home

== =Welcome to "Thanksgiving Lessons- A Brave New World."=

These lessons have been designed to meet the needs of two different sets of students. The first set of students are gifted 1st graders reading three to four grade levels higher. These students are extremely mature for their age, but they lack life experience in order to enhance vocabulary acquisition and make real-world connections. These students come from well-educated and involved families. The second group of learners is an ability grouped class of 4th grade students reading at or below grade level. In contrast, these students lack maturity. Similarly, although for different reasons, these learners have limited life experience. For the most part, these students belong to socioeconomically deprived families who have little time to help with school work.Because these two sets of learners have a similar maturity level and life experience, differentiation occurs mostly through the grade level Indiana Academic Standards.

The Indiana Academic standards for each set of activities have been included, as well as a correlation of the Information Literacy Standards as found at []. The Information Literacy Standards parallel The AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner. The Information Literacy Standards (ILS) 1-4 state that a student "accesses, evaluates, uses and pursues information." These standards would fall under the umbrella of the 21st Century Standard 1, "Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge." ILS 5-6 state that a student "appreciates information" and "generates knowledge." These ideas mirror the 21st Century Standard 2, "Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge." ILS 7-8 states that a learner "recognizes the importance of information to a democratic society" and "practices ethical behavior." The 21st Century Standard 3 reads, "Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society." The 21st Century Standard 4 states, "Pursue personal and aesthetic growth. This standard matches the Information Literacy Standard 9 which directs students to "share and collaberate."

The 1st grade classroom teacher understands that these high ability students are in need of more challenges than are typically available in the regular classroom setting. Therefore, the media specialist will be teaching this unit in the media center, incorporating existing classroom themes into an inquiry-based curriculum with technology components. The 4th grade teacher is in need of high-interest readability for her 4th grade students. She will use this set of lessons in her classroom, enlisting the help of the media specialist to aid in research opportunities.

Both groups will experience real world connections in this Thanksgiving themed unit. "The skills of Information Inquiry are most meaningful for teacher and student when placed in an authentic context. It may not always be possible to tie directly to the real world. Tasks mastered in near real world simulations have a better chance for transferring meaningful skills into the workplace." (Callison, 97) Thanksgiving is just around the corner. These diverse learners live in a rural farming community with very little diversity. All families, regardless of socioeconomic status celebrate Thanksgiving. By connecting customs of the past with present day customs, learning will be more meaningful and authentic.

This themed unit is designed to last for three weeks, and it is designed to incorporate all of the disciplines in one way or another. Social studies, science and math are intertwined with language arts. "Thinking, speaking, listening, reading and writing may be incorporated into a meaningful context. Such may increase the chance that the content of the work becomes key to the motivation for reading and students increasingly may feel, as the varied projects are initiated and they return to the original text, more emotion and personal involvement." (Callison, 342) Both sets of students will have more personal involvement and have a better chance to be intrinsically motivated to learn.

Both sets of students will be using books, maps, primary source documents, and websites to explore the topic. They will display information acquisition throughout a series of activities- retelling, lists, and graphic organizers compiled into a portfolio, or lapbook. The teacher will use a rubric to evaluate the work in the portfolio. The students will also complete a final project. Based on the different grade levels, students will use the Big 6 (or the Super 3) model of inquiry. The teacher and the student will each complete a checklist to exhibit completion of tasks involved.

I have had the pleasure of teaching this unit to the high ability 1st graders. It has been a huge success. The students are actively engaged and immersed in the subject matter. Photos of the students and activities follow.

__Works cited__ Callison, Daniel and Preddy, Leslie. __The Blue Book On Information Age__ __Inquiry, Instruction and Literacy__. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited. 2006.  __ Standards for the 21st-Century Learner in Action __. Chicago, Illinois: American Association of School Librarians. 2009.