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Rowan University
Author Study Unit
Joanna Cole
Rebecca Bingaman & Breana Nikolauyk
5/5/2011
Using Children’s Literature in the Reading/Writing Classroom
Dr. Stacey L. Leftwich
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Table of Contents:
Block One……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3Author Biography……………………………………………………………………………………..3Introducing the Author……………………………………………………………………………..4Rationale for Books…………………………………………………………………………………..6Books Used……………………………………………………………………………………………….6Standards………………………………………………………………………………………………….8Calendar…………………………………………………………………………………….……………14
Block Two……………………………………………………………………………………………………………15Author Outline………………………………………………………………………………………..15Inference Lesson……………………………………………………………………………………..17
Hunch & Evidence Chart………………………………………………………………20Foreshadowing Lesson…………………………………………………………………………….21
Foreshadowing Chart…………………………………………………………………..25Sequencing Lesson………………………………………………………………………………….26
Story Map……………………………………………………………………………………30Raft Lesson……………………………………………………………………………………………..31Point of View Lesson……………………………………………………………………………….34
Point of View Worksheet……………………………………………………………..37Persuasion Lesson……………………………………………………………………………………38
Persuasion Map……………………………………………………………………………42Example……………………………………………………………………………………….43
Block Three…………………………………………………………………………………………………………44Block Four……………………………………………………………………………………………………………46
Prewriting Worksheet……………………………………………..…………………..47Editing Checklist...........................................................................…...48
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Block One: Research the Author and the Author’s Work
Author Biography:
Joanna Cole was born on August 11, 1944 in Newark, New Jersey. Growing up,
Cole always found science very interesting. While going through her Junior high school
career she had a teacher who was very similar to the infamous Ms. Frizzle, a character in
Cole’s Magic School Bus series, who became a great inspiration for her writing career.
Cole went to a few different colleges including University of Massachusetts before she
completed her bachelor’s degree in psychology at the City College of New York. This
author then went on to study education at the graduate level. After a few courses, she
spent some time as an elementary school librarian. Through the years, she went to work
as the Senior Editor of Books for Young Readers, and then became a full time writer. In
1985, Cole finished her first Magic School Book story and published it a year later.
Cole has written several hundreds of books ranging from Non-Fiction to Fiction.
She has books about every topic imaginable. Many of her books are based on science
since she always took an interest in the topics. She has several writing styles. Some of
her books will be straight forward science books while other books are picture books
that children find humorous and entertaining. Cole also writes self-help books for
children. These books include “How You Were Born” and “The New Baby at Your House.”
Beyond these typical books, she is infamous for the Magic School Bus Series. This book
series has tons of books that range in topics. The interest in these books increased
rapidly and eventually was turned into a television series on PBS in 1994. These creative
and entertaining children books are also the center focus for the American Library
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Association’s Reading Program called “Reading is a Magic Trip.” Several of her books
have received best or notable books citation from the American Library Association and
the School Library Journal. Some of Joanna Cole’s books have won awards for
Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children, and the New York Academy of Science:
Children’s Science Honor Book.
Introducing the author to the students:
The teacher will begin this author study by having the students think about when
they are out on the playground. The students will take a few moments to write down
their thoughts in their notebook. The teacher will also offer some questions for the
students to answer as they think about when they are out on the playground. Examples
of questions will include: What do you do when you’re at the playground? What things
do you play on or with? What area do you play at the most? What is the ground like? Is it
sand, cement, dirt…? What things are near the playground? Are there buildings, cars,
trees, flowers, plants…? What is the weather like when you’re at the playground?
Next, the teacher will have the students imagine that they are bugs in the
playground. What would the things they described earlier look like to a bug? The teacher
would show some pictures of bugs in their natural environment to help students imagine
what life might be like as a bug in the playground. The students will, then, write down
life as a bug in their playground. After a few minutes of the students writing, the teacher
will ask a few students to share their thoughts. As the students are sharing, the teacher
would pass out a small toy bus to every student.
The teacher will ask every student to pretend that they shrunk down to the size
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where they could fit into the small toy bus and drive it around the playground. The bus
will relate to the author Joanna Cole. In all of her Magic School Bus books, the students
travel to various adventures by a “magic school bus.” Students will be put into groups by
counting off by 4. Each group will design a poster of what the playground would look like
to people in the small toy school bus. They can go to any area of the playground and
drive onto any surface. The students will have 20 minutes to create a poster and then
show their posters to the class. The class will also compare posters.
Finally, the teacher will explain they will be studying an author who writes a lot
of books about shrinking down and traveling on a “magic school bus.” The author’s
name is Joanna Cole and she writes a series of books called the Magic School Bus. Then,
the teacher will pass around some examples of the Magic School Bus books to each of
the groups to look at. For homework, the teacher will have the students do some
research on the author and answer a few questions.
