LITERACY & SOCIAL SCIENCE

Kindergarten Interdisciplinary African and African American Studies

Q2 Unit Plan

THEME: Culture, Dignity, and Identity

CONCEPT: Lessons from Africa - Living, Learning and Working Together:Connecting people, places, and cultures to develop pride and dignity in who you are CONTENT TOPIC: Exploring literary and historical themes: respect for oneself and others and appreciating one’s personal and cultural identity through fiction and nonfiction textsUNIT TITLE: School and Me: Democratic Principles in Everyday Life

Unit Description: Students will listen to and discuss texts and participate in activities that will help them to understand the concepts of fairness and equality to people of all cultures and how to implement it in their everyday life.

Length: 4 weeks

Enduring Understandings

Students develop an appreciation of integrity and respect within their friendships. We are all an important part of the community. We all deserve to be treated fairly.

Essential Questions

How do culture and identify influence who we are? What can I do to positively impact my community? How do time, culture, and history influence works of art and/or the advancement of science and

technology? How do I extract and analyze key details from literature in order to influence my ability to

become a critical thinker?Common Core

and Illinois Learning

StandardsPrimary

Secondary

Primary: Standards Assessed RI.K.3: With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.W.K.8: With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.RL.K.3 With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.RL.K.1: With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.W.K.3: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened

Secondary: Standards Addressed

RL.K.4 Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities, with purpose and understanding.RF.K.1b Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.RF.K.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.RF.K.4 Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.W.K.5 With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.SL.K.3 Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.SL.K.6 Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.L.K.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

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LITERACY & SOCIAL SCIENCE

Kindergarten Interdisciplinary African and African American Studies

Q2 Unit Plan

L.K.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.

Cognitive Skills Reading, Writing, and Citing Textual EvidenceLiteral comprehensionSummarizingMaking connections across a variety of texts (short, extended, online, etc.) Making connections across texts and to self.

Content Building Knowledge through TextsConcern for others: Respect

Respecting yourself, others, and your school Applying rules equally to everyone Providing textual details to support answers to questions Applying lessons or proverbs from African Folktales in our everyday life

Assessments(D) Diagnostic(F) Formative

(S) Summative

Diagnostic (Pre-Assessment): Part 1: On larger index cards, have students draw a picture that displays their understanding of fairness. Instruct them to write at least one sentence about the picture. Part 2: On a graphic organizer, have students draw a picture of themselves doing something that is fair and write a sentence describing the picture.

Formative Assessments Students will be assessed by answering questions about each of the texts used in this unit. Students will be assessed on how the work cooperatively in groups, gathering information for

their final project. Students will keep writing journals throughout the completion of this unit Students will participate in writing workshops and writing conferences

Summative Performance Assessment: Both parts are completed at the end of the unit. Part 1Teacher: Create a template that students can draw and write on. Pass out the template to students and then read the instructions to students.Student Directions: “We have learned different ways to show fairness amongst each other. Today you will draw a picture showing an act of fairness taking place and write a sentence explaining your picture. Then draw a picture showing an act of unfairness taking place and write a sentence explaining your picture.

Part 2Teacher Directions: Create a writing template (this may have an empty space at the top and lines to write at the bottom). Pass out the template to students and then read the instructions to students.Student Directions: Today you will draw a picture in response to the following question: What can we do to help show kindness and/or respect to children in other countries like Chad and Liberia. Then write a sentence explaining your picture.

Texts/Resources

Anchor TextsKoi and the Kola Nuts, by Verna Aardema and Joe CepedaRain School, by James RumfordBeing Fair: A Book about Fairness by Mary SmallIt’s My Turn, David Bedford

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LITERACY & SOCIAL SCIENCE

Kindergarten Interdisciplinary African and African American Studies

Q2 Unit Plan

Miss Spider’s Tea Party, David Kirk Cutting In Line Isn’t Fair: Fairness by Anastasia SuenThe Greedy Python, Richard BuckleyBeing Fair by Cassie MayerBeing Fair by Robin NelsonNo Fair! (Level 2) (Hello Reader) by Caren Holtzman and Joan HolubI Have Self-Respect by Mary SmallBeing Respectful by Mary Small

Images: Fairness in our everyday lives

Note: Teachers may add pictures of students in the class showing fairness.

Learning Performance Outcomes/ Activities

Week One: What is fairness? Give pre-assessment to the class. Before reading Being Fair: A Book about Fairness by Mary

Small, allow students to discuss what fairness is in small groups. On an anchor chart, list some of the examples that students suggest as being fair. Begin reading the text. As the text is being read, list what the book says fairness is on the chart paper. Explain to students that acting fairly is something that everyone needs to learn to do in order to get along with other people. On a sheet of paper, with the words “I am being fair when I ______________,” instruct students to fill in the blank with one thing they do that is fair. Then allow them to draw a picture.

Review the previous lesson with students using your anchor chart; let them know that we will learn other ways

Strategies for Varied Learner Profiles

Work in small groups to practice listening and speaking skills needed to develop academic language in the context of learning critical concepts.

