Reading for Gist and Determining the Message/Lesson/Moral: Waiting for the Biblioburro | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G3:M1:U1:L3

Reading for Gist and Determining the Message/Lesson/Moral: Waiting for the Biblioburro

In this Lesson

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • 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.3.2: Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
  • RL.3.3: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can determine the gist of Waiting for the Biblioburro. (RL.3.1, RL.3.3)
  • I can identify the central message, lesson, or moral of Waiting for the Biblioburro. (RL.3.2)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story: Waiting for the Biblioburro (RL.3.1, RL.3.2, RL.3.3)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Reading Aloud: Waiting for the Biblioburro (20 minutes)

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Say Something: Reading for Gist and Determining the Message, Lesson, or Moral: Waiting for the Biblioburro (30 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Overcoming Learning Challenges (5 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Read your research book for at least 10 minutes.

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

  • In this lesson, students hear Waiting for the Biblioburro, a story about the struggles a girl named Ana faces with access to education in Colombia and the help she gets from the biblioburro, a librarian who travels around on donkeys with books. After listening to the story read aloud, students reflect on its message and create the Experiences with Overcoming Challenges anchor chart as a vehicle to share their reflections.
  • In Work Time A, students participate in the Say Something protocol to complete the Recounting the Story note-catcher (RL.3.2, RL.3.3). After completing this note-catcher, students consider the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text (RL.3.2). Note that this book is based on a real-life biblioburro in Colombia; the story isn't a fable, folktale, or myth from another culture, and so it doesn't fully address the requirement of the RL.3.2 standard. This part of the standard is addressed in more detail in 3M2 with folktales.
  • Throughout Unit 1, students revisit the module guiding question: "Why are education, reading, and books important?" In this lesson, they consider why reading is important to Ana and to themselves. Recall that students may have a range of feelings about the importance of reading based on their personal or cultural values and experience, so be sensitive to this.
  • This lesson is the first in a series of three that include built-out instruction for the use of Goal 1 Conversation Cues. Conversation Cues are questions teachers can ask students to promote productive and equitable conversation (adapted from Michaels, Sarah and O'Connor, Cathy. Talk Science Primer. Cambridge, MA: TERC, 2012. Based on Chapin, S., O'Connor, C., and Anderson, N. [2009]. Classroom Discussions: Using Math Talk to Help Students Learn, Grades K-6. Second Edition. Sausalito, CA: Math Solutions Publications). Goal 1 Conversation Cues encourage all students to talk and be understood. As the modules progress, Goal 2, 3, and 4 Conversation Cues are gradually introduced. Refer to the Tools page for the complete set of cues. Consider providing students with a thinking journal or scrap paper. Examples of the Goal 1 Conversation Cues you will see in the next two units are (with expected responses):

- After any question that requires thoughtful consideration:

Teacher: "I'll give you time to think and write or sketch."

Teacher: "I'll give you time to discuss this with a partner."

- To help students share, expand, and clarify thoughts:

Teacher: "Can you say more about that?"

Student: "Sure. I think that _____."

T: "Can you give an example?"

S: "OK. One example is _____."

T: "So, do you mean _____?"

S: "You've got it./No, sorry, that's not what I mean. I mean _____."

  • Note that Goal 1 Conversation Cues (and expected student responses) were built into the Discussion Norms anchor chart in Lesson 2. Conversation Cues and discussion norms are similar in that they seek to foster productive and collaborative conversation. Furthermore, Conversation Cues aim to ensure equitable conversation by gradually building student capacity to become productive, collaborative participants. Goal 1 Conversation Cues focus on the fundamentals of encouraging students to talk and be understood. Goals 2-4 take students to deeper levels of conversation, from listening to others to deepening their thinking to thinking with others.
  • Lessons 1-2 featured built-out instruction for Think-Pair-Share. Moving forward, this will no longer be built out within lessons. Continue to use Think-Pair-Share in this way to promote productive and equitable conversation. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • In this unit, the habit of character focus is working to become ethical people. The characteristic they are reminded of in this lesson is: respect because of the sensitive nature of the text in relation to student experiences and family/cultural backgrounds.
  • The research reading that students complete for homework will help build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to overcoming challenges in access to education, books, and reading near and far. By participating in this volume of reading over a span of time, students will develop a wide base of knowledge about the world and the words that help describe and make sense of it.
  • Recall that students are not given independent reading journals until Lesson 6. The homework reflects this by simply asking students to read their research text for at least 10 minutes. In the second half of the unit, they will begin responding to prompts in their independent reading journals.