The next day, the class will start an author study wall above a bulletin board they
will use later. The teacher will ask the students to raise their hand and give some of the
facts they had found out. As the students say the facts, the teacher will write them on
the board. Then each student will write a fact on a piece of paper with markers. The
teacher will explain that they will be focusing on the solar system and space books. As
the teacher puts the facts on the wall, the students will be doing a coloring activity.
They will color an astronaut to look like themselves. They will be using these astronauts
in a later project. The teacher would have also decorated their reading area like the
surface of the moon. It will look like they had been shrunken down.
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Rationale for books:
Joanna Cole has always had an interest in science and insects as most kids, at a
young age. Her goal was to make her Magic School Bus books easy to understand while
still being lively and entertaining. Also she wanted to write books so that all kids would
be able to get something out of them. When she taught in an inner-city school, many
students were not at their reading grade level and could not understand the science
books. In her experience, science was always about finding out and satisfying curiosity of
the students. The science books were always a bunch of facts with few black-and-white
pictures. She did not want her books to be a pile of facts. She wanted her books to be
both in the kid’s interests and also be part of the curriculum.
Joanna Cole’s Magic School Bus books range from pictures books to chapter
books. For our author study, we will be focusing on the some of the books about space
to introduce a larger unit on the solar system.
Books used:
1) Magic School Bus: Lost in Solar System:
a) Summary of book: Ms. Frizzle’s class plans a trip to the planetarium to learn
about the planets. The field trip to the planetarium is foiled when the museum turns out
to be closed, but Ms. Frizzle saves the day. The Magic School Bus turns into a spaceship
and takes the class on a trip zooming through the atmosphere, to the Moon, and
beyond! An asteroid knocks out one of the taillights. When Miss Frizzle leaves the bus to
investigate, she gets lost in space, and the students visit the outer planets without her.
They reconnect with her eventually, and the group ends up back in the classroom,
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making a chart and a mobile based on their discoveries.
b) Leveling: The interest level is grade 3-5. According to the system we discussed
in class, this is a level 6 book. The text has 2-3 sentences per page with more
punctuation. It’s a simple story line with multiple characters talking. The illustrations
continue to support to the text. It has a simple story line, more conversation and it’s
predictable.
2) Magic School Bus Takes A Moonwalk:
a) Summary of book: Ms. Frizzle's class is taking a special nighttime hayride to
learn about the moon. But when a cloudy sky spoils the trip, everyone piles onto the
magic bus for a better view.
b) Leveling: The interest level is K-2. According to the system we discussed in
class, this is a level 5 book. The text has 1-3 sentences per page; it has the starting of a
simple story line with more than one character talking. The illustrations have high
support for the text and it includes some familiar objects and actions.
3) Magic School Bus Blasts into Space:
a) Summary of book: Carlos brings a space game to school. Then the Magic
School Bus takes a field trip inside the game! Ms. Frizzle's class answers the space clues
and tries to make it out of the game.
b) Leveling: The interest level is k-3. According to the system we discussed in
class, this is a level 5 book as well. It also includes 1-3 sentences per page; it has the
starting of a simple story line with more than one character talking. The illustrations
have high support for the text and it includes some familiar objects and actions.
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4) Magic School Bus Space Explorers:
a) Summary of book: The Magic School Bus blasts off on a tour of the Milky Way
planets, and the kids discover how the other planets are different from Earth. Not only
do they all have different temperatures, but each planet has a different atmosphere as
well. Ms. Frizzle's class finds out how far away the planets are, and how long it would
really take to get there if they didn't have a Magic School Bus.
b) Leveling: The interest level is grades 3-5. According to the system we discussed
in class, this is a level 8 book. The text has a longer story with more words on the page.
It also includes much more new vocabulary that the other books. There are fewer
illustrations that are less supportive of the text.
Standards:
The books used and the lessons taught in this author study about Joanna Cole
will include many of the language art standards required for the third grade. The first
lesson that will be taught to the third grade classroom is on Inferences. This lesson will
cover the Language Arts Standards 3.1.3.E.1 Reading Strategies 1. Set a purpose for
reading and check to verify or change predictions during/after reading. This lesson will
also relate to Language Arts Standards 3.1.3.G.8 Comprehension Skills and Response to
Text 8. Draw conclusions and inferences from text. The lesson that will be covering
Foreshadowing will also relate to the Language Arts Standards 3.1.3.E.1. The third lesson
will be about sequencing. This lesson will relate to Standard 3.1.3.G.7 Comprehension
Skills and Response to Text 7. Summarize major points from fiction and nonfiction text. It
will also relate to Standard 3.1.3.G.10 Comprehension Skills and Response to Text 10.
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Compare and contrast story plots, characters, setting and themes. The fourth lesson that
will be taught is on writing a RAFT. This lesson will relate to the Language Arts Standards
3.2.3.A.2 Writing as A Process 2. Examine real world examples of writing in various
genres to gain understanding of how authors communicate ideas through form,
structure and author’s voice. This will also relate to Standard 3.2.3.A.10 Writing as A
Process 10. Edit work for basic spelling and mechanics. The fifth lesson is on Point of
View. The Language Arts Standards included in this lesson are Standards 3.1.3.G.9
Comprehension Skills and Response to Text 9.Recognize first-person “I” point of view. It
also relates to Standard 3.1.3.G.10 Comprehension Skills and Response to Text 10.
