Reading Literature about Natural Disasters: Analyzing How Visuals Contribute to the Meaning, Tone, and Beauty of Eight Days: A Story of Haiti | EL Education Curriculum

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Reading Literature about Natural Disasters: Analyzing How Visuals Contribute to the Meaning, Tone, and Beauty of Eight Days: A Story of Haiti

In this Lesson

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • RL.5.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
  • RL.5.7: Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).
  • RF.5.4: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can provide kind, specific, and helpful feedback to peers about their reading fluency. (RF.5.4)
  • I can analyze how visuals in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty of the text. (RL.5.1, RL.5.7)

Ongoing Assessment

  • QuickWrite: Visuals in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti (RL.5.1, RL.5.7)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

B. Reading in Triads: Eight Days: A Story of Haiti (20 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Analyzing Visuals: Eight Days: A Story of Haiti (15 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. QuickWrite: Visuals in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti (20 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards: 

  • In Opening B, students reread Eight Days: A Story of Haiti in reading triads. The focus of reading this time is to practice reading fluency, so students provide kind, specific, and helpful feedback to their triad peers using the criteria on the Fluent Readers Do These Things anchor chart (RF.5.4).
  • As a class in Work Time A, students analyze the illustrations in the text for how they contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty (RL.5.7).
  • In the Closing, students complete a QuickWrite to explain how the illustrations in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty of the text (RL.5.1, RL.5.7).
  • In this lesson, students focus on working to become ethical people by showing respect, empathy, and compassion as they participate in a peer critique of reading fluency.

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • In Lesson 1, students read the literary text Eight Days: A Story of Haiti for the first time and determined the theme. In this lesson, as they analyze how the illustrations contribute to the meaning of the text, students consider the theme identified in the previous lesson and how the illustrations help to communicate that theme.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • Students may need additional support to read the text and complete the QuickWrite. Consider placing students who will need additional support in a group for focused teacher guidance.

Assessment guidance:

  • Review students' QuickWrites to identify common issues to use for whole group learning in the next lesson.

Down the road:

  • In the next lesson, students will read and watch a video of a new literary text about a natural disaster. They will answer questions about the text and analyze the visuals for how they contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty of the text.

In Advance

  • Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see materials list)

Tech and Multimedia

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1-3 to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standard 5.I.B.6

Important points in the lesson itself 

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs by explicitly reviewing the key words meaning,tone, and beauty to support students in comprehending the daily learning target; allowing the opportunity for students to receive peer feedback on reading fluency in preparation for the mid-unit assessment; and analyzing how visuals contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty of Eight Days: A Story of Haiti as a class before students do the same in the form of a QuickWrite.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to express the tone of Eight Days: A Story of Haiti due to a potentially limited vocabulary for expressing tone. Additionally, students may find it difficult to write a paragraph about how visuals contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty of a text without having seen a model paragraph (see levels of support and the Meeting Students' Needs column).

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • During Work Time B, encourage students to explore shades of meaning by explaining why the author chose certain words to contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty of Eight Days: A Story of Haiti (e.g., happy instead of content; tight instead of firmly). Invite students to expand their knowledge of key words in the text by relating them to synonyms and antonyms.

For heavier support:

  • In preparation for analyzing how visuals contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty of a text during Work Time B, explicitly work with students to develop and expand vocabulary for tone.Consider creating a Tone T-Chart, listing tone vocabulary on one side and images and words that represent each tone on the other (example: tone=cheerful;images and words= yellow sun,person smiling, the words bright, new day).Begin by practicing with examples that are familiar to students, but be sure to introduce them to tone vocabulary that may be unfamiliar as well, supporting them in developing language to express the tone of the varying texts in this unit (e.g., relieved, mournful, desperate, serious).
  • During the Closing, consider providing sentence frames for students to use as they write their paragraphs. Example:
  • The text _________ by ___________is about _______________. The illustrations by Alix Delinois contribute to the meaning of the text because ____________. Additionally, __________. The tone of the text is ____________, and the illustrations contribute to helping us understand this tone through ______________. The illustrations contribute to the beauty of the text by ___________. For example, ___________________.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): Continue to support active information processing skills as students integrate new information with prior knowledge. Provide options for comprehension by linking to and activating relevant prior knowledge.
  • Multiple Means of Action and Expression (MMAE): Similar to Lesson 1, this lesson offers several opportunities for students to engage in discussion with partners. Continue to support those who may struggle with expressive language by providing sentence frames to help them organize their thoughts.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Continue to emphasize sustained effort and process by modeling how to sound out a word with tricky spelling and demonstrating how to use environmental print to support spelling accuracy.

