FOURTH GRADE LITERARY ESSAY WRITING UNIT



|Unit: Biography Unit |

|Grade: 5 |

|Desired Results for the Reading Unit |

|GOALS (What are our relevant goals for this unit?) |

|OUTCOMES OF UNDERSTANDING (To achieve our goals, what understandings will be needed?) |ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: (What essential questions will focus our goals, stimulate conversation, and guide |

|Students will understand that… |our actions?) |

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|Why are we learning to read biographies - Learn from both form and content of this genre. |-How did the time period affect the person’s accomplishment? |

| |-How did you use your relevant prior knowledge before, during, and after reading the text? |

|When we learn the content, we learn about great people: |-As you are reading, how did you adapt new images to incorporate new information? |

|- read for inspiration | |

|- read for guidance, relating their life story to the story of the subject. |-Does the author seem to |

|- read to learn about someone different than ourselves, especially those in different historical settings.| |

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|When we learn about the form and structure of biographies | |

|- we learn that authors of biographies have certain goals in mind....we see that they want us to feel a | |

|certain way about people or events.  Biography might make us like, or dislike, Barack Obama.  Or, we might| |

|learn that being a professional athlete is a great life, or a life not worth trying for. | |

|-  We learn that authors use specific writing technique, such as compare/contrast, to write their content.| |

|They select and use these techniques in specific ways.  If there are comparisons and contrast perhaps | |

|there's a balance of information.  If there are not c/c, then is one side biased? | |

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|OUTCOMES OF UNDERSTANDING: (To achieve our goals, what understandings will be needed?) | |

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|-Students will have an affirmation of beliefs/values/opinions | |

|-A desire to advocate | |

|Assessment Evidence |

|CULMINATING PROJECTS AND PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF LEARNING: |INFORMAL ASSESSMENTS: (What are the key observable indicators of short and long term progress? What data |

| |should be collected?) |

|CULMINATING PERFORMANCE TASK - TO EITHER READ TWO ARTICLES about one person, OR TO WATCH A VIDEO OF AN | |

|INTERVIEW OF one person, AND WRITE A BIASED BIOGRAPHY OF that person citing the articles or interview. |Conferring |

| |-Reading response journal entries |

| |-Sharing |

| |-Book club talk |

| |-Oral quizzes |

|Resources |

|UNIT RESOURCES: (What materials and resources are needed to support this unit?) |STUDENT RESOURCES: |

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|-TC Biography unit |-Leveled books |

|-Trade books-Mentor text (Dr. Martin Luther King J., Helen Keller, The Story of Ruby Bridges, Harriet |-Short Texts |

|Tubman, Frederick Douglas, Benjamin Franklin) |-Reading Response notebooks |

| |-Post-its (to document thinking) |

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Reader's Workshop Teaching Points

|Date | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY |

|WEEK 1: |Readers read biographies to learn lessons |Readers of biographies activate |Readers of biographies look at |Readers of biographies are aware |Readers of biographies form a thesis. As |

| |from what a person has done in his/her |their own prior knowledge about |text features to help them |that there are two sides to every |readers approach biographies, with an |

| |life. |the issues in this person’s life |determine what is important about |story. Be aware of bias! The |initial though (ex. I think this biography |

| | |and ask themselves: |this person's life. |author, if s/he is fair, will |is going to show me a positive picture of |

| | |what do I already know about this |Readers look at table of contents |present a holistic version of a |this person and the |

| | |person? |and other text structures, such as|person’s life events. But some |work/accomplishments,/achievements, etc. ) |

| | |What controversies do I know of? |headings, major diagrams or |people are set on only telling us |We are curious about this person before we |

| | |What adversities did this person |timelines or pictures. Are these |certain things about a person. |even begin the real reading. |

| | |have? |parts important to the overall |Take George Washington, for | |

| | |sports, civil rights, |purpose of the biography?  What |example, always lauded as a great | |

| | |discrimination, challenge of |parts are left out that are NOT |man. But he also owned slaves! | |

| | |poverty, |important to the overall purpose |Perhaps we don’t want to judge him | |

| | |(determining importance) |of the biography? |for that since many people owned | |

| | | |(determining importance, |slaves at that time, but it should | |

| | | |questioning the text) |at least be mentioned! | |

| | | | |every story. | |

| | | | |How to look for bias | |

| | | | | | |

| | | | |__leaves some things unsaid. We | |

| | | | |might not know about what is left | |

| | | | |unsaid…but we should ask ourselves | |

| | | | |these questions…hmmm, what happened| |

| | | | |between these years, or I wonder | |

| | | | |what happened after the person did | |

| | | | |such and such. | |

| | | | |__Look for emotional speech. | |

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|WEEK 2: |Actual reading of a text means constantly |Readers of biographies pay |Readers of biographies pay |Authors of biographies give the |Boxes and Bullets |

