Genre: Science Fiction. Day 5

Transcription

1 Level Q/40 Teacher s Guide Skills and Strategies Genre: Science Fiction The Dog Did My Homework Bigger Anchor Comprehension Strategies Make predictions Evaluate point of view Genre Study Recognize genre features Analyze genre texts Make text-to-text genre connections Tier Two Vocabulary See book s glossary Word Study Specific adjectives Fluency Read with characterization and feelings Writing Writer s tools: onomatopoeia Write a science fiction story using writing-process steps Unit at a Glance Day 1 Prepare to Read Day 4 Reread Bigger * Day 2 Read The Dog Did My Homework * Day 5 Literature Circle Discussion/Reinforce Skills* Day 3 Read Bigger * Days 6 15 Write a science fiction story using the writing-process steps on page 10 *While you are meeting with small groups, other students can: read independently from your classroom library reflect on their learning in reading response journals engage in literacy workstations 1 Two Science Fiction Stories B e n c h m a r k E d u c a t i o n C o m p a n y

2 Day 1 Prepare to Read Build Genre Background Write the word genre on chart paper. Ask: Who can explain what the word genre means? Allow responses. Say: The word genre means a kind of something. Landscapes and portraits are two genres, or kinds, of paintings. Each genre has its own characteristics that we can use to identify it. In the same way, we can identify literary genres by their characteristics. As readers, we use our knowledge of genre to help us anticipate what will happen or what we will learn. As writers, we use our knowledge of genre to help us develop and organize our ideas. Ask: Who can name some literary genres? Let s make a list. Allow responses. Post the list on the classroom wall as an anchor chart. Draw a concept web on chart paper or the chalkboard. Write Science Fiction in the center circle of the web. Say: Science fiction is one example of a literary genre. Think of any science fiction stories you know. How would you define what science fiction is? Turn and Talk. Ask students to turn and talk to a classmate and jot down any features of a science fiction story they can think of. Then bring students together and ask them to share their ideas. Record them on the group web. Reinforce the concept that all science fiction stories have certain common features. Introduce the Book Distribute a copy of the book to each student. Read the title aloud. Ask students to tell what they see on the cover and table of contents. Ask students to turn to pages 2 3. Say: This week we are going to read science fiction stories that will help us learn about this genre. First we re going to focus on this genre as readers. Then we re going to study science fiction stories from a writer s perspective. Our goal this week is to really understand this genre. Ask a student to read aloud the text on pages 2 3 while others follow along. Invite a different student to read the web on page 3. Point to your Science Fiction web on chart paper. Say: Let s compare our initial ideas about science fiction with what we just read. What new features of this genre did you learn? Allow responses. Add new information to the class web. Post this chart in your classroom during your science fiction unit. Say: As we read science fiction stories this week, we will come back to this anchor chart. We will look for how these features appear in each story we read. Ask students to turn to pages 4 5. Say: Jules Verne and H. G. Wells established the science fiction genre in the 1800s and inspired future authors. Let s read about some of their books. Have a student read aloud the book descriptions while others follow along. Say: Many of the machines and events described in the works of Verne and Wells later came to exist in some form. What can you infer, or tell, from this? Allow responses. Prompt students to understand that science fiction authors are interested in scientific trends and are often visionary, or forward-thinking. Introduce the Tools Writers Use: Onomatopoeia Read aloud Tools Writers Use on page 5. Say: Onomatopoeia makes scenes more realistic by appealing to readers sense of hearing. The science fiction stories in this book include examples of onomatopoeia. Let s practice identifying onomatopoeia so we can recognize it in the stories we read. Distribute BLM 1 (Onomatopoeia). Read aloud sentence 1 with students. Model Identifying Onomatopoeia: The first sentence uses the word shushing to describe a particular noise. The sound the reader makes saying this word is like the sound waves make on a beach. Engaging the readers senses makes the scene seem more real. Ask students to work with a partner or in small groups to identify the examples of onomatopoeia in the remaining sentences, complete two sentences using onomatopoeia, and write their own example of onomatopoeia. Bring the groups together to share their findings. Ask each group to read one of the sentences they completed. Use the examples to build their understanding of how and why writers use onomatopoeia. Remind students that onomatopoeia helps readers connect with a scene by using multiple senses. Ask groups to hand in their sentences. Transfer student-written sentences to chart paper, title the page Onomatopoeia, and post it as an anchor chart in your classroom.. All rights reserved. Teachers may photocopy the reproducible pages for classroom use. No other part of the guide may be reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. ISBN: Two Science Fiction Stories