Compare and contrast story plots, characters, setting and themes. It also relates to
Standard 3.1.3.E.4 Reading Strategies 4. Develop and use graphic organizers to build on
experiences and extend learning. The last lesson in the author study is on persuasive
writing. This lesson will relate to the Language Arts Standards 3.2.3.D.9 Writing Forms,
Audiences, and Purpose 9. Write non-fiction text. It also relates to Standards 3.2.3.D.7
Writing Forms, Audiences, and Purpose 7. Respond to literature through writing to
demonstrate an understanding of text. For our Culminating Activity, the lesson will relate
to Standard 3.2.3.A Writing as a Process. The lesson about the author’s style statement
will relate to the Standard 3.1.3.G.6 Comprehension Skills and Response to Text 6.
Discuss underlying theme or message in interpreting fiction.
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Name: _________________________________ Date: ___________________
Author Study: Joanna Cole
Instructions: Use the following websites to find out more about Joanna Cole and answer the following questions.
Websites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_Colehttp://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/books/cole.htmhttp://biography.jrank.org/pages/2117/Cole-Joanna-1944.htmlhttp://marlaroundtree2.tripod.com/id8.html
1) Where and when was Joanna Cole born? ___________________________________2) What was Joanna Cole’s first book? _______________________________________3) What subject did Joanna Cole love as a kid? _________________________________4) What college did Joanna Cole attend? _____________________________________5) What did Joanna Cole major in? __________________________________________6) How many books has Joanna Cole written? _________________________________7) What kinds of books does Joanna Cole write? _______________________________8) Name 5 of the books Joanna Cole has written? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ _________________________________
9) Name 3 of the awards Joanna Cole has got? __________________________________________________________________ _________________________________
10) Name 3 interesting facts you also found out about Joanna Cole?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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April 2011Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2
3 4
Introduction to Author
Create Space
Astronauts
5
Introduce Space
Vocabulary
6
Inference Lesson
7
Foreshadow
Lesson
8Create Solar
System Representa
tion
9
10 11 12
“Blasts into
Space”Reading
with Expressio
13
Create Character Bulletin Board
14
Sequencing
15
“Magic School Bus:
Space Adventures
” Movie
16
14
17 18Introduce
RAFT project
Read “Take a Moon Walk”
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Create RAFT in Small
Groups
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Point of View
Lesson
21
Space Day
22
Good FridayNo School
23
24
Easter
25
Spring
Break :
Read
“Space
26
Spring Break : Read
“Space Explorers”
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Spring Break : Read
“Space Explorers”
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Spring Break : Read
“Space Explorers”
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Spring Break : Read
“Space Explorers”
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1 2Persuasive Writing: Letter to Parents
Block Two: Using the Author’s Books to Teach Mini Lessons:
Author Study Outline
Inferences (Literary Device): The teacher will teach inferences using a hunch & evidence
chart. The students will make predictions using the vocabulary, book cover, and pages in
order to make predictions and provide evidence to support their ideas.
Objective: Students will be able to make inferences by using vocabulary, the book cover
and stopping at specific pages to provide predictions for a “Magic School Bus” book.
Foreshadowing (Literary Device): Now that the students have learned about inferences,
the students will fill out a story map. When the students complete the chart and get to
the climax of the story, the students will make predictions of how the problem is going
to be resolved.
Objective: Students will be able to use foreshadowing to predict what is going to happen
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in a “Magic School Bus” story.
Sequencing (Strategy and Skill): Students will be given a sequencing chart in order to
summarize a story that is assigned to them written by Joanna Cole.
Objective: Students will be able to identify the topic, details and conclusion in multiple
books written by Joanna Cole.
RAFT (Writing): Students will create a RAFT for any of the “Magic School Bus” series.
Objective: The students will be able to create a RAFT while identifying an appropriate
role, audience, format and topic.
Point of View (Literary Device): Now that the students have learned about RAFTS, the
teacher will explain to the students that the role of a RAFT does not have to be an actual
human being. In some stories, authors will use different point of views when creating
their story. The teacher will explain that the point of view can be from an inanimate
object.
Objective: The students will be able to complete a chart on their given character
explaining their point of view in several of Joanna Cole’s books.
Persuasive Writing (Writing): Another type of RAFT could be used to create a form of
persuasive writing. The teacher will explain to the students that they are going to create
a letter to persuade their parents to let them go on another class trip with their
infamous teacher, Ms. Frizzle after they have read “The Magic School Bus Space
Explorers”.
Objective: The students will be able to understand how persuasion can be used in their
writing to convince an audience to agree with one’s point of view.
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Inference Lesson Plan
Book Summary:
In “The Magic School Bus Takes a Moon Walk” is about a teacher named Ms. Frizzle’s classroom.
The classroom is learning about the moon and takes a special nighttime hayride to learn about
the moon. But when a cloudy sky spoils the trip, everyone piles into the magic bus for a better
view.
Rationale:
This book will be appropriate for the Hunch & Evidence activity because the book provides
evidence to allow the students to make predictions and connections that are not directly stated
in the text. The teacher will read the story out loud to the students stopping periodically to
allow the students to make predictions on what is going to happen next.
Objective:
The students will be able to complete a Hunch &Evidence chart providing their predictions and
evidence throughout the story. The students will be able to complete a Hunch & Evidence chart
for multiple books that they may read.
Procedure:
The teacher will introduce the Hunch & Evidence strategy by providing them a definition of
what a hunch is and what evidence can support the hunch. The teacher will define hunch by
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explaining that it is a connection or prediction that the reader can have while reading a book.
The students will be required to provide evidence when making a hunch during a reading
activity. The evidence is information from the text that supports the connections and
predictions that the students have made. The teacher will model a hunch by using the book
title. The teacher will read another book title out loud to the students and make an example
prediction. The teacher will read “The Magic School Book Blasts into Space”. The teacher will
then make a prediction along the lines of “The students are going to go on a trip to space and
become lost. They begin to float around in outer space and never come home.” The teacher will
explain that using the title and the pictures she made this prediction. The title states that the
Magic School Bus went into outer space and the picture shows the students floating around in
outer space. The facial expressions from the characters on the cover show that the one student,
Arnold, looks worried. The teacher will explain to the students that they will need to pay
attention to the story and use the dialogue, pictures and events to predict what is going to
happen next. For every prediction that the students make, the students must provide evidence
directly from the story.
Application:
In guided instruction, the teacher will introduce a few vocabulary words from the book. The
words that the teacher will use are gravity, astronaut, crater and harvest. The teacher will ask
the students if they know what the definitions of these words mean. The teacher will write
down any accurate definitions on the board and provide them to the students. The teacher will
then explain that the students are going to make a prediction about the story based on those
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words. The students must then provide evidence for their prediction. The teacher will then
show the students the cover of the book “The Magic School Bus Takes as Moon Walk.” The
students will use the title and the cover in order to make a new prediction. The predictions can
base off of what they have predicted in the previous prediction using the vocabulary words. The
teacher will ask a few students for their predictions and their evidence. The teacher will begin
reading the story. The teacher will stop at page 6 in order to allow the students to discuss what
is going on in the story and to make predictions. The teacher will remind the students to provide
evidence. The teacher will ask a few students for their predictions and ask what evidence proves
that this prediction may be correct. The teacher will continue reading the book until they reach
the other three pages 11, 16 and 20. The teacher will continue asking the students for their
predictions and evidence for each of these pages and then continuing until the next page is
reached. After all the hunches are made, the teacher will reflect back on the activity and have
students share what predictions they made that were correct and what predictions were
incorrect.
Effectiveness of Lesson:
This lesson is effective if the students are able to make hunches and provide evidence similar to
the teacher’s prediction using the other Magic School Bus book. Each prediction must have
evidence to support the student’s idea.
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Book Source Hunch Evidence
VOCABULARY
BOOK COVER
PAGE 6
PAGE 11-12
PAGE 16
PAGE 20
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Foreshadowing Lesson Plan
Book Summary:
In “The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System”, Ms. Frizzle’s class plans a trip to the
planetarium to learn about the planets. The field trip to the planetarium is foiled when the
museum turns out to be closed, but Ms. Frizzle saves the day. The Magic School Bus turns into a
spaceship and takes the class on a trip zooming through the atmosphere, to the Moon, and
beyond! An asteroid knocks out one of the taillights. When Ms. Frizzle leaves the bus to
investigate, she gets lost in space, and the students visit the outer planets without her. They
reconnect with her eventually, and the group ends up back in the classroom, making a chart and
a mobile based on their discoveries.
Rationale:
This book will be appropriate for the foreshadowing story map activity because the book
provides incidents, details or characterization in order to help students predict what is going to
happen in the future. The students will use an incident in the book in order to predict how the
problem is resolved.
Objective:
The students will be able to complete a story map chart showing order of events and incidents
or details that will predict what is going to happen later in the story. The students will use a
specific detail in order to predict an event that is going to happen later in the story. The
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students will also be able to explain how this detail allows the students to use foreshadowing to
predict what is going to happen later.
Procedure:
Now that the teacher has taught the students about making inferences, the teacher will begin
teaching the students about the literary device of foreshadowing. The teacher will explain that
foreshadowing is different than inferences. Foreshadowing is hints that the author includes in
the story to help suggest events that have yet to occur in the work of literature. The writers use
this device in order to build their reader’s expectations and to create suspense. On the other
hand, inferences are the readers own personal interpretations of the story and predictions of
what will happen next in a particular story. Foreshadowing is a literary device that is
incorporated into many pieces of literature. For example, if a character in a story finds a
weapon, the weapon might foreshadow a future murder incident. The teacher will hand each
student a Foreshadowing Chart. The chart will include three different columns. One column will
be for the event that is occurring in the story. The next column will be the clues that show that
this incident was going to occur. The last column is for recording the page numbers of the clues.
