Fostering 21

st
Century Literacy
A 5
th
Grade Integrated LA-SS Unit


Holly Chaker
July 2014
Literacy Need
"In our 21st century society--accelerated, media-saturated,
and automated--a new literacy is required, one more broadly
defined than the ability to read and write" (Jones-Kavalier &
Flannigan, 2008, p 13).

Administrators and teachers must work together to
create a literacy program that is rich in opportunities for
students to become 21st century thinkers; opportunities
that include modeling of metacognitive strategies as
well as multicultural and digital literacy integrated
across the curriculum.
Fluency Instruction
Tobin (2008) states that explicit demonstration of
cognitive strategies in whole group settings fosters
reading comprehension, as does Dr. Twymon when she
states, The National Reading Panel found that the most
effective way for readers to increase their fluency is
through oral reading (Module 2, Part 3). Dr. Tywmon
goes on to say that during fluency instruction, teachers
should also model fluent reading and students should
be given many opportunities to practice and perform.

Multicultural Literacy:
Building Background Knowledge through Collaboration
Student populations have never been as diverse as they are in todays
world, but this diversity goes beyond racial boundaries. Students today
are increasingly diverse in terms of their background knowledge and
experiences (Fisher, Frey, & Lapp, 2012, p 22).

Through instructional techniques that encourage student collaboration,
background knowledge can be developed and activated while expanding
what students are learning and providing them an opportunity to share.
Student collaboration can also foster the development of higher-order
thinking skills. Kucan and Beck (2003) hypothesized that peer
discussion that supports intellectual engagement with text is a must if
students are to develop higher-order thinking skills (Fisher et al., 2012,
p 22).
Multicultural and Digital Literacy:
Building Background Knowledge through Wide Reading
Fisher, Frey, and Lapp (2012) offer a variety of pedagogical
approaches that can bolster diverse students schema.
Wide reading is an excellent, indirect way to build
background knowledge (p 24). To foster a 21
st
century
literary environment, wide reading should extend beyond
traditional print material, it should include a vast array
of new media texts available for students including e-
books and other web-based texts (p 24).
Digital Literacy:
Building Background Knowledge through
Direct Experience
Direct experiences are powerful ways to develop
background knowledge, but this can be taken beyond
the traditional guest speaker and field trips (Fisher,
Frey, & Lapp, 2012, p 24). YouTube, Ted-Ed, and a host
of virtual field trips can be accessed with the click of a
mouse. Watching videos and holding collaborative
discussions will close knowledge gaps and foster higher-
order, 21
st
century thinking.


Digital Literacy
Despite access to funding and equipment, a recent study found that less
than 35% of teachers in U.S. districts that received funding have
integrated technology in their instruction on at least a weekly basis
(Anthony, 2012, p 335).

The integration of technology in the classroom for the promotion of 21st
century literacy has proven to be challenging for many districts. In her
2012 study, Anthony concludes that both collaboration and
communication are key to facilitating a supportive and equitable
environment for classroom technology (p 351). Of the two teachers
studied, the one with a team of teachers with whom she could plan
lessons and review student work was the most successful. The teacher
who had no support network spent a great deal of time locating quality
online resources and subsequently was unable to seamlessly integrate
technology into her classroom; her practices with technology were
peripheral to [her] regular classroom routines (p 343).

Lesson Overview
In this unit, students will study Elise Carbones
historical fiction novel Blood on the River along with a
variety of informational resources in both print and
digital form. Students will analyze texts to assess the
motivations behind the creation of Jamestown. In
addition, the characters and facts from the story, Blood
on the River, will be examined within the fictional text as
well as in comparison to the primary and secondary
historical sources of information.
Standards
LAFS.5.RL.1.3 Compare and Contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a
story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
LAFS.5.RI.1.3 Explain the relationship or interactions between two or more individuals,
events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific
information in the text.
LAFS.5.RI.3.7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources,
demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem
efficiently.
LAFS.5.RI.3.9 Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to
write or speak about the subject knowledgably.
LAFS.5.2.3.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant
information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in
notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
LAFS.5.SL.1.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (on-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on
others ideas and expressing their own clearly.