Allow students who has or is developing the basic skills for writing to assist as recorders

Use strategic grouping for group discussions and collaborative learning. Group students with

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LITERACY & SOCIAL SCIENCE

Kindergarten Interdisciplinary African and African American Studies

Q2 Unit Plan

to practice fairness. Reread the book. In small groups, inform students that they will be given a scene from the story to role-play or act out to the class. After each scene, ask the class, “What did this group do that showed fairness?” Be sure to have students focus on the behavior and describe it. To prompt students you might say, “What did you see ______ do?” Or “What did you hear _____ say?” On Day 2 be sure to push student’s thinking by also asking, “Why is it important to be fair? What would happen if we decided to act unfair?” (2-day activity)

Select another text about fairness from the list above. Ask students to turn to their partner and discuss how they think the text displays fairness. Again, have students describe explicitly what they see and hear and share why they think it’s important.

Week Two: The act of kindness and generosity Introduce students to the vocabulary words: kind and

generous. In whole group, discuss with students what they consider to be kind and generous, list their responses on an anchor chart. Next, show students two pictures that express the act of kindness and/or generosity. Model how to find and tell what the characters in the picture are doing that show acts of kindness. Tell students to turn to a partner and discuss what makes each picture an act of kindness or generosity. List their responses on chart paper. Discuss how the two are related and how they are different.

Place students in small groups and give each group a different picture representing kindness and a sheet of paper to write on. Assign a recorder for each group. Instruct students to discuss and record the details that make the picture an example of kindness. What are the characters doing to show kindness?

Ask students do they remember where Africa is on the map or globe? Locate Liberia. Before reading “Koi and The Kola Nuts: A Tale from Liberia by Verna Aadema, tell students that in a story we are going to read from a country in Africa called Liberia. As I read, think about if a boy learns an important lesson about being generous and kind and how he learns this lesson. Read the story. Ask students to pay close attention to how the main character acts; what does he do? What does he say? Why does he act in this way? Read the story. After reading the story, ask students questions about the story: 1. Who is the main character of the story? 2. Where does the story take place or where is the

setting of the story? What makes you think this way?3. How does Kio help the creatures? 4. What creatures do Kio help? Why do you think he

helped some of the creatures and not others?

varying abilities. Assignments should be

differentiated according to students’ learning ability.

Apply necessary writing technology to assist with students’ writing success.

Supplying the necessary language translation for parents for homework assignments.

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LITERACY & SOCIAL SCIENCE

Kindergarten Interdisciplinary African and African American Studies

Q2 Unit Plan

5. Who did Kio want to marry? What did he have to do in order to marry her? Who helps Kio and what do each creature does to help him? Why do they help Kio?

Reread Koi and The Kola Nuts: A Tale from Liberia by Verna Aadema page 6. Discuss with students how Koi helps or show kindness to the snake. Plan a Close Reading based on the character analysis by examine illustrations, words/phrases and make informed predictions.

Week Three: Lend a Helping Hand: Building a School Introduce the book Rain School to the students. Tell

students that in this book, we will see how students in the country of Chad, another country in Africa, help each other. Read Rain School by James Rumford. Ask students, “How does the teacher teach her students lessons about fairness, kindness and/or generosity?” Finish reading the story. Ask students questions about the story throughout the reading.

Review the story with students. Inform students that today they will think and write about the following question: “Imagine you came to school and there was no school. How would you feel if you came to school and had to build your own classroom? What would you do? Who would help you?” Draw a picture of how your class would look. Give students a sheet of with the starter sentence: If I came to school and had to build my own classroom, I would feel ____________________. Review some of the students’ ideas and write them on chart paper.

Discuss with students what they think that the parents and other people in the village thought/felt about students building their own classroom? How do you think the students felt? Do they appreciate the classroom more because they took part in creating the classroom? How does this make them better citizens?

Show students the picture in Rain School. In groups, tell students that they will discuss the difference between the rain school and our school. Then they will come up with ideas on how we could help people in different countries to have the things that they need in order to have some of the things that we have in our classroom.

Home-School Connection: For homework have students to interview parents or grandparents to see how their childhood school is different from our school.

Week Four: AssessmentsPart 1Teacher: Create a template that students can draw and write on. Distribute the template and read the instructions to students.

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LITERACY & SOCIAL SCIENCE

Kindergarten Interdisciplinary African and African American Studies

Q2 Unit Plan

Student Directions: “We have learned different ways to show fairness amongst each other. Today you will draw a picture showing an act of fairness taking place and write a sentence explaining your picture.” Then draw a picture showing an act of unfairness taking place and write a sentence explaining your picture.

Part 2Teacher Directions: Create a template that students can draw and write on. Pass out the template to students and then read the instructions to students.Student Directions: Today you will draw a picture in response to the following question: What can we do to help show kindness to children in other countries like Chad and Liberia. Then write a sentence explaining your picture.

Culminating Activities Character Counts has mini videos about fairness, respect,

trustworthy, etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DSkEDwaDcAStudents will watch the video. After the video, in small groups students will discuss and write about how characters displaying fair and unfair qualities,

Students will, through art, depict their understanding of fairness; this can be done through painting, drawing, storytelling, and/or acting.

Kindness and generosity

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LITERACY & SOCIAL SCIENCE

Kindergarten Interdisciplinary African and African American Studies

Q2 Unit Plan

Note: Teachers can add pictures of students from the class as well

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