How it builds on previous work:

  • In Lesson 1, students were introduced to the module topic and the guiding questions. This lesson builds on that foundation by introducing a text to help students think more deeply about those guiding questions.

Areas where students may need additional support:

  • Some students may need additional support filling out their Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story note-catcher. Consider using technology to support those students (see Technology and Multimedia).

Assessment guidance:

  • Review students' Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story note-catchers to determine whether they fully understand the story and its lesson/message/moral.

Down the road:

  • Students follow a similar structure with each book they read in this unit: They hear it read aloud, reflect and make connections to their own experiences, complete the Recounting the Story note-catcher, and determine the story's lesson/message/moral.
  • The Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart and Strategies to Answer Selected Response Questions anchor chart will be referred to both throughout the module and the school year.

In Advance

  • Consider whether any students may be sensitive to the issues that this book raises based on cultural background and family history. Consider explaining to families that this book will be read aloud to students so that they can appropriately prepare them and discuss it afterward.
  • Prepare:
    • Experiences with Overcoming Challenges anchor chart, Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart, Strategies to Answer Selected Response Questions anchor chart, and Overcoming Learning Challenges anchor chart (see supporting materials).
    • Large class world map showing the countries of the world and pins for the class to begin adding the countries of the people they encounter in the texts they read. Place a pin in your location.
    • Small label with the book title and author to attach to a pin and place on the world map. This needs to be large enough to see, but not too large to cover up too much of the map.
    • Equity sticks by gathering Popsicle sticks and writing one student name on each.
  • Review the Think-Pair-Share and Say Something protocols. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Post: Learning targets.

Tech and Multimedia

  • Work Time A: Students complete their note-catchers in a word-processing document, such as a Google Doc, using speech-to-text facilities activated on devices or using an app or software like Dictation.io.
  • Work Time A: Depending on the time you have available, consider showing students the following video about the real biblioburro: Ruffins, Ebonne. "Teaching Kids to Read from the Back of a Burro." CNN. Cable News Network, 26 Feb. 2010. Web. 14 Mar. 2016. Consider that YouTube, social media video sites, and other website links may incorporate inappropriate content via comment banks and ads. Although some lessons include these links as the most efficient means to view content in preparation for the lesson, preview links and/or use a filter service, such as www.safeshare.tv, for viewing these links in the classroom.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standard 3.I.B.6

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to celebrate cultural, linguistic, and educational diversity; ease into a new complex text, Waiting for the Biblioburro, by reading for gist using a supportive graphic organizer; notice and enjoy how Monica Brown, the Peruvian-American author of Waiting for the Biblioburro, sprinkles the English language with Spanish words; and develop test-taking ability and strategies as part of showing what they understand about the book.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to understand the gist of Waiting for the Biblioburro after the first two reads in class and then complete the note-catcher. See levels of support and the Meeting Students' Needs column for specific suggestions.
  • Explain the purpose and goals of Conversation Cues to students and that they should listen closely for them, as they will respond to Conversation Cues throughout this curriculum.

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • Invite students to investigate how and why the author uses Spanish in Waiting for the Biblioburro. (to celebrate bilingualism, reflect Ana's home language, and provide translation for English words in another language, making the story more interesting and meaningful)
  • Before providing sentence frames or additional modeling, observe student interaction and allow students to grapple. Provide supportive frames and demonstrations only after they have grappled with the task. Observe the areas in which they struggle to target appropriate support.
  • Encourage students to independently create their own graphic organizer or story map to frame the character, setting, motivation, challenge, and solution in Waiting for the Biblioburro.

