Christina Varney, Literacy, Stoney Creek Elementary School
Final Unit (PDF) Implementing Common Core Standards (PDF)
Synopsis
Students will discover the art of “close reading” and why authors choose the particular words that they do. Teaching children to pay close attention to their reading and what the author is attempting to convey is vital to comprehension and synthesizing new information. While teaching this unit, I incorporate the author’s purpose and author’s point of view. This unit lends itself to fairy tales and folktales. Fairy tales have always come with certain undertones, primarily that women are not self-reliant individuals. This unit raises the question: “What do we have an ethical responsibility to teach our children?” Combining all of these aspects aids students in growing not just as readers, but also as people. In an age when testing reigns supreme and a child is slowly becoming just a number, teaching the “whole child” is more important than ever. Definitively, when children become better readers, they become better writers.
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