Unit Title: A Perfect World: Utopia
By: Jacqi Harvey-Whiteman
Prefatory Statement: "A Perfect World"
is a five-week unit, focusing
on the idea of a utopian world, or a perfect society.
The unit is based
around Lois Lowry's, The Giver. Although this book is
the main
literature piece, students will also have the opportunity
to read other
pieces of work to compare and contrast ideas about a
perfect society.
The Giver makes students really think. This unit benefits
students
because they can connect their learning with the real
world and their
own lives. It also allows students to gain an understanding
of why
freedom, choice, family history, and memory may be important
to
them. Appreciation of not only their family, but also
the good and the
bad in their lives, are other great experiences for
students to realize
while reading this book. They will discover the significance
of
individuality, and will be able to understand the importance
of a society
and government. As with most other literature units,
students are
expected to be evaluating and analyzing the merits of
The Giver.
The unit consists of individual projects as well
as small and large group
projects. Students will need to work cooperatively within
groups,
working as teams to accomplish unit goals. The unit
presentations
enables students to articulate what they are learning
in this lesson.
It is the intent of the unit to actively involve
students with their learning.
By doing this, they will be comprehend the literature
they are reading
on a deeper level than just surface reading.
Students will be working on their writing skills
throughout the unit by
writing in reaction journals and handing in family history
papers,
character diary entries, and other projects. The writing
assignments are
geared for this age group so they are actively engaged
by their interest
and therefore, their learning.
Class Specification: This unit has been designed
for middle school
students, specifically with seventh graders in mind.
However, there are
many really good activities in here having to do with
a utopian theme. It
could easily be modified to the high school level students
by changing
the main piece of literature. For example, I would suggest
substituting
The Giver to with one or all the following: Blithendale
Ronimance,
Nathaniel Hawthorne; Utopia, Thomas More; or Animal
Farm,
George Orwell.
This unit can be used for students in special education
because the
reading is done in class. Reading in class benefits
seventh graders
because they won't have to struggle through reading
on their own. The
group work will be fine for them to do. They may need
extra help in
writing their family history paper and the final writing
project would
have to involve more drafting and conferencing with
these students.
Objectives/Minnesota Standards: The Students will
have met
middle level content standards in area two of write
and speak; Writing:
2. A student shall demonstrate a narrative including
A. A description of events from direct experience or
observation
B. Use of relevant detail and figurative language to
create an
image of setting, characters, and events.
C. Dialogue between characters; and
D. A sequence of events or ideas leading to a logical
ending; and
3. An idea or opinion that:
A. Gives a rationale that includes reasons to support
or oppose
the opinion;
B. Uses evidence to support the idea; and
C. Has correct spelling and mechanics.
Other Objectives:
Students will compare and contrast literature to
their own lives
Students will understand the concepts of freedom of
choice.
Students will understand the concept of family history.
Students will understand the importance of emotions
and memory
Students will appreciate both the good and the bad in
life
Students will compare their society with that of other's
Students will learn key words and concepts that are
related to utopias
Students will describe, narrate, and explain observations
of human events
or situations
Students will give an oral presentation on issues/ideas
Students will express feelings and opinions to each
other
Students will learn debating etiquette
Students will be figuring out how to understand words
from context
Students will understand how language can motivate people
Possible Whole Class Activities:
A debate or trial for and against sameness/diversity
A black and white day where all students will come dressed
the same
way
A book consisting of each student's family history story
Visitors to the classroom ideas: Guidance counselor
(career),
government official, (democracy)
Possible Small Group Activities:
Rewriting the end of the book
Creating a book of rules in a perfect society
Research the names Jonas and Gabriel in the bible
Committee to plan the ceremony
Create your own perfect society
Possible Individual Activities:
Reaction papers
Before and after unit questionnaires
Journal Entries (reaction)
Diary sketches: A main character diary entry
Family History Papers: Students will interview someone
in their families
or someone they know who can tell them a family story
that is at least
two generations old
Ongoing Activities:
Students will write in their reaction journals after
they have read each
chapter. They will also write reactions to the debate,
the book of rules,
the committee ceremonies presentations, and guest speakers.