The teacher will model foreshadowing for the students. The teacher will begin reading another
Magic School Bus story aloud, stopping to point out clues of foreshadowing to the students. The
teacher will explain how the clue in the story relates to an event that is going to happen later in
the story. The teacher will continue to read the story and have the students raise their hands to
stop at an event and then look back to explain what hints the author included to foreshadow
this incident occurring.
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Application:
In guided instruction, the teacher will begin to read “The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar
System”. Each student will have their own copy of this book and will be required to follow along
with the teacher. The teacher will read until an important event occurs and then ask the
students to fill out the chart that was provided during the procedure. The students will look at
each event in order and then look at the hints that were given by the author prior to the event
occurring. The teacher will give the students a few minutes in order to flip back in the book and
find the clues that the author provided and the page number. The students will have to explain
the event on the chart, and then list the clues and page numbers. The teacher will then ask the
students at random to explain the event that occurred and what clues the author provided. The
teacher will also ask the students why they think the author chose to incorporate that particular
hint to foreshadow the event that occurred. The teacher will allow the students to take turns
reading. The teacher will stop the student throughout the book whenever an important event is
occurring or has occurred. The students will fill out the chart once again and present to the
teacher. After the story is over, the teacher will have a discussion about foreshadowing. The
teacher will ask the students why authors chose to include clues in their writing in order to help
foreshadow what is going to occur. The teacher will also ask for a few examples of clues that
were inserted into this particular story and allow the students to make suggestions of how else
the author could have used a different clue in order to suggest an event that has occurred.
Effectiveness of Lesson:
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The lesson is effective if the students are able to identify the clues that were included by the
author in order to suggest an event that will occur later in the story. The students will have to
record the events of the story in order and the list of clues that suggested this event was going
to occur.
1
Name: __________________________________________ Date: _________________________________________
Title: ___________________________________________ Author: _______________________________________
Event Clues it would happen Page Number
1
Sequencing Lesson Plan
Book Summary:
In “The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System”, Ms. Frizzle’s class plans a trip to the
planetarium to learn about the planets. The field trip to the planetarium is foiled when the
museum turns out to be closed, but Ms. Frizzle saves the day. The Magic School Bus turns into a
spaceship and takes the class on a trip zooming through the atmosphere, to the Moon, and
beyond! An asteroid knocks out one of the taillights. When Ms. Frizzle leaves the bus to
investigate, she gets lost in space, and the students visit the outer planets without her. They
reconnect with her eventually, and the group ends up back in the classroom, making a chart and
a mobile based on their discoveries
In “The Magic School Bus Takes a Moonwalk”, Ms. Frizzles class is taking a special nighttime
hayride to learn about the moon. But when a cloudy sky spoils the trip, everyone piles into the
magic bus for a better view.
In “The Magic School Bus Blasts into Space”, Carlos brings a space game to school. Then the
Magic School Bus takes a field trip inside the game! Ms. Frizzle’s class answers the space clues
and tries to make it out of the game.
Rationale:
These books will be appropriate for the sequencing strategy because the story has a sequence
2
of events. The story contains a very detailed plot. The students will be able to record the events
on a sequencing chart from the beginning of the story to the end of the story for several of “The
Magic School Bus” books.
Objective:
The students will be able to fill out a sequencing chart from the beginning of the story to the
end of the story. The students will be able to identify the different sections of a story including
setting, characters, plot and outcome.
Procedure:
The teacher will introduce a sequencing chart to the students. The teacher will explain that a
sequencing chart can be used in order to keep track of the order of events in the story. A story
map is an easy way to organize what is occurring in a story. The story map can also be used in
order to summarize what happened in the story. The teacher will explain each part of the chart.
The first section is the setting. The setting includes where and when. The teacher will explain
that the setting can change throughout a story. The next section for the sequencing chart is the
characters. The students will identify the major and minor characters in this section of the chart.
The next section is the most important section which is the plot. The students will identify three
major events in the story. The students will make sure to identify the climax of the story which is
also the high point of the story. The teacher will explain that the climax of the story can also be
considered the problem of the story. Lastly, the students will fill out the outcome of the story.
The teacher will model this activity but having the class work together to fill out a story map for
3
another Magic School Bus story that the students have previously read in their classroom.
Application:
In guided instruction, the teacher will break the students into groups of four. The teacher will
then have the students read a Magic School Bus book in a group. The students will fill out the
story map as they read the story. The students will discuss what is occurring throughout the
story while filling out the map. The students will fill the map out in entirety filling out all four
sections: setting, characters, plot and outcome. After the chart is finished, each group will
explain to the other students in the classroom what the story was about and what important
events occurred. The students will also go into detail about the climax or problem of the story
and how the problem was resolved. The students will also draw a picture to go along with the
climax of the story to illustrate to the other classmates what was occurring in the story. This will
allow the class to read and understand several books without having to sit down and physically
read each book. The teacher will encourage the students to read the other books to see
whether or not their classmates were correct about the climax and the major events of the
story.