| |confirming, revising, or adding to one’s |attention to the structures that |attention to text infrastructure. |readers the question or problem | |

| |initial expectations about the text. Is |the author uses. The format and |Authors sometimes use lists – and |they are supposed to be thinking |To find the main idea, readers need to take|

| |this what you expected to read? Are you |structures authors use help us |we know the heading of the list is|about. Readers of biographies read |the sentences they’ve read and say what |

| |revising your thoughts about what the |clarify and improve our thinking. |more important than the bullet |the text carefully to determine how|they learned in one short statement, not a |

| |author is telling us about this person? | |points listed underneath the |the question is answered or how the|question. It may help readers initially to |

| | | |heading. Remember, we are always |person solves the problem. When |make this underlying boxes-and-bullets |

| | | |are working our way down from what|readers talk about the |infrastructure visible by using a pencil to|

| | | |is the main argument, the main |question/answer or |underline or “box” the main ideas and |

| | | |idea, the main topic of the text. |problem/solution, they cite |“bullet” the supporting details. You’ll |

| | | | |specific information from the text |want to teach readers to break dense swaths|

| | | | |to support their thinking. |of expository text into chunks—either with |

| | | | | |a pencil or with their mental eye—and to |

| | | | | |tackle these chunks by fishing out and |

| | | | | |holding onto the main ideas within, rather |

| | | | | |than being sidetracked by supporting facts |

| | | | | |and details. At the end of each chunk, |

| | | | | |readers may proof it from saying (or |

| | | | | |writing on a Post-it), “This part teaches |

| | | | | |me....” |

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|WEEK 3: |Readers can move from finding the main |Readers of biographies notice, as |Readers look over a book and |Readers decide if they need to find|Readers make decisions about their own |

| |idea of a paragraph to figuring out the |they read on, whether the next |decide what the author is telling |other biographies to tell another |life…how do I apply this lesson to my own |

| |overarching idea of a multiparagraph text |part of the text holds a new idea |us about the person and the |perspective on the person, if they |life? |

| |by noticing, as they read from one |with supporting information, or |person’s major accomplishments. |need to do more research on the | |

| |paragraph to another, whether the two |whether it adds more information |You do this by adding together all|issue/accomplishment/event/sport | |

| |paragraphs continue to build on one main |about an idea that was already |the main ideas to make a general |etc. to learn more | |

| |idea or whether the second paragraph turns|introduced. It’s important to |statement. | | |

| |a bend, laying out yet another idea.Nonf |emphasize that nonfiction readers | | | |

| |iction texts can be tricky because section|read with the same kind of stamina| | | |

| |dividers are often invisible; readers need|and pace that fiction readers | | | |

| |to be vigilant, reading in such a way that|do—they don’t linger over one | | | |

| |they notice when the text has gone through|picture for an hour; rather, they | | | |

| |a transition and saying, “Oh, this is |move on to gather as much | | | |

| |about a new subtopic.” You’ll also want to|information as possible, while | | | |

| |teach young readers to be f lexible, |constantly asking themselves, “How| | | |

| |poised to revise their thinking as they |does all of this fit together?” | | | |

| |read on: “I was right about the topic of |Sometimes it is helpful for | | | |

| |these two pages, it is about whales,” you |children to simply look for the | | | |

| |might model thinking, “but I was wrong |“pop-out sentence” as they read, | | | |

| |about the main idea.This part is actually |knowing that often one sentence | | | |

| |mostly about how f ishermen are a danger |summarizes the content of a | | | |

| |to whales in the Arctic, not just where |paragraph or a passage. Teach | | | |

| |whales live.” This f lexibility of |students that this topic sentence | | | |

| |thinking, though challenging, is an |is often the first or last | | | |

| |important goal to take on! |sentence—but not always! Students | | | |

| | |could read the first sentence of a| | | |

| | |paragraph and ask, “What is this | | | |

| | |saying?” and then read on, | | | |

| | |sentence by sentence, asking, “How| | | |

| | |does this f it with what’s been | | | |

| | |said so far? A Curricular Plan for| | | |

| | |the Reading Workshop, Grade 4, | | | |

| | |2011–2012 54 © 2011 by Lucy | | | |

| | |Calkins. Heinemann: Portsmouth, | | | |

| | |NH. | | | |

Writer's Workshop Teaching Points

|Date | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY |

|WEEK 1: |Writers of biographies think about |Good writers use mentor texts |Writers do research and gather |Biography writers create a strong |Writers use features of the genre to |