Vocabulary

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

  • visuals, meaning, tone, beauty (L)

Materials

  • Fluent Readers Do These Things anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Eight Days: A Story of Haiti (from Lesson 1; one per student)
  • Peer Critique anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Sticky notes (two different colors; one of each color per student)
  • QuickWrite: Visuals in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti (one per student)
  • Meaning, Tone, and Beauty Chart (example, for teacher reference)
  • QuickWrite: Visuals in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti (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. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes) 

  • Invite students to get into the same reading triads as Lesson 1 and label themselves A, B, and C.
  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and select a volunteer to read them aloud:
    • "I can provide kind, specific, and helpful feedback to peers about their reading fluency."
    • "I can analyze how visuals in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty of the text."
  • Focus students on the first learning target and remind them that they have participated in many peer critiques over the course of the year, in which they have provided kind, specific, and helpful feedback to peers.
  • Focus students on the second learning target and underline the word visuals. Turn and Talk:

"What are visuals?" (pictures, images)
"What do you think it means when it says visuals in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti?"(the illustrations)

  • Underline the words meaning, tone, and beauty. Turn and Talk:

"What is meaning?" (what the text means)
"What is tone? What do we mean when we talk about tone of voice? For example, I might speak in an angry tone of voice." (the way you say something; the attitude you present to whomever you are saying it to)
"So what do you think tone means in writing?" (the attitude an author conveys)
"What is beauty?" (qualities that make something pleasurable to the senses)
"What does beauty mean in writing?" (writing that looks or sounds pleasing)

  • Turn and Talk:

 "How would you say this learning target in your own words?" (Responses will vary, but may include: I can look at how the illustrations in Eight Days: A Story of Haitihelp me to understand what a text means and the attitude an author is conveying, and how they make the text more pleasing and appealing.)
  • For ELLs: (Reinforcing Concepts) Reinforce the concept of tone by inviting students to share synonyms for tone (examples: attitude, feel) and to practice using the word tone in a familiar context. Provide sentence frames for support. (Example: "When I feel ____ [happy], my toneof voice is ______ [cheerful].") Invite students to refer to the Tone T-Chart from "For heavier support" for examples of tone they can use.

B. Reading in Triads: Eight Days: A Story of Haiti (20 minutes)

  • Direct students' attention to the Fluent Readers Do These Things anchor chart and use total participation techniques to select students to read aloud the criteria.
  • Tell students that they are going to reread Eight Days: A Story of Haiti, this time thinking about reading fluently and accurately, and they will use these criteria to provide feedback to their peers.
  • Focus students on the Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart and invite them to read the habits of character on the chart to themselves. Remind students again of the respect, compassion, and empathy habits and to practice those as they reread the text in their reading triads and provide peer feedback.
  • Invite students to retrieve their copies of Eight Days: A Story of Haiti and review the process of reading in triads as necessary.
  • Tell students they will provide one star and one step to each member of their triad after the first page they read aloud.
  • Review the Peer Critique anchor chart as necessary and distribute sticky notes.
  • Post and review the following directions:

1. Student A reads the first page while students B and C look and listen for one star and one step.
2. Student A stops reading at the end of the page. Students B and C provide one star and one step each.
3. Repeat this process with student B reading and receiving feedback and then student C.
4.Continue taking turns reading the rest of the book.

  • Answer clarifying questions.
  • Circulate to support students as they read aloud and provide peer feedback.
  • When 2 minutes remain, refocus whole group. Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the first learning target.
  • For students who may need additional support with sustained effort: Invite students to share one way they will use the peer feedback as they work toward their goal for reading fluency. (MME)
  • For ELLs: (Fishbowl: Providing Feedback on Reading Fluency) Before students begin reading, invite a confident triad to fishbowl the process of providing feedback, following each of the steps posted on the board. Consider inviting students to use the first two pages of Eight Days: A Story of Haiti to do so. This provides students with a model and minimizes confusion about the activity

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Analyzing Visuals: Eight Days: A Story of Haiti (15 minutes) 

  • Distribute the QuickWrite: Visuals in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti.
  • Focus students on the question at the top of the sheet:
    • "How do the visuals in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty of the text?"
  • Underline the word and. Think-Triad-Share:

"What does this tell us about what our writing needs to include?" (how the visuals contribute to meaning, tone, and beauty, not just one of those)

  • Draw a four-column chart on the board with the headings "Meaning," "Tone," and "Beauty" in the last three columns. Refer to the Meaning, Tone, and Beauty Chart (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Turn and Talk:
    • "Who drew the illustrations in the text? How do you know?" (Alix Delinois; it says so on the front cover)
  • As students share out, capture their responses on the chart. Continue to refer to the Meaning, Tone, and Beauty Chart (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Focus students on the first sentence of the final page of the story:
    • "On the eighth day when they finally found me, I was so happy because I could feel the sun on my skin and see the bright blue sky. I could see Manman and Papa and Justine, too."
  • Focus students just on the words. Think-Triad-Share:

"What do the words mean here? What are they saying?" (He was happy to be outside and to see his family again.)
"What is the tone of this text? What is the attitude of the author toward this event?"(Responses will vary, but may include: The tone is positive, and the author is happy and relieved.)
"What is beautiful about the words?" (Responses will vary, but may include: descriptive language--"hot sun," "bright blue sky"--makes readers feel like we are there.)

