Miesha Gadsden, 3rd Grade, Lansdowne Elementary School
Implementing Common Core Standards (PDF)
Keywords: Author’s Study, Eloise Greenfield, Biography, Picture Books, History, Great Depression, Character Traits
200-word synopsis:
Our emotions and feelings are always changing according to what is going on around us. If there is new birth in the family we might feel elated or overjoyed. If we win the lottery we might feel ecstatic happy or on cloud nine. Children love hearing stories about life, especially when it relates to their own. Storytelling is a way that memorable moments can be shared. Often, what keeps people on the edge of their seats is finding “riveting” information that tells what a person was like when they were growing up. What were their hardships? What was their turning point? How did they overcome it? Taking a deeper look into the lives of authors may help children understand their work and emotions even more.
The overarching idea for this unit is using Eloise Greenfield, an African-American author as the foundation for Creative Expression in Stories. Once students have background information on Eloise through an Author’s Study, they will look at some of her work, which include: The Friendly Four, Honey I Love, Brothers and Sisters, and Grandpa’s Face. They will discover WHY she wrote the stories she wrote and how they can use events from their life to springboard their writing. They will interview their grandparent or someone from the community to use as a Generation Pen Pal. They will explore their lives and changes and create a Golden Globe Award exemplifying their character traits. As a culminating activity, students will host a Generation Tea where they present their awards, writing pieces and generation showcase highlighting important events from their pen pal. Face to face they will learn the history of others and grow as they become aware of changes around them!
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