For heavier support:

  • During the reading for gist, distribute a partially filled-in copy of Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story: Waiting for the Biblioburro. This will provide students with models for the kind of information they should enter, as well as reduce the volume of writing required.
  • During the reading for gist, stop often to check for comprehension. When necessary, paraphrase the events in more comprehensible language. Dictate lines for students to recite so that they practice using verbal language.
  • Show a brief video or a series of photographs to set the stage for the reading. (Example: Show this video about the real biblioburro). Briefly discuss Soriano's challenges and solutions.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation: This lesson requires students to use the Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story note-catcher to help to guide their reading. Ensure that the note-catcher is accessible to all students by offering multiple formats of representation. For instance, repeat, rephrase, or elaborate on the questions in the note-catcher to provide verbal representation in addition to textual representation. Additionally, consider including lines within the boxes of the note-catcher to support students who may need additional help with fine motor skills.
  • Multiple Means of Action and Expression: The focus of this lesson is to support students' comprehension of a new text, Waiting for the Biblioburro. Consider ways to support them as they grapple with this new text. Examples: Provide prewritten sticky notes with various options of the gist that they can match on Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story: Waiting for the Biblioburro. Encourage students who are still unsure of the text to paraphrase their peers' answers in Closing and Assessment A.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement: Build student excitement about the new text by introducing information from multiple media sources about Colombia. This can include representations of Colombian culture such as art, music, dance, or literature. This will help build engagement so that students are invested in tackling a challenging text. Furthermore, it will provide another means of representation to build background knowledge and facilitate greater comprehension.

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T); Vocabulary Used in Writing (W)

  • gist, moral (L)

Materials

  • Guiding Questions anchor chart (begun in Lesson 1)
  • Waiting for the Biblioburro (book; one to display; for teacher read-aloud)
  • World map (one to display)
  • Labeled pin (one to display; see Teaching Notes)
  • Compass points (one to display)
  • Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart (begun in Lesson 2)
  • Experiences with Overcoming Challenges anchor chart (new; co-created with students during Opening A)
  • Equity sticks (class set; one per student)
  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (new; teacher-created; see supporting materials)
  • Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story: Waiting for the Biblioburro (one per student and one to display)
  • Reading for Gist Guide: Waiting for the Biblioburro (for teacher reference)
  • Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story: Waiting for the Biblioburro (example, for teacher reference)
  • Strategies to Answer Selected Response Questions anchor chart (new; co-created with students during Work Time A)
  • Strategies to Answer Selected Response Questions anchor chart (example, for teacher reference)
  • Overcoming Learning Challenges anchor chart (new; teacher-created; see supporting materials)
  • Overcoming Learning Challenges anchor chart (example, for teacher reference)

Assessment

Each unit in the 3-5 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reading Aloud: Waiting for the Biblioburro (20 minutes)

  • Strategically pair students and invite them to label themselves partner A and partner B.
  • Focus students on the Guiding Questions anchor chart and reread the questions aloud.
  • Tell students that they are going to begin this work of overcoming challenges by hearing about a girl who faced challenges.
  • Show students the cover of Waiting for the Biblioburro and explain that this story is set in Colombia. Focus students on the world map.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"Where is Colombia on the map?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Place the labeled pin on Colombia and explain that it is on the continent of South America. Show students each of the continents on the map.
  • Display the Compass Points. Tell students that they can use compass points to explain where places are. Read through each of the compass points.
  • Point to the pin marking your location.
  • Ask students to turn and talk, and cold call students to share their responses with the whole group:

"Which continent do we live on?" (Responses will vary.)

"Where are we in relation to Colombia?" (Responses will vary, but students should use the compass points.)

"Has anyone had any experience with Colombia that you would like to share?" (Colombia or neighboring countries may be the country of origin for some students.)