  • As students share out, capture their responses in the appropriate column of the chart.
  • Focus students on the illustrations for this page. Think-Triad-Share:

"How do the illustrations contribute to the meaning of him being happy to be outside and to see his family again?" (Responses will vary, but may include: The illustrations show the beautiful blue sky and Junior smiling broadly as he hugs his mom and dad. The happy scene in the illustrations contributes to the meaning of how happy he was to see them and how much he missed them.)
Conversation Cue: "Can you give an example?" (Responses will vary.)

  • As students share out, capture their responses in the Meaning column of the chart.
  • Think-Triad-Share:

"How do the illustrations help you to understand the positive, happy, and relieved tone?" (The illustrations communicate happiness through the big smile on Junior's face.)
Conversation Cue: "Can you give an example?" (Responses will vary.)

  • As students share out, capture their responses in the Tone column of the chart.
  • Think-Triad-Share:

"How do the illustrations contribute to the beauty of the descriptive language?"(Responses will vary, but may include: it's a black and white sketch line drawing that is beautiful because of simplicity.)
Conversation Cue: "Can you give an example?" (Responses will vary.)

  • As students share out, capture their responses in the Beauty column of the chart.
  • For students who may need additional support with oral language and processing: Pair students with strategic partners to ensure that they have a strong and helpful partner to support their efforts in responding to the questions while explicitly sharing their thinking as a model. (MMAE)
  • For ELLs: (Tone T-Chart: Reviewing and Adding Examples) Invite students to review examples of tone on the Tone T-Chart from "For heavier support" and to practice correlating tone to familiar words and images before doing the same with Eight Days: A Story of Haiti. Provide sentence frames for support. (Example: "If I see images of ________ [people hugging] and read the words ________ [thank you], I think the tone is ____ [grateful].") Encourage students to practice with tones not written on the Tone T-Chart and add them as examples to reference throughout the unit.
  • For ELLs: Mini Language Dive. "I tell you,/I hugged them so tight/I thought I would never let go." (last page of Eight Days: A Story of Haiti)
    • Deconstruct: Discuss the sentence and each chunk. Language goals for focus structure:
      • I :"Who is this chunk about? Who does I refer to?" Junior, the boy whom this book is about; the boy who was stuck under his house for eight days after the earthquake in Haiti. (subject pronoun)
      • hugged them so tight: "What did Junior do?" Junior hugged his family; them refers to Manman, Papa, and Justine. So tight describes how he hugged his family, meaning very closely and firmly. Note that tightly can replace tight without changing the meaning; they are both adverbs that come from the adjective tight. Tight is often used as an adverb in more informal language, and after a verb. (verb phrase)
      • Students can hug themselves so tightly and look around the room at everyone else doing the same and at the image of Junior hugging his family in the story. Then, they can take 30 seconds to discuss the tone portrayed by the words hugged them so tight and the images of people hugging, using this concrete example to analyze how words and images contribute to the tone of a text.
    • Practice: Students can practice using this structure to speak or write about something in their own lives. I hugged _______ so tightly when ______________. (I hugged my dog so tightly when she came back home after running away.)
      • so: "What if we remove so? How does that change the meaning and the tone?" Responses will vary, but may include: Junior is hugging them tightly, but with perhaps less warmth and urgency.
    • Reconstruct:

"What is another way to say this sentence?" (Responses will vary.)
"How does your understanding of this sentence add to your understanding of how words and visuals contribute to the tone of a text?" (Responses will vary.)

    • Practice: Students can practice using synonyms for so tight and let go to complete the sentence frames, and then discuss how the synonyms affect tone. Junior hugged them ________, he thought he would never_________. (Junior hugged them so closely and firmly, he thought he would never loosen his hold.)

"How can we use this sentence structure to help us determine the tone of Eight Days: A Story of Haiti?

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. QuickWrite: Visuals in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti (20 minutes) 

  • Tell students that now that they have collected notes about how the visuals--the illustrations in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti--contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty of the text, they are going to write a paragraph answering the prompt at the top of their QuickWrite sheet:
    • "How do the visuals in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty of the text?"
  • Think-Triad-Share:

"How would you answer the question using the notes on the chart on the board?"(Responses will vary.)

  • Invite students to write their responses on their QuickWrite sheet. Remind them to say sentences aloud to their triad before writing if they need to.
  • Circulate to support students. Refer to the QuickWrite: Visuals in Eight Days: A Story of Haiti (example, for teacher reference) as necessary. Remind students to use evidence from the text to support their claims.
  • When 2 minutes remain, refocus whole group. Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the second learning target and how well they did showing respect, compassion, and empathy
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with visual perception: (Displaying Chart for Reference) Provide an individual copy of the Meaning, Tone, and Beauty Chart for near-point display. Consider highlighting notes about the words in yellow and notes about the illustrations in pink for differentiation. (MMR, MMAE)
  • For ELLs: (Reading Aloud Sentence Frames) Consider inviting a confident student to read aloud the sentence frames from "For heavier support," providing students with an example of paragraph organization and language. Invite students who need heavier support to use the sentence frames to complete their paragraphs.

Homework

HomeworkMeeting Students' Needs

A. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with written expression: (Oral Response) Read aloud, discuss, and respond to your prompt orally, either with a partner, family member, or student from Grades 4 or 6, or record an audio response. (MMAE)

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