a text • 6.W.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources. • 6.SL.2 Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g. visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text or issue under study • 6.L.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking
Higher Order Questions • What can the folktales tell us about what China was like in the past? • What are the benefits of using primary sources to learn about the history and culture of China and which is a more reliable source—a video or a folktale? • How is the Chinese Opera an enduring icon in China's history and today?		Language Objectives: Students will be able to... • Read and retell a folktale fluently • Discuss and interpret the difference between reading a folktale and watching a dramatization • Determine and clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words in context	Content Objectives: Students will be able to... • Evaluate different primary sources for validity and information • Synthesize information from various sources including video footage, websites and folktales • Analyze the importance of the Chinese opera and folktales and their roles in the enduring legacy of Ancient China
Key Vocabulary Unit: folktale oral tradition Chinese opera Lady White Snake Text: predicament inheritance ancestors slander assault retch allies Pronunciations: Hangzhou ~ HONG-JO Emei ~ um-AY Xu Xian ~ SHOO shee-EN Zhenjiang ~ JUN-jee-ONG Fahai ~ FAH-HI Kunlun ~ KUN-LUN Yangzi ~ YONG-dzuh		Resources and Materials “Lady White Snake” Chinese Opera performed at the Beijing Tea House, July 31, 2012 youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti9Tgqt8dEg&feature=youtu.be “Lady White Snake A Tale From Chinese Opera” Retold by Aaron Shepard http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/062.html “The Legend of the White Snake” http://www.chinapage.com/wsnake.html Shepard, Aaron. Lady White Snake: A Tale From Chinese Opera Pan Asian Publications (USA) (April 1, 2001). Children of Hangzhou, Connecting with China (video series.) ISBN: 9780887277634 http://www.cheng-tsui.com/store/products/children_hangzhou/children_hangzhou West Lake Tour Video http://www.chinahighlights.com/hangzhou/attraction/west-lake.htm Handouts: “About the Story” “About Chinese Opera” Venn Diagram “Lady White Snake through Yangliuqing woodcut paintings”
Building Background Activities: 1. Introduce West Lake and Hangzhou with the West Lake Tour Video. 2. Watch Hangzhou Kids video		Links to Student Background and Experience 1. Discuss what is a folktale. Have students brainstorm folktales they know from their native cultures or childhood. 2. Have students create a KWL chart for Opera. 3. Create as a class, (or have students create individually) a Mind Map for what they know about China. As the unit progresses, have students add what they are learning to their Mind Map in a different color.
Learning Strategies Graphic organizers predicting summarizing evaluating self-monitoring		Lesson Progression Activities: 1. Read the picture book, “Lady White Snake A Tale From Chinese Opera” Retold by Aaron Shepard, if possible. 2. Class discussion. Is it a folktale? Why or why not? 3. Read handout “About the Story.” 4. Answer comprehension questions in groups that lead students to analyze figurative and literal meaning in the text. 5. Make a t-chart about examples from the text in which we can make inferences about Chinese culture. 6. Read handout “About Chinese Opera.” 7. Watch the Chinese opera footage. 8. Use a Venn Diagram to compare Lady White Snake Chinese Opera and text. 9. Give students the 5 Yangliuqing woodcut paintings handout and have them retell the folktale in writing.
	Final Assessments Writing assignment: answer this question, How do folktales and Chinese opera provide us insight into Chinese culture? Students choose one project: Record and oral narrative for video of the Chinese opera in English In groups, write a script and act out the folktale for Lady White Snake