  • While still displaying Waiting for the Biblioburro, complete a first read of the text, reading slowly, fluently, and with expression. Consider asking any Spanish-speaking students to pronounce the Spanish words (including the title) as you come to them. Refer to the glossary in the back of the text as necessary.
  • After reading, invite students to spend 5 minutes reflecting silently. Reflection can include thinking or writing/drawing on paper. Students must be silent when they do this, though.
  • Ask:

"What did this story make you think about?"

  • Invite students to begin reflecting.
  • After 5 minutes, refocus whole group.
  • Focus students on the Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart and remind them of the habit of character recorded, respect. Tell them that they need to be respectful as they listen to other students sharing. Explain that part of being respectful means treating others with care.
  • Tell students they will now have the opportunity to share their reflections, if they would like to, with the whole group. Do not force anyone to share their ideas with the group, but provide those who desire it with the chance to voice their reflections.
  • Invite students to share their reflections as they feel comfortable.
  • As students share out, capture any challenges they share on the Experiences with Overcoming Challenges anchor chart.
  • Ensure students recognize that this story is about one child and that not every child in Colombia faces the same challenge. Explain that some students go to schools and libraries just as they do. Explain also that just because this way of life is different, it does not mean it is any better or worse than the way that they live. It is just a different way of life. Take a moment to acknowledge and celebrate Ana's joy of reading and the hard work she and the librarian do in the name of reading, in a context that is different from what students experience in this classroom.
  • For ELLs: Consider pairing students with a partner who has more advanced or native language proficiency. The partner with greater language proficiency can serve as a model in the pair, initiating discussions and providing implicit sentence frames, for example.
  • Provide differentiated mentors by purposefully pre-selecting student partnerships. Consider meeting with the mentors in advance to encourage them to share their thought processes with their partner. (MMAE)
  • If students are not familiar with Colombia, help build excitement about the country by sharing art, videos, visuals, etc., that provide background knowledge about the culture. (MMR, MME)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: Invite students who need heavier support to act out key sections of the text with you as you read. (Example: When reading "... her teacher moved far away, and now there is no one to teach Ana," act out packing your things and waving goodbye as you pretend to leave the classroom.) (MMR)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with new vocabulary: Use word clusters and word maps and encourage students to explore translations, spelling and pronouncing aloud, various word forms, synonyms, definitions, translations, and collocations (words frequently used together) to develop knowledge of the word challenge. (MMR) Example:

- challenge=meydan okuma

- C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-E

- challenger, challenging

- problem, difficulty

- a situation that tests someone's abilities

- face a challenge, overcome a challenge, a serious challenge

  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with expressive language: Provide a sentence frame to bolster their participation. Examples:

"This story makes me think about _____."

 "One challenge Ana faced was _____." (MMAE)

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and select a volunteer to read them aloud:

 "I can determine the gist of Waiting for the Biblioburro."

 "I can identify the central message, lesson, or moral of Waiting for the Biblioburro."

  • Underline the word gist.
  • Explain to students that you are going to begin using equity sticks as a way of calling on them to share their ideas with the group. Each of their names is on a different Popsicle stick, and you will pull one at random. When you do, that student will share his or her ideas with the class.
  • Ask students to turn and talk, and use equity sticks to select students to share their responses with the whole group:

"What is the gist of a text?" (what the text is mostly about)

"Why is it important to understand the gist of a text or what it is mostly about?" (so you can retell it and remember the structure)

  • Focus students on the following bullet on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart, telling them that the strategies on this chart will help them when reading new texts:

 "Read small chunks of text slowly and think about the gist (what the text is mostly about)."

  • Underline the word moral in the second learning target.
  • Ask students to turn and talk, and cold call students to share their responses with the whole group:

"What is a moral?" (a lesson)

  • Add the words gist and moral to the Academic Word Wall.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: Repeat and rephrase the learning targets. Say:

"I know what the author of Waiting for the Biblioburro is trying to teach me." (MMR)

  • When defining the word moral, provide an example from a familiar class text. (MMR)
  • For ELLs: Invite students to add translations of the words on the Word Wall in their home languages, using a different color and placing them next to the target vocabulary.