Effectiveness of Lesson:
The lesson is effective if the students are able to identify the setting, characters, plot and
outcome of the story. The students may have different answers filled out on their chart than the
teacher; however the students will have a general idea similar to the teachers chart. The
students will have the chart completely filled out listing the major details of the story.
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Raft Lesson Plan
Book Summary:
In “The Magic School Takes a Moon Walk” is about a teacher named Ms. Frizzle’s classroom. The
classroom is learning about the moon and takes a special nighttime hayride to learn about the
moon. But when a cloudy sky spoils the trip, everyone piles into the magic bus for a better view.
Rationale:
This book will be appropriate for the RAFT activity because it provides an appropriate topic that
is compatible for the RAFT strategy. The students are presented with a topic that will allow them
to turn story into a different format of writing. The students will turn what they have learned
from the story into a RAFT.
Objective:
Students will be able to create a RAFT in the format of a newspaper article explaining their
travels to the Moon. The students will be able to create a RAFT for multiple books written by
Joanna Cole.
Procedure:
The teacher will introduce the book that is going to be used to teach the RAFT reading strategy
by doing a picture walk. The teacher will show the students the cover of the book and then the
following pages so that the students are able to get an understanding of what the story is going
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to be about. The teacher will also provide a summary of the story. The teacher will begin by
introducing what the RAFT is and modeling how the RAFT is done. The teacher will inform the
students on the procedure on how to create a RAFT. The teacher will explain the different parts
of a RAFT. In order to create a RAFT, the student will have to figure out what the role is. The role
in the RAFT is who the student is writing as. The teacher will explain to the students that there
are many different roles that can be used in order to create a RAFT. An example of a role can
include a newspaper journalist or a character from a story. The next step in creating a RAFT is
determining who the audience is. The students will have to consider who they are directing
their RAFT towards. For example, if the students were creating a newspaper article about an
incident that has recently occurred, the students would direct the newspaper article to a group
of people that are associated or affected by the incident. After this is determined, the student
must decide on the format. There are several different types of RAFTs. Students could write a
newspaper article, a love letter, a poem, an interview or even a short story. Then, the student
needs to decide on the topic. The topic would most likely be based off of something that
occurred in the book that was recently read.
Application:
In guided instruction, the teacher will explain that the students are going to write in a
newspaper format for their RAFT. In order to model this lesson, the teacher and the students
will brainstorm the different parts of the RAFT: Role, Audience, Format and Topic. The teacher
will inform the class that the RAFT they will be creating is a Newspaper Article. The Role of the
RAFT is a journalist for a local newspaper. The audience will be the town’s people who are
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interested in the space exploration. Now that the students are aware of the role, audience and
format, the students have to brainstorm some ideas to include in their newspaper article. The
teacher will have a brainstorming sheet on the overhead and will write down ideas as the
students begin brainstorming. Once the class has figured out a few ideas, the class will begin to
create their RAFT for the “Magic School Bus Takes a Moon Walk”.
In independent practice, the students will break up into small groups. The students will have to
create another RAFT using a different Joanna Cole “Magic School Bus” book. The teacher will
explain to the students that they do not have to complete the RAFT in the form of a Newspaper
Article. The format of this activity is completely up to the group. The teacher will provide a
brainstorming sheet that specifically designates a spot for the students to come up with a role,
an audience, a format and a topic. The students will break into their groups and begin creating a
RAFT. After the RAFT is completed, the students will present their projects to the classroom.
Effectiveness of Lesson:
The lesson is effective if the students are able to create a RAFT similar to the ones presented in
the classroom procedure and containing a clearly defined role, audience, format and topic.
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Point of View Lesson Plan
Book Summaries:
“Magic School Bus: Lost in Solar System”: The Magic School Bus turns into a spaceship and takes
the class on a trip zooming through the atmosphere, to the Moon, and beyond! An asteroid
knocks out one of the taillights. When Miss Frizzle leaves the bus to investigate, she gets lost in
space, and the students visit the outer planets without her. They reconnect with her eventually,
and the group ends up back in the classroom, making a chart and a mobile based on their
discoveries.
“Magic School Bus Takes a Moonwalk”: Ms. Frizzle's class is taking a special nighttime hayride to
learn about the moon. But when a cloudy sky spoils the trip, everyone piles onto the magic bus
for a better view.
“Magic School Bus Blasts into Space”: Carlos brings a space game to school. Then the Magic
School Bus takes a field trip inside the game! Ms. Frizzle's class answers the space clues and
tries to make it out of the game.
Rationale:
These three books will be appropriate for the point of view activity because each of the books
show different characters with different points of the view. The students will be placed into
groups and each group will be given a different point of view to look at throughout the three
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books.
