Dr. t. lee
Grade 4 Jack and the Beanstalk Unit
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Unit Introduction
This unit was conducted with Grade 4 students; details of the instructional context are contained in the Jack and the Beanstalk Instructional Unit PowerPoint.
Unit PowerPoint
Figure 40 contains the instructional PowerPoint for this unit. Details about the instructional context are contained in the PowerPoint.
Click the box below to begin the PowerPoint.
Advance by clicking on the slides.
Figure 40. Grade 4 Jack and the Beanstalk Unit PowerPoint.
Teaching in Action
One purpose of the utilizing this unit design format was to introduce my co-teacher to the concept of structuring literary units with the three phases of reading (pre-reading, active reading, and post-reading) in mind.
Pre-reading
Pre-reading refers to activities students engage in to activate and/or build prior knowledge prior to engaging with literature.
First, the pre-reading phase involved vocabulary previews that helped students practice English and Georgian vocabulary words related to the story (see the Jack in the Beanstalk Unit PowerPoint).
Next, students conducted survey interviews with a classmate about their preferences for various beans and Georgian bean dishes (see Figure 41).
Click the Play button to hear the file.
Figure 41. Audio file of a student pre-reading bean survey interview.
Finally, a class bar chart was created for the survey interviews and we discussed the interdisciplinary nature of learning and relevance of literature to all aspects of human existence (see Figure 42).
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Figure 42. Class bar chart for bean survey interviews.
Active Reading
Active reading activities promote meaningful engagement with and interpretation of a text during reading. During the reading, I paused several times so students could chorally respond with the missing vocabulary words; I also posed several questions to randomly selected students. See Figure 43 and the Jack in the Beanstalk Unit PowerPoint for examples of active reading strategies used in this unit.
Click the Play button to hear the file.
Figure 43. Audio file demonstrating active reading in action.
Post-reading
The purpose of post-reading activities is not only to give students a sense of closure following engagement with a text, they are also intended to give students opportunities to render and consider more meaningful personal interpretations of the text.
First, students watched a film version of the text in order to compare the film and text versions using a Venn Diagram. This activity assists students with analyzing and interpreting literature at deeper levels than mere posing of comprehension questions and also provided an opportunity for me to introduce the use of simplistic scoring rubrics (see Figures 44-48).
Figure 44. Venn Diagram comparing film and text versions of the story example A.
Figure 45. Venn Diagram comparing film and text versions of the story example B
Figure 46. Venn Diagram comparing film and text versions of the story example C.
Figure 47. Venn Diagram comparing film and text versions of the story example D.
Figure 48. Venn Diagram comparing film and text versions of the story example E.
Next, students created rhymes and chants related to the story. Students wrote out their chants and received teacher feedback (see Figure 49 for examples). Students then performed their chants for their classmates (see Figure 50).
Figure 49. Sample drafts of student chants.
Click the Play button to hear the file.
Figure 50. Audio file of students performing Fe-Fi-Fo chants.
As a post-reading activity, students completed a story auction to review story details in a fun manner (see Figure 51). They also evaluated their favorite character and part of the plot (see Figures 52 and 53).
Figure 51. Story auction completed as a story review.
Figure 52. Story evaluation example A.
Figure 53. Story evaluation example B.
Finally, students developed dramatic performances of scene scripts provided by the teachers. Students rehearsed their scenes (see Figure 54), performed their scenes for their classmates using the performance and listening rituals taught by the teacher (see Figures 55 and 56), and practiced their creativity, performance and diction skills (see Figure 57 for a video excerpt) expected in the rubric (see Figure 58).
Figure 54. Students rehearsing their dramatic performances.
Figure 55. Picture of students performing their scene example A.
Figure 56. Picture of students performing their scene example B.
Click the video controls in the box below to view an example of a student performance.
Figure 57. Video of students’ dramatic performance of the text.
Figure 58. Examples of scored rubrics for dramatic performances.