3 Name Two Science FicTion STorieS Reflect and Review Turn and Talk. Write one or more of the following questions on chart paper. What is a literary genre, and how can understanding genres help readers and writers? What did you learn today about the science fiction genre? How can readers recognize the technique of onomatopoeia? Ask partners or small groups to discuss their ideas and report them back to the whole group as a way to summarize the day s learning. Onomatopoeia Directions: Read each sentence. Underline each example of onomatopoeia. 1. The only sound was the shushing of the waves on the beach. 2. That twang you hear is Hannah practicing her guitar. 3. Zrrt!Zrrt!Zrrt! The saw sang as the lumberjacks pushed and pulled it through the tree trunk. 4. Brett heard the long mournful awooooooo of a coyote in the distance. 5. No one could rest while the alarm screeched. Directions: Complete each sentence below with an example of onomatopoeia. 6. When the truck pulled into the driveway, the dogs responded with a Possible answer: a chorus of ruffs. 7. The of mosquitoes kept me awake. Possible answer: whine Directions: Write your own sentence using an example of onomatopoeia. 8. Examples of onomatopoeia will vary. Possible answer: The excited birds kakawed as they darted in and out of the bushes. BLM 1 Day 2 Before Reading Introduce The Dog Did My Homework Reread the Science Fiction anchor chart or the web on page 3 to review the features of a science fiction story. Ask students to turn to page 6. Ask: Based on the title and illustrations, what do you predict this story might be about? Allow responses. Invite students to scan the text and look for the boldfaced words (holographic, lunar, supersonic, solar, orbital). Say: As you read, pay attention to these words. If you don t know what they mean, try to use clues in the surrounding text to help you define them. We ll come back to these words after we read. Set a Purpose for Reading Ask students to read the story, focusing on the genre elements they noted on their anchor chart. They should also look for examples of onomatopoeia and think about how the author s use of onomatopoeia helps them connect with the setting, plot, and characters. Read The Dog Did My Homework Place students in groups based on their reading levels. Ask students to read the story silently, whisper-read, or read with a partner. Confer briefly with individual students to monitor their understanding of the text and their use of fix-up strategies. Management Tip Ask students to place self-stick notes in the margins where they notice examples of onomatopoeia or features of the genre. After Reading Build Comprehension: Make Predictions Lead a student discussion using the Analyze the Characters, Setting, and Plot questions on page 13. Then, use the following steps to provide explicit modeling of how to make predictions in a science fiction story. Explain: Before you read a science fiction story, you can look at the title and illustrations to predict what the story will be about. As you read the first few paragraphs, look for clues about the characters, setting, and conflict. As you continue reading, watch to see if your predictions are correct. Are the characters Two Science Fiction Stories 3