SS.5.A.1.1 Use primary and secondary sources to understand history.
SS.5.A.4.1 Identify the economic, political, and socio-cultural motivation for colonial
settlement.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes
Objective 1: Students will be able to compare and contrast
two or more characters in the story, drawing on specific
details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
Objective 2: Students will be able explain the relationship
between the events involved in the settlement of
Jamestown based on information gathered from multiple
primary and secondary historical sources in both print and
digital format.
Objective 3: Students will be able to identify the
economic, political, and socio-cultural motivations for
colonial settlement.
Materials, Resources and Technology: Print
Historical Fiction (required): Blood on the River by Elise
Carbone Ideally you would have a class set of this novel;
enough to supply pairs of students would work as well. If this
is not possible, projecting a single book onto a whiteboard
could suffice.

Suggested Nonfiction Titles: There should be several
copies of each of the nonfiction books. The following books
are suggested titles, but any quality, grade-level nonfiction
texts about the settlement of Jamestown would work.
1607: A New Look at Jamestown by Karen Lange
Jamestown: A History Just for Kids! by KidCaps
The Jamestown Colony (We the People: Exploration and
Colonization) by Brendan January
Materials, Resources and Technology: Digital
Suggested Digital Sources: These resources require computers and an
internet connection. The following websites have been proven to be
helpful with this assignment. Teachers should monitor and guide
students their students in the usage of reliable websites (Wikipedia is a
nice starting point to find reliable resources, but is not to be used as a
resource itself ).
The History Channel (videos: Jamestown founded in 1607 and Life in
Jamestown)
History is Fun: Jamestown (videos)
History of Jamestown
National Park Service: Jamestown
Virtual Jamestown This site includes a lot of primary source
documents.
Jamestown Online Adventure Students must make important
decisions about their settlement to determine if it will survive or die-
out. The game requires Macromedia Flash plugin.
Read-Aloud
Together as a group, students and the teacher will read aloud Blood on the River
by Elise Carbone. The epistolary novel is historical fiction depicting the story of
one boy, Samuel Collier, who participated in the initial settlement of Jamestown.
Each chapter of the novel ends with a quotation from a primary source text that
was relevant to the chapter. At the ends of preselected chapters, the teacher
should guide discussions as follows:
What is the relevancy and significance of the primary source to its chapter?
What is the importance of journals and diaries? How does this style of
writing change the story?
What is the perspective of the speaker and how would the story change if
one of the other characters was the speaker?
Discussions of later chapter should include an analysis of character traits of a
good leader, the different ways characters react to and interact with the
natives.

Note: Throughout the reading of this novel, all students in the class should be presented
with an opportunity to read aloud successfully in class. The teacher should select passages
for students to read aloud according to their abilities. The more difficult passages should be
reserved for the teacher to read aloud; most of the primary source quotations include
difficult and unfamiliar words that will require scaffolding and a great deal of discussion.
Post-It Prioritizing
Teaching students to think consciously about why they are about to read a particular text has been show
to improve comprehension (Neufeld, 2005, p 304).

Before students begin their small group analysis of the informational texts, they will be
given a series of questions that they will use to guide their reading.
As students read informational texts about the settlement of Jamestown, they should
identify important information and write it on post-it notes.
The post-its should be placed on the appropriate sections of the text.
Students will share their assessments with group members and as a group they will
analyze the people and events involved in the settlement of Jamestown.
They will add important information to their individual journals including citations.
Rather than utilizing a graphic organizer, students will be charged with organizing the
information and recording it themselves. The real power of visual organizers is
realized when students learn to construct visual summaries that accurately represent
the actual texts they are reading something that mass-produced visual organizers can
seldom facilitate (Neufeld, 2005, p 307).
Only once the post-it information has been recorded by each student in the group, the
post-its may be removed from the books.

Note: Studies have shown that small group instruction is the context in which optimum, desirable
reading and writing behaviors are most likely to occur for diverse learners (Tobin, p. 164).
Digital Research
Young and Daunic (2012) quoted the National Association of Media Literacy Education as stating that
media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate information in a variety of
forms. It is important to help students understand the information presented to them and make
informed decisions (Young & Daunic, 2012, p 70).

Prior to starting this lesson, pair students for maximum effectiveness. Each pair of
students should be provided the list of suggested sites that can be found on the
resources slide.
Working in pairs, students will use online resources to research the settlement of
Jamestown.
The internet provides an opportunity for students to take virtual field trip to build
background knowledge. The list of suggested sites includes opportunities for students
to explore the ships and village at Jamestown.
Students will take notes similar to the Post-It Prioritizing method but will write the
applicable URL on a journal page and then add post-its as they identify important
information.
Once finished, the post-its should be organized and prioritized.
Students will then write important information in their individual journals; they must
include the URL citations.

Note: Summarizing information is vital to 21
st
century thinkers in that students must
comprehend the text, identify main ideas, differentiate secondary ideas, and ultimately
condense the information into a written text that is a succinct, logical, and coherent
representation of the original source (Gomez & Gomez, 2007, p 227).
Who, What, Where, When Why (5Ws) Chart
Visual organizers should contain the main ideas presented in a text and show how the
ideas relate to one another (Neufeld, 2005, p 306).

In the previous tasks, information gathered from print and digital
informational texts was organized and categorized to answer questions
about the economic, political, and socio-cultural motivations for settling
Jamestown.
Data from the informational texts will now be used to analyze the historical
fiction novel. Possible jumping off points for analysis:
Are there any discrepancies between the facts the students discovered and
Elise Carbones novel?
Are there inconsistencies between the historical record of characters and
their lives in the novel?
Students should write their analyses and reflections in their journals.

Note: Writing need not take the form of a five-paragraph essay or a 10-page research paper
to be effective. Informal writing allows students to organize their thoughts and draw
conclusions about information (Gammill, 2006, 756).
References
Anthony, A. B. (2012). Activity theory as a framework for investigating district-classroom system interactions and their
influences on technology integration. Journal of Research on Technology in Education 44(4), 335-352.
Dearman, C.C. and Alber S.R. (2005). The changing face of educaiton: Teachers cope with challenges through
collaboration and reflective study. International Reading Association, 58(7), 634-640.
Fisher, D., Frey N., and Lapp, D. (2012). Building and activating students background knowledge: Its what they already
know that counts. Middle School Journal 43(3), 22-31.
Gammill, D.M. (2006). Learning the write way. The Reading Teacher, 59(8), 754-762.
Gomez, L.M. & Gomez K. (2007). Reading for Learning: Literacy supports for 21
st
-century work. Phi Delta Kappan,
89(3), 224-228.
Jones-Kavalier, B.R. and Flannigan, S.I. (2008). Connecting the digital dots: Literacy of the 21
st
century. Teacher
Librarian, 35(3), 13-16.
NCTE Position Statement (2013). The NCTE definition of 21
st
century literacies.
http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/21stcentdefinition.
Neufeld, P. (2005). Comprehension instruction in content area classes. The Reading Teacher, 59(4), 302-312.
Tobin, R. (2008). Conundrums in the differentiated classroom. Reading Improvement, 45(4), 159-169.
Twymon, P. (2014, June). Part 3: Fluency. Module 2: Critical Areas of Reading Instruction. In Strengthening Literacy,
American College of Education, Chicago.
Young J.S. and Daunic, R. (2012) Linking learning: Connecting traditional and media literacies in 21
st
century learning.
Journal of Media Literacy Education 4(1), 70-81.