This lesson assists in note taking and biography skills for the student and also exposes the student to the Read Across America Movement where the United States President declares a day in early spring (March/April) as a day to honor Dr. Seuss and to get students to commit to read as a nation. It correlates with Virginia English Standards of Learning (SOL) for both grade levels focusing on drawing conclusions,making inferences, writing for entertainment, and editing as well as reading informational text. It also correlates with the 6th grade English curriculum on biography study and note taking. The lesson reinforces student skills and gives students exposure to the school's online database. Librarian and teacher can work on this together and this can be an extension of what students are learning in class. The librarian will assess the final product, the book jacket while the classroom teacher can assess the note taking skills. Follow up activities could be an online newsletter with a select few of the book jackets included. The entire lesson should take approximately fifteen 45 minute class periods.
Overview:
The essential question, What important facts about Dr. Seuss influenced the Read Across America movement in America? This lesson is designed to teach students to analyze the life and works of Dr. Seuss and to infer why he was important to the Read Across America movement. Students will use note taking skills to write their paragraph from reliable, teacher selected sources.
Final Product:
The final product is a folded book jacket that includes one biographical paragraph on Dr. Seuss and his works as well as an autobiographical paragraph on the student as author of this book jacket. The student will include self-illustrated artwork on Dr. Seuss books that have been important or favored by the student.
Library Lesson:
The goal of this lesson is for students to differentiate between autobiographical and biographical materials, be an author, practice note taking, and to use critical thinking skills while making inferences.
Estimated Lesson Time:
45 minutes
Have you taught this lesson before:
Yes
Strategies for differentiation:
Pairing students
Read alouds
Sharing note
Teacher conferencing