Students will take a questionnaire at the beginning
of the unit and the
end to see if they change their minds on "A Perfect
World."
Students will be responsible for chapter vocabulary
words.
Students will keep spelling and grammar logs for all
writing projects.
Student Resources:
Students will need to purchase notebooks to use as their
reaction
journals. They will also need to buy one poster board.
It will be helpful for them to have a dictionary
available for vocabulary
words
A copy of The Giver
A copy of the short story, "Canterbury Pilgrims,"
by Nathaniel
Hawthorne.
Unit Launch/Set Induction: See Detailed plans for
unit on Week
One, Day One.
Organization of the Unit:
Week One:
Day One:
Unit Launch: Give index cards to each student as they
come into the
classroom. On each card will be listed a career and
job description.
Students will be told they may not switch their job.
They will write a
reaction paper about how this made them feel to have
no choice in their
career choice. Then, students will be able to switch
to a career of their
choice. They will then write about what that felt like
to choose their
own career. They will fill out a questionnaire dealing
with a perfect
society. The whole class will read the back cover of
The Giver,
predicting what will happen in the story.
Introducing the Unit, "A Perfect World"
Week One, Day One: Unit Launch
Objective/Standard: The objective of this lesson
is to spark students'
interest in the unit called, "A Perfect World."
Materials Needed: Questionnaires. Index cards: one
for each
student. On each card will be written a career and job
description.
Students will need to have their journals or paper to
write reactions.
Method: (Designed for 50 minute class period)
Students will fill out questionnaires on what they
believe about families
and societies. They will turn this in and then answer
the same
questionnaire at the end of the unit. 5 minutes
Students will be given index cards with career and
job description
listed. They will be told they MAY NOT switch cards.
They will be
told to break up into small groups of five. 5 minutes
Small groups will answer questions on worksheet based
on the index
cards. (See attached worksheet) 15 minutes.
Students will then switch index cards if they want
within their small
group or within the large group to a career they find
more appealing to
them. 5 minutes.
Students will then write in their journals, answering
these two questions:
What did it feel like to be told what you career was?
What did it feel
like to be able to have some choice in what career you
had? 5 minutes
The teacher will then briefly explain that the unit
they are embarking on
for the next four weeks will be about the importance
of choice. 2
minutes
The class will read the back cover of The Giver,
and then predict what
the story may be about. 10 minutes
The teacher will wrap up with telling students that
they should start
thinking of choices they are given every day. 2-3 minutes
Assessment: The teacher will know if the students
will have met the
objectives when students have identified in small group
discussion and
reaction papers why choice of career is important.
A Perfect World
Day one: worksheet
Group Names:
_________________________________________________
Please answer the following questions:
1. What careers were your group members given?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Did anyone like his/her career? Please Explain
why they did:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Did anyone not like his/her career? Please explain
why not:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Does your group feel it is important to choose
their own career?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Does your group think it's a good idea for the
government to decide
what every person's jobs are so that everyone is employed?
Why or
why not?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A Perfect World
Week One: Day One
Questionnaire for the beginning and end of the unit
Please answer each question by writing agree or disagree.
1._________ A society without competition, unemployment,
hunger
and jealousy would be an ideal state in which to live.
2._________Parents could take care of their children
better if they
didn't love them so much.
3._________People who are born inferior to others
and persons who
have become too old to of use in the workplace should
be quietly put
to death.
4._________Children who don't know their grandparents
aren't
missing anything.
5._________If society could just pick your occupation
for you at the
age of 12, it would be much simpler and would help people
avoid
making hard choices about how to spend their working
lives.
6.________All children should have equal possessions
and privileges
at a certain age, regardless of their status in the
family.
7.________We should not have to carry bad memories
in our heads.
It would be much easier if all bad things were forgotten.
8.________Color, weather, and music are not really
necessary things
in life. They are just frills and we could do without
them.
9.________Families should only be allowed to have two children.
10.________It would be better for the world if we
all had the same
weather. It would be much better for everyone in the
world to have
climate control.
11.________It would be much better for everyone in
the world to
have the same color eyes, hair and skin.
12.________It would be a really good idea for families
to tell each
other all of their feelings every single day, whether
they want to or not.
Day Two:
The class will read Chapters One and Two of the story
in class. The
class will discuss the excitement of the ceremonies
in the first two
chapters of the book. (See discussion questions in lesson
plan,
below.)They will then break up into small groups and
form committees
to plan events for the ceremonies. They will create
ceremony plans,
using poster boards.
A Perfect World
Week One, Day Two
Objective/Standard: The objective of this lesson
is for students to get
actively involved with their reading of The Giver by
creating ceremony
plans for the Jonas' Community.
Rationale: It is best to actively involve the students
with their learning.
By doing this, the students will be able to understand
the literature they
are reading on a deeper level than just surface reading.
Materials Needed: Poster boards or banner paper.
Method: (Designed for a 50 minute class period)
Class will read chapters one and two. 15 minutes.
Class will get into small groups and make preparations
for the
ceremonies for the Jonas' society. They may use poster
boards,
banners, or stories for their project. See worksheet
explaining the
assignment. 30 minutes.
Class will discuss in the final minutes why the ceremonies
are so
important to the community. What ceremonies do students
have in their
communities? Religious, graduations, sporting events,
Homecoming,
Prom, singing the National Anthem, etc.
Assessment: The teacher will know if students understand
the text,
specifically Chapters One and Two, by putting what they
read into their
ceremony presentations.
Day Two: A Perfect World
In the first three chapters of The Giver, everyone
is really excited
about the ceremonies coming up.
Your group is the Ceremonies Committee! It's the Committee's
responsibility to get as many people as possible to
attend the
ceremonies. You can use ideas from the first three chapters
of the
book!
You can try some of the following ideas:
You could design a poster
You could make a banner
You can write a radio or TV commercial
You can design a newspaper advertisement
You can write a story about the ceremonies
Every member of your group has to agree with every
part of your plan
to draw people to the ceremonies. Every person must
be given a task
in the project. You will be filling out a team worksheet
to evaluate
cooperation within your committee. This team evaluation
worksheet is
due at the end of the period.
Make sure your project is interesting and neatly
done. You will be
presenting your project to the rest of the class.
Have fun!
Team Evaluations
Your
name_______________________________________________
Team Member Names:
______________________________________
Project worked on:
__________________________________________
Please fill this evaluation out individually and turn in at the end of class.
How did each group member contribute on this group activity?
Who do you think worked best with the group and why?
What did you contribute toward the group project? Please explain.
What problems did your group have, if any?
What could your group do differently next time to
achieve better
success?
What grade would you give your group for the project
they completed
today?
Day Three:
Ceremony presentations will take most of the time. Reaction
papers to
the ceremonies, comparing their own with the book's.
Class will read
Chapter Three.
Day Four:
Recap first three chapters. Class Discussion: Could
break into small
groups and then talk about these questions in large
group form. Discuss
what could have happened to the apple and why that might
have been
important. Discuss the black and white concept: the
light and dark
eyes. Discuss being singled out on the loudspeaker and
what that must
feel like. Discuss the birthmother's roles. Read Chapter
Four.
Day Five:
Recap Chapter Four. Ask them what release may be.
Read Chapter
Five in class. Discuss the implications of that pill
Jonas has to take from
now on. Have students write reaction papers (Or in their
journals) to
the events happening so far in the book. Assign the
family history
paper: Interview a family member or someone else you
know about a
family history that is at least two generations old.
Week Two
Day One:
Read chapters Six and Seven: The ceremonies! Why
was Jonas
skipped? Get into peer writing groups and look over
the family history
papers drafts.
Day Two:
Family history paper drafts due. Read Chapters Eight
and Nine.
Discussion about the Giver position. Why was the other
giver's name
not allowed to be used again? Why was Asher uncomfortable
with
Jonas now? Why do you think that Jonas can lie? Why
is he exempted
from normal things like dream telling? What do you think
the elder
meant when she said that being the giver meant having
to go through
indescribable pain?
Day Three:
Drafts handed back and corrections due on day four.
