CRITTERCAM: BLUE WHALES!
National Geographic Video
JESSIE’S ISLAND
Written by Sheryl MacFarlane
Illustrated by Ann Barrows
BIG BLUE
Written by Shelley Gill
Illustrated by Ann Barrows
This National Geographic video correlates well with the Tumblebooks fiction e-book “Jessie’s Island”, as well as the non-fiction e-book “Big Blue”. This lesson plan can be used independently with the video or to compare elements of the video and the two e-books. These lessons are intended to be shared over several learning days. Or elements of the lesson plan can be used to teach each text independently.
Videos are excellent resources for connecting language and visuals with ESL/ELL students. Using complementary video and text resources together to support ESL/ELL learners generates significant possibilities for connecting understandings as well as opportunities for repeating sound/letter/word patterns vocally and in text.
Lesson Objectives:
To be able to use strong listening and visual skills to extract information from a video (text-to-world connections)
To be able to synthesize information acquired from a video to generate a K-W-H-L graphic organizer
To be able to use strong listening and visual skills to extract information from a non-fiction text
To be able to use strong listening and visual skills to extract information from a fiction text
To be able to use vocabulary to make connections between video, fiction and non-fiction text (text-to-world connections)
To be able to analyze various texts (video, fiction, non-fiction) to find common key ideas (text-to-text connections)
To be able to compare similarities and differences between genres (text-to-text connections)
Grade Level: 2 - 4
Common Core Connections:
Meaning: single meaning, explicit/implicit purpose
Structure: conventional, simple text, traits of an information video (text)
Language Convention/Clarity: literal/figurative meaning, contemporary language, domain-specific knowledge (ocean, blue whales, aquatic life)
Knowledge Demands: familiