ReadingEnrichment

LessonPlanforGrade6,SocialStudies
PreparedbyMrs.King

OVERVIEW&PURPOSE

Studentswillreadthenovel,TheDevilsArithmeticbyJaneYolen.Thislessoniscreated
toenrichtheunderstandingandmakestrongerconnectionstotheHolocaustandthe
differentpeopleitaffected.

EDUCATIONSTANDARDS

SocialStudiesStandard:

1. SS6H3ExplainconflictandchangeinEurope.
a. DescribetheaftermathofWorldWarI:theriseofcommunism,theTreaty
ofVersailles,theriseofNazism,andworldwidedepression.
b. ExplaintheriseofNazismincludingpreexistingprejudices,theuseof
propaganda,andeventswhichresultedintheHolocaust.
c. ExplainhowGermanreunificationcontributedtothecollapseoftheSoviet
UnionandledtotheendoftheColdWar.

ISTEStandards:

1. 1dStudentsunderstandthefundamentalconceptsoftechnologyoperations,
demonstratetheabilitytochoose,useandtroubleshootcurrenttechnologiesand
areabletotransfertheirknowledgetoexploreemergingtechnologies.
2. 2bStudentsengageinpositive,safe,legalandethicalbehaviorwhenusing
technology,includingsocialinteractionsonlineorwhenusingnetworkeddevices.
3. 2cStudentsdemonstrateanunderstandingofandrespectfortherightsand
obligationsofusingandsharingintellectualproperty.

ALAStandards:

1. 1.1.2Usepriorandbackgroundknowledgeascontextfornewlearning.
2. 1.2.1Displayinitiativeandengagementbyposingquestionsandinvestigatingthe

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 answersbeyondthecollectionofsuperficialfacts.
3. 1.3.1Respectcopyright/intellectualpropertyrightsofcreatorsandproducers.
4. 1.3.4Contributetotheexchangeofideaswithinthelearningcommunity.1.3.5Use
informationtechnologyresponsibly.
5. 2.1.3Usestrategiestodrawconclusionsfrominformationandapplyknowledgeto
curricularareas,realworldsituations,andfurtherinvestigations

OBJECTIVES

1. Tounderstandcomplexcharactertraits,identification,andemotionsduringa
timeofhardship.
2. Toconnectthestorylinewithotherareasofstudentsinterestwiththedesireto
knowmoreaboutoraltertheactionsofwhatreallyhappened.
3. Totakestudentsinterestandlearningfromonenoveltoanotherthatdiscussesa
similartopicandmakeconnections.

MATERIALSNEEDED

1. Classsetofnovel
2. Libraryclassroomspace
3. Copypaper/whitepaper
4. Markers,coloredpencils,crayons
5. Laptops/Chromebooksorstudentsdevicesconnectedtotheinternet

ACTIVITY

Priortostudentscomingtothemediacenter,theywillhavereadanddiscussedthenovel,
TheDevilsArithmeticwiththeirteacher.Timeframeof4daysinthemediacenter+
extendedtimetoreadsecondchoice.

Day1inthemediacenter:

Studentswillcometothemediacentertocontinuetheirlearninganddiscussionsfrom
theclassnovelbyJaneYolenregardingtheHolocaust.

Mediaspecialistwithconductabriefdiscussionregardingthenovel(positives,negatives,
whattheyenjoyed,whattheydidntenjoy,etc.)withtheclasstogetthemthinkingabout
whattheyhaveread.

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Segment1:OpenMindedPortrait(showexample)

Studentswillbeaskedtochooseoneofthemajorcharactersofthenoveltocreatean
openmindedportraitofthecharacter.Anopenmindedportraitisonewherestudents
analyzecharactertraits,emotions,pointofview,etc.regardingthecharacterchosen
specifically.Studentswillcomposetheirportraitsonthewhitecopypaperprovidedand
completepriortoendofclasstime.Oncepicturesarecompleted,studentsmaychooseto
eitherwriteontheback,ortypeinGoogleDocsaquicksummaryofwhattheychoseto
includeandwhy.

Day2Inthemediacenter

HookDiscussionQuestions:

Whatcomponentsofthenoveldoyouwishtheauthorgaveyoumoreinformation
about?
Whatevents/thingsthathappenedwouldyouchangeoraltertomakeitbetterin
youropinion?

Section2:ReadersTheatre

Studentswilldivideintosmallgroupsof3-4.Studentswillthenchooseasmallsegment
ofthenoveltheywanttofocusonanddecidewhethertheywanttokeepitasis(because
itmeansthemosttothem),ormakechangestowhatactuallyhappened/orexpandonit
(becausetheywanttoknowmore/changethings).Oncepartisdecidedupon,the
studentswillworkondividinguppartsandbegincreatingadramaticscript.Thescript
willbecomposedinasharedGoogleDocwhereeachstudentisabletoedit/compose
theirownpartincludingwhattosay,attitudes/bodylanguage,stagedirections,etcin
ordertoactoutdramaticpresentationduringday3.Costumesarenotnecessaryand
studentsarenotrequiredtomemorizeanyscripts/lines-theywillhaveaccesstoprint
outonlibraryprintersifnecessary.Studentpresentationsshouldbeamaximumof3
minuteseach.

Day3:Presentations

ReadersTheatrepresentations.Aftereachpresentation,offerachanceforaudienceto
askquestionsorforperformerstostatewhytheychosetofocusonwhattheydid.

Day4inthemediacenter

Todaywewilldiscussfinalthoughtsaboutthenovel.Afterdiscussion,wewillshiftgears

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andhitmoreonthetopicsoftheGermans,Jewish/Germanculture,andotherHolocaust
items.

Section3:AnotherRelatedText

ThreeotheravailablebooksregardingtheHolocaustwillbeselectedbythemedia
specialisttogiveabooktalkovereachone:

Ashes,byKathrynLasky
TheCompleteMaus,byArtSpiegelman
TheDiaryofaYoungGirl,byAnneFrank

Studentswillthenhaveanopportunitytoselectanotherbooktoread(eitherthethree
discussed,oranyoftheothersavailableinthemediacenter)asanindependentreading
book.

Uponcompletionoftheirrelatedtext,studentswillutilizeGoogleDrawingtocreatea
VennDiagramtocompareandcontrasttwocomponents,onefromYolensnoveland
anotherfromtheirchosentext.Thissectionwillbecompletedbackintheregular
classroom.