Objective:
Each group will be able to complete a chart on their given character explaining their point of
view in each of the three books and overall.
Procedure:
The teacher will explain that point of view is the position of a character in relation to the story,
as indicated by the character’s outlook from which the events are depicted and by the attitude
toward the other characters. Point of view is how a story plays out for the characters in the
story. The teacher will also explain that point of view doesn’t have to be of a human but it could
be an animal or an object‘s point of view. The teacher will model how to “put themselves in
someone else’s shoes” by explaining Ms. Frizzle’s point of view in the three books. First, the
teacher will look at Ms. Frizzle in the book; The Magic School Bus Takes a Moonwalk. In this
book, Ms. Frizzle is shown as a leader and planner. From the beginning she is wearing a solar
system and space ship dress, she drives the bus and by her saying “the trip hasn’t gotten off the
ground yet?” shows she planned on going to space. Then all throughout the book she is
watching over all the children. The teacher will place these findings on her own chart. The
teacher will then look at Ms. Frizzle’s point of view in the book, The Magic School Bus Blasts into
Space. In this book, she is also wearing a space dress, drives the bus and helps the students. The
teacher places these results on the chart. Then, the teacher will look at Ms. Frizzle in the book,
The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System. This book shows Ms. Frizzle in some ways the
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same and in some ways different then in the other two books. She isn’t wearing a space dress
but it is unique. Moreover, she is driving the bus again and being a leader. However, in this story
she does get lost for a short while unlike the other stories. Overall, Ms. Frizzle is a great leader,
passionate about space, and likes to wear unique dresses. The teacher will place all her results
on her chart. The teacher will then explain to the students that they will be placed in to groups,
each being given a different character and they are to fill out their own chart.
Application:
The students will be placed into five groups of four students by counting off 1-4. Then each
group will be given a different character and a chart to fill out. The characters that will be
covered will be Arnold, Phoebe, Carlos, The Magic School Bus, & the moon. Each group will look
throughout the three books for their character and how they react in those books. The students
will place their results on their chart. Then when they are finished filling out their charts, each
group will present their character’s point of view to the class.
Effectiveness of Lesson:
This lesson is effective if the students are able to work well in groups and fill out a chart on their
character’s point of view based on the three books.
Ms. Frizzle’s Point of View
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Source Character’s Point of View
The Magic School Bus: Takes
a Moonwalk
The Magic School Bus: Blasts
into Space
The Magic School Bus: Lost
In The Solar System
Overall
Persuasion Map & Letter Lesson Plan
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Book Summary:
The Magic School Bus blasts off on a tour on a tour of the Milky Way planets, and the kids
discover how the other planets are different from Earth. Not only do they all have different
temperatures, but each planet has a different atmosphere as well. Ms. Frizzle’s class finds out
how far away the planets are, and how long it would really take to get there if they didn’t have a
Magic School Bus.
Rationale:
This book will be appropriate for the Persuasion Map & Letter activity because it shows how
space can be an interesting place to visit and how children may want to be one of the students
in Ms. Frizzle’s class. This book describes how to survive in space and how it couldn’t be
possible without a Magic School Bus. Students would have read this book over spring break and
would have taken notes about what they read. They will then use their notes to help them a fill
in a persuasion map and then write a letter.
Objective:
The students will be able to fill out three sections of a persuasion map. The first section will be
the goal; the second section will be the three reasons, and the third section will be the
facts/examples for each reason. Then students will be able to use their maps to write a letter.
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Procedure:
The teacher will introduce persuasion by providing the students with a definition of what
persuasion is. Persuasion is tending or intended or having the power to induce action or belief
or the ability of convincing. The teacher will write this definition on the board. The teacher will
continue to tell the students that being persuasive means that you are to try to convince
someone to believe how you feel. Being persuasive is for something that you are really
passionate about and you want to be sure that your ideas are organized and convincing. The
teacher will model this using the persuasion map by filling out her own map. The teacher will be
basing her information from another book, The Magic School Bus Takes a Moonwalk. The
teacher will place her goal in the goal block. The goal will be to convince her mom about going
on a class trip to the moon. Then, the teacher will place one of her reasons would be because
the craters would be fun. Facts could be that you can sing in them, you can hide in them, and
you can look into them. Another reason to take a trip to the moon could be the surface could be
fun to play on. Facts could be that you can climb on the rocks, drive a moon buggy and place a
fag. A last reason could be because of the less gravity. Facts could be that you feel light, you can
jump very high, and you can float around. The teacher will then show a sample letter, the
teacher created by using the map. The teacher will explain how she will be using a basic letter
writing process. Then the teacher will explain how she used one sentence to introduce her goal,
a sentence or two for each reason and then stated her goal again. Then end the letter with Love,
Your Daughter. The teacher will explain that the students will do a similar persuasion map and
letter using the book, The Magic School Bus Space Explorers. They will try to convince their
parents/guardians about why taking a class trip into space would be fun.
