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Books our class read: Books I read to the class:
Flat Stanley by: Jeff Brown
A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman by: David A. Adler
The Empty Pot by: Demi
The Very Last First Time by:
Books the children read on their own:
Flat Stanley by: Jeff Brown (They read individually as well.)
My Father's Dragon by: Ruth Stiles Gannett
Elmer and the Dragon by: Ruth Stiles Gannett
The Littles by: John Peterson
Stuart Little by: E.B. White
The Empty Pot by: Demi
Describe activities done by students after reading book regarding courage.
Initially I introduced the concept of Courage. The children discussed what Courage meant to them. Then I asked the children to design their own interpretation of what courage meant. We made a poster to hang outside the classroom. Every class at Kamali'i did the same. I saved their drawings which included brief statements of what courage was.
Then we went to the computer lab and began our Hyperstudio project. The children had never used the program before, so we spent two forty-five minute sessions learning how to use the tools. They also had to learn how to save their work to the server consistently which took a lot of practice. I had them use their drawing of what courage meant to them to create their first stack in Hyperstudio.
After reading the story "Flat Stanley" the children had a very in-depth conversation about being different. It included both advantages and disadvantages. By the third forty -five minute session each child had selected a part of the book where "Flat Stanley" showed courage and illustrated it in Hyperstudio.
The next book the class read was "A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman". The children were fascinated by her life. They all wrote in their journals about how she showed Courage. Then they illustrated pictures to go with their writing and learned how to use the text tool in Hyperstudio inserting their writing into the picture. This took another forty-five minute session in the authoring lab.
We created Haiku's about Courage. The children illustrated pictures to go with their poems. They typed their Haiku's into Claris Works. Then they learned how to insert their text into a text box in the Hyperstudio stack. This took about thirty minutes during computer class. That afternoon we spent another forty-five minute session in the authoring lab to finish illustrating poems and allow everyone to get caught up.
We read "The Very Last First Time" by: and wrote reflections in our journals about the book and how the girl had shown courage. They also illustrated their favorite part.
We did a similar writing activity after reading the story "The Empty Pot" by Demi.
I included this story as well as Flat Stanley as part of their Reading Rotation. Each child also read these books individually.
The rest of the stories were reading assignments done both in class and for homework. All children read "My Father's Dragon" and "The Dragon's of Blueland" . Six children read "Stuart Little" and five children read "The Littles".
Each child kept a journal of their interpretation of Courage in the books. Many children were identifying Courage in all of our reading assignments, even the books that weren't selected for this project!
The final sessions in the lab were spent on the other stories. The same process was used. They illustrated their interpretation of courage in all the assigned books. They decided which example of courage they would include in their stack. They completed their stacks individually during additional sessions.
With the help of the Music teacher who wrote a school song about courage, we recorded a tape of the class singing. That only took about thirty minutes.
List steps involved in completing this project for the web page. Include programs used and approximate time lines.
Introducing Courage, and making the posters 1 hour
Reading and discussion for Flat Stanley : 1 hour
Reading and discussion for Harriet Tubman: 1 hour
Haiku's to explain what a Haiku is and have them write Haiku's ( They already understood syllabication.) 1 hour
The Very Last First Time 1 hour
The Empty Pot 30 minutes
Individual Reading 1 month of Reading Rotation
Computer Lab Time As A Class:
Teacher Prep:
Establishing folders on the server for children to save to: 15 Minutes
Learning the tools in Hyperstudio: 2 Hours
Stanley Stack: 45 minutes
Harriet Tubman Stack 45 minutes
Teacher typing The Haiku's in Claris Works 3 minutes per child 1 Hour
Haiku inserting Claris Works document into Hyperstudio Stack 1:15 minutes
The Very Last First Time Stack 45 minutes Individual Reading Stacks 2 Hours
Total Time: 8 Hours 45 minutes
Compiling the project:
Courage Song Stack (Editing to Music) 3 hours
Harriet Tubman Stack (Editing) 2 hours
Flat Stanley Stack 30 minutes
Littles 15 minutes
My Father's Dragon 15 minutes
Elmer And The Dragon 15 minutes
Poetry Stack 30 minutes
The Very Last First Time 15 minutes
Total Time allocated : 7 Hours
Mrs. Dickinson's Class * Lesson Plan * Pictures 1 * Pictures 2 * Pictures 3
Student Thoughts * Hawaiiana * Class Projects * Courage Song
Character Education * Courage * Loyalty * Justice * Respect * Hope * Honesty * Love