Possum’s Tail - Lesson plan III

Using Descriptive written language to create a biographical paragraph: Possum’s Tail From Joseph Bruchac’s Pushing up the sky: Seven Native American Plays for Children

DESCRIPTORS

Curriculum Areas: Written Language, Science (research) and Theatre

Recommended Levels: Students with reading deficits grades 2-5

Time Frame: This lesson can be adapted depending on group size and level of proficiency with Microsoft WordÔ. The time frame can be between from one to several days.

Tribal Affiliation: Muckleshoot

Geographic Location: Auburn, Washington

Developed by: Cara Francis

Email addresses of developers: meegat@aol.com

Date lesson was developed: 7/26/01

American Indian Standards:

Standard 6: Use a variety of strategies to gain meaning from text.

Standard 7: Analyze and interpret information from stories or other text.

Standard 8: Locate and use a variety of texts to gain information, for example, historical materials about their tribe, tribal legends and stories and oral history transcription.

Standard 11: Use different forms of writing to communicate.

Standard 13: Write in an organized and coherent manner.

INSTRUCTION

Goal: To create learning materials and become self-directed learners; to increase research, keyboarding, writing and technology skills.

Behavioral Objectives: Students will:

• Use the Internet to research the living environment and basic food needs of a selected animal that is represented in the play “Possum’s Tail”.
• Select at least one picture from a web site to insert in a brief report to be done in Microsoft WordÔ.
• Write a paragraph, which includes a brief biography of the selected animal character.

Prior Knowledge Needed:

· Ability to use WordÔ.

· Prior reading of the play “Possum’s tail.”

· Prior viewing of the attached PowerPointÔ presentation

· Completion of Lesson’s I and II is highly recommended.

Materials and Resources Needed:

• MicroSoft WordÔ
• Access to the internet
• A list of the animal characters in “Possum’s Tail”

Culture Content and Strategies:

This tale is a traditional Cherokee story. In this lesson research, keyboarding and theatrical skills are strengthened through the use of traditional story. Learning through stories has traditionally been an important method of teaching in Native American communities.

Lesson Summary and Performance Tasks:

Students will each receive a copy of the Basic Information form (attached) that will serve as an outline for Internet research. A minimum number of sites can be established as a credible research effort. During the research phase, a photograph of the selected animal should be saved from a site and kept on a disk for later use. Some of the questions on the basic information page are factual, while others are a matter of creative imagination. A discussion could precede this lesson about the difference between the two. When the form is completed, it becomes a basic outline for creating one or more paragraphs in Word. When the paragraphs are completed they should be saved in the “paint” domain of Word and the saved picture of the animal character added. This will be especially beneficial to “flesh out” the characters in this play if a production of it is in the works.

Assessment:

The outline itself can serve as the basis for evaluation. Assessment can be made based on the number of elements from the outline are present in the final paragraph. Other factors can be quality of writing and creativity. This should be tailored to the IEP or other individual needs of the group.

EXTENSION

Technology Integration:

This lesson uses Word and the Internet to do basic research work.

Enrichment/Remediation:

This lesson can be adapted and modified extensively. The number of details required can be changed, the length of the finished product adjusted.

Teacher Reflections

To be added by the user