4 Day 2 (cont.) acting the way you expected? Is the problem what you thought it would be? If not, you can revise your predictions based on any new information or evidence you ve gathered. Making and revising predictions helps readers pay close attention to the characters and plot and appreciate the clever, creative elements of a science fiction story. Distribute copies of BLM 2 (Make Predictions) and/or draw a chart like the one below. What Might Happen? Evan will try to get Bart to help with his homework. Evan will goof around and not write his report. Clues Evan knows Bart is smart but thinks he is smarter. Evan is behind on homework. Evan can t go to moon unless homework is done. He is really behind on things. He hasn t even started on his report, which is due tomorrow. Bart says Evan s problem is putting things off. What Happened? Evan got Bart to write a report, but Bart outsmarted his master by replacing the acceptable report with one Evan can t use. Evan played instead of writing the report because he believed Bart was writing one he could use. Model: When I read the last paragraph of page 7 and looked at the illustration of Bart piloting a plane, I predicted that the plane would play a part in the story. However, on the last page, I had to revise my prediction. The important part of the paragraph was that some animals were doing jobs that used to be done only by people like Evan s teacher, Miss Muffin Paws! Guide Practice. Work with students to record predictions readers might make in the story. Help them notice details in the introduction that give clues to the characters personalities and a possible conflict. The characters and plot should develop logically as new information and evidence unfolds. Have students keep BLM 2 in their genre studies folders. Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment Remind students that when they answer questions on standardized assessments, they must be able to support their answers with facts or clues and evidence directly from the text. Use the Comprehension Question Card with small groups of students to practice answering textdependent comprehension questions. Say: Today I will help you learn how to answer Find It! questions. The answer to a Find It! question is right in the book. You can find the answer in one place in the text. Model. Read the second Find It! question. Say: When I read the question, I look for important words that tell me what to look for in the book. What words in this question do you think will help me? Allow responses. Say: Yes, I m looking for the words paper and titled. On page 12, I read Now the paper was titled Cats Are Dumb,.... This sentence answers the question. Guide Practice. Use the Power Tool Flip Chart to help you develop other Find It! questions. Focus on Vocabulary: Specific Adjectives Explain/Model: Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns by telling what kind of, which one, and how many. We often find adjectives right before the noun they describe. For example, on page 6, the author uses birthday as an adjective to modify the noun party; birthday tells what kind of party. Thinking about birthday parties I have attended helps me understand the phrase. Practice. Ask students to find science-based adjective/noun phrases in the story, such as astute animals, 347th floor, flickering lights, and electronic notepad. Ask students what question each adjective answers about the noun and what personal connection they can make with the adjective. Say: Let s find the boldfaced words in this science fiction story. What can you do if you don t know what these words mean? Allow responses. Say: Besides looking in the glossary or a dictionary, you can look for clues in the text that help define the word. You can also try to make a personal connection with the word. For example, you might have heard a similar word used in science class or in a science fiction movie. Ask students to work with a partner to complete the Focus on Words activity on page 13 using BLM 3 (Focus on Specific Adjectives). Explain that they should identify the noun the boldfaced adjective modifies and read the sentences around the adjective looking for context clues. Then they should make a personal connection to the word that will help them understand and remember it. Transfer Through Oral Language. Ask groups of students to share their findings. Then challenge individual students to use the adjectives in new sentences that give clues to their meaning. Ask other students to listen carefully and then tell whether or not the adjective fits the noun or pronoun being described. Ask students to save their work in their genre studies folders to continue on Days 3 and 4. 4 Two Science Fiction Stories

