Dear Parents and Guardians,
Our first IB unit of the year is entitled We are the world—Native People around the world. It is apart of the Transdisciplinary theme, Who we are that focuses on an inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human. The central idea of this unit is that increasing awareness of our personal characteristics and abilities and those of others, allows our self-identity to develop.
The Lines of Inquiry in this unit:
What can we learn about people from biographies, personal narrative, autobiography?
What are typical character traits in figures in the history of native people around the world?
How are we the same, how different than people from other regions in the US or from other countries and cultures?
The Key Concepts and Related Concepts in this unit:
Connection
Perspective
Reflection
Transdisciplinary Skills in this unit:
Students will be reading, writing, and researching about native cultures and European Explorers.
Students will be presenting the information they learned from this unit utilizing oral and presentation skills learned in language arts.
Learner Profiles and Attitudes included in this unit:
Inquirer-Students’ projects give them an opportunity to inquire and discover information about native cultures.
Knowledgeable-Students have a chance to learn cultures around the world to become knowledgeable about their issues. This knowledge will hopefully foster understanding of others.
This unit will include Georgia Performance standards from reading and language, arts but the main standards are in Social Studies; such as SS4H1 about Native Americans and SS4H2 about European Explorers. Students will be completing many activities in this unit including an in class group assignment where students will research and create a display about six Native American tribes. They will also be reading a book about Native Americans, other native cultures, and/or European explorers. They will be able to choose activities that they would like to complete based on the book they have read. We will also assess the students by tests and quizzes about their knowledge on the above material. We are looking into a possible field trip to the Atlanta History Center and students can tour Georgian Native American artifacts. As a result, they will have a clear understanding of the Native people that first inhabited the land in which we all live—Georgia.
If you have expertise, know some one, or have a resource that may help us in this unit, please feel free to contact us. We thank you for your constant support.
Sincerely,
Daveta Gross and Lindsey Wisniewski
IB “We are the World” Book Report
Students will choose a book about Native Americans, European Explorers, or native cultures from other countries or continents. Once they have read this book, they will write a book report based on the below rubric. They will also choose at least one of the activities (on the back of this page) to present to the class but can choose as many as they would like for additional credit.. You do not have to purchase the book but may check it out from any public library. Students will turn in their projects on October 4, 2010.
Rubric for book report
Content: 4 paragraphs (40 points)
1st paragraph-
Author, Setting, Time …………………………………………………10 points
2nd paragraph- description of Main Characters …………………………….10points
3rd paragraph-Plot (problem/solution faced by characters) ………………..10 points
4th paragraph-Opinion/Recommendation (reason for choice)………………10 points
Mechanics (30 points)
Spelling…………………………………………………………………………..10 points
Punctuation ……………………………………………………………………..10 points
Grammar/Usage ………………………………………………………………..10 points
Form (15 points)
Legible and Neat (How easy the report is to read and understand) ……………………10 points
Presentation and book report activity………..……………………………………………10 points
(Each additional activity chosen will add 2 points to the final grade)
TOTAL 100 points
Below is a list books about Native Americans, European Explorers, or other Native cultures, yet feel free to choose another book about the report topic.
Coyote Dreams by Susan Nunes.
The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich.
Kokopelli's Flute by Will Hobbs.
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech.
Animals Christopher Columbus Saw: An Adventure in the New World (Explorers)
Christopher Columbus: Across The Ocean Sea (Heroes of History)
Below is a list of activities students can choose from for their project. If you would like to do an activity not on this list please just let me know.
1. Create life-sized models of two of your favorite characters and dress them as they are dressed in the book. Crouch down behind your character and describe yourself as the character. Tell what your role is in the book and how you relate to the other character you have made.
2. Create a sculpture of a character. Use any combination of soap, wood, clay, sticks, wire, stones, old toy pieces, or any other object. An explanation of how this character fits into the book should accompany the sculpture.
3. Interview a character from your book. Write at least ten questions that will give the character the opportunity to discuss his/her thoughts and feelings about his/her role in the story. However you choose to present your interview is up to you.
4. Write a diary that one of the story's main characters might have kept before, during, or after the book's events. Remember that the character's thoughts and feelings are very important in a diary.
5. If you are reading the same book as one or more others are reading, dramatize a scene from the book. Write a script and have several rehearsals before presenting it to the class.
6. Prepare an oral report of 5 minutes. Give a brief summary of the plot and describe the personality of one of the main characters. Be prepared for questions from the class.
7. Give a sales talk, pretending the students in the class are clerks in a bookstore and you want them to push this book.
8. Build a miniature stage setting of a scene in the book. Include a written explanation of the scene.
9. Make several sketches of some of the scenes in the book and label them.
10. Describe the setting of a scene, and then do it in pantomime.
11. Construct puppets and present a show of one or more interesting parts of the book.
12. Dress as one of the characters and act out a characterization.
13. Imagine that you are the author of the book you have just read. Suddenly the book becomes a best seller. Write a letter to a movie producer trying to get that person interested in making your book into a movie. Explain why the story, characters, conflicts, etc., would make a good film. Suggest a filming location and the actors to play the various roles. YOU MAY ONLY USE BOOKS WHICH HAVE NOT ALREADY BEEN MADE INTO MOVIES.
14. Write a book review as it would be done for a newspaper. ( Be sure you read a few before writing your own.)
15. Construct a diorama (three-dimensional scene which includes models of people, buildings, plants, and animals) of one of the main events of the book. Include a written description of the scene.
16. Write a feature article (with a headline) that tells the story of the book as it might be found on the front page of a newspaper in the town where the story takes place.
17. Write a letter (10-sentence minimum) to the main character of your book asking questions, protesting a situation, and/or making a complaint and/or a suggestion. This must be done in the correct letter format.
18. Read the same book as one of your friends. The two of you make a video or do a live performance of MASTERPIECE BOOK REVIEW, a program which reviews books and interviews authors. (You can even have audience participation!)
19. If the story of your book takes place in another country, prepare a travel brochure using pictures you have found or drawn.
20. Write a FULL (physical, emotional, relational) description of three of the characters in the book. Draw a portrait to accompany each description.
21. After reading a book of history or historical fiction, make an illustrated timeline showing events of the story and draw a map showing the location(s) where the story took place.
22. Read two books on the same subject and compare and contrast them.
23. Read a book that has been made into a movie. (Caution: it must have been a book FIRST. Books written from screenplays are not acceptable.) Write an essay comparing the movie version with the book.
24. Create a mini-comic book relating a chapter of the book.
25. Make three posters about the book using two or more of the following media: paint, crayons, chalk, paper, ink, real materials.
26. Design costumes for dolls and dress them as characters from the book. Explain who these characters are and how they fit in the story.
27. Write and perform an original song that tells the story of the book.
28. After reading a book of poetry, do three of the following: 1) do an oral reading; 2)write an original poem; 3)act out a poem; 4)display a set of pictures which describe the poem; 5)write original music for the poem; 6)add original verses to the poem.
29. Be a TV or radio reporter, and give a report of a scene from the book as if it is happening "live".
30. Design a book jacket for the book. I STRONGLY suggest that you look at an actual book jacket before you attempt this.
31. Create a newspaper for your book. Summarize the plot in one article, cover the weather in another, do a feature story on one of the more interesting characters in another. Include an editorial and a collection of ads that would be pertinent to the story.