Read Chapters
Ten and Eleven. What did you notice was the same about
Jonas and
the Giver? What do you think about climate control?
Jonas says
sameness, referring to his society. Break up into two
large groups: One
for sameness, on for diversity. Think of all the positives
that involve
your group's concept. These will be handed in so hold
on to these.
Day Four:
The sameness/ Diversity debate will take most of
the time, followed by
reaction papers on sameness/diversity. The reaction
papers are where
students are finally able to express their own opinions.
Day Five:
Read Chapter Twelve. One thing to ponder over the
weekend. Why
did the giver not have a name? Jonas begins to lie now
to his family.
What do you think about this? Jonas is now beginning
to see colors!
Break up into pairs of two. Walk around the room and
write your
reactions down to the colors on the poster board you
see. What colors
cause what emotions in you? Students will write reactions
to the
color/emotion project. They will then write a short
story or a poem
about color. At the end of the hour, turn in your color
and emotions
responses and your written piece.
Week Three:
Day One:
Read Chapter Thirteen. Diary assignment. Jonas is
getting frustrated
with his society now. Why? Students will choose one
of the characters
in the book and write in diary form about one day in
his/her life.
Day Two:
Students will break into their writing groups and
go over rough draft of
diary papers. The class will then read Chapters Fourteen
and Fifteen.
Day Three:
Students will read Nathaniel Hawthorne's, "The
Canterbury Pilgrims."
They will devote the rest of the hour in small groups
discussing the
similarities and differences in the Shaker's society
to compared to
Jonas'. The class will discuss these differences. Homework:
read
Chapter Sixteen.
Day Four:
Recap Chapter Sixteen. Jonas is having a hard time
being the Giver.
Why is it hard for him? We will listen to various forms
of music and will
be free-writing about the emotions we feel with each
type of music.
The class will read the family histories in class. Homework:
read
chapter seventeen.
Day Five:
Recap Chapter Seventeen. Diary papers are due. Read
Chapters
Eighteen and Nineteen. Students will break up into small
groups and
create a book of rules for a perfect society. They will
answer questions
on the worksheets: Is it possible to have a perfect
world? Why/why
not? Who makes the decisions in your perfect world?
How do they
make the decisions? (voting, rulers, etc.) Discuss rules
with whole
class, then hand in worksheets. Homework: read Chapter
Twenty.
Week Four:
Day One:
Recap Chapters Eighteen through Twenty. Small group
discussions on
releasing. Each group will answer two of these questions.
What is
release? What people did we see in the book who were
released? (the
pilot, the old, the girl giver, the twin, Rosemary,
people who made
three mistakes) Is it right to get rid of the old and
the twin? Is it right to
release a healthy girl because she didn't like being
the giver? Is Jonas
right in being angry with his father? Why are Jonas'
feelings different
from his father's? Do you agree that memories need to
be shared?
Why? Where do you think Elsewhere is? Why does the Giver
show
Jonas what release is? Why do you think it is easy for
Fiona to release
old people? Were you surprised that Rosemary was the
Giver's
daughter? Who are Jonas' parents? Have each group predict
what the
outcome will be of Jonas' plan to get to elsewhere.
Write in story form,
share with class.
Day Two:
Read Chapters Twenty-One and Twenty Two. First, students
working
individually will list five choices they make in their
lives that they have a
say in. Then, they will list five choices they have
some say in and then
five they don't have any say in. They will then break
into small groups
and discuss patterns of choices they have listed. They
will then
conclude the day with reaction papers on why choice
is important in
their lives.
Day Three:
Read Chapter Twenty-Three. Have students meet in
small groups,
discussing what really happened at the end of the story.
Students will
be given the assignment for the final project: continuing
the story from
the ending. Students will brainstorm in their journals
possible endings.
Day Four:
Hopefully, there will be a poem to compare the story
to. Writing time
for final projects. Homework: Draft one of final project
due tomorrow.
Day Five:
Class discussion about the story and the things they
had learned from it.
Have them fill out reader responses to the book. Meet
in writing peer
groups. Homework: rewrite final project from draft one.
Draft two due
Week Five, Day One.
