ELA Amherst Regional Middle School
TRANSFORMATIONS
Literature Circles Unit Linking ELA, Science, & Special Education – Working Draft 3/21/03
Heather Sullivan-Flynn (ELA 8), Alfie Alschuler (ELA 8), Norm Price (Science 8), & Maura Neverson (Inclusion)
Essential
understanding:
Change is an inevitable part of life.
Essential questions:
What can people do to make change transformational?
What does it mean to change? to transform?
How do we recognize change?
Standards/What kids know & are able to do:
§ Read actively
§ Understand how people change and transform
§ Use writing as a tool to reflect on and understand self
§ Make connections between content area subjects in a deeper, more conceptual way
§ Use writing to explain character transformation
§ Use hands-on graphic and visual tools to show change
§ Speaking- high quality peer conversations about life and literature
Assessments:
Activities leading to assessments:
§ Introduce theme: brainstorm ‘transformations’ with students- in nature, super heroes, the super natural, and have them complete an illustration of this transformation
§ Continue to introduce theme: read children’s picture books aloud in class, ask students to identify transformations in the story. Ideas: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss, The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin.
§ Read literature circle book
§ Literature Circles, twice weekly, 3 weeks
- Students complete worksheets, share in groups
- Students create timeline of events in book
- Students create symbolic portraits of main character (beginning and end)
- Students create final project based on group’s work
- Guided questions, in class groups
- Fishbowl to demonstrate discussion and sharing of lit circle role sheets
1. What are the characteristic properties your book’s main character? Create a symbolic portrait of your main character at the beginning of the book. (use symbols, colors to represent feelings)
science lesson: mini labs to look at characteristic properties of matter and how to test them (ex. pennies)
2. and 3. How can other words used in science be used figuratively in English? (use attached) Explain/talk about literal-Science vs. figurative-English meaning. Create ‘literary-figurative’ definitions of the words. Then find examples of each word in your novel. (split words in half, complete over 2 days)
science lesson: understanding and using precise vocabulary in science labs and lessons around force and matter
4. What is a physical change in character? What is a chemical change in character? (p: outside, appearance/ ch: inside, self awareness) Create literary-figurative definitions of each. Tell how your book’s characters change chemically and physically. Use William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble to illustrate. Are both transformations? Explain.
science lesson: looking at real examples of chemical and physical change through hands on labs
5. What are the characteristic properties of your main character near the end of the book? Create a symbolic portrait of your character at the end of the book- how is it different than at the start?
science lesson: referring back to labs to determine properties of matter
6. Where does the analogy break down? Does choice separate human transformation from other kinds of matter? How does your character make a choice? What happens to your character that s/he can’t control?
§ Self Awareness leads to transformation, twice weekly, 3 weeks
- Introduce idea of a ‘safe zone’ to think about self in the classroom, where no one makes fun of you, et cetera.
- Activities and reflective journaling afterward
(see attached)
Titles:
Novels:
Whirligig- Fleischman True Believer- Wolff
The Skin I’m In- Flake Tangerine- Bloor
Jacob Have I Loved- Paterson The Cay- Taylor
Stories: