I am creating a unit on Native-Americans and focusing on literacy by using two anchor texts. The anchor texts for the unit include two books, Conrad Richter: The Light in the Forest, and Happily May I Walk by Arlene Hirschfelder. The Light in the Forest is written as historical fiction but it is based on true events of Native-Americans holding captive White settlers as well as White settlers holding captive Native-Americans. Happily May I Walk is a non-fiction book about Native-American culture and the examination of the multiple aspects of Native-Americans in the 21st century. Students will be comparing and contrasting fiction and non-fiction readings in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics. Students will also draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research in the form of short essays and personal narratives. This unit is intended for sixth graders. It meets the Illinois common core state standards for reading #9, and writing #9a standards for sixth grade.
Wordle is a word cloud generator.
This web 2.0 tool allows one to input text and from said text it creates a visual
illustration of the words and enlarges the most repeated words. The word clouds
can be modified to a preferred layout and color scheme. This tool is very easy
to use. It took me ten minutes to copy and paste the text that I wanted to use
and then generate it into a Wordle. This web 2.0 tool is FREE at Wordle’s official website. This tool should
be fun and easy for students to use. Students and teachers can then share their Wordle by sharing their Wordle web link.
Wordle: Native-American Unit
Since the students will be reading The Light in the Forest I decided to
write a summary of the book and then create a Wordle from it. As you can see
from the image above there are a few words that stand out from the rest such as
True Son (the main character), John (True Son’s biological name), and White
(his race) to name a few. This Wordle can be presented prior to reading the book
as an anticipatory activity by having the students write predictions of what
they think the book will be about through inferences using the Wordle example. This
Wordle can also be used to show students how they will convert their writing assignment
into a Wordle to share with the class. Instead of having students present their writing assignments via an oral presentation they can use their Wordle illustrations to
present it. This web tool does not take a long time to use. Once student have their
writing assignment typed they can simply copy and paste it into the Wordle
generator. Overall, this should be a fun way to help students engage in their writing
assignment and be eager to share it with the class in the form of a Wordle.
*My link to my Wordle example on
Wordle’s official website is right below the image of my Wordle.*
*If you have any other ideas for
which Wordle could be integrated in this unit please share them with me via
the comments section.*
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