Wangari’s Trees of Peace Grade 1 Informational Text ... · trees • Wangari army of women • backyard •maize •nursery •sugar cane sweet potatoes • tree farm •illustration

Wangari’s Trees of Peace Grade 1 Informational Text Recommended Second Half of Year

1

Enduring Understanding

Essential Question(s)

Vocabulary From the text Vocabulary

Needed to talk about the text Focused

Instruction Fast Instruction

One’s home is more than a house.

How can we make our home a better place?

How did Wangari make her home a better place?

• barren • convinces • home • Kenya • protect • seedlings • true story • umbrella of green

trees • Wangari

• army of women • backyard • maize • nursery • sugar cane • sweet potatoes • tree farm

• illustration • key details • key words

Days At-A-Glance

DAY ONE DAY TWO DAY THREE DAY FOUR Introduce the title and author/ illustrator of Wangari’s Trees of Peace. Begin a “Key Words” class chart and enter four vocabulary words before reading. Do one reading without stopping and then a second. Pause to discuss key details and to enter four additional vocabulary words. Close with a review of what has been learned about Wangari.

Read text aloud a third time, pausing after page 16 to discuss the Essential Question. Pause again after page 18, add protect to the “Key Words” chart and ask students to write their understanding of protect. After writing, complete the third read aloud. Close by playing the Mystery Word Game to review the nine words on the “Key Words” chart.

Introduce the concept of a timeline and organize students into collaborative timeline teams. Assign one Key Detail Card to each team, with each card highlighting a point in time. Ask student teams to illustrate their Key Detail Card and to explain the illustration to the class.

Support students to write independently in response to the Essential Question: How did Wangari make her home a better place? After writing, celebrate the completed reading and the written responses.

CI CCSS

Student Work Product

CI CCSS


CI CCSS


CI CCSS


RI.1.2 RI.1.4

Oral Response Written Response

RI.1.2 RI.1.3 RI.1.7 RI.1.4

Oral response

Drawing and oral response

W.1.2 L.1.1 L.1.2

Written Response

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Wangari’s Trees of Peace

K-2 Formative Tools Grade 1 Performance Task: Informational Text

Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa Written and Illustrated by Jeanette Winter

Harcourt, Inc. 2008

ONE’S HOME IS MORE THAN A HOUSE

Table of Contents Performance Task Overview ................................................................... 3

Time of Delivery ................................................................................ 3 Enduring Understanding ..................................................................... 3 Essential Question ............................................................................. 3 Text Summary .................................................................................. 3 Rationale for Text Selection ................................................................ 3 Text Considerations ........................................................................... 4 Targeted Word Study/Vocabulary ........................................................ 4 Opportunities to Collect Information ..................................................... 5 Scoring Tools .................................................................................... 5 Sample Student Work Products ........................................................... 6 Instructional Next Steps ..................................................................... 6 Days At-A-Glance .............................................................................. 8 CCSS Alignment Chart ...................................................................... 10 Get Ready, Get Set, Go! ................................................................... 12

DAY ONE ........................................................................................... 14 DAY TWO .......................................................................................... 21 DAY THREE ........................................................................................ 26 DAY FOUR ......................................................................................... 33 Collecting Student Information: RI.1.2 Comprehension Checklist .............. 36 Collecting Student Information: RI.1.4 Vocabulary Rubric ........................ 37 Collecting Student Information: RI.1.2/RI.1.3 Comprehension Checklist .... 38


By Jeanette Winter

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Collecting Student Information: RI.1.7/RI.1.4 Illustration and Vocabulary Checklist ........................................................................................... 39 Collecting Student Information: W.1.2 Writing Checklist .......................... 40 Collecting Student Information: L.1.1/L.1.2 Knowledge of Language and Conventions Student Checklist ............................................................. 41 If/Then Chart ..................................................................................... 42 Student Resource: Making Meaning of Protect ........................................ 44 Teacher Resource: The Mystery Word Game .......................................... 45 Student Resource: How Wangari Made Her Home a Better Place ............... 46 Teacher Resource: Timeline Template ................................................... 47 Student Resource: Key Detail Cards for the Timeline ............................... 59 Sample Student Work Product #1: STEP 3.5 .......................................... 70 Sample Student Work Product #2: STEP 3.5 .......................................... 72 Sample Student Work Product #3: STEP 4.2 .......................................... 74 Sample Student Work Product #4: STEP 4.2 .......................................... 75 Retrospective Journal .......................................................................... 76

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Performance Task Overview

Time of Delivery Based on text and task complexity, this formative tool is recommended for use during the second half of first grade.

Enduring Understanding One’s home is more than a house. Essential Question How can we make our home a better place? How did Wangari make her home a better place? Text Summary In Kenya, Wangari Maathai grows up in a home surrounded by trees. When she returns from studying in America, she is disturbed to see that the forests in her homeland are being cut down to make room for cities. She decides to save Kenya from becoming a barren, treeless place and begins by the small step of planting nine seedlings.

Eventually, other women join her efforts and their combined efforts expand across Wangari’s homeland. Over time, other African nations follow her model and also plant trees. The Author’s Note on page 29 explains that Wangari was eventually awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. Note: This book was published in 2008, three years before Wangari Maathai died in 2011. Rationale for Text Selection Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa has received numerous accolades, including being honored as a Smithsonian Notable Book (2008), selected for a starred review in the School Library Journal, and awarded the Bank Street College of Education Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for Nonfiction. The illustrations are engaging and informative, and support and extend the content in the prose. While the prose is succinct, it is also rich, including engaging figurative language appropriate for primary grade students to hear and use. There is a clear central message for young readers—with hard work and determination, a person can make their home a better place.

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Text Considerations While the story of Wangari’s endeavor occurred in the past, the prose in the book is written in the present tense (e.g., “Wangari lives under an umbrella of green trees”). This may be confusing to young students and require a brief explanation. In addition, this narrative takes place in another country and the author uses words that may be unfamiliar to students like “Mount Kenya in Africa” and “sweet potatoes, sugarcane, and maize.” However, the author’s prose and illustrations are straightforward, enabling the young student to use context and discussion to understand these words and to continue following the narrative thread.

Finally, the title of this book includes the word peace, perhaps as a way to honor Wangari Maathai being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in Kenya. While this is explained in the Author Notes at the end of the book, the concept of using the trees as a way to achieve or as a sign of peace may not provide the most powerful central theme for first grade students to study. Rather, the theme of devoting her life to making her homeland a better place for everyone seems to provide a rich opportunity for student thinking and was chosen as the emphasis for this particular performance task.

Targeted Word Study/Vocabulary The texts chosen for the K-2 Formative Tools were selected because of their rich vocabulary. The terms Focused or Fast Instruction1 (Glossary) used in conjunction with vocabulary refer to the allocation of time and the amount of instruction.

Focused Instruction refers to those vocabulary words that are needed to carry meaning forward and, therefore, require more time. The term Fast Instruction refers to words that will likely be scaffolded by the words and illustrations or will require only brief support from the teacher. Neither approach requires isolated instruction and students will benefit most from hearing and learning the words in the context of the story.

In both Focused and Fast Instruction the goal is not for students to memorize an exact dictionary definition of a term or phrase. Activities will build deep understanding within the context of a text over the course of multiple days.

1 Blachowicz, C. L. Z., Baumann, J. F., Manyak, P., & Graves, M. (2015). Flood, Fast, Focus: Integrating Vocabulary in the Classroom. In K. Wood, J. Paratore, B. Kissell, & R. McCormack (Eds.), What's New in Literacy Teaching? Weaving Together Time-Honored Practices with New Research (Chapter 2). Newark, DE: International Literacy Association.

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Vocabulary in the text (Focused Instruction):

• barren • convinces • home • Kenya • protect • seedlings • true story • umbrella of green trees • Wangari

Vocabulary in the text (Fast Instruction):

• army of women • backyard • maize • nursery • sugar cane • sweet potatoes • tree farm

Vocabulary needed to talk about the text:

• illustration • key details • key words

Opportunities to Collect Information CI Opportunities to collect information are embedded throughout the performance task. These opportunities are designed to fit within the instructional experiences and to be invisible to the student. The student work products collected within this task may be oral responses, gestures or written responses.

Scoring Tools Scoring tools are provided to help educators analyze student responses and plan instructional next steps. The scoring tools incorporate evidence from the PARCC Evidence Statements which describe the knowledge and skills that a task requires. The evidence(s) listed in each of the standards-aligned checklists targets what the teacher needs to observe, analyze, and consider when planning instruction.

The scoring tools used in this performance task are checklists. Scoring tools are standards-aligned and may reflect one or more standards. In this task, the W.1.2 Comprehension Checklist is an example of a single standard checklist. The RI.1.2/RI.1.3 Comprehension Checklist is an example of a

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combination checklist used to collect information as students retell key details (RI.1.2) and describe connections between ideas in the text (RI.1.3).

Teachers unfamiliar with the use of these types of tools may find initially that they are more confident in using only a single part of a multi-part tool for scoring or that it is best to apply all parts of a multi-part tool, but to a small group, rather than the whole class. As teachers learn to use these types of tools, they may expand the application of the tools with their classes. Over the course of the first year of implementation of the formative tasks, teachers should develop a greater understanding of how these scoring tools allow for the collection of information on student performances in relation to the standards. They will become better poised to provide refined feedback to students and parents and to more efficiently alter instruction based on information collected.

Sample Student Work Products Sample student work products are provided for the timeline activity and independent writing.

Sample student work products include a/an: • Description of the task/prompt • Facsimile of the student work product • Excerpt from the standards-aligned scoring tool • Scoring rationale • Bulleted list of possible next steps

Materials needed to collect information and to analyze student work products are noted as CI within the Step-by-Step Directions.

Instructional Next Steps The If/Then Chart, embedded within each performance task, is a resource that may be used as teachers consider instructional next steps. The chart lists the standards that have been areas of focus within the performance task, offering suggestions for engaging with students who need more support, practice, and/or instruction with a particular standard. The If/Then Chart is not intended to be an exhaustive list and it is not intended to return students to the same performance task. Rather, the If/Then Chart offers some suggestions that teachers may find helpful as they go forward with standards-aligned instruction in new tasks and new texts.

Reflecting on the Formative Performance Task The Retrospective Journal consists of a series of questions to guide the reflective process after the completion of the performance task. These questions are intended to promote thinking and planning of standards-aligned instruction for primary grade students. Responses to these questions may be helpful for teachers as they reflect independently and for teachers working collaboratively as part of a professional learning community.

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Days At-A-Glance Times listed are approximate. Teachers should use professional judgment to determine the time needed for their students.

Day Duration Description

Day One

50 min

• Introduce the title and author/illustrator. • Clarify the meaning of true story and enter as the first words

on a “Key Words” class chart. • Before reading, also enter and discuss the words Wangari,

Kenya, and home. • Read the first time from beginning to end without stopping. • Reread pages 1 to 10, pausing at four targeted points to

discuss key details in illustrations and to define words and phrases that will be added to a “Key Words” class chart (umbrella of green trees, barren, seedlings, and convinces.)

• Close by asking students to review what they have learned about Wangari at this point in the text.

Day Two

40 min

• Read aloud pages 1 through 16 and pause for students to discuss the Essential Question: How did Wangari make her home a better place?

• Collect information using the RI.1.2 Checklist (p.35). • Read pages 17-18 and add the word protect to the “Key

Words” class list. • Ask students to use the illustrations and words on page 18 to

write a definition of protect using Student Resource: Making meaning of Protect (p.43) and then complete reading text.

• Collect information using the RI.1.4 Vocabulary Checklist. • Review vocabulary on the “Key Words” list by playing the

Mystery Word Game using Teacher Resource: The Mystery Word Game (p.44).

Day

Three

45 min

• Lead a discussion of the meaning of timeline. • Organize students into collaborative timeline teams and assign

Key Detail Card(s) using Student Resource: Key Detail Cards (pp.58-68).

• Unroll the timeline and support students to use their Key Detail Cards to create a timeline about Wangari’s work in Kenya.

• Collect information using the RI.1.2/RI.1.3 comprehension Checklist (p.37).

• Support students to illustrate a second Key Detail Card to match the words on the first Key Detail Card they placed on the timeline.

• Collect information using the RI.1.7/RI.14 Illustration and Vocabulary Checklist (p.38).

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Day Duration Description

Day Four 30 min

• Support students to write independently in response to the Essential Question: How did Wangari make her home a better place?

• Plan a celebration of the completed reading and the written responses.

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CCSS Alignment Chart Day. Step Standard Evidence Student Work

Product Scoring Tool If/Then

2.1 p.21

RI.1.2 Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

Provides a retelling of key details in a text. (2)

Oral: Response during Turn & Talk

RI.1.2 Comprehension Checklist p.35

RI.1.2 p.41

3.4 p.30

RI.1.2 Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. RI.1.3 Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

Provides a retelling of key details in a text. (2) Provides a description of the connections between two ideas or pieces of information in a text. (3)

Oral: Response during creation of a timeline

RI.1.2/RI.1.3 Comprehension Checklist p.37

RI.1.2 p.41 RI.1.3 p.41

2.2 p.22

RI.1.4 Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.

Demonstrates the ability to ask or answer questions to determine the meaning of or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text. (1)

Written Response

RI.1.4 Vocabulary Rubric p.36

RI.1.4 p.41

3.5 p.31

RI.1.7 Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas. RI.1.4 Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.

Demonstrates use of the illustrations and details in a text to describe the key ideas in the text. (1) Demonstrates the ability to ask or answer questions to determine the meaning of or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text. (1)

Drawing: Illustration and Oral Response

RI.1.7/RI.1.4 Illustration and Vocabulary Checklist p.38

RI.1.7 p.41 RI.1.4 p.41

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Day. Step Standard Evidence Student Work

Product Scoring Tool If/Then

4.2 p.33

W.1.2 Write informative/ explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.

Includes some facts about a topic. (2)

Provides some sense of closure in an informational or explanatory writing. (3)

Written Response

W.1.2 Writing Checklist p.39

W.1.2 p.42

4.2 p.33

L.1.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. L.1.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Written Response

L.1.1/L.1.2 Knowledge of Language and Conventions Student Checklist p.40

(#) Evidence identified in PARCC Grade 1 Evidence Table

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Get Ready, Get Set, Go!

Get Ready

• Read Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa by Jeanette Winter.

• Read all Step-by-Step Directions for each day before beginning the performance task.

• Determine whether each day’s activities can be accomplished within the time estimated and plan additional sessions as needed.

• Determine access to the text for all students (e.g., digital text, document camera, standard sized book).

• Determine grouping options for each activity (e.g., whole-group, small groups, partners).

• Determine location for each activity (e.g., whole-group meeting area, a small-group meeting area, or one-to-one conferences); in particular, the space needed to create a class timeline.

• Read all checklist headings to become familiar with descriptors for student responses.

• Read the rubric to become familiar with criteria for student responses.

• Refer to the Glossary as needed.

Get Set

For Day One:

• Secure large paper for a class chart titled, “Key Words.”

For Day Two:

• Copy one per student of the Student Resource: Making Meaning of Protect.

• Make one copy of the Teacher Resource: The Mystery Word Game (p.44).

• Prepare and copy as needed: RI.1.2 Comprehension Checklist (p.35) and the RI.1.4 Vocabulary Checklist (p.36).

For Day Three:

• Determine student assignments for timeline teams. • Confirm working space for students to assemble a class

timeline. • Print on card stock, cut, and tape together the template

provided in the Teacher Resource: A Timeline Template (pp.46-57).

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Get Set

Continued

• Print detail cards on card stock using the Student Resource: Key Detail Cards for the Timeline (pp.58-68).

• Prepare and copy as needed: RI.1.2/RI.1.3 Comprehension Checklist (p.37) and RI.1.7/RI.1.4 Illustration and Vocabulary Checklist (p.38).

For Day Four:

• Prepare individual copies of the Student Resource: How Wangari Made Her Home a Better Place (p.45).

• Prepare and copy as needed: W.1.2 Writing Checklist (p.39) and L.1.1/L.1.2 Knowledge of Language and Conventions Student Checklist (p.40).

Go! Begin DAY ONE.

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DAY ONE Estimated time needed 50 minutes If needed to sustain student engagement, divide the day into multiple sessions. Materials needed for Day One

• Wangari’s Trees of Peace digital text • Chart paper for a “Key Words” class chart: STEPs 1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.7,

and 1.8 Key T=Teacher alone T+S=Teacher & students S+S=Student & student S=Student alone CI=Collect information on student performance Step-by-Step Directions

Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 1.1 T T+S Introduce the book and the meaning of true story. Introduce the title and author/illustrator of Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa. T You might say: This is an informational book, not a storybook. The author uses the word story in her title but she tells us it’s a “true story.” T+S What do you think the words true story tell us about the book? As students offer responses, continue discussing until students understand that everything Jeanette Winter tells them about a woman named Wangari is true—that it really happened.

RI.1.4

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 1.1 Continued

T Introduce the “Key Words” class chart and add the first word/phrase to the chart, true story.

RI.1.4

STEP 1.2 T+S Add Wangari, Kenya, and home to the “Key Words” class chart and locate Kenya on a world map.

T Add the words Wangari, Kenya and home to the class chart.

Clap the syllables of Wangari and explain that this is the name of the person about whom the book is written. For home and Kenya explain that Kenya is the name of a country in Africa where Wangari lived—it was her home and where this true story takes place. It may be helpful to have students clap Wangari and Kenya to help them to remember and use the name in their discussions and writing. Clarify that home can mean more than the house in which someone lives. It can mean the village or the town or the country in which a person lives. Remind students that America is their home. It may be helpful to point to Kenya and America on a world map.

RI.1.4

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 1.3 T Read the true story of Wangari from beginning to end without stopping. Although this is an informational book, the author tells a very moving true story. It is appropriate to read with the kind of expression usually associated with storybooks to help students feel the exciting nature of what Wangari Maathai accomplished in her lifetime. Pause on illustrations long enough for students to study them in relationship to the text being read. Read a particularly compelling page two times, allowing students more time to compare the details in the text to the details in the illustrations.

STEP 1.4 T S+S T+S Read aloud pages 1 through 3 and pause to discuss umbrella of green trees. Begin reading the book a second time and stop four times between pages 1 and 10 to discuss key details and to add words to the “Key Words” class chart. T Read pages 1 to 3 and then pause.

Add the phrase umbrella of green trees to the “Key Words” class chart.

S+S Organize students for Turn & Talk to answer the question: Why do you think the author uses the words umbrella of green trees? T+S Ask students to share their thoughts with the class.

RI.1.4 RI.1.7

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 1.4 Continued Support students to use the details in the illustration to make a connection between an umbrella that protects people from the rain and the umbrella of trees that protects the land, the food, and the people in Wangari’s home. If students are not familiar with sweet potatoes, sugarcane, and maize, use Fast Instruction (Glossary) to briefly explain they are some of the foods people in Kenya grow and eat.

RI.1.4 RI.1.7

STEP 1.5 T+S Ask students to use the illustration on page 2 to describe what the author is trying to show us. Return to page 2 and say: When Jeannette Winter wrote this book, she wanted the illustrations to help us understand Wangari’s life in Kenya when she was a young girl. Prompt students to notice the illustration’s details by asking:

• What are Wangari and her mother carrying? • How can you tell whether the firewood is heavy or easy to

carry? • Why would Jeanette Winter draw so many birds in the trees?

RI.1.4 RI.1.7

STEP 1.6 T S+S T+S Read aloud pages 4 through 6, add barren to the “Key Words” class chart and prompt students to use the illustrations on pages 5 and 6 to define the meaning of barren. T Read pages 4 through 6 and then pause to begin a discussion of barren by saying: When I read page 6, the word barren jumped out as a key word. Let’s say the word barren aloud together.

RI.1.4 RI.1.7

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Add barren to the “Key Words” class chart.

T+S Ask the students to Turn & Talk with a partner to use the words and the illustration on page 5 to determine what barren means. If needed, reread page 6 before students begin Turn & Talk. Circulate as students discuss, listening to whether or not they are using both the illustrations and the words as clues to the meaning of barren (i.e., land in Wangari’s home that now has little or no plants growing on it). Support and prompt students to notice the details such as tree stumps, the color of the land (as compared to earlier illustrations), and the general feeling of emptiness. Scroll back and forth between pages 2 and 6 (showing women standing tall and women bent over) and prompt students to notice: What do those two illustrations show you about how a barren land is changing life for the women (less firewood, greater distances to travel with the firewood)? T+S Ask student pairs to share their meaning with the class and to explain how they figured it out. Confirm understanding, and clarify where needed.

RI.1.4 RI.1.7

STEP 1.7 T T+S Read pages 7 and 8 and pause to add seedlings to the “Key Words” class chart. T+S Read pages 7 and 8 and then reread the sentence containing seedlings.

RI.1.1 RI.1.2 RI.1.4

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Add seedlings to the “Key Words” class chart.

Confirm that students understand that seedlings are very young trees/plants that Wangari put into the ground. Confirm that students understand backyard, although it is not necessary to add to the “Key Words” class chart. Support students to understand that Wangari is starting small by trying to build an umbrella of green trees in a space in the back of her own house. This may help students understand the transition she makes to a tree farm or nursery mentioned on page 9.

RI.1.1 RI.1.2 RI.1.4

STEP 1.8 T S+S T+S Read pages 9 and 10 and pause to add convinces to the “Key Words” class chart. Read pages 9 and 10 and then pause before saying: The first words on page 10 say, “Next, Wangari convinces the village women that planting trees is a good thing.”

Add convinces to the “Key Words” class chart.

S+S Turn and work with a partner to figure out what convinces means on this page. Use the illustration and the words to help you.

RI.1.1 RI.1.2 RI.1.4

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 1.8 Continued T+S Ask student pairs to share their understanding of the word convinces (e.g., talking/persuading the women into helping plant the seedlings). Confirm that students understand and clarify where needed.

Note: During Day Three, students will need some understanding of what a tree farm and nursery are. It is not necessary to add them to the “Key Words” class list. If students are not familiar with the terms, explain that Wangari needed more land than just her backyard to plant seedlings for Kenya. In this book, tree farm and nursery are names for places where you can grow many trees. It may be helpful to scroll back and forth between page 8 and 9 to note the details in the illustration that can help a reader understand how Wangari’s vision is growing.

RI.1.1 RI.1.2 RI.1.4

STEP 1.9 T+S Close by asking students to review what they have learned about Wangari at this point in the text. Begin a discussion by embedding temporal words into prompts to review pages 1 through 10. You might ask, pausing between each prompt for responses: What was Wangari’s life like in the beginning? What happened to her next? Then what happened? You might mention to students that what they are doing is talking about the timeline of Wangari’s life. Help students understand that they are reading about her life in the same order that it happened. This may prepare students for the timeline activity in Day Three.

RI.1.1 RI.1.2

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DAY TWO Estimated time needed 40 minutes If needed to sustain student engagement, divide the day into multiple sessions. Materials needed for Day Two

• Wangari’s Trees of Peace digital text • Individual copies of the Student Resource: Making Meaning of Protect

(p.43): STEP 2.2 • One copy of Teacher Resource: The Mystery Word Game (p.44): STEP 2.4 • RI.1.2 Comprehension Checklist (p.35): STEP 2.1 • RI.1.4 Vocabulary Rubric (p.36): STEP 2.2

Key T=Teacher alone T+S=Teacher & students S+S=Student & student S=Student alone CI=Collect information on student performance Step-by-Step Directions

Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 2.1 T S S+S CI RI.1.2 Comprehension Checklist (p.35) CI Oral responses during Think-Pair-Share (Glossary) Read pages 1 to 16 and pause for a discussion of the Essential Question: How did Wangari make her home a better place? T Before reading, say: Listen carefully as we read the first 16 pages of our book. When we finish, I’m going to ask you whether you think Wangari is making her home in Kenya a better place to live. If necessary, review the meaning of home as it is used throughout this book. Ask students to join you in rereading through page 16, choral reading (Glossary) with you.

RI.1.2

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 2.1 Continued At the end of page 16 stop and say: S I want you to close your eyes and answer this important question on your own first: Did Wangari make her home a better place? Provide a moment for students to think on their own and then ask for a Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down (Glossary). Without opening your eyes, I want you to give a Thumbs Up if you think Wangari was making her home a better place and a Thumbs Down if you think she was not making her home a better place. S+S Then organize students for Turn & Talk and say: Now turn to your partner to share your decision and the reasons for your decision. Make sure you each have a turn to explain your thinking. Circulate to determine whether students are retelling the key details that lead them to answer the Essential Question. Note: It is not necessary to ask students to share their thinking about the Essential Question with the whole class. Students will have opportunities to discuss the Essential Question again and will write about it independently on Day Four. CI Use the RI.1.2 Comprehension Checklist to collect information about how students retell key details to answer the Essential Question.

RI.1.2 RI.1.2

STEP 2.2 T S CI RI.1.4 Vocabulary Rubric (p.36) CI Student Resource: Making Meaning of Protect (p.43) CI Written response Read pages 17 and 18, add the word protect to the “Key Words” class chart, and ask students to write their own definition for protect.

RI.1.4

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T Stop after page 18 and add protect to the “Key Words” class list without discussing its meaning.

Then say: I’ve added protect to our list. It’s a really important word the author uses on page 18. I’ll reread that page and then I want you to use the illustrations, the words, or both to figure out what protect means on this page. Not just what it means, but what it means on this page. To help students consider the meaning of protect, you might say: Ask yourself: What do I see on this page? What are the illustrations showing me? What is the author telling me?

Distribute and provide directions for the Student Resource: Making Meaning of Protect.

Circulate as students express their understanding of protect. Clarify directions where needed. Continue providing prompts for students to think about what they see on the page. After papers are completed, discuss the meaning of protect (e.g., what Wangari did to keep the trees from being cut down) and clarify misconceptions. CI Use the RI.1.4 Vocabulary Rubric to collect information on how students determine the meaning of protect in the context of page 18 of the text.

RI.1.4

RI.1.4

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 2.3 T Reread pages 17 and 18 and then continue reading through page 28 to finish the text. Reading this particular section with expression may help students understand the exciting nature of the accomplishment of Wangari Maathai.

STEP 2.4 T Teacher Resource: The Mystery Word Game (p.44) Play The Mystery Word Game to review the nine words entered on the “Key Words” class chart. This game should move briskly and can be played again at a later time using the same list of words and game rules. Form student pairs (or small groups) to work as teams with only one sheet of blank paper or a white board for each group.

Number the words on the board from 1 to 9

1. As a review, the teacher reads through the words on the

list 1-2 times, inviting students to choral read or echo read (Glossary).

2. The teacher or “Mystery Word Reader” uses oral cloze (Glossary) to give a definition of one word on the chart (See Teacher Resource: The Mystery Word Game for suggested [but not required] definitions).

3. Teams select the word that best matches the definition and writes the number of the word on their paper or white board.

4. The teacher rereads the definition and asks students for the numbers they selected.

5. The teacher continues the process through all remaining words.

RI.1.4

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 2.4 Continued Notes:

1. Detailed directions and definitions for each word are provided on the Teacher Resource: The Mystery Word Game.

2. Visual clues may be offered as support as students learn to play the game/learn the word meanings. For example, say the clue and draw a line for each letter in the word (__ __ __ __ __ __) and/or provide the beginning sound/letter.

3. The game can be played with any list of words from any text and provides a playful way to review the meaning of key words/details from a text.

4. Organizing students to collaborate in teams to match the words to the definitions can provide an additional level of support to all members of the group.

5. Over time, students can be challenged to write their own definitions and assume the role of “Mystery Word Reader” as a center activity.

RI.1.4

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DAY THREE

Estimated time needed 40 minutes Materials needed for Day Three

• Wangari’s Trees of Peace digital text • Timeline Template constructed with Teacher Resource: The Timeline

Template (pp.46-57): STEPs 3.1, 3.4, and 3.5 • Key Detail Cards produced from Student Resource: Key Detail Cards for

the Timeline (pp.58-68): STEPs 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, and 3.5 • Assignment for student timeline teams: STEPs 3.1 and 3.3 • Tape or glue for affixing Key Detail Cards: STEP 3.4 • RI.1.2/RI.1.3 Comprehension Checklist (p.37): STEP 3.4 • RI.1.7/RI.1.4 Illustration and Vocabulary Checklist (p.38): STEP 3.5 • Sample Student Work Product #1-2 (pp.69-70): STEP 3.5


Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 3.1 T Teacher Resource: The Timeline Template (pp.46-57) Student Resource: Key Detail Cards for the Timeline (pp.58-68) Prepare materials, space, and timeline team assignments for the Wangari timeline. For this activity, student timeline teams will:

1. Receive prepared card(s) with pre-written key detail(s). 2. Listen to the story being reread aloud. (Determine whether

students need this extra read aloud.) 3. Work collaboratively to participate in creating a timeline of

the key details of Wangari’s life. 4. Collaborate to create an illustration to support their work on

the timeline. 5. Tell how the key details and illustration describe the key ideas.

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 3.1 Continued Determine members of each timeline team, dividing the number of Key Detail Cards by the number of students in the class. Decide on a space where students can work on the timeline:

• One option: seat students in front of a wall or board and attach the prepared timeline template for key details to the wall or board.

• Another option: form a half-circle on the floor and work on the timeline on the floor within the half circle.

Construct the timeline materials:

• Tape or glue the timeline together (Teacher Resource: The Timeline Template).

• Prepare Key Detail Cards (Student Resource: Key Detail Cards for the Timeline). Cut out cards along the dotted lines, producing two cards with the same key detail for each timeline team.

One Key Detail Card will be affixed in STEP 3.3 to the top row of the template. The second Key Detail Card will be used in STEP 3.5 by timeline teams to illustrate their key detail and then be placed in the bottom row under the matching key detail.

STEP 3.2 T S+S S+S Lead a discussion of the meaning of timeline to prepare students for creating a class timeline. T Explain to students that a timeline of the key details will be created after rereading Wangari’s Trees of Peace.

RI.1.2 L.1.4c

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 3.2 Continued T+S Ask students: Do you know what it means to create a timeline? If students are not familiar with the concept of a timeline, write and display the word timeline. S+S Organize for Turn & Talk and say: Work with your partner to use the two little root words inside timeline to figure out what a timeline might be. T+S Call on student pairs to share their thinking with the class, calling attention to the two root words in timeline. Clarify misconceptions and confirm that all students understand that creating a timeline means putting things in the order in which they happened. Remind students about the importance of temporal words in a timeline. You might say: When we create a timeline, it will help us to use words like first, next, then, after, and later.

RI.1.2 L.1.4c

STEP 3.3 T+S Teacher Resource: The Timeline Template (pp.46-57) Student Resource: Key Detail Cards for the Timeline (pp.58-68) Organize students into collaborative timeline teams and distribute two matching Key Detail Cards to each team. Note: The first Key Detail Card will be used in STEP 3.3 to assemble the timeline in a large group activity. The second card will be used to illustrate a team’s key detail in STEP 3.5 and may be distributed now or during STEP 3.5.

RI.1.1 RI.1.2 RI.1.4

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Distribute one (or both) Key Detail Card(s) to each timeline team.

As you distribute the details (out of order) to each timeline team, read each key detail aloud and ask each timeline team to read their key detail aloud for the whole class to hear. Say to students: You will work with your team to decide where your key detail belongs on our timeline. Is your key idea first, next, last? Listen as I give each group their key idea. Think about where the detail belongs on our timeline. Call students’ attention to the “Key Word” class list by saying: Do you notice that some of the words on your cards are also on the “Key Words” class chart? That means you know a lot about these details already! Note: Determine whether students need additional support and consider one or more of the following scaffolds:

• Reread the story after distributing the Key Detail Cards and ask students to listen for their detail to determine where it fits.

• Place all the cards in a row in the correct sequence and read them aloud in order. Shuffle them and hand the cards out in random order, rereading each as you hand it out.

• Use book illustrations as prompts to cue correct sequence of key details.

RI.1.1 RI.1.2 RI.1.4

STEP 3.4 T S+S CI RI.1.2/RI.1.3 Comprehension Checklist (p.37) CI Teacher Resource: The Timeline Template (pp.46-57) CI Student Resource: Key Detail Cards for the Timeline (pp.58-68)

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 3.4 Continued CI Oral responses during timeline explanations Support students to complete the timeline. Unroll and display the Timeline Template.

Point and read the title and author in the left boxes and explain they are not key details. Then ask: Who thinks they have the card that tells what happened first? After the first detail is placed on the template (“Young Wangari’s home has an umbrella of green trees.”), ask that timeline team three questions:

1) Why is this an important detail? 2) How is this detail connected to what happens later in the

story? 3) How does this key detail help us describe the key ideas?

Continue this routine (i.e., place the card, answer the three questions) as each subsequent detail is identified) until the timeline is complete.

Describing the connection between two key details may require modeling or additional prompting. Telling how the key detail helps describe the key idea may also require prompting and support. Throughout this discussion, encourage the use of time words and a linking word such as because to help explain their detail and/or their connection.

RI.1.1 RI.1.2 RI.1.3

RI.1.1 RI.1.2 RI.1.3

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 3.4 Continued Correct sequence of key details on timeline:

1. Young Wangari’s home has an umbrella of green trees. 2. Wangari goes to school in America. 3. Wangari returns to a barren land. 4. Wangari plants seedlings in her own backyard. 5. Wangari starts a farm for baby trees—a nursery. 6. Wangari convinces village women to help her. 7. An army of women plants trees in Wangari’s village. 8. Wangari stands tall as an oak to protect the trees. 9. They put Wangari in jail!

10. The umbrella of green trees returns to Africa. 11. Jeanette Winter writes a true story about Wangari.

CI Use the RI.1.2/RI.1.3 Comprehension Checklist to collect information as students retell their key detail in the context of the story and how it fits with the previous key detail contributed.

RI.1.2 RI.1.3

STEP 3.5 S+S CI RI.1.7/RI.1.4 Illustration and Vocabulary Checklist (p.38) CI Drawing to describe the key details in the timeline card and oral

response CI Sample Student Work Products #1-2 (pp.69-70) Invite students to create illustrations to describe their Key Detail Card. You might say: Authors use both words and illustrations to help readers understand what they’re reading. Jeanette Winters did that for you. Now, you’re going to turn over your second card and work together to create your own illustration to help explain the words on your card. Members of each timeline team will need to talk and agree on the best way to illustrate their key detail so that their drawing matches the words on their timeline card. Your illustration does not have to be the same as the one that Jeanette Winter drew.

RI.1.1 RI.1.7

RI.1.1 RI.1.7

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 3.5 Continued Think about someone reading your detail on our timeline—someone who has not read Wangari’s Trees of Peace. What illustration would help them understand your key detail and ideas? Circulate and support students, prompting them to keep referring to the words on their card; asking them to explain how their illustration matches the words and describes the key idea. When the illustrations are finished, direct students to affix their illustrations below their matching Key Detail Cards. Ask students to describe the details in their drawing and to explain why these details were important to include in the illustration. Close by reinforcing that their illustrations help them describe the key ideas in the text.

CI Use the RI.1.7/RI.1.4 Illustration and Vocabulary Checklist to collect information about timeline teams’ use of illustrations to show meaning of their key detail and vocabulary.

RI.1.7 RI.1.4

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DAY FOUR

Estimated time needed 30 minutes Materials needed for Day Three

• “Key Words” class chart: STEP 4.1 • Timeline completed on Day Three: STEP 4.1 • Individual copies of the Student Resource: How Wangari Made Her

Home a Better Place (p.45): STEP 4.2 • W.1.2 Writing Checklist (p.39): STEP 4.2 • L.1.1/L.1.2 Knowledge of Language and Conventions Student Checklist

(p.40): STEP 4.2 • Sample Student Work Products #3-4 (pp.71-72): STEP 4.2 • Sample Student Work Product # (p.)


Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 4.1 T+S Prepare students for a written response to the Essential Question: “How did Wangari make her home a better place?” You might say: Today, everyone will write about how Wangari made her home a better place.

To support students for writing, do a shared reading of the “Key Words” class chart created on Day One and the timeline created on Day Three. Display both in a prominent place during writing.

RI.1.2 RI.1.4

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 4.1 Continued This activity may happen in a whole group or it may take place in a small instructional reading group.

RI.1.2 RI.1.4

STEP 4.2 T+S CI W.1.2 Writing Checklist (p.39) CI L.1.1/L.1.2 Knowledge of Language and Conventions Student

Checklist (p.40) CI Student Resource: How Wangari Made Her Home a Better Place

(p.45) CI Written Response CI Sample Student Work Products #3-4 (pp.71-72) Sample Student Work Product #X (p.) Invite students to write independently to answer the Essential Question.

Distribute Student Resource: How Wangari Made Her Home a Better Place (p.45).

Point out that you have provided a topic sentence for them. Explain that students will give details from the text to support that topic sentence and then will write a closing statement at the end. Circulate and prompt students to include key details and to use words from the text that they have learned the previous three days. CI Collect information using the W.1.2 Writing Checklist or analyze responses upon completion. CI The L.1.1/L.1.2 Knowledge of Language and Conventions Student Checklist is also available for collecting information.

RI.1.1 W.1.2

W.1.2

L.1.1 L.1.2

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Tips for Teacher Language & Student Engagement CCSS STEP 4.3 T+S S+S Celebrate the students’ written responses. Allow students time to read their responses to each other.

SL.1.2

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Collecting Student Information: RI.1.2 Comprehension Checklist Use with oral responses during Turn & Talk in STEP 2.1.

Standard Evidence (Scoring tool uses bold evidence) RI.1.2 Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

Provides an identification of the main topic of a text. (1)


RI.1.2.2

Retells a key detail from the text.

Student Name Yes No Comments

Insert ✓ in the appropriate box. Prepare additional copies of this checklist to collect information on the entire class.

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Collecting Student Information: RI.1.4 Vocabulary Rubric Use with the Student Resource: Making Meaning of Protect (p.43) in STEP 2.2.

Standard Evidence RI.1.4 Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.


Meeting Developing Emerging

Provides a written response that expresses a full and accurate understanding of the word as it is used in the context of the story.

Provides a written response that expresses a limited understanding of the word as it is used in the story.

Provides a written response that does not express an understanding of the word as it is used in the story, or expresses an inaccurate understanding, or expresses an understanding that is not connected to the story.

Student Name Meeting Developing Emerging

Insert ✓in the appropriate box. Prepare additional copies of this rubric to collect information on the entire class.

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Collecting Student Information: RI.1.2/RI.1.3 Comprehension Checklist Use with oral responses during timeline activity in STEP 3.4.

Standard Evidence (Scoring tool uses bold evidence) RI.1.2 Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

Provides an identification of the main topic of a text. (1)


RI.1.3 Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

Provides a description of the connection between two individuals in a text. (1)

Provides a description of the connections between two events in a text. (2)

Provides a description of the connection between two ideas or pieces of information in a text. (3)

RI.1.2 RI.1.3.3

Retells a key detail in the text.

Describes the connection between two pieces of information in a text.

Student Name Yes No Yes No Comments

Insert ✓ in the appropriate box. Prepare additional copies of this checklist to collect information on the entire class.

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Collecting Student Information: RI.1.7/RI.1.4 Illustration and Vocabulary Checklist Use with illustration and oral response in STEP 3.5.

Standard Evidence RI.1.7 Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.

Demonstrates use of the illustrations and details in a text to describe the key ideas in the text. (1)

RI.1.4 Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.


RI.1.7 RI.1.4 Demonstrates

use of the illustrations and details in a text to describe the key ideas in the text.

Demonstrates the ability to determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text.


Insert ✓in the appropriate box. Prepare additional copies of this checklist to collect information on the entire class.

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Collecting Student Information: W.1.2 Writing Checklist Use with Student Resource: How Wangari Made her Home a Better Place (p.45) in STEP 4.2.

Standard Evidence (Scoring tool uses bold evidence) W.1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.

Names a topic they are writing about in an informational or explanatory writing. (1)

Includes some facts about a topic in an informational or explanatory writing. (2)

Provides some sense of closure in an informational or explanatory writing. (3)

W.1.2.2 W.1.2.3

Includes facts about the topic.

Provides a sense of closure.


Insert ✓in the appropriate box. Prepare additional copies of this checklist to collect information on the entire class.

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Collecting Student Information: L.1.1/L.1.2 Knowledge of Language and Conventions Student Checklist Use with Student Resource: How Wangari Made Here Home a Better Place (p.45) in STEP 4.2.

Standards L.K.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. L.K.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Date:

CCSS Student Name: Yes No L.1.1.A Prints uppercase and lowercase letters. L.1.1.B Uses common, proper, and possessive nouns correctly.

L.1.1.C Uses singular and plural nouns with matching verbs (e.g., I hop, he hops).

L.1.1.D Uses personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns (e.g., I, me, my; they, them, their, anyone, everything).

L.1.1.E Uses verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (e.g., Yesterday I walked home; Today I walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home).

L.1.1.F Uses frequently occurring adjectives.

L.1.1.G Uses frequently occurring conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, so, because).

L.1.1.H Uses determiners (e.g., articles, demonstratives).

L.1.1.I Uses frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., during, beyond, toward).

L.1.1.J Produces and expands complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts.

L.1.2.A Capitalizes dates and names of people. L.1.2.B Uses end punctuation for sentences. L.1.2.C Uses commas in dates and to separate single words in a series.

L.1.2.D Uses conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.

L.1.2.E Spells untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions.

Insert ✓ in the appropriate box. Prepare individual student copies of this checklist.

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If/Then Chart If… Then… RI.1.2 students struggle to retell key details

• Provide prompting by showing the relevant pages from the book for students to recall key details.

• Practice with student-created language experience informational texts.

• Meet with the student(s) in a small group to implement similar lessons over time.

• Identify key details and prompt students to understand why they are essential to the text.

• Provide students with a familiar topic and ask them to list key details relevant to that topic.

RI.1.3 students struggle to make connections between two pieces of information in a text

• List the facts on sentence strips and have students pair these and explain their thinking.

• Give students key prompts to help them focus on the key ideas to consider when making connections.

• Have students study the illustrations to help them draw connections between two ideas or pieces of information.

• Have students co-create connection charts. The teacher guides in the development of categories, and students work in teams or individually to fill out the chart.

RI.1.4 students are not (accurately) using vocabulary when responding orally and in writing to the text

• Read additional books on the same topic and highlight reoccurring vocabulary on the topic.

• Model having a conversation with a student in front of the larger group; ask the other students to show a Thumbs Up when they hear you or your student partner use a word from a targeted word list.

RI.1.7 students are not using illustrations and details in a text to describe its key details

• During conversations, continue using prompts like “What in the text makes you think so?” and “What in the illustration makes you think so?”

• Locate large photographs or nonfiction illustrations (like those in hang-up calendars) of people or animals engaged in doing things. Distribute one photograph to each pair or small group. Ask the groups to discuss, “What

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If… Then… RI.1.7 Continued

is happening?” and “What detail is in the photograph that makes you think so?” This might need to be modeled in whole-group first.

• Provide opportunities for students to illustrate their own writing.

• Partner students in pairs to analyze illustrations relative to their key details.

W.1.2 student writing does not reveal understanding of information learned about the topic

• During dictation, engage the student in orally composing what he or she will write; follow by sharing the pen (both teacher and student write) to sketch, label, and/or draw.

• Continue modeling sketching, labeling, and writing during whole-group and small-group instruction.

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Student Resource: Making Meaning of Protect Use with RI.1.4 Vocabulary Rubric (p.36) in STEP 2.2.

Making Meaning of Protect Name

On page 18, the word protect means: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I learned what protect means from:

The words in the text

The illustrations

The words in the text and the illustrations

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Teacher Resource: The Mystery Word Game Use with Vocabulary Activity in STEP 2.3. This game moves briskly and should take 5 minutes or less to complete

The “Key Words” class list is already in the order in which the words were entered during the read-alouds.

Number the list before beginning the game.

• Determine whether students need to hear the text read through again. • Put students in pairs or small groups. • Distribute one piece of blank paper or a small white board to each group. • The teacher (or Student Mystery Reader) uses oral cloze to read aloud a

definition. • Each group writes the number of the word that best matches the

definition. • The Mystery Reader calls on groups to share the word they selected. • Confirm that students understand the meaning and clarify misconceptions. • The game can be played again on another day using the same words.

Round 1* Round 2* Round 3*

1. A name that the author gave to the trees in Kenya is…

1. Land without trees or plants is…

1. Very young trees that Wangari planted were called…

2. The country in Africa where Wangari grew up is…

2. A book about something that really happened is a…

2. The village or country where you live can be called your…

3. How Wangari talked the women into helping…

3. The name of the woman who started planting trees in her backyard is…

3. What Wangari did to keep the trees from being cut down…

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* Note: The definitions used for this game are aligned to the context of the text. Student Resource: How Wangari Made Her Home a Better Place Use with W.1.2 Writing Checklist (p.36) in STEP 4.2.

Name

Wangari made her home a better place.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________

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Teacher Resource: Timeline Template Use with Timeline Activity in STEPs 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, and 3.5.

Wangari’s Trees of Peace:

A True Story from Africa

Written and Illustrated by

Jeanette Winter

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Timeline Template Key Detail - 1

Affix key detail

1

Affix key detail illustration

1

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Affix key detail

2


2

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Affix key detail

3


3

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Affix key detail

4


4

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Affix key detail

5


5

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Affix key detail

6


6

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Affix key detail

7


7

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Affix key detail

8


8

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Affix key detail

9


9

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Timeline Template Key Detail -10

Affix key detail

10


10

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Affix key detail

11


11

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Student Resource: Key Detail Cards for the Timeline Use with Timeline Activity in STEPs 3.3, 3.4, and 3.5.

Young Wangari’s home has an umbrella of green trees.

Young Wangari’s home has an umbrella of green trees.

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Key Detail Cards for the Timeline – 2

Wangari goes to school in America.

Wangari goes to school in America.

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Wangari returns to a barren land.

Wangari returns to a barren land.

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Wangari plants seedlings in her own backyard.

Wangari plants seedlings in her own backyard.

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Wangari starts a farm for baby trees—a nursery.

Wangari starts a farm for baby trees—a nursery.

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Key Detail Cards for the Timeline - 6

Wangari convinces village women to help her.

Wangari convinces village women to help her.

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An army of women plants trees in Wangari’s village.

An army of women plants trees in Wangari’s village.

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Wangari stands tall as an oak to protect the trees.

Wangari stands tall as an oak to protect the trees.

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They put Wangari in jail!

They put Wangari in jail!

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The umbrella of green trees returns to Africa.

The umbrella of green trees returns to Africa.

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Jeanette Winter writes a true story about Wangari.

Jeanette Winter writes a true story about Wangari.

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Sample Student Work Product #1: STEP 3.5

Grade 1 Performance Task: Informational Text Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story of Africa by Jeanette Winter

Harcourt, Inc. 2008

STEP 3.5 Task Description: First students worked in collaborative teams to construct a timeline using prepared Key Detail Cards that describe the key idea of Wangari’s efforts to bring trees back to Kenya. After completing the timeline, each team collaborated to create a drawing to illustrate the key detail on one card. The drawing was attached to the key detail card and students explained their drawing to the class.

CI RI.1.7/RI.1.4 Illustration and Vocabulary Checklist Demonstrates use of the illustrations and details in a text to describe the key ideas in the text.


Yes No Yes No ✓ ✓

Scoring Rationale: The student team collaborated to accurately use an illustration to show the key detail on the card. They included cut-off tree stumps, the orange color frequently used in the text to depict the heat on the unprotected land, Wangari’s sad look on her face, and her hands held up in puzzlement (the words at this point in the story tell of her wonderment, saying “What has happened?”).

Possible Next Steps:

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• Organize timelines according to illustrations first, using the details in the illustrations as keys to the sequence of events.

• Provide opportunities for students to write narratives that describe the key details in illustrations and why these details are important to include.

• Continue to provide opportunities for students to work collaboratively with peers.

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Harcourt, Inc. 2008

STEP 3.5 Task Description: First students worked in collaborative teams to construct a timeline using prepared Key Detail Cards that describe the key idea of Wangari’s efforts to bring trees back to Kenya. After completing the timeline, each team collaborated to create a drawing to illustrate the key detail on one card. The drawing was attached to the key detail card and students explained their drawing to the class.

CI RI.1.7/RI.1.4 Illustration and Vocabulary Checklist Demonstrates use of the illustrations and details in a text to describe the key ideas in the text.



Scoring Rationale:

The student team collaborated to accurately use an illustration to show the key detail related to the phrase umbrella of green trees. Included in their drawing are green grass, tall green trees close together forming an umbrella-like visual, women standing straight up carrying firewood (lower left-hand corner of illustration), small houses (as opposed to tall buildings), and a bright happy-looking sun.

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Possible Next Steps: • Ask students to organize timelines according to illustrations first. • Provide opportunities for students to write narratives that describe the key

details in illustrations and why these details are included. • Continue to provide chances for students to work collaboratively with peers.

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Harcourt, Inc. 2008

STEP 4.2 Task Description: Students are asked to independently write a response to the Essential Question, “How did Wangari make her home a better place?”

Transcription: Wangari made her home a better place by planting trees. Wangari went to jail it wasn’t Wangari fault. It was the government fault. Wangari told the women to plant more trees. Then when she got out her home was better by the trees.

CI W.1.2 Writing Checklist

W.1.2.2 W.1.2.3 Includes facts about the topic. Provides a sense of closure.


Scoring Rationale:

The student included facts about the topic (“…planting trees…” and “…told the women to plant more trees…”) and ended with a sense of closure (“…her home was better by the trees…”).

Possible Next Steps: • Support the continued use of academic vocabulary as used in this written

response (e.g., fault, government, women). • Continue encouraging the use of words directly from the text when

providing details (e.g., use convinces the women instead of told the women.

• Provide opportunities for peer collaboration for written responses. • Provide opportunities for peer review to encourage the reading aloud of

writing for smoothness and flow.

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Harcourt, Inc. 2008

STEP 4.2 Task Description: Students are asked to independently write a response to the Essential Question, “How did Wangari make her home a better place?”

Transcription: She put seedlings of trees into the ground for new tree to grow in the earth. And more and more trees growed in the earth’s soil and ground.

CI W.1.2 Writing Checklist

W.1.2.2 W.1.2.3 Includes facts about the topic. Provides a sense of closure.


Scoring Rationale:

The student included facts about the topic (“…put seedlings of trees into the ground…” and “…more and more trees growed…”) but did not provide a sense of closure.

Possible Next Steps: • Provide daily and increasingly longer periods of writing to build stamina. • Support the continued use of academic vocabulary as used in this written

response (e.g., ground, earth, soil). • Provide opportunities for peer collaboration for written responses. • Provide opportunities for peer review to encourage the reading aloud of

writing for smoothness and flow. • Continue providing instruction in letter sound relationships and

punctuation.

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Retrospective Journal Performance Task____________________________Date_______________

What do I know about my class because of this performance task (including strengths/needs of the class relative to specific CCSS, as well as general information learned about my students)?

What do I know about the strengths and needs of individuals or groups of students relative to specific CCSS?

Based on this experience, these are the instructional actions I want to take:

Comments:

Documents

Wangari’s Trees of Peace Grade 1 Informational Text ... · trees • Wangari army of women • backyard •maize •nursery •sugar cane sweet potatoes • tree farm •illustration