5 Page Word Word It Describes Personal Connection (Possible Answers) 6 holographic clip watching Star Trek 6 lunar buggy book about moon exploration 7 supersonic airbus Star Wars movies 8 solar panels neighbor s house 8 orbital spaceport Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. Reflect and Review Turn and Talk. Ask partners or small groups to reread the Features of Science Fiction web on page 3 and decide whether all of these features are present in The Dog Did My Homework. Ask groups to share and support their findings. Fluency: Read with Characterization and Feelings You may wish to have students reread the story with a partner during independent reading time. Have them focus on reading with appropriate expression to reflect the emotions and traits of the characters. Ask students to read the second through fifth paragraphs on page 7 to characterize Evan and Bart. Encourage them to discuss the traits each character shows at this point in the story and express those traits in their reading through voice inflection and body language. Day 3 Before Reading Introduce Bigger Ask students to turn to page 14. Say: This story is written in a different format from the other science fiction story we read. Notice the notes in the margin. First, we will read to understand the story, focusing on its setting, characters, plot, and futuristic elements. Tomorrow, we will read this story like a writer and think about how the notes can help us write our own science fiction stories. Say: Let s look at the title and illustrations of this story. What do you predict it might be about? Ask students to scan the text and look for the boldfaced words (toy-sized, miniscule, microscopic, vast, colossal). Ask: What do you notice about these words? Why do you think they appear in boldfaced type? (All of these words describe sizes of things.) Say: As you read, try to figure out the meanings of these words. Look for the nouns or pronouns the words modify in the text. Set a Purpose for Reading Ask students to read the story, focusing on how the setting and plot involve technology, science, fantasy, and human foibles or flaws. Encourage them to notice the author s use of onomatopoeia. Read Bigger Place students in groups based on their reading levels. Ask students to read the story silently, whisper-read, or read with a partner. Confer briefly with individual students to monitor their understanding of the text and their use of fix-up strategies. After Reading Build Comprehension: Make Predictions Say: Yesterday we found predictions readers might make in The Dog Did My Homework. What clues can you find in Bigger that suggest what the characters are like and might do? How do the fantastic, futuristic elements of the story affect your predictions? Record responses on a whole-group chart like the one below. Discuss Making Predictions Across Texts. Lead a discussion using the following questions: Did you make better predictions in the first story or the second? Why? Which story do you think gives more clues to help you predict the outcome? How does the effect of technology play a role in the outcomes of the stories? Where has the author used onomatopoeia? How do these examples of onomatopoeia help you imagine the action of the story? Two Science Fiction Stories 5

6 Day 3 (cont.) What Might Happen? Maria might accidentally hurt some Cetians while trying to help them. Maria and the brave Cetian will find a way to understand each other. Clues The tiny people run in terror. Giants come to crush us! Big always crushes little. One Cetian stays in the open to talk to Maria. Earth people had so much to teach the Cetians. The Cetian keeps trying to tell Maria about terrible giants. What Happened? An even bigger race of giants arrives to crush her and the Cetians. Too late, Maria understands the Cetian s warning when she sees the vast spaceship of giants landing. Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment Use the Comprehension Question Card to practice answering text-dependent questions. Say: Today we will learn how to answer Look Closer! questions. The answer to a Look Closer! question is in the book. You have to look in more than one place. You find the different parts of the answer. Then you put the parts together to answer the question. Model. Read the second Look Closer! question. Say: This question asks me to identify cause and effect. I know because it has the clue word why. Now I need to look for other important information to find in the book. What information do you think will help me? Allow responses. Say: Yes, I m looking for what is dangerous about being outside the spaceship on Tau Ceti 4. On page 15, I read that Tau Ceti has a brighter sun than Earth, and the Tau Ceti sun often erupted with bursts of energy. I have found the answer in the book. I looked in several sentences to find the answer. Guide Practice: Use the Power Tool Flip Chart to help you develop other Look Closer! questions. Focus on Vocabulary: Specific Adjectives Ask students to work with a partner to complete the Focus on Words activity on page 21 using BLM 3. Have groups of students share their findings. Transfer Through Oral Language. Invite pairs of students to act out the meaning of each specific adjective from the perspective of a tiny person and a giant. For example, an object that is toy-sized to a giant would be huge to a tiny person. Encourage students to use gestures and body language as well as dialogue to make their meanings clear. Page Word Word It Describes Personal Connection (Possible Answers) 14 toy-sized buildings building block constructions 15 miniscule speck gnats 16 microscopic Cetian cells seen under a microscope 16 vast distance star gazing at night 20 colossal It (spaceship) the Death Star in Star Wars Reflect and Review Turn and Talk. Ask partners or small groups to discuss the following questions and report their ideas to the whole group. What does it mean for a story to have a dark tone? What makes the tone of this story dark? What theme or big idea do you think the author has in mind for this story? What events suggest this? Fluency: Read with Characterization and Feelings You may wish to have students reread the story with a partner during independent reading time, focusing on reading with appropriate expression. Ask students to discuss Maria s character traits. Then each student should find a passage in the story that illustrates one or more of the traits and read it aloud in a way that helps portray Maria s character and feelings. 6 Two Science Fiction Stories

7 Day 4 Before Reading Set a Purpose for Rereading Have students turn to page 14. Say: Until now, we have been thinking about science fiction stories from the perspective of the reader. Learning the features of science fiction stories has helped us be critical readers. Now we are going to put on a different hat. We are going to reread Bigger and think like writers. We re going to pay attention to the annotations in the margins. These annotations will help us understand what the author did and why he did it. Reread Bigger Place students in groups based on their reading levels. Ask students to reread the science fiction story silently or whisper-read. Confer briefly with individual students to monitor their understanding of the text and annotations. After Reading Analyze the Mentor Text Explain to students that the text they have just read is a mentor text. A mentor text is a text that teaches. This text is designed to help them understand what writers do to write a science fiction story and why they do it. Read and discuss each mentor annotation with students. Encourage them to comment on the writer s style, clues to what might happen next, and use of literary techniques such as onomatopoeia. Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment Use the Comprehension Question Card with small groups of students to practice answering textdependent questions. Say: Today I will help you learn how to answer Prove It! questions. The answer to a Prove It! question is not stated in the book. You have to look for clues and evidence to prove the answer. Model. Read the first Prove It! question. Say: I will show you how I answer a Prove It! question. This question asks me to draw conclusions. I know because it says, From the clues... you can tell. Now I need to look for other important information in the question. What information do you think will help me? Allow responses. Say: Yes, I need to read about Maria on page 15. I read that Maria had been standing over the Cetian city all morning. She called down to the city for the fifth time, but by now, most of the Cetians had ducked into their buildings. These clues tell me that Maria has been trying to get the attention of the Cetians for a long time. Guide Practice. Use the Power Tool Flip Chart to help you develop other Prove It! questions. Analyze the Writer s Craft Ask students to turn to page 22. Explain: Over the next few days, you will have the opportunity to write your own science fiction stories. First, let s think about how the author wrote Bigger. When he developed this science fiction story, he followed certain steps. You can follow these same steps to write your own science fiction stories. Read step 1. Say: The first thing you ll do is decide on an idea for the story. For example, the stories we read take place in the distant future, portray advanced technology, and involve human characters with flaws including some who mistakenly feel superior to another character. What story ideas can we think of? Allow responses. Write down students ideas on chart paper. Read step 2. Say: In the stories we read, the main character wants something from another character, but both plans backfire. For example, in The Dog Did My Homework, Evan feels he is smarter than Bart and tries to make the dog do his homework, but Bart tricks Evan in the end. What could our characters be like? Let s make a list of characters and their traits. Allow responses. Write down students ideas on chart paper. Read step 3. Say: Before you re ready to write, you need a setting and plot. Bigger takes place on a distant planet. Because the inhabitants are so tiny, the idea of giants can play an important part in the plot. When you write your story, think about what setting is right for your characters. What plot, or actions, will help you develop your story idea? Choose one of the story ideas and some of the characters the class has brainstormed, and work as a group to construct a possible setting and plot. Build Comprehension: Evaluate Point of View Explain: Authors tell a story from the narrator s point of view. A narrator who is a character in the story tells what happens from the first-person point of view using words such as I, me, and we. A narrator who is outside the story tells what happens from the thirdperson point of view using words such as he, she, and they. Point of view is important because readers can only know what the narrator says. Therefore, the more limited the perspective, the less readers will know. Model: In The Dog Did My Homework, the narrator is the main character, Evan. First, Evan says he is smarter than his dog. Then, he describes how he fools the dog into writing a report for him. Only at the end do we see that Evan s perspective is wrong, as the dog outsmarts Two Science Fiction Stories 7