Week Five
Day One: Drafts due to teacher at the end of the
hour. Writing time
today.
Day Two: Conferencing with teacher on draft two.
Writing time. Meet
with writing peer groups.
Day Three: 10-minute writing lesson on grammatical
or mechanical
errors. The teacher will teach this lesson according
to the errors found
in final project drafts. Writing time. Peer editing
time. Conferencing
with teacher on draft two.
Day Three: Another 10 minute writing lesson grammatical
or
mechanical errors. Independent reading time or writing
time today.
Day Four: Final Projects due. Students will read
final projects to the
class.
Day Five: Students will read final projects to the
class. Have students
answer questionnaires and compare their answers to those
they gave at
the beginning of the unit. If there is time left over
today, class can
discuss The Giver. Students will fill out reader response
sheets about
this unit.
A Perfect World:
Final project for the end of the unit
Objectives/Minnesota Standards: The Students will
have met
middle level content standards in area two of write
and speak; Writing:
2 A student shall demonstrate a narrative including
A. A description of events from direct experience or
observation
B. Use of relevant detail and figurative language to
create an image of
setting, characters, and events.
C. Dialogue between characters; and
D. A sequence of events or ideas leading to a logical
ending; and
3 An idea or opinion that:
A. Gives a rationale that includes reasons to support
or oppose the
opinion;
B. Uses evidence to support the idea; and
C. Has correct spelling and mechanics.
Method:
Students in class will read the final chapter, Chapter
23 of The Giver.
15 minutes.
Teacher will assign small groups to discuss what the
ending of the book
may mean. Some questions they will ask: What happened
to Jonas and
Gabriel? What happened to the community they left? Small
groups will
fill out worksheets based on these questions. 10 minutes
Students will be asked to brainstorm in their journals
what the ending
might be to the story. 10 minutes
Handout explanation(See handout of task description
below): 5
minutes.
Students will be given a handout on what is expected
for their final
writing project for this unit. They will each have to
write a different
ending to the novel, The Giver. They will need to create
dialogue
between characters and give real reasons from the story
as to why they
ended the story the way they did. See Final Project
Work sheet.
In upcoming days, students will be able to meet with
peer writing
groups twice and conference with the teacher once so
they will have
logically sequenced stories and error free papers.
Student questions about the final project: 10 minutes.
Assessment: The teacher will know that students have
met objectives
by the worksheets they turn in. Students will also be
handing in two
rough drafts and will be conferencing with the teacher
so that the final
project is completed correctly and acceptable for MN
standards.
Assessment Task/Unit Grading
Students will receive points for all projects completed.
Reaction Papers
25 points possible 5 pts/5 papers
Ceremony Project
20 points
Ceremony Group
Participation
5 points
Family History Paper
25 points
Diary Draft
5 points
Diary Paper
20 points
Rules Worksheet
Group participation: Possible
20 points 5
pts/ 4 papers
Final Project 1st draft
5 points
Final Project 2nd draft
5 points
Conference with teacher
5 points
Final Paper and Rationale
30 points
125 points possible
125 points possible
A =112-125 points
B= 99 -111 points
C= 86-98 points
D= 73- 85 points
F= below 73 points
All Students must turn in all parts of the final
project to be able to
acquire a grade for this unit.
Completing the final project will have fulfilled
the requirements for the
MN Middle Content Standards in writing, parts two and
three.
Teachers will know that students have completed these
standards
because the final project will have students writing
a narrative by
writing a new chapter to the end of The Giver.
Students will have written this story, using the same
characters, the
same tone as the book, showing setting and figurative
language used in
the book.
Students will turn in an explanation describing the
reasons behind their
story. This paper will meet the standard by showing
the rationale of
their story. Students will turn in error free papers
because they will
have met with peer writing groups, turned in two drafts,
and
conferenced with their teacher about their paper.
Assessment Package: A Perfect World
Learning Area: Write & Speak
Level: Middle School
Content Area: Write & Speak: Writing
Source:
http://mecr.state.mn.us/rubric.pl?RUBRIC_ID=10011&OBJ_REQ=VIEW
Task: Writing another ending chapter to The Giver
Standard:
2 A student shall demonstrate a narrative including
A. A description of events from direct experience or
observation
B. Use of relevant detail and figurative language to
create an
image of setting, characters, and events.