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Application:
In guided practice, the teacher will ask the students to use their notes they took on the book,
The Magic School Bus Space Explorers to come up with reasons on why they might want to take
a class trip into space. Each student will be required to write at least one reason and then three
facts to support it on a persuasion map. The teacher will then ask several students to share their
reasons and facts. Then the students will be required to finish filling out their maps as the
teacher walks around to check on each student. After about 5-10 minutes of allowing students
to fill out their persuasion maps, the teacher will ask students to take out a piece of lined paper.
Also the teacher will display her letter again on the board using a projector. The teachers will ask
the students to address their letter to someone they want to convince. Then they are to put a
sentence discussing the goal of the goal. Then the students will write a sentence or two for each
of the reasons along with the facts/examples they placed on their map. Then the students will
conclude their letters with their names. At the end of the letter writing, the teacher will ask the
students to give their letters to the people they addressed them to and have those people write
down, on the back of the letter, if they were persuaded.
Effectiveness of Lesson:
This lesson is effective if the students are able to the use the book and their notes to fill out a
persuasion map with a goal, three reasons and three facts/examples for each reason supported
by the book. Also it will be effective if the students are able to use this map to write a letter to
convince someone about a class trip to space.
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Dear Mom,
I am writing to you because our teacher is planning on taking us on a
class trip to the moon. It will be a lot of fun and I really want to go. One
reason that I want to go to the moon is because of the craters. You can
sing in them, hide in them and look into them. Another reason to take a
trip to the moon is because of the moon’s surface. On its surface you
can climb on rocks, drive a moon buggy, and place a flag. A last reason is
because of the less gravity on the moon. Gravity allows you to feel light,
jump very high, and you can float around. Taking a class trip to the
moon would be fun because of the craters, moon’s surface and the less
gravity. Please let me go!
Love,
Your Daughter
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Block Three: Teaching Author Styles and Themes
Style Statement: Joanna Cole uses sensory detail and educational dialogue in order to create
appealing and educational children’s stories about Space.
Characteristics of “The Magic School Bus” Books:
1. Sensory Detail2. Educational Dialogue3. Personification4. Science Vocabulary5. Omniscient Point of View6. Character Development7. Chronology
Activity:
The strategy that the teacher will use to introduce the authors style statement is “Authors Grab
Bag”. This strategy helps students identify an author’s purpose and style. The teacher will collect
various samples that will allow students to understand the author’s style statement from
several “The Magic School Bus” books and laminate them. These samples will be several of the
characteristics seen in “The Magic School Bus” books. The teacher will include samples from the
stories to show sensory detail, dialogue, personification, omniscient point of view, character
development, chronology and pictures that show a Space related theme. The students will take
turns pulling out a sample from one of the stories from this series. The student will have to
identify the literary style that the author is using. The students should be able to explain their
answers.
For example, in “The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar Space” one of the characters states
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“Mars is the last of what we call the inner planets.” The student will draw this quotation from
the grab bag and have to identify it as educational dialogue. The student will then explain how
he or she knew it was dialogue.
Another example, throughout all the books the students is able to see personification when the
Magic School Bus which has human characteristics turns into something else. The teacher can
provide a picture of the school bus and have the students identify it as personification. The
student should be able to explain the picture and what makes the picture show personification.
After the students have grabbed the characteristics from the grab bag and discussed them
amongst the class, students will get into pairs of two and create their own style statement. The
teacher will explain that the characteristics of Joanna Cole’s books can be used in creating their
style statement for “The Magic School Bus Books”
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Block Four: Culminating Activity
Culminating Activity:
After the author study lessons are completed the students will be allowed to become
authors on their own. The teacher will explain that they are going to have the opportunity to
rewrite any of the “Magic School Bus Books.” They are going to be aware of the characteristics
that are incorporated in the story that were previously discussed in the style statement lesson.
The students will pick their favorite Joanna Cole book with a partner. The pair will read the story
thoroughly paying attention to details. After they have finished, the students will be able to
rewrite the book using their OWN author style or the students will be able to change the ending
of the story.
First the students will have to fill out a prewriting chart about what they want to cover in
their story. The students will have to think about characterization, setting, plot and the story
outcome. The students will fill out a chart in entirety before beginning to draft their story. After
their first copy of their story is completed, the teacher will read over their draft and provide
some corrections. The students will then edit their draft. The students will use a proofreading
chart to also make sure that they are grammatically and mechanically correct in their writing.
The students will be sure to include their own pictures and diagrams similar to the ones
presented in the series. After the story is created, each group will present their new “Magic
School Bus” creation to the class. The teacher will also expect the students to reflect back on
their writing after their presentation. The students can make final corrections to their writing
before they submit the assignment to be graded.
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Works Cited
Scholastic. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2011, from Joanna Cole:
http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/books/cole.htm
Teaching Books. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2011, from Joanna Cole:
http://www.teachingbooks.net/content/interviews/Cole_qu.pdf
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from Joanna Cole: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_Cole