| |the two sides of a person. During our|(published books) to help them plan |information in an organized way.  (use |introductory paragraph that includes:|help the reader determine what is |

| |biography writing unit you will be |their writing.  Refer to mentor text |Gathering Biographical Information |who, where, when, what & why.  (use |important about this person's life.  |

| |writing two different biographies |biographies to examine table of |graphic organizer) - with partners, |Biography Introductory Paragraph |Decide which features you will |

| |about one person. Each biography will|contents in order to help you decide |gather information on both perspectives|graphic organizer) |include in your biography. |

| |show a different side to each person.|how to organize your biography.  |about subject of biography. | | |

| |(Use example of Christopher Columbus |Create your table of contents. | |- write two introductory paragraphs, | |

| |to show different perspectives with | | |one for each perspective. | |

| |bias). You will be working with your | | | |- Writing body paragraphs for each |

| |writing partner to write two | | | |perspective. |

| |different biographies about them (or | | | | |

| |work by self to produce | | | | |

| |autobiography). | | | | |

| |Today you will be exploring the idea | | | | |

| |of dual perspectives: You will | | | | |

| |brainstorm two "sides" of themselves | | | | |

| |(i.e. well behaved vs. bad behavior; | | | | |

| |extrovert vs. introvert; athlete vs. | | | | |

| |bookworm or artist; health nut vs. | | | | |

| |junk food eater...etc) | | | | |

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|WEEK 2: |Biography writers create strong body |Biography writers provide detailed |In general ,the biographies we have |Editing | |

| |paragraphs and consider the following|descriptions to show the reader |read in class are all about the | |Editing |

| |stuctures to organize their writing |exactly who the person is rather than|positive things people have | | |

| |to provide the most important |just telling them. |accomplished or done throughout their | | |

| |information about their subject: | |lives. Writers of biographies write | | |

| | | |about the "good" of a person but may | | |

| |Problem/solution | |also include a small piece of | | |

| |Comparison/contrast |(Revise) |information that lets the reader think | | |

| |Lists | |about what other side to the person | | |

| | | |there might be. | | |

| | | |(Compare/Contrast - 3 examples of good.| | |

| | | |1 example of bad.) | | |

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| | | |(Revise) | | |

|WEEK 3: |Publishing |Publishing |Performance Task - The two sides of Ms.|Performance Task - The two sides of | |

| | | |Chase |Ms. Chase | |

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Writing - (Two Biographies, Two Perspectives on a Person) -

Summary

They're going to spend two and a half weeks writing two mini-biographies about the same person.  Each biography will be written poorly….in other words, they'll be written with obvious bias showing just one perspective on a person. Each biography will have a definite goal of showing one perspective on a person.  That person will be the student. The biography should be mini, with about 5 pages only. The first content page, which gives some basic biographical info (date of birth, where born, etc. could be the same for both.)

 

Some examples of how students can “divide” themselves includes:

--well behaved versus bad behaved

--extrovert versus introvert

--athlete vs, artist vs. bookworm versus mathematician, etc.

-- health nut versus junk food eater

At this age, no one is everything, and a well-written biography would present ALL sides of a person and show a well-rounded picture.  But the goal of this mini-unit is to experience how easy it is to write something with a bias

Lessons

Take one day to brainstorm two "sides" of themselves. Students should share ideas with others, be willing to borrow from friends. Also, students should know that they could write about a “bad” or “negative” side…knowing that it’s not really true. Everyone has faults, or needs to work on things…that’s being human. But it’s not the whole person, and it’s not who they truly are holistically.

They should learn from this, because maybe at some point someone might write something negative for real, perhaps on facebook or in the newspapers. They should remember that this writing is biased, and not representative of who they are as a complete person.

After selecting the two sides, students spend 3-4 days drafting out topics, and supporting examples that support the two biographies.

Remember to refer to table of contents from the mentor text biographies to include similar topics.

-2nd week work on drafting and revising.

Within paragraphs, introduce specific text structure:

Problem/solution

Comparison/contrast

Lists

Within paragraphs, select craft and elaboration, such as including

speech,

showing through description rather than telling, comparisons....make them use the forms and structures of writing that we should expect. 

True craft would, for example, use comparison and contrast, but do it very weakly, showing bias....(choosing to cite three examples of being a "good" person versus "one" example of a bad person.)

Final week is editing, and writing final drafts.

Last two days of unit, after they've published, should be to do the performance task.  I think the funnest thing would to videotape an "interview" of a teacher, Ms. Chase, someone in the school, and have that person reveal two sides of him/herself throughout the interview.  The students have to listen for both "sides" of that person, choose one, and collect evidence from the video to write a biography with a bias towards one side. 

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