Classroom Activities
The activities for this unit will span out to 10 days. Students will be learning to analyze for the adaptation of a written text by a film and compare and contrast in three different segments of three days each. At the end of the segments, on the tenth day, the students will be assessed on compare and contrast, comprehension, and analyzing based on the Arizona State Standards. In addition, the students will be assessed using the district adopted formative assessment know as District Formative Assessment (DFA). The unit will be implemented towards the end or beginning of first and second quarter of the school year. Prior to the activities, I will be reading the written text, Pocahontas: Young Peace Maker by Leslie Gourse during my read aloud to prepare students for analyzing. Students will be taking notes.
Segment 1 (3 days)
The first activity of this unit is for the teacher to review the written text with the students using the graphic organizer provided. Students will fill out the graphic organizer to answer questions about Pocahontas. The graphic organizer will vary depending on the topic. The first day we will be identifying the character, Pocahontas, and her traits. In addition, other characters will be identified, such as her father Powhatan, John Smith, John Rolfe, Native Americans, and European colonist. The second day of the analyzing the text, teacher will model how to fill out the graphic organizer on story elements. Students can draw or write sentences about the order of the events. While students are analyzing the text, teacher will also model how to use the text as evidence based or supporting details. On the third day, students will use another graphic organizer to identify the setting, the author’s point of view, and have a discussion in pairs about their findings about Pocahontas.
Segment 2 (3 days)
On the fourth day, students will be introduced to the film adaptation vocabulary words. Students will be given index cards. Using the index cards, students will write the terminology on the front of the card and the definition on the back. These cards will be reviewed for three days. I will be using pictures to demonstrate the meaning of the words as we learned each day. I will use technology as a support to have students learn the terminology. This will increase motivation and make it easier for the students, especially for third graders. Some of the activities will be performed by students interacting with the ENO Interactive board or acting out the vocabulary words. It is important for the teacher to also discuss what filming involves. On the sixth day, students will be looking at clips or pictures and identifying and using the vocabulary to discuss the pictures. This activity is also geared towards third grade. For upper grades above the third grade, more vocabulary words can be added about film adaptation. Students can also be introduced to vocabulary words with which they can discuss a literary text. For example, the word climax.
Segment 3 (3 days)
On the seventh day, students will view the DVD of Pocahontas. Teacher can decide to view this in segments, clips, or as a whole movie. I will be showing the whole movie because the students will find it enjoyable even at a young age. The Walt Disney film is about 81 minutes long. Another version of this could be to use the Walt Disney children’s books that have pictures. The images are a great way to discuss the elements of a story. On the eighth day, students will start comparing and contrasting the film with the written text. The teacher will be using the gradual release model to discuss what the differences and similarities are. The teacher may pick an element, such as setting or character and model how to compare and contrast a written text with the film. Next, the teacher will guide the students to analyze another element of the text and then compare that to the film. They will again discuss whether the film is an accurate adaptation of the written text. Finally, students will work in pairs to demonstrate independent discussion with a partner. The teacher will observe and asked each partner what they shared. These activities range from thirty minutes to forty-five minutes each.
Tenth Day
On the last day of the lesson, teachers will administer a quiz to the students that will test their comprehension of Pocahontas. This assessment will measure their comprehension of both the film and text. This will show how well the students have understood a historical figure. This unit can be modified to use other historical figure for further practice on analyzing, compare and contrast, point of view, and understanding adaptation. A separate district formative will also be given to measure how well the students are able to analyze.
Extension
As an extension, this activity will encourage and motivate students in learning to adapt a written text to a film: students can perform or make a short video clip of one scene. The short clips can be viewed together as a film. After viewing, the students can analyze and see if they made a film that is an accurate adaptation of the written text.
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