Thursday, December 27, 2012

Who was Neil Armstrong Literature Unit and a Nonfiction Summarizing Freebie!




So, I have been working on this unit for several weeks.  It was a work in progress.  I basically created it as we went, based on the needs of my students.
Permission to Pin!

Since the common core rolled out this year, the state of Georgia created lesson plans based on "extended texts" (a.k.a chapter books).  The plans were a skeleton of skills paired with the text.  Our administration asked that we use the text along with the balanced literacy approach.  So, a unit was born because I had to make sure it met the needs of my students.

The kids love these books.  I call them the "bobble head" books.  :O)  We do teach the solar system and the phases of the moon (click the links for our units we created for those, including some freebies).  We do not, however, explicitly teach Neil Armstrong, but I guess that was the integration piece.  Plus, it's a biography, which we do teach, and the kids loved Neil.


Who Was Neil Armstrong?
Our book is titled Who is Neil Armstrong because it was written before he died.  I see that they have changed the title.
Soooo, this is basically a unit based on this book.  We used it as a whole class book (sounds like an anthology to me, but we tried to make the best of it).  It would be a great book to use in small guided reading groups or as a read-aloud for the whole class.  It's a quick read.  For each chapter, there are comprehension questions and a skill sheet.  By no means could you do all of the activities for each chapter, but they are there for you to pick and choose from, depending on the needs of the students.  Here is a picture of the table of contents for the unit:




Also, for each chapter, there are journal prompts intended for reader's response. There are several copies of each prompt on the page.  I copied enough for my students and then cut them into strips.  Then they pasted them at the top of their page in their composition notebook and responded underneath.  Here is an example:


I hope you'll check out this unit!  We used it in 4th grade, but honestly, the book is on a 3rd grade reading level and could possibly be completed together in a 2nd grade class, if your students are reading on a higher level.  Or, if you use it as a read-aloud and you do the skill sheets together, that could work, too.

The first 3 people who comment, and are followers of our blog, will get this unit free!  Just leave a comment and your email address and we will send it to you!!



Now, I can't share a pay for product without giving you a freebie.  So, here are 2 of the pages you'll find in the unit below.  

These are the Nonfiction Summarizing Graphic Organizers we used.  For each chapter, we were working on summarizing. I did NOT make them summarize each chapter because that would have killed the book, but we did do it with 3 of them since that skill is hard.  Since nonfiction has different elements, we had to think differently on how to summarize.


We did the top organizer first. Then we transferred that to the bottom one, writing in complete sentences.  From there, we created a paragraph for the chapter.  I hope you find them helpful!  Feel free to pin these on Pinterest if you like them!!  



*Amanda*

21 comments:

  1. I love those bobble head biography books! Thanks so much for creating this great product!
    gobstoppersrock@gmail.com
    Pixy Stix and Teacher Tricks

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  3. I am your newest follower and I am happy that I have found your blog. As soon as I am finish commenting, I will be off to explore it.

    My students are addicted to this book series. Thank you for your willingness to share this amazing product. jontaylon@yahoo.com

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    1. Thank you for becoming our newest follower!! I have emailed you!!

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  4. I would love a copy of this! Thanks!

    P.S. I am your existing follower.

    cheriemae@gmail.com

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  5. darn, one person too late... looks like a great unit...

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    1. Thank you!! We will have a sale soon! Keep your eye out and maybe you can snatch it then!

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  6. You are very talented! I wish I could take a class or something to learn how to create things like that. Enjoy your holiday!

    Diane
    Teaching With Moxie

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    1. Thank you so much Diane! You are so sweet! And thank you for following us!! Stacia and I always say we'd love to give classes on how to do this!

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  7. Thanks for stopping by my blog and becoming a follower! This unit is really cute and I would love to utilize it we when get to biographies!

    I am your newest follower!

    Jess

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I turned of the code comment thing...Thanks! :)

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  8. I'm definitely getting this one...when I get paid that is :) I'm just starting my moon unit so this will go perfectly! Hope you guys are having a great break. I can't believe it's almost over :(

    Stephanie Ann
    Sparkling in Third Grade

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  9. How do I order this unit?
    Heather Clegg
    hclegg@aol.com

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  10. Is this unit still available for purchase or free download? Please let me know I would love to have a copy! Just came across your site today- so much fun!

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  11. .... Email is sunshinedolls@gmail.com

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  12. The literature unit has been well established here and almost concerning towards every possible stance which is said to be of even more importance. fellowship personal statement

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  13. I stumbled onto you via Pinterest with the Neil Armstrong and I am hooked! We would love to see more.... proctortmc@gmail.com

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