8 Day 4 (cont.) Day 5 the narrator. Paying attention to the narrator s point of view and thinking about what he or she might not know or might not be telling us helps prepare us for what actually happens in the story. Guide Practice. Invite students to work in small groups to evaluate the point of view in Bigger. Ask how they can tell the author uses the thirdperson point of view. Point out that the narrator shares some of Maria s inner thoughts but not the Cetian s. Have them discuss how focusing on Maria s limited perspective helps create the surprise ending of the story. Then, ask the groups to share how thinking about the point of view helps them better understand the story. Reflect and Review Ask and discuss the following questions. How is thinking about science fiction as a reader different from thinking about it as a writer? How is it similar? Which words from this week s vocabulary are you most likely you use? Which new word is your favorite? Where in the stories did you have to revise your predictions? Why? How can you use specific adjectives and onomatopoeia as a writer? Fluency: Read with Characterization and Feelings You may wish to have students reread the story with a partner during independent reading time. Have them focus on reading with expression that shows the feelings and traits of the characters. Ask students to discuss how Maria s feelings change as she talks with the Cetian. Then, invite them to take turns reading the last paragraph on page 17 and the first three paragraphs on page 18, using tone of voice and pace to dramatize Maria s emotions. Analyze & Synthesize Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment Use the Comprehension Question Card with small groups of students to practice answering textdependent questions. Say: Today I will help you learn how to answer Take It Apart! questions. To figure out the answer to a Take It Apart! question, you must think like the author. Model. Read the first Take It Apart! question. Say: This question asks me to think about the text structure. I know because it says to find a word that tells about a sound. Now I need to look for other important information in the question. What information do you think will help me? Allow responses. Say: Yes, I need to look for a description of Maria s clapping on page 16. I find the sentence Maria was so excited she clapped her gloved hands together. The next word is Thwap! This word imitates the sound Maria s hands make when she claps them together. Guide Practice: Use the Power Tool Flip Chart to help you develop other Take It Apart! questions. Summarize & Make Connections Across Texts Engage students in a discussion about the two science fiction stories in this book. Invite a different student to summarize each story. Encourage other students to add their ideas and details. Ask students to turn to the inside back cover of the book. Say: Good readers think about how literary works are related. We know, for example, that both of these stories share certain features. They both have a futuristic setting. They both have elements based on scientific fact. What else do they have in common? Allow responses. Say: Today we will think about the story elements in both stories and what we can learn from them. Ask students to work individually or in small groups to complete BLM 4 (Make Connections Across Texts). Class Discussion or Literature Circles. Facilitate a whole-class discussion or keep students in their small groups for a literature circle discussion. If you choose to conduct literature circles, share the rules for good discussion below. Each group should discuss and be prepared to share its ideas about the following prompts. Are the main characters mostly alike or mostly different in the two stories? Explain. Which character is most believable? Which character is most fantastic? Why? Which story s problem interests you more? Which solution is most creative? Why? 8 Two Science Fiction Stories

9 Day 5 (cont.) Tell students that at the end of their discussion, you will ask them to share the important text-to-text, text-to-world, and text-to-self connections they have made. While each small group of students discusses the book, confer with individual or small groups of students. You may wish to revisit elements of the genre, take running records, or model fluent reading skills. Directions: Fill in the chart. Use it to compare and contrast the two science fiction stories. Point of View Setting Main Characters Solution Ending The Dog Did My Homework first person an apartment building and school on Earth sometime in the future Evan, Bart Evan gets Bart to write his report for him. Bart substitutes a silly, insulting report for the good one to embarrass Evan in front of his class. Rules for Good Discussion Bigger third person planet Tau Ceti 4 in the twenty-fourth century Captain Maria Chu, a Cetian Maria does not convince the Cetians to believe her. Instead, she finally understands their concerns. Even larger space travelers land, and Maria realizes too late that the Cetian was trying to help her. Pay attention to the person who is talking and do not interrupt him or her. Think about what others are saying so you can respond and add to their ideas. Allow and encourage everyone in the group to speak. Be respectful of everyone s ideas. Reinforce Vocabulary: Get Connected Write the glossary words on index cards. Mix the cards and place them facedown in a stack. Have one student draw a card and relate a personal connection with the word without saying it. For example, for lunar, the student might say, This word makes me think of how the moon seems to change shapes. The student who correctly identifies the word and gives its meaning draws the next card. Continue until all students have selected at least one word. Reread for Fluency: Oral Reading Performance Discuss with students the emotions shown by the various characters in the stories. Say: At times, the characters are worried, frightened, frustrated, gleeful, and irritated. When you read the stories aloud, you can express these emotions with your manner of speaking. This helps your listeners better understand the characters and events. Invite individual students to read a section of one of the stories with expression that reveals a character s emotions. Encourage students to have fun with their readings and to make them as dramatic as possible. As a whole class, discuss each reader s interpretation. Invite students to suggest alternate ways to interpret the emotions. Review Writer s Tools: Onomatopoeia Ask students to look for other examples of onomatopoeia in titles from your classroom library or the school s library. Each student should select one title at his or her independent reading level. Ask students to read pages specifically to find an example of onomatopoeia. Invite students to share their examples with the class. Encourage students to discuss how the examples of onomatopoeia help create mood and make the scene or situation more vivid. Point out that not all students will have found examples in the books they chose. Onomatopoeia is not a tool all writers use all of the time. Reinforce Skills If time permits, choose from the following activities to reinforce vocabulary and fluency. Two Science Fiction Stories 9

10 Days 6 15 Write a Science Fiction Story Use the suggested daily schedule to guide students through the writing-process steps. Allow approximately 45 to 60 minutes per day. As students work independently, circulate around the room and monitor student progress. Confer with individual students to discuss their ideas and help them move forward. Use the explicit mini-lessons, conferencing strategies, and assessment rubrics in Using Genre Models to Teach Writing for additional support. Before students begin planning their stories, pass out copies of BLM 5 (Science Fiction Checklist). Review the characteristics and conventions of writing that will be assessed. Tell students that they will use this checklist when they complete their drafts. This daily plan incorporates the generally accepted six traits of writing as they pertain to science fiction. Days 6 7: Plan Ask students to use BLM 6 (Science Fiction Planning Guide) to brainstorm the characters, setting, and plot for their stories. Encourage students to refer to the Features of Science Fiction web on page 3 and to the steps in The Writer s Craft on pages of the book. Confer with individual students and focus on their ideas. Did students begin their stories with a what if... in mind? Did they create an unusual setting and/or characters? Days 8 9: Draft Tell students that they will be using their completed Science Fiction Planning Guides to begin drafting their stories. Say: Remember that when writers draft their ideas, they focus on getting their ideas on paper. They can cross things out. They can make mistakes in spelling. What s important is to focus on developing your characters, setting, and plot. You will have an opportunity to make corrections and improvements later. Confer with students as they complete their drafts. Use the Science Fiction Checklist to draw students attention to characteristics of the science fiction genre that they may have overlooked. Focus on how students have organized their ideas and the voice of the writer. Did students develop believable characters? Did they set up a problem related to technology or science? Does the story have a strong voice? Will the voice keep readers interested? Pair students for peer conferencing. Remind students to use the Science Fiction Checklist as they edit and revise their stories independently. Confer with students focusing on sentence fluency, word choice, and conventions. Did students include both long and short sentences? Do the sentences read smoothly? Have students used interesting words and phrases? Did they use examples of onomatopoeia? Did they use appropriate spelling, punctuation, and grammar? You may want students to continue their editing and revision at home. Days 12 13: Create Final Draft and Illustrations Ask students to rewrite or type a final draft of their science fiction stories. Invite students to illustrate their final drafts with one or more drawings that depict specific characters or settings in their stories. Confer with students about their publishing plans and deadlines. Days 14 15: Publish and Share Explain: Authors work long and hard to develop their works. You have worked very hard. And one of the great joys of writing is when you can share it with others. Authors do this in many ways. They publish their books so that people can buy them. They make their work available on the Internet. They hold readings. We can share our writing, too. Use one or more of the ideas below for sharing students work: Make a class display of students completed science fiction stories. Hold a class reading in which students can read their stories to one another and/or to parents. Create a binder of all the stories and loan it to the library so that other students can read them. Create a binder of all the stories for your classroom library. Name Title: Science Fiction Checklist Features of the Genre Checklist Based on your observations of students writing, select appropriate mini-lessons from Using Genre Models to Teach Writing. 10 Two Science Fiction Stories Y06625_G4_TG_Dog_Rev3.indd 10 No Name Science Fiction Planning Guide Directions: Use the steps below to plan your own science fiction story. 10. I use figurative language in my science fiction story The ending to my science fiction story leaves my readers wondering. Characters Yes No Character 1: 2. My science fiction story is told in first or third person. 3. My science fiction story explores the effect of science and technology on people and society. 4. My science fiction story includes imaginary characters. 5. My science fiction story has a dark tone. 6. I tell the problem at the beginning of the science fiction story. 7. I have 3 to 5 main events in my science fiction story. 8. My science fiction story has a solution to the problem. 9. The problem in my story is solved in uncommon ways. Quality Writing Checklist I looked for and corrected... run-on sentences sentence fragments subject/verb agreement correct verb tense punctuation capitalization spelling Days 10 11: Edit and Revise Yes 1. My science fiction story has a strong lead. indented paragraphs Two Science FicTion STorieS BLM 5 1. Decide on a science fiction story idea. Brainstorm characters. Traits, Examples Character 2: Character 3: Character 4: 3. Brainstorm setting and plot. Setting Problem Events Solution Two Science FicTion STorieS BLM 6 10/10/10 11:09 PM

11 Name Onomatopoeia Directions: Read each sentence. Underline each example of onomatopoeia. 1. The only sound was the shushing of the waves on the beach. 2. That twang you hear is Hannah practicing her guitar. 3. Zrrt! Zrrt! Zrrt! The saw sang as the lumberjacks pushed and pulled it through the tree trunk. 4. Brett heard the long mournful awooooooo of a coyote in the distance. 5. No one could rest while the alarm screeched. Directions: Complete each sentence below with an example of onomatopoeia. 6. When the truck pulled into the driveway, the dogs responded with a 7. The of mosquitoes kept me awake. Directions: Write your own sentence using an example of onomatopoeia. 8. Two Science Fiction Stories BLM 1

12 Name Make Predictions Directions: Use the charts below to make and revise predictions about the science fiction stories. What Might Happen? Clues What Happened? The Dog Did My Homework What Might Happen? Clues What Happened? Bigger Two Science Fiction Stories BLM 2

13 Name Focus on Specific Adjectives Directions: Reread each science fiction story. Identify the word each adjective describes. Then write a personal connection to help you understand and remember the adjective. Page Word Word It Describes Personal Connection 6 holographic 6 lunar The Dog Did My Homework 7 supersonic 8 solar 8 orbital 14 toy-sized 15 miniscule Bigger 16 microscopic 16 vast 20 colossal Two Science Fiction Stories BLM 3

14 Name Make Connections Across Texts Directions: Fill in the chart. Use it to compare and contrast the two science fiction stories. The Dog Did My Homework Bigger Point of View Setting Main Characters Solution Ending Two Science Fiction Stories BLM 4

15 Name Title: Science Fiction Checklist Features of the Genre Checklist Yes No 1. My science fiction story has a strong lead. 2. My science fiction story is told in first or third person. 3. My science fiction story explores the effect of science and technology on people and society. 4. My science fiction story includes imaginary characters. 5. My science fiction story has a dark tone. 6. I tell the problem at the beginning of the science fiction story. 7. I have 3 to 5 main events in my science fiction story. 8. My science fiction story has a solution to the problem. 9. The problem in my story is solved in uncommon ways. 10. I use figurative language in my science fiction story. 11. The ending to my science fiction story leaves my readers wondering. Quality Writing Checklist Yes No I looked for and corrected... run-on sentences sentence fragments subject/verb agreement correct verb tense punctuation capitalization spelling indented paragraphs Two Science Fiction Stories BLM 5

16 Name Science Fiction Planning Guide Directions: Use the steps below to plan your own science fiction story. 1. Decide on a science fiction story idea. 2. Brainstorm characters. Characters Traits, Examples Character 1: Character 2: Character 3: Character 4: 3. Brainstorm setting and plot. Setting Problem Events Solution Two Science Fiction Stories BLM 6