TLU

=__Mr. Brown's Themed Literature Unit__=

Welcome students and families of Mr. Stowell's 4th and 5th grade class!
I would like to invite you all to preview a literature unit that your students will delve into this spring. Students will be reading biographies and realistic and historical fiction books. The theme that all these books have in common is **perseverance in the face of adversity**. In the midst of continuing to improve their reading, writing, and communication skills, students will study and learn about characters that face profound hardship, but meet such hardship with equally profound perseverance.

I have chosen a group of historical and realistic fiction books that tell the story of children who persevere in spite of being faced with great and sometimes terrifying adversity. Each story is a gripping tale that brings to life the historical context in which the children live, and shows how the characters persevere through courage, self-reliance, will-power, and help from others. The power in the novels lies in the fact that they are based on reality and tell a story that many people actually encountered and overcame.

This unit will be a good chance for students to put themselves in the shoes of someone else and see history and the world through his or her eyes. Students should recognize the challenges these children face, and, knowing that these events really took place, feel empowered that children were able to persevere through them. Some of the characters are also forced to make decisions that go against their integrity, but ultimately save their lives, illustrating the complexities of real life and blurring the lines of right and wrong. These decisions will support students in their growth into adulthood, as they are faced with tough decisions and their own personal trials.

Students will have to persevere in reading the texts themselves, some of them being quite long texts, but, with the inclusion of short videos, art, shared reading, shared writing experiences, and reflections, students will surprise themselves with their own capabilities.

Though these characters face overwhelming hardship, the human spirit shows an amazing ability to overcome when put to the test. Perseverance is a trait we all need in order to survive and attain our goals; it’s important that students see how others have persevered, and know that they can work hard, find courage, and persevere when they are faced with adversity.


 * The focusing questions of the unit are:**
 * What does it mean to persevere when faced with adversity?
 * What does it take for someone to be able to persevere when faced with adversity?


 * Here are the main goals for students in this unit:**
 * 1) Students will understand that adversity is any of a number of difficult circumstances and that perseverance means never giving up and transcending that adversity.
 * 2) Students will understand that people who successfully persevere are motivated by profound goals.
 * 3) Students will understand that perseverance takes a combination of character traits, including hope, determination, courage, persistence, self-reliance, and creativity.


 * As we persevere, students will be working hard on these literacy skills:**
 * 1) Students will be able to recognize the adversity that characters face and explain how they persevere in biographies and realistic and/or historical fiction texts.
 * 2) Students will make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections about perseverance from biographies and realistic and/or historical fiction texts.
 * 3) Students will support each other in literacy circles by respectfully monitoring each other’s progress and understanding of the theme of perseverance as it is relates to their text and to each other.

There will be several opportunities for family members to participate in the student's literature unit. There will be three projects that require the participation of a family member:
 * 1) At the beginning of the unit, students and their selected family member or adult will brainstorm and agree on a goal they would like to work on together. This goal can involve the two of them together, like spending more time with each other. It can also be the same goal that they work on separately, like reading independently for 30 minutes each night. The student and adult will meet weekly to discuss their progress in regards to their goal, and to talk about what they need to do in order to persevere.
 * 2) The student will interview an adult about a time when they faced adversity and learn about their story of perseverance. Ultimately, students will write a short, fictional narrative based on their interviewee’s experience.
 * 3) Lastly, students will learn a family recipe and prepare it for the final day of the unit. We will have a perseverance potluck, and celebrate having made it to the end of the unit!

Directions for these assignments will be coming soon!

Here are some of the books we will be reading:


 * Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
 * Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
 * Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse
 * [|Crossing the Wire] by Will Hobbs
 * [|Number the Stars] by Lois Lowry
 * [|Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key] by Jack Gantos
 * [|Frida] by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Ana Juan
 * [|Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez] by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Yuyi Morales

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