C. Dialogue between characters; and
D. A sequence of events or ideas leading to a logical
ending; and
3 A. An idea or opinion that:
B. Gives a rationale that includes reasons to support
or oppose the
opinion;
C. Uses evidence to support the idea; and
D. Has correct spelling and mechanics.
Task: Writing a rationale paper for student's Chapter
Twenty
Four.
Standard:
2 A student shall demonstrate a narrative including
A. A description of events from direct experience or
observation
B. Use of relevant detail and figurative language to
create an image of
setting, characters, and events.
C. Dialogue between characters; and
D. A sequence of events or ideas leading to a logical
ending; and
3 A. An idea or opinion that:
B. Gives a rationale that includes reasons to support
or oppose
the opinion;
C. Uses evidence to support the idea; and
D. Has correct spelling and mechanics.
Large Processes and Concepts: The items from the
Large
Processes and Concepts for this learning area that are
addressed in this
assessment task are bolded below.
The following bolded large processes and concepts are
covered in this
assessment task brainstorm/generate- draft- conference-
revise- edit-
publish
Overview: Students will be writing a new ending to
the book, The
Giver. This new ending will be called "Chapter
Twenty-Four."
Students will base their writing on what they already
know about the
book. You will need to include Jonas and Gabriel in
the ending. You
will need to write and include dialogue into the chapter.
You'll need to
develop the events happening in your chapter with things
that already
happened in the story. Your chapter needs to end with
a logical ending,
being consistent with the rest of the novel.
1. Read the book, The Giver. First, brainstorm by
writing ideas about
the book ending in your journal. These ideas must be
written in
paragraph form. You should come up with at least five
ideas about the
ending of the story. You must include Gabriel and Jonas
in the end of
the story. You will then meet with your peer group and
discuss your
ending, coming up with your five best ideas to your
ending.
2. Next, you will start writing your story. These
are some things that
must be included in your story.
You need to start your story with Gabriel and Jonas
on the sled where the
story left off in Chapter 23.
Your story needs to include dialogue between some characters
in your story.
You must have a logical sequence of events leading up
to the end of the story
You must have a logical ending to your story, meaning
it has to make sense
with what happened in the book.
You will be assessed on mechanics and spelling.
Each draft of your story must be word processed, using
12 font.
3. After you have written your first draft of your
chapter, you will need
to have members from your peer group respond to your
chapter. Do
not lose these responses; this is part of your total
final grade.
4. After you have revised and corrected your first
draft from the
responses you received from your peers, you will be
conferencing with
your teacher with your second draft. Do not lose your
teacher
response; this is included in your final grade.
5. You will now revise your chapter, using the comments
your teacher
gave you during the conference. This will be your final
draft. Your final
draft should be free of spelling and mechanical errors.
It must be
handed in with your brainstorming journal sheet, your
peer-brainstorming sheet, your peer responses, and your
teacher
response.
6. Next, you will write a one-page summary of why
you wrote the
story as you did. This is called your rationale sheet.
You need to
explain in your rationale why you used the characters
you used, the
language you used, the dialogue you used, and why you
ended the
story the way you did. Your rationale must show how
your story would
match up with how Lois Lowry would have written it.
Task Checklist:
Brainstorming
Y = Yes N=No
Student
Type of evidence
Teacher
Did the Student
brainstorm different
ideas for the ending of
the book in his/her
journal?
Student must have at
least five different
ending ideas. Each
idea must be written in
paragraph form. One
idea=one paragraph
Did the student
brainstorm with peer
group and discuss at
least five different
ideas for the end of the
story?
Student must turn in
worksheet with group
ideas. Each idea must
be written in paragraph
form. One idea= one
paragraph.
Task Checklist: Generate
(The First Draft)
Y = Yes N= No
Student
Type of Evidence
Teacher
Does the Student
include the characters
Gabriel and Jonas in
the draft?
Does the student start
the story with Jonas
and Gabriel on the
sled?
