Overview and Background: Unit: Sarah, Plain and Tall

 

Nanette Potter : Cheney USD 268

Language Arts. Social Studies. : Geography : Geography

Cheney : Grades 2 - 2 : Aug. - Jun.

 

Title:

Sarah, Plain and Tall

Topics:

Midwest, Kansas pioneers, early life in Kansas

Time Frame:

 

Start Date:

-

Status:

Draft

Date Revised:

 

 

Other Designers:

 

Summary:
This unit is an interdisciplinary Social Studies/Language Arts unit. Students will determine how different regions effect the way people live and how people's lives were different in the past. They will also research their own community and find out how it was settled.

 

Print Materials Needed:
Sarah, Plain and Tall / by Patricia MacLachlan.

Resources:

 

Resource Attachments:

http://www.cheney268.com/2nd/potter/sarah.htm

Internet Resource Links:
Link 1:http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/sarah/sarahtg.htm
Link 2:http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~schapa/page.html
Link 3:http://www.nt.net/~torino/psarah.html

 

Stage 1: Identify Desired Results

 

State:

KS      

Title:

 

Standard(s):

Kansas Social Studies Standard 4.2.1 - The student compares and contrasts life conditions of the earliest settlements to the present.

Kansas Social Studies Standard - The student retells the story of the settlement of his/her own community, drawing upon primary sources.
Kansas Social Studies Standard - The student uses historical photographs to identify two types of housing early Kansas immigrants built.

Local
Reading Standard - Use prediction, summarizing, cause-effect, compare-contrast, drawing conclusions, and sequencing to understand basic meaning of text.

Local
Reading Standard - Read a variety of genres, cultures and time periods.

Local
Reading Standard - Respond to reading in a variety of ways.

Local
Reading Standard - Use graphs, charts, and maps.

Local
Reading Standard - Use graphic organizers and the Q.A.R. strategy.

Local Writing Standard - Publish writing in a variety of formats.

Local Writing Standard - Use narrative writing style for personal narratives, friendly letters, journals, and story and book summaries.

 

Understandings:

user

Regional geographic differences affect how people live.
Life in the past was different than the life we live today.

 

Essential Questions:

User

How do regional differences affect how people live?
How is your life different than early settlers' lives?
How are the houses different today than the early settlers'?
How did the environment affect how settlers lived and earned a living?
Why did settlers come to
Kansas?

 

Knowledge and Skills:

K
*characteristics of prairie life.
*characteristics of Coastal Maine.
*individua
l family responsibilities then and now.
*ways in which the environment effects the way that people live.
*how and when Cheney was settled.

S
*write an acrostic describing their personalities and personalities from the story.
*write complete sentences with appropriate details.
*write a letter.
*use map skills to evaluate and locate regions.
*respond to text with a variety of written responses.
*use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast.

 

Stage 2: Determine Acceptable Evidence

 

Assessment Summary:
Students will create exhibits for the "Sarah, Plain and Tall" Museum. They are to compare and contrast life in
Kansas to life in Maine. They must have at least three sentences supporting their illustration or diorama. They should compare and contrast life then to their own lives.

 

Task/Prompt: Sarah Plain & Tall Museum

 

Type: Performance Task

Topics: geography, Midwest, Kansas pioneers, early life in Kansas

 

Summary:
Students will create exhibits for the "Sarah, Plain and Tall" Museum. They are to compare and contrast life in
Kansas to life in Maine. They must have at least three sentences supporting their illustration or diorama. They should compare and contrast life then to their own lives.

 

Print Materials Needed:

 

Resources:

 

Resource Attachments:

 

Internet Resource Links:
Link 1: http://
Link 2: http://
Link 3: http://
Link 4: http://
Link 5: http://

 

 

Notes:

 

Student Directions:
You have been hired to create exhibits for the "Sarah, Plain and Tall" Museum. The exhibits should compare and contrast life in
Kansas to life in Maine. They must have at least three sentences supporting their illustration or diorama. They should compare and contrast life then to their own lives.

 

 

Other assessment evidence to be collected:

 

Stage 3: Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction

 

Learning Activities:

W
Brainstorm a list of chores kids do today. List machines kids use on a daily basis. Discuss how people lived long ago and how kids had different responsibilities. Discuss the community of Cheney. How many kids have lived here all their lives? How many kids moved here from other places? Are extended family members here or from another area?

H
Introduce the book, Sarah, Plain and Tall. Explain the time frame in which this story took place. Read Chapter 1. Answer Q.A.R. questions. Share idea of "mail order brides." Have kids write three sentences about themselves that would help someone choose them to come stay.

E
Write an acrostic describing their personalities and personalities from the story. Write complete sentences with appropriate details.
Write a letter to Sarah, explaining how your life today is different from her life.
Use map skills to evaluate and locate regions.
Use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast
Maine and Kansas (see Resources List URL). Students compare Maine and Kansas with pictures, writing about the similarities and differences of each.
Use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast life then and now (see Resources List URL).
Students will use a graphic organizer to collect information about the history of Cheney. They will create a brochure about the settlement of the community.
Using the letters Sarah wrote to Caleb and Anna, students create letters they believe Caleb and Anna wrote to Sarah. They must use the answers Sarah wrote to create the questions Anna and Caleb asked.
Sarah uses the words plain and tall to describe herself. Have students think of two character traits that would describe them best, then fill in the following blanks.
___student's name ______________, ______trait 1_________ and _ trait 2______________.
Students answer Q.A.R. questions over chapters 2-5 and Chapters 6-9.
Discuss the vocabulary in each chapter. Use the dictionary to locate word meanings. Use cooperative learning structure, mix and match, to practice vocabulary understanding.
Students use the internet to locate pictures of the different types of flowers mentioned in the book. Students then illustrate those flowers. Students follow the same routine to locate pictures of the different kinds of sea shells Sarah brings to
Kansas. The students also illustrate those.
Brainstorm personality traits and specific information about each major character in the story. At the conclusion of the book, have students make acrostics for each of the four major characters in the book: Jacob, Anna, Caleb, and Sarah.

R
Peer review of their exhibits for the "Sarah, Plain and Tall" Museum.

E
Students will create exhibits for the "Sarah, Plain and Tall" Museum. They are to compare and contrast life in
Kansas to life in Maine. They must have at least three sentences supporting their illustration or diorama. They should compare and contrast life then to their own lives.

 

Notes: