- Story
- Orbit, Year 5
- Issue 7, 2019
Family Gathering
Learning resource
Outcomes
Worksheet: Character interview
Understanding EN3-3A
Conduct a Question Starts Visible Thinking Routine to generate creative questions about what the story could be about. Brainstorm a list of at least twelve questions about the story. Use these question-starts to help students think of interesting questions:
- Why ...?
- How would it be different if ...?
- What are the reasons ...?
- Suppose that ...?
- What if ...?
- What if we knew ...?
- What is the purpose of ...?
- What would change if ...?
Review the brainstormed list and highlight the questions that seem most interesting. Then, select one or more of the highlighted questions to discuss. Students could use this Question Starts Thinking Routine worksheet to support their learning.
Complete a tree chart (representing Kelvin’s family) to show student understanding of ‘Being Different’ in relation to the text. List each character and their choice of appearance in the branches of this Tree Chart worksheet with Kelvin in the middle as a ‘boy’.
Engaging personally EN3-5B & EN3-8D
Write a paragraph on, or discuss, what it is like to be different. How are students different? Who makes the decision to be who they are? How do they perceive being just a boy or just a girl? What would they choose to be if they visited the growth chamber? Why? Students can share their thoughts using one of these Think Pair Share worksheets.
Character: Create a character map or attribute web about the type of character you think Kelvin is portrayed as in the story, using one of these Character Map and Attribute Web worksheets. Explore how the author constructed the narrative in such a way as to invite an emotional response to evoke empathy (or antipathy) and identification. Explore further the English Textual Concept ‘Character’ and the English Textual Concept ‘Point of View‘.
Connecting EN3-8D
Text-to-Text connections occur when we make connections between other texts in relation to the text we are reading.
Text-to-Text: How do the ideas in this text remind you of another text (story, book, movie, song, etc.)?
- What I just read reminds me of (story/book/movie/song) because …
- The ideas in this text are similar to the ideas in … because …
- The ideas in this text are different than the ideas in … because …
Students complete the statements using a Think Pair Share worksheet or a Connections Text to Text worksheet.
Teaching Strategy explained: Text-to-Text, Text-to-Self, Text-to-World Rationale.
Engaging critically EN3-7B
Conduct a Circle of View Points Visible Thinking Routine to help student consider and perceive different and diverse perspectives presented in the story. Brainstorm a list of different perspectives and then use this script skeleton to explore each one:
- I am thinking of ... the topic ... From the point of view of ...
- I think ...
- A question I have from this viewpoint is ...
(The viewpoint you’ve chosen)
(Describe the topic from your viewpoint. Be an actor—take on the character of your viewpoint.)
(Ask a question from this viewpoint.)
Wrap up: What new ideas do you have about the topic that you didn’t have before? What new questions do you have?
Students could record their responses on this Circle of Viewpoints worksheet.
Write a persuasive speech to convince students whether the people should remain human or visit growth chambers. Scaffold arguments using this Persuasion Map worksheet to organise thinking.
Experimenting EN3-2A & EN3-8C
Identify powerful descriptive language in the text, for example: ‘His eyes were now compound eyes, with dozens of dark, hexagonal lenses’. Then outline the significance, purpose and function of such descriptive language using this Close Reading: Developing New Understandings worksheet to help students make inferences and develop new understandings.
Design a place card or plaque for each family member dining at the Lakeside View Eatery. Students can select from this Collection of Blank Plaques Cliparts or find other templates in Word.
Create a film strip of ‘Family Gathering’ using this Story Board worksheet. Option to adapt it into a play or podcast using Audacity.
Create an animation of the story, ‘Family Gathering’ using Vyond.
Write an interesting narrative, using the repeated line from the story ‘Kids Never Listen’. Brainstorm ideas as a class to ensure creativity and multiple ideas. Students could use a Story Map Graphic Organiser worksheet to help scaffold writing. Option to publish using Storybird or Book Creator.
Remind students that, in order to engage their audience, they need to consider character identification, situations (life choices) and themes (friendship, family, conflict) to warrant reader interest and build a decent plot. Choosing which ideas will connect with their audience, and their language choice, directly influences student writing development.
Reflecting EN3-9E
Conduct an I used to think ... But now I think … routine. This routine helps students to reflect on their thinking about a topic or issue and explore how and why that thinking has changed. It can be useful in consolidating new learning as students identify their new understandings, opinions, and beliefs. Record responses on this I Used to Think … Now I Think … worksheet.
Exit Slips are a formative assessment that can be used to quickly check for understanding. The teacher poses one or two questions in the last couple minutes of class and asks student to fill out an ‘exit slip’ (e.g. on an index card) to ascertain student thinking and understanding. Here are Instructions on filling out an Exit Slip and two Exit Slip worksheets.