Does the story
develop logically from
beginning to a logical
ending?
Does the draft use
character dialogue?
Is the dialogue
realistic?
Is there a description
of the setting?
Is this story consistent
with the rest of The
Giver?
Is the draft free of
spelling and
mechanical errors?
Task Checklist: Revising &
Editing Drafts 2 & 3
Y= Yes N= No
Student
Type of Evidence
Teacher
Does the Student
include the characters
Gabriel and Jonas in
the draft?
Does the student start
the story with Jonas
and Gabriel on the
sled?
Does the story
develop logically from
beginning to a logical
ending?
Does the draft use
character dialogue?
Is the dialogue
realistic?
Is there a description
of the setting?
Does this story fit into
context with the rest of
The Giver?
Is the draft typed?
Has the student made
corrections in draft
two from draft one?
Has the student made
corrections in draft
two from draft three?
Has the student
conferenced with the
teacher?
Has the student
handed in all drafts?
Task Assessment:The
Rationale Paper
Y = Yes N = No
Student
Type of Evidence
Teacher
Has the student
explained how the
paper has logically
followed the story of
The Giver?
Has the student
explained how the
dialogue in the paper
matches the dialogue in
The Giver?
How to Assess the Content Standards for the Final Project:
Source:
http://mecr.state.mn.us/rubric.pl?RUBRIC_ID=10011&OBJ_REQ=VIEW
Scores are ranked 4-0 with 4 being highest score and 0 being lowest.
Scores reflect a professional judgement based on
multiple evidence of
sustained student work over time.
Important! All parts of the listed criteria must
be met for a specific
score to be given.
Exemplary- To receive a score of 4, a student:
Develops a message/content that is transparent with
sharp focus,
supported with varied, precise, significant examples
and/or details and
is an invitation for the audience to re-examine their
perspective.
Establishes style with precise, subtle word choice,
fluent and refined
variation in sentence structure and personal response
that transforms
interaction of audience, message and medium.
Demonstrates control of conventions that is skilled
in nuances and
enhances message.
Proficient- To receive a score of 3, a student:
Develops a message/content that is structured with
clear focus,
supported with multiple, specific, relevant examples
and/or details and
intentional for a particular audience perspective.
Establishes style with accurate, appropriate word choice,
multiple and
purposeful variation in sentence structure and crafted
response that
considers interaction of audience, message and medium.
Demonstrates control of conventions that is accurate
and appropriate
to message.
Novice- To receive a score of 2, a student:
Develops a message/content that is awkward with inconsistent
focus,
supported with few, general, and/or related examples
and/or details
and addressed to a stereotypical/general audience perspective.
Establishes style with functional, adequate word choice,
limited and/or
mechanical variation of sentence structure and mechanical
response
that attempts to acknowledge interaction of audience,
message and
medium.
Demonstrates control of conventions that is inconsistent
and sometimes
distracts from message.
Emerging- To receive a score of 1, a student:
Develops a message/content that is haphazard with
competing focus,
supported with sporadic, vague, and/or remote examples
and/or details
and limited in awareness of audience perspective.
Establishes style with generic, limited word choice,
meaningless and/or
random variation in sentence structure and limited response
that
awkwardly addresses interaction of audience, message
and medium.
Demonstrates control of conventions that is unskilled
and interferes
with message.
Supporting Materials:
My Eternal thanks to all of these sources below!
http://www.mcdougalllittel.com/lit/litcon/giver/guide.htm
http://www.portledge.org/MS/Mrs_mac/The%20Giver/giver.htm
http://www.teachers-connect.net/TNT/mlp0043.htm
http://www.desconnect.com/ctaylor/Cides/egowman/Giver/Assigng1.htm
http://www.teachers.net/lessons/posts/664.html
http://www.fcasd.edu/schools/dms/giver/puzzles/pu1.htm
Other Sources:
http://mecr.state.mn.us/
http://www.ncte.org/lists/
The Giver and Related Readings: Literature Connections:
Houghton Mifflin
The Giver: Teacher's Sourcebook: Literature Connections:
Houghton Mifflin
"Canterbury Pilgrims," by Nathaniel Hawthorne.