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Say Something: Reading for Gist and Determining the Message, Lesson, or Moral: Waiting for the Biblioburro (30 minutes)

  • Distribute and display Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story: Waiting for the Biblioburro.
  • Tell students they are going to hear Waiting for the Biblioburro read aloud again and use the Say Something protocol to complete this note-catcher.
  • When prompted, they will turn and talk to an elbow partner--or "say something"--about a prompt or question. After sharing ideas with their partner, they will record them on the note-catcher.
  • Read through each of the boxes on the Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story note-catcher and explain what students will record in each.
  • Tell students that when they write on their note-catcher, they will write notes. Remind students that notes help them remember their thinking and do not have to be full sentences.
  • Answer any clarifying questions.
  • Show the cover of Waiting for the Biblioburro again and model writing the book title and author in the box at the top of the note-catcher.
  • Reread Waiting for the Biblioburro aloud, stopping at strategic points for students to "say something" to their partner in response to a question.
  • Refer to the Reading for Gist Guide: Waiting for the Biblioburro (for teacher reference) and Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story: Waiting for the Biblioburro (example, for teacher reference) for guidance.
  • Consider inviting students to act out the story as you read, switching out actors after the strategic stopping points.
  • After students have completed their notes, invite them to cover the questions and answers in the boxes at the bottom of their note-catcher.
  • Explain that often when an author writes a book, there is an important message, lesson, or moral relevant to the real world outside of the book that he or she wants readers to take away. Tell students that sometimes the author explicitly states--or comes right out and says--the text's message, lesson, or moral. Other times, the message, lesson, or moral needs to be inferred from details in the text. Remind students that inferring means making a good guess based on evidence.
  • Invite students to Think-Pair-Share, leaving adequate time for each partner to think, ask the question to their partner, and partner share:

"Use your Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story note-catcher to think about what happened in this story. What message, lesson, or moral relevant to the real world and outside of the story do you think the author wants you to learn from this story? What details make you think that?" (Responses will vary, but may include: Books are important.)

  • If productive, use a Goal 1 Conversation Cue to encourage students to clarify the conversation about the lesson and the details that convey it:

"So, do you mean _____?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Invite students to uncover the questions and possible answers in the boxes on the bottom of the Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story note-catcher.
  • Read Question A and the possible answers. Invite students to turn and talk with an elbow partner:

"Which answer(s) do you think is definitely incorrect? Why? Cross it out."

"Which answer do you think is correct? Why?"

  • Invite students to underline the answer they think is correct on their note-catcher.
  • Using equity sticks, cold call students to share out and clarify any misconceptions. Refer to the Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story: Waiting for the Biblioburro (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Repeat this process with Question B.
  • Ask students to turn and talk, and cold call students to share their responses with the whole group:

"How did you answer these questions? What strategies did you use?"

  • If productive, use a Goal 1 Conversation Cue to encourage students to expand the strategies conversation:

"Can you give an example?" (Responses will vary.)

  • As students share out, capture their responses on the Strategies to Answer Selected Response Questions anchor chart. Refer to the Strategies to Answer Selected Response Questions anchor chart (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Direct students' attention to the Guiding Questions anchor chart.
  • Invite students to Think-Pair-Share, leaving adequate time for each partner to think, ask the question to their partner, and partner share:

"From what you heard in Waiting for the Biblioburro, why are books and reading important to Ana?" (because she enjoys the stories)

"Are books and reading important to you? Why?" (Responses will vary, but may include: because reading helps me to learn about the world; it helps me to escape when I read fiction books about other people and other worlds)

  • If productive, use a Goal 1 Conversation Cue to encourage students to expand the books and reading conversation:

"Can you give an example?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Refocus students on the strategy on Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart practiced today. Ask students to turn and talk, and cold call students to share their responses with the whole group:

"How did this strategy help us to better understand this text?"

