“We Are Smart Cookies” - Polk

1 We Are Smart Cookies n PROGR AM OVERVIEW We Are Smart Cookies is a unit of study designed to teach children about schools in other parts of our country using the gingerbread man theme. This program was developed to facilitate the expansion of vocabulary in elementary students. Through the program students will explore the communities of other school children around our country and compare and contrast them to our own community. The program ties in skills from language ar ts, social studies, and technology. The length of the unit is three weeks. I have used this program with students in an ESE inclusion Kindergarten class at a Title 1 school. The objective of the unit is to focus on the extended thinking skill of compare and contrast and to develop vocabulary as we learn how our schools are alike and different.

2 The program utilizes both whole group lessons and small group instruction. It could be easily adapted for other grade and ability levels by incorporating more research and technology. This project is exciting for the students because it opens them up to a whole new world outside of their begin our unit by reading the traditional gingerbread Boy book by Paul Galdone. We discuss the story elements and create a story map. Next, we read several retellings of the story For further information SpradlenFrostproof Elementary118 W. 3rd Street Frostproof, FL 33843 Courier Route D - 2012 IdeA CAtAlog of exCellenCeincluding: The gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett and The gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst. We compare and contrast these stories with the traditional tale.

3 We create a character graphic organizer to illustrate how the characters are alike and different in the stories. The students illustrate the characters and place them on a large chart. We add more characters as we read more stories. The students then write about how the characters are alike and how they are different. We use vocabulary words such as cunning when describing the fox and discuss how the gingerbread Girl was brave. These tasks help to develop higher level thinking skills and most exciting part of our unit is the gingerbread Man Exchange. We create 25 gingerbread men and decorate them to represent our state and community. The class voted on which ideas they thought were best to represent our community. Some ways we have represented our school include: having gingerbread men hold paper oranges to symbolize our community s citrus industry, and wearing Mickey Mouse ears to illustrate our proximity to Disney World.

4 We wrote a letter from our class that explained about our town and school. The letter included details on our location, size of our school and town, and our interests. We mailed these gingerbread men and notes to other participating classrooms around the country. We waited with great anticipation as gingerbread men arrived from far away states! We located the states on the map and learned about their communities and schools. Some gingerbread friends arrived adorned with warm winter coats and scarves, while others displayed favorite team logos and hobbies of the region. We used this information to compare our classroom to those in other states. Students are amazed to find out some children only go to kindergarten for half of the day.

5 Others are intrigued by tales of cold weather and snow days. This unit is a tool to teach vocabulary and the comprehension skill of compare and contrast in a fun and meaningful way. Students enjoy the lessons and can t wait for the mail to be delivered each day. They also are proud to share information about their school and community with primary aged children in other the end of the unit students are assessed on their knowledge of the skill of compare and contrast using a rubric. The tools used in the assessment include written work from graphic organizers and journals, as well as teacher observation. ~ A Returning Developer ~ We Are Smart Cookies 2011 - 2012 IdeA CAtAlog of exCellenCen OVER ALL VALUE This unit allows students to develop vocabulary as they learn to compare their school and community to others around the country.

6 They realize that our school and community are special. Students are enthusiastic to discover that we have many things in common with our friends in other parts of the It really is a small world after all!T h e vo c a b u l a r y s t u d e nt s a r e exposed to in the letters that accompany the gingerbread men helps improve listening c omprehension and oral vocabulary. They also become more aware of the world around them. The program fosters an interest in written communication. The students loved seeing how the other children decorated their gingerbread men and the various materials they used to highlight aspects of their school and state. This program is an interesting and creative way to teach the skill of comparing and contrasting and to build vocabulary.

7 Many of the students in our county lack background knowledge and have a limited vocabulary. By exchanging gingerbread men and reading the letters from other states, students are motivated to learn new vocabulary and use it in their written and oral LESSON PLAN TITLES1 A Shared Reading of the Traditional gingerbread Man Story2 Comparing and Contrasting the gingerbread Stories3 The gingerbread Man Exchangen MATERIALS A list of materials accompanies each lesson plan. Materials include items found commonly in the classroom, such as paper, markers, bulletin board paper, and art supplies. Some of the other materials which are specific to this unit are: supplies to make the gingerbread men (like foamy cutouts), stamps, and various versions of the gingerbread Man story.

8 A supply list with pricing follows the lesson ABOUT THE DEVELOPER B o b b i e S p r a d l e n e a r n e d h e r Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education from Warner University. She has taught for 15 years, all of which have been in polk County. She has enjoyed teaching at Title 1 schools for her entire career. She has taught at Frostproof Elementary for 12 years and currently teaches a Kindergarten ESE inclusion H Hn SUBJECTS COVERED Language Arts n GR ADESK indergartenn OBJECTIVES Students will participate in a shared reading of the story. Students will make predictions about the story. Students will answer questions orally about the characters, setting, problem, and solution and create a story map graphic SUNSHINE STATE STANDARDS The student will use new vocabulary that is introduced and taught The student will listen to and discuss both familiar and conceptually challenging A.

9 K . The student will make predictions about text using pictures, background knowledge, and text features (eg. title, sub-heading, captions, and illustrations.) The student will retell the main idea or essential message, identifying supporting details (eg. who, what when, where, why, how) and arrange events in The student will prewrite by connecting thoughts and oral language to generate MATERIALS Book The gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone Large manila paper Computer labels with the words character, setting, problem, solution typed on them (1 set per child) Pencils, markers, or crayonsn DIRECTIONS Prior to the lesson the teacher will fold a large sheet of manila paper to make four boxes. The teacher will draw lines to create the four boxes (or students may do this if they are able to) and place one of the story map computer labels in each box.

10 Teacher will begin the lesson by showing the cover of the book and ask ing student s to make predictions. Teacher will read the story. During the shared reading the teacher will stop occasionally to ask students to predict what will happen next and to discuss any key vocabulary. Teacher will ask students to tell their shoulder partner (collaborative pairs) about the characters, setting, problem and solution. Students will work with partners to fill in the story map (characters, setting, problem, and solution.) Please see the attached story map for an example. We Are Smart Cookies Bobbie SpradlenLesson Plan No 1: A Shared Reading of the Traditional gingerbread Man Storyn EVALUATION /ASSESSMENT The teacher will use the attached r ubr ic to deter mine the student s performance on the H H2011 - 2012 IdeA CAtAlog of exCellenCeStory Map ExampleDifferentiationStudents may make only illustrations and attempt to label them.