Connections to my Teaching Philosophy
The activities contained in this unit represent components 1-7 of my Teaching Philosophy. The use of the various phases of reading to structure this unit demonstrates my commitment to the holistic nature of literature instruction. In particular, active reading strategies allow teachers in the upper grades to model interpretive strategies on the whole class level, provide immediate feedback to learners, and pose thought-provoking questions. During pre-reading, the class bean survey not only served to help students make interdisciplinary connections between literature and math, it also helped students make cultural connections with the story prior to reading. During post-reading, my introduction of the use of Venn Diagrams in this instructional unit was significantly connected to my belief that writing and higher order thinking are teachable skills.
Assessment of Student Learning
During the pre-reading phase, my co-teacher and I were able to assess student understanding and provide spoken language assistance to students individually as we actively visited and observed students conducting their interviews with classmates; the feedback provided to students was instant and helped them meet the goals of the course (see Figure 41).
During the active reading stage, student understanding of the text was enhanced by student participation in choral responses by filling in the vocabulary words related to the text. Additionally, several questions posed to students during the reading using popsicle sticks to call on students (to ensure that the same students were not always answering/participating) ensured that all students were involved in actively interpreting the text.
During the post-reading stage, my co-teacher and I again had ample opportunities to provide small group and individual support to students practicing their verbal English skills during the play rehearsals and performances. Individual feedback provided to students on their Venn Diagrams was tailored to increasing the clarity of their writing and providing support for their writing conventions (see Figures 44-48). Figures 52 and 53 provide examples of how teacher comments can support both learners who exceed the standards and those struggling to meet performance standards. In future lessons, teachers can emphasize strongly the need to not copy or duplicate the performance of high performers –this can be encouraged by vigilantly monitoring student performance, discussing with students the importance of independent, creative thought, and adjusting evaluations/grades when instances of duplication/copying occur. Figures 54-58 provide examples of feedback to students during their dramatic performances of scenes from the text. It should be noted that while teachers provided the script to students, this was in order to lower the affective filter and assess students’ oral fluency. In future lessons, students should be invited to write their own scripts; this moves the activity into even higher levels of interpretation.
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Assessment of Teaching
Student surveys were administered so that the students could provide their assessment of my teaching. These surveys were the first that my grade 4 students had ever been asked to take. A survey was also provided to my co-teacher to solicit their input about my teaching.
Student Feedback
Figure 59 provides examples of completed student surveys. Qualitative data from the survey included comments like: “The thing I liked most about this unit was it was interesting.” Figures 60-63 summarize the student survey results. The students really enjoyed pre-reading bean survey activity. While the majority of students indicated that they enjoyed creating chants and acting in their scenes, taking additional time to introduce the rationale for completing these activities may create greater comfort levels for those who indicated they were not so fond of these activities. Additionally, some students may need increased time to acclimate to active learning environments because they are accustomed to passive learning environments where they generally sit and one or two students actively participate/respond to the teacher/recite material while the rest of the class listens.
Figure 59. Examples of completed Jack and the Beanstalk unit student surveys.
Figure 60. “The class bean survey was fun” – grade 4 Jack and the Beanstalk Unit student survey.
Figure 61. “Comparing the movie and text was fun” – grade 4 Jack and the Beanstalk Unit student survey.
Figure 62. “Acting in the play was fun” – grade 4 Jack and the Beanstalk Unit student survey.
Figure 63. “Chants and poems make learning English fun” – grade 4 Jack and the Beanstalk Unit student survey.
Co-teacher Feedback
During this unit, a variety of teaching and co-teaching modes were used. The co-teacher survey is available in Figure 64. My co-teacher strongly agreed that the pre-reading activities helped raise student interest in the story and that the various activities contained in the unit helped students develop their writing and speaking skills. Qualitative data from the co-teacher survey included: “Many thanks! It’s wonderful! I liked writing and speaking skills!”
Figure 64. Co-teacher survey for grade 4 Jack and the Beanstalk Unit.