Literature and Information

Classroom Activities

Portraits of Disney Peace Builders

A fun and familiar way to start discussions about peace builders and analysis of their values and character may be to have students come into the classroom to find pictures of Disney characters posted around the room. Their enthusiasm will build as they begin to recognize each one and blurt out to one another immediate thoughts evoked from seeing these familiar figures and which ones they like. This for me is also an exciting assessment of prior knowledge and a great hook into this activity. Students will need to look around the room and select a Disney character that is a peace builder, and then explain what makes that character a peace builder. The essential question is: What makes a peace builder and why? It uses the Speaking and Listening standard of SL1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. It also uses the Writing standard of W2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic and provide some sense of closure.

Once students are gathered together for the introduction and instructions of this activity, begin explaining the reason for the surprise of different Disney character portraits around the room. Give as much or as little background information on the characters as you like, but do give explicit instructions and expectations of how to do the activity. Also, explain that after the activity, they get to draw and write about the character too! I would model choosing a character (one not posted as young students tend to mimic the teacher), and verbalize my thinking process of how I come up with my two reasons why the character qualifies as a peace builder. This is the “I do” part of the Gradual Release (GR) teaching strategy. Then we could practice doing a different one together as the “We do” part of the strategy. This part can be disregarded if you prefer students to give spontaneous responses. The final “You do” part of the GR strategy is to release students to try it on their own. Students decide independently and stand next to the character that is a peace builder. Each person needs to come up with two reasons that qualify their character as a peace builder. If there are others standing at the same character, they are encouraged to collaborate and think out loud together. Many other activities and tasks can derive from this point for further discussions and references to qualities of peace builders.

Students will have a chance to gather again whole group to share out their thinking, creating a shared writing list for each Disney character that was chosen as a peace builder (notice another GR “We do” step). I would also model writing complete and correct sentences on each list, using their shared words. Next, students have an opportunity to write on their own with the scaffolding of the shared writing lists available in plain view. Students now get to draw and write about their Disney character, using complete sentences to ultimately answer the essential question of “What makes a peace builder and why?” I would have them write in simple paragraph form, if possible, starting with a topic sentence and ending with a conclusion sentence. I would post up their work as Portraits of PeaceBuilders to keep that in mind throughout the length of this unit.

For extended work, a second set of the pictures can be used in flash card fashion to prompt sharing out. The pictures can also be used as sorting cards for different tasks in Daily 5™ small groups. I encourage various writing opportunities along with extended activities.

A Wax Museum of Peace Builders

Another engaging activity to help students to embrace biographies of influential peace builders is for them to embody these leaders in a “wax museum” presentation. This activity comes after an accumulation of learning and information about various peace builders and their qualities. Students will emulate these influential people and invite the audience members to leisurely explore our classroom of “wax figures” who will come to life when a button (or sticker) is pressed, sharing important biographic facts to educate the inquiring guest. We will invite families, other classes, and district administrators to experience our fun expression of knowledge about selected peace builders. The essential question for students regarding this highly participatory activity is: What are the key biographic facts to bring to life about my specific peace builder? This activity will help students practice the Reading Literature standard RL2: Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. Students also practice the Writing standards of W2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic and provide some sense of closure. And finally, they also engage in the Speaking and Listening standard of SL1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

When we are studying the literary genre of biography, students will have a chance to research more information in the library and in the computer lab of selected peace builders to help them prepare for their presentations. They will also have time to collect and create images and text for a tri-fold presentation board as a scaffolding prop and backdrop for their presentations. Students will select a peace builder to research and portray in groups of four or five. They will all research and share information about their figure, and collaboratively decide on the most important information to use for the presentation such as where they lived, their peace builder characteristics, and accomplishments or contributions to society. Each student will have opportunities to practice sharing out information with the teacher in small groups, and with the whole class to aid in revisions of their notes and presentation. Groups will also collaborate on a trifold presentation board about their peace builder, which will also aid students and audience members at the time of the presentations. The most alluring aspect of this activity is that everyone gets to be involved in the learning process while having fun together in our classroom community of peace builders.

Storyboard into Digital Portraits of Peace Builders

One more exciting activity involves the use of technology in collaboration with older buddies towards the end of this unit. After studying biographies, students will reflect on connections they have made with content and character and then tell their own story in storyboard format as a peace builder. They will transform their storyboard self-portraits as peace builders into digital stories with the help of our third and fourth grade buddies. Both the hard copies of student storyboards and their digital stories will be shared with other classes, families, district administrators, and our community online through social media and at our local library. The essential question is: What key elements do I need to create my autobiography as a self-portrait of a peace builder? Students will practice the Reading Literature standard of RL2: Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. They will also use the Writing standard of W3: Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.

We will use drawings in sketchbooks and journals to help formulate stories. Students will share ideas and stories in various partner groupings. We will have done similar activities to produce writing with each genre of folktales, and poems. Students will this time have opportunities to draw out their story as a storyboard to edit and revise through the week with a focus on the skill of recognizing literary elements (genre, plot, character, setting, problem/resolution, theme) from the Comprehension column of the CAFE menu, using the Daily 5™ teaching strategy. Once students have storyboards completed, they will work with their older buddies to transfer their self-portrait into a creative digital story to share. They will further embellish their digital storytelling to include their dreams of how they as peace builders will contribute to our community, our world. I hope to give students validation and affirmation of the importance of who they are and the wealth they bring to our community. Even though they are young, they should have a voice to share their story beyond immediate family and friends.