  • Tell students that today they did part of a process called close reading, and that they will continue practicing this process throughout the year.
  • Refocus students on the learning targets. Read each one aloud, pausing for students to give a thumbs-up, thumbs-down, or thumbs-sideways to indicate how close they are to meeting that target now. Make note of students who may need additional support with each of the learning targets moving forward.  Repeat, inviting students to self-assess against how well they showed respect. 
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with writing: Prepare sticky notes with prewritten words or drawings based on the gist of different sections of the text. As students listen to the story, they can match the gist represented on the sticky notes with each section of the read-aloud. (MMAE)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: Invite students to turn to an elbow partner and retell Waiting for the Biblioburro in 1 minute or less. Have them share out and give them feedback on their language use and summarizing skill. Then, invite them to turn to their partner and summarize once again, this time in 30 seconds or less. Repeat the feedback process. (MMAE)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: To ensure that the purpose of the Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story note-catcher is clear, ask:

"Why are we using this Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story note-catcher?" (to focus on the character, setting, motivation, challenge, and solution in Waiting for the Biblioburro, which will help us talk about overcoming learning challenges and succeed on the Mid-Unit 1 Assessment; to focus on how details convey the moral; the note-catcher format Someone/In/Wanted/But/So can be used as a sentence frame to explain the focus) (MMR, MME)

  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with expressive language: Students who need heavier support may have trouble verbalizing their thoughts when it is their turn to "say something." Help them identify key entries in their graphic organizer and allow them to repeat phrases and sentences that you model. (Example: If a student wrote house or drew a house in the "setting" row, point to it and the picture of the house on the first page of Waiting for the Biblioburro and say: "It takes place in Colombia, in a house on a hill behind a tree." Encourage the student to repeat the sentence while pointing to the graphic organizer and the picture of the house in Waiting for the Biblioburro.) (MMR)
  • For students who may need additional support with fine motor skills: Offer choice with Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story: Waiting for the Biblioburro by providing a template that includes lines. (MMR, MME)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: Display, repeat, and rephrase the questions and answers on Reading for Gist and Recounting the Story: Waiting for the Biblioburro. (MMR)
  • For ELLs, be aware that in some cultures the thumbs-up gesture may have a different meaning. Consider choosing a different way for students to show their learning against the targets or use it as a teaching point to explain what it means in the United States. Scan the responses and make a note of students who may need more support with this moving forward.

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Overcoming Learning Challenges (5 minutes)

  • Focus students on the Overcoming Learning Challenges anchor chart.
  • Invite students to Think-Pair-Share, leaving adequate time for each partner to think, ask the question to their partner, and partner share:

"What challenge did Ana face?" (no teacher and no access to books)

"How was the challenge overcome?" (A man brought a traveling library to the village on his burros.)

  • As students share out, capture their responses on the Overcoming Learning Challenges anchor chart. Refer to the Overcoming Learning Challenges anchor chart (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension/expressive language: In preparation for the Mid-Unit 1 Assessment, ask:

"What is one thing you like about the book Waiting for the Biblioburro?"

For students who may need heavier support, provide sentence frames:

"One thing I like about Waiting for the Biblioburro is _____." (the beautiful pictures; the way Ana works hard to learn; how the librarian uses donkeys to travel to Ana) (MMAE)

  • For students who are unsure of the answers to these questions, encourage them to repeat or paraphrase what their peers say. (MMAE) 

Homework

HomeworkMeeting Students' Needs

A.   Read your research book for at least 10 minutes.
  • For ELLs: Read a book in your home language for at least 5 minutes and then a book in English for at least 5 minutes. Read a sentence or a paragraph with a friend or family member, and then discuss the meaning of the sentence or paragraph.
  • For ELLs: Choose from these strategies to practice reading unfamiliar texts:

- Chunk the text into manageable amounts, e.g., sentences or paragraphs.

- Underline important people, places, and things.

- Read aloud.

- Read repeatedly.

- Silently paraphrase the chunks.

- Summarize what you read for someone else, perhaps first in your home language.

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