Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Teacher's Corner

MAIN OBJECTIVES

Discover the magical world of Béatrix Potter.

The children are immersed in the world of Béatrix Potter through daily readings by the teacher and the WebQuest. The purpose of TASKS C is to bring the author and her stories into the context of the period in which they were written. Béatrix Potter was an avid conservationist, and fought for the environmental preservation of the Lake Districts in Northwest England. She was also a scientist and her drawings depict insects, plants, fungi, and many animals very accurately. The Victorian era was also the time of the Industrial Revolution. Some historical events that affected Béatrix's world, are actually linked to America and the cotton industry. Her delightful style in writing is rich in vocabulary and her illustrations are great material to teach about watercolors and the technique in that style of painting. Finally the art of gardening is very entrenched in English culture; when mentioning Béatrix Potter, one cannot avoid talking about the styles of the famous English Garden.

STANDARDS THAT THE WHOLE INTEGRATED UNIT COVERS

The WebQuest is the main component, but is also connected to more specific lessons that I imagine building around the theme of Béatrix Potter. Lessons such as The Northwest ecosystem, its living creatures and interactions, as well as plants and gardening. Another few lessons that I would develop to enrich the WebQuest would have to do with The Victorian Era and the Industrial Revolution. I could integrate Math problems around that theme.

Reading, writing and drawing are natural extensions of the Quest, most standards are thus covered in these areas.

ENGLISH GARDEN ASSIGNMENT AND VICTORIAN ERA

Aesthetics and Criticism
CCG: Apply critical analysis to works of art
Fifth Grade
AR.05.AC.01 Identify essential elements, organizational principles and aesthetic criteria that can be used to analyze works of art.
CCG: Respond to works of art and give reasons for preferences.
Fifth Grade
AR.05.AC.02 Describe personal preferences and identify how essential elements and organizational principles in a work of art contribute to those preferences.
CCG: Understand the interrelationships among art forms.
Fifth Grade
AR.05.AC.03 Describe how essential elements and organizational principles from various arts disciplines are used in an integrated work of art.

Distinguish works of art from different societies, time periods and cultures.
Fifth Grade
AR.05.HC.02 Identify and relate common and unique characteristics in works of art that reflect social, historical, and cultural contexts.
CCG: Understand how the arts can reflect the environment and personal experiences within a society or culture, and apply to one's own work.
Fifth Grade
AR.05.HC.03 Describe how works of art from various historic periods reflect the artist's environment, society and culture.


ASSIGNMENT PRODUCTION OF AN ART PROJECT

Create, Present, and Perform
CCG: Create, present and perform works of art.
Fifth Grade
AR.05.CP.01 Use experiences, imagination, observations, essential elements and organizational principles to achieve a desired effect when creating, presenting and/or performing works of art.
CCG: Apply the use of ideas, techniques and problem solving to the creative process and analyze the influence that choices have on the result.
Fifth Grade
AR.05.CP.02 Identify the creative process used, and the choices made, when combining ideas, techniques and problem solving to produce one's work.
CCG: Express ideas, moods and feelings through the arts and evaluate how well a work of art expresses one’s intent.
Fifth Grade
AR.05.CP.03 Create, present and/or perform a work of art and explain how the use of essential elements and organizational principles shapes an idea, mood or feeling found in the work.
CCG: Evaluate one's own work, orally and in writing.
Fifth Grade
AR.05.CP.04 Critique one's own work using self-selected criteria that reveal knowledge of the arts, orally and in writing.

Béatrix Potter STORIES

EL.05.LI.02 Demonstrate listening comprehension of more complex literary text through class and/or small group interpretive discussions.

CCG: Literary Text: Demonstrate General Understanding:
Demonstrate general understanding of grade-level literary text.
Fifth Grade
EL.05.LI.03 Identify and/or summarize sequence of events, main ideas, and supporting details in literary selections. (6 Resources )
EL.05.LI.04 Identify the main events of the plot, their causes, and the influence of specific events on future actions. (6 Resources )

CCG: Literary Text: Develop an Interpretation:
Develop an interpretation of grade-level literary text

EL.05.LI.06 Identify the qualities of the character (e.g., courage, cowardice, ambition), and analyze the effect of these qualities on the plot and the resolution of the conflict. (5 Resources )

CCG: Literary Text: Examine Content and Structure:
Examine content and structure of grade-level literary text.

EL.05.LI.12 Evaluate the believability of characters and the degree to which a plot is believable or realistic.

CCG: Listen to and Read Informational and Narrative Text:
Listen to, read, and understand a wide variety of informational and narrative text across the subject areas at school and on own, applying comprehension strategies as needed.

EL.05.RE.03 Listen to, read, and understand a wide variety of informational and narrative text, including classic and contemporary literature, poetry, magazines, newspapers, reference materials, and online information.

EL.05.RE.06 Match reading to purpose--location of information, full comprehension, and personal enjoyment. (8 Resources )
EL.05.RE.07 Understand and draw upon a variety of comprehension strategies as needed--re-reading, self-correcting, summarizing, class and group discussions, generating and responding to essential questions, making predictions, and comparing information from several sources. (10 Resources )
EL.05.RE.08 Clearly identify specific words or wordings that are causing comprehension difficulties and use strategies to correct.

CCG: Vocabulary:
Increase word knowledge through systematic vocabulary development; determine the meaning of new words by applying knowledge of word origins, word relationships, and context clues; verify the meaning of new words; and use those new words accurately across the subject areas.
Fifth Grade
EL.05.RE.09 Understand, learn, and use new vocabulary that is introduced and taught directly through informational text, literary text, and instruction across the subject areas. (7 Resources )
EL.05.RE.10 Develop vocabulary by listening to and discussing both familiar and conceptually challenging selections read aloud across the subject areas. (6 Resources )
EL.05.RE.11 Determine meanings of words using contextual and structural clues.

CCG: Read to Perform a Task:
Find, understand, and use specific information in a variety of texts across the subject areas to perform a task.

EL.05.RE.17 Read textbooks, biographical sketches, letters, diaries, directions, procedures, magazines, news stories, and almanacs. (4 Resources )

EL.05.RE.20 Follow multiple-step directions (e.g., for completing an experiment or an activity or for using a product).

CCG: Writing Applications: Narrative Writing:
Write narrative, expository, and persuasive texts, using a variety of written forms—including journals, essays, short stories, poems, research reports, research papers, business and technical writing—to express ideas appropriate to audience and purpose across the subject areas.
Fifth Grade
EL.05.WR.24 Write fictional narratives:
Establish a plot, point of view, setting, conflict, and resolution.
Show through description, rather than tell (summarize), the events of the story.
(2 Resources )

CCG: Diversity/Interdependence:
Understand the relationships among living things and between living things and their environments.

SC.05.LS.05 Describe the relationship between characteristics of specific habitats and the organisms that live there. (2 Resources )

NATURAL SCIENCE

These standards could be addressed as a classroom activity focused on CCG: Diversity/Interdependence:
Understand the relationships among living things and between living things and their environments.
Fifth Grade
SC.05.LS.05 Describe the relationship between characteristics of specific habitats and the organisms that live there. (2 Resources )
SC.05.LS.05.01 Use drawings or models to represent a series of food chains for specific habitats. (3 Resources )
SC.05.LS.05.02 Identify the producers, consumers, and decomposers in a given habitat. (3 Resources )
SC.05.LS.05.03 Recognize how all animals depend upon plants whether or not they eat the plants directly. (2 Resources )
SC.05.LS.05.04 Explain the relationship between animal behavior and species survival.
SC.05.LS.05.05 Describe the living and nonliving resources in a specific habitat and the adaptations of organisms to that habitat.
SC.05.LS.06 Describe how adaptations help a species survive. (2 Resources )
SC.05.LS.06.01 Describe changes to the environment that have caused the population of some species to change.
SC.05.LS.06.02 Identify conditions that might cause a species to become endangered or extinct.

PROCEDURES AND STRATEGIES

Tasks A and B could take up to 12 days with the Graphic Organizers that would come with the lessons as well as the anticipatory set each lesson. Anticipatory set is always the reading of one story by the teacher.

Each child would have the checklist of all the tasks to perform. This will become the assessment piece.

A folder will be created and kept in the classroom for each child. Checklist, worksheets and other graphic organizers will be kept in chronological order and will then be used as a portfolio. Another assessment piece.

Questions about the readings are gradually requiring more critical thinking, culminating with the last activity. Writing and illustrating your own allegory about animals you see in your home surroundings.

Vocabulary buildup will be a daily task to prepare the children for the next reading as some texts might be hard. Spelling test can be a quick way to refresh memories before reading the next section also. These wordlists will be prepared as needed. Tests may take the form of crossword puzzles or word search.

ASSESSMENT

Formative, on-going, checklist, worksheets, arts, all linked to a specific RUBRIC.

Exemple: QUADRARAMA

SCORES	Content	Organization	Artistic Quality	TOTAL
5	Information is interesting and correct, and presents the essence of the subject.	Clear and logical in respect to chronology, plot, and or space.	Conveys Béatrix Potter's style. Is clean, elaborate. Quality watercoloring is good. Paid attention to details in drawings.
3
1

Differentiation and other adaptations available if needed.

LESSON PLANS still to be developed.

DURATION: estimation 3 to 4 weeks at a rate of 1:30 - 2:00 a day.

RESOURCES AND MATERIAL (STILL TO BE DEVELOPPED)

The complete collection of Béatrix Potter 's books from the miniature collection.

Personal collection of her nursery rhymes and watercolors from several sources.

Videos and audio files, some recorded by myself.

All software and computer equipment.

Graphic Organizers, folders for portfolio, worksheets, art supplies (to be detailed at the level of the lesson plan)

Extra ideas:

Bring a rabbit or small easy pet to share a day in classroom.

Go visit a local landscaped garden.

Illustration of the English Countryside during the Victorian Era.

CREDITS AND REFERENCES

The sources for images, audio and video clips are the following links:

Permission to use these sources has been requested to the responsible site administrators.