Our Something from Nothing Unit was designed to help students acquire positive attitudes towards reading and books. Our goal was to make the unit as enjoyable for students as possible, while ensuring they are working towards mastery of the expectations from the Language Arts and Social Studies curriculum. With the goal of student enjoyment in mind, we chose the book Something from Nothing because we found that many students love this story and can relate to, Joseph, the boy whose belongings are wearing out over time.
We began the unit by doing a read-aloud. This was to help students understand that written language is meaningful, gain an understanding of text structures, and see what fluid reading looks and sounds like (Bainbridge & Heydon, 2017). The purpose of the read-aloud was also to help students work on the three receptive dimensions of language and literacy(Listening, Reading, Viewing). Along with the read-aloud, students were to bring in an artifact to share with the class. The purpose of this was to help them relate their lives to the story. When students see a connection between themselves and a character, they seem to enjoy reading more than when they do not see a connection. As Diane mentioned in class, children, especially in the primary grades, are very
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Through experience, I have found that some students do not see much of their community, and do not seem to know anything besides school and home. This lesson is great because students can explore google maps to locate their homes and then see the buildings, parks, and streets that surround it.Working to develop a student 's identity helps them to develop a sense of belonging in their home, school, and community (Social Studies Curriculum, 2013). This would lead students to be happier and more well-adjusted at both home and