Can You Survive?
Grade: 5
This week’s lesson is based on a shared reading of the informational text of “Help Me Survive Through the Night – surviving a wilderness emergency” by Kelly Stang. (This could be part of a larger unit plan to introduce a novel study of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Before introducing the novel, I would want to introduce the topic of “survival.”) The point of this lesson is to use experiential learning activities to engage with a text both before and after the reading of the text.
SPECIFIC STRATEGIES USED:
- Learn how to predict
- Look for key words and vocabulary development
- Think aloud
- Connect text with personal experiences
- Respond to text
- Picture events
Assessment: How will I know when my students are successful?
- They are honest with what vocabulary they are familiar with and what they are not familiar with.
- They can connect informational texts to personal experiences and communicate those experiences with their classmates in small groups.
- They work in groups to problem-solve.
- They can read an informational text and answer comprehension questions.
- They can read an informational text and apply their learning to a real life situation (i.e. creating a survival kit).
Prior Knowledge: What prior knowledge do my students need in order to be successful with this lesson’s focus?
- Pre-reading Discussion and Writer’s Notebook
- Stoplight Vocabulary Recognition Activity
Teaching Focus / Curriculum Expectations: What will I teach? Which expectations will I address?
- Reads a variety of texts
- Demonstrates understanding of text
- Identifies a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand texts.
- Extends understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them
- Read unfamiliar words
Teaching Strategies: How will I teach this?
- Direct instruction
- Modelling
- Experiential learning through walk and small project
- Discussions
Graphic Organizers:
- Go for a Walk activity to record notes
Collaborative Learning Strategies:
- Think-Pair-Share
- Collaborative brainstorm during outdoor walk
- Sharing stories during reading
Materials:
- Writer’s Notebooks
- White board
- Markers
- Highlighters
- Small pieces of green, red and yellow paper
- Clipboards and pencils
- Print outs of article
- Graphic organizer (Appendix)
- Comprehension questions print-outs (Appendix)
- Teacher survival kit to act as model
- Outdoors
Day 1:
| Teacher | Student |
| Before Reading:
Think Pair and Share Instruct students to think and write in Writer’s Notebook: What does it mean to be a survivor? Circulate classroom, listen, and ask questions. Share: Discuss what it means to be a survivor as a class. Direct students to think about surviving in the wild. Ask them what basic skills you should have to be able to survive in the wild to access prior knowledge and vocabulary. Go for a Walk Depending on the school surroundings, go for a walk outside. Teacher will circulate yard and help groups in problem-solving. |
Write short paragraph in Writer’s Notebook.
Pair: Share your answers with a partner. Discuss. Students will be in groups of 2 to 4 and have a clipboard to record every problem they can think of that someone may face if they were in the wild. Students would also need to record 4 items that they would bring as a group to survive in the wild for 3 nights and 4 days. Next class, students will be expected to share their answers. |
Day 2:
| Teacher | Student |
| Before Reading
Stoplight Vocabulary Recognition Activity Each student is given a green, yellow and red paper. The teacher will slowly add various words on the board that are from the informational text. Green: I understand that word and have used it several times before. Yellow: I have seen this word before but I don’t really know what it means. Red: I have never seen this word before and I wouldn’t even know how to pronounce it. The teacher will leave the words up on the board and ask students to underline these words whenever they find it as the class reads the text. During Reading:
Instruct students that they will be responding to basic comprehension questions. It is helpful to read the questions before the text to help students recognize what they are looking for. Teacher provides each student a highlighter and asks them to highlight important information that may answer a question as they read. Begin reading text and inform students that you will be thinking out loud as you read and will be asking students various questions. For example, at the end of the 1st paragraph (“or capsize your canoe and be miles from your vehicle”), I would ask students if they have any stories that are similar to these examples. The opportunities in think-aloud reading are endless. |
Students will raise one paper to signify the prior knowledge of that word. Students take turns reading the questions out loud. Students highlight when reading. Students will listen. They will also be asked to recognize previously discussed vocabulary. Students will also connect to the text with personal stories. |
Day 3:
| Teacher | Student |
| After Reading:
Teacher reviews comprehension questions with students and gives students the period to work in partners to answer questions. Included in comprehension questions are questions about vocabulary. At the end of class, teacher announces to class that students will used their newly gained knowledge to make a compact survival kit. They will be given an assignment to take home and will have to bring in a small survival kit to present to class. |
Students review questions with partner and answer questions. Students will need to find at least 1 quote from the informational text to support why they included at least 1 of the items in their kit. |
Day 4:
| Teacher | Student |
| After Reading:
Teacher models proper presentation skills by beginning class with a presentation of their personal survival kit. Teacher then provides space for students to take turns presenting. |
Presents or fills in a peer-evaluation worksheet. |
Appendix:
Graphic Organizer for Outdoor Activity:
| Survival Problems
In the space below, record at least 4 problems someone may face when spending time outside. Try to also brainstorm solutions to these problems. |
||||
| Problem: | ||||
| Solution to Problem: | ||||
| Survival Items:
What 4 items would you bring with you in a 3 night-4 day trip in the outdoors. |
|
| ITEM | EXPLAIN WHY YOU WOULD BRING IT |
Resources:
http://www.eworkshop.on.ca to Literacy Modules: Grades 4 to 6: Shared Reading.
Ministry of Education Ontario. 2006 Grades 1 – 8 English Curriculum. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/language18currb.pdf.
The Guide To Effective Literacy Instruction, Grades 4-6, Volume 5, Reading(2008) (pp. 60-85)
http://eworkshop.on.ca/edu/resources/guides/Guide_Lit_456_Vol_5_Reading.pdf
Schwartz, S. & Polishuke, M. (2012). Creating the Dynamic Classroom: A Handbook for Teachers (2nd Edition).
Stang, K. “Help me make it through the night – surviving a wilderness emergency.” New York State Conservationist, April 2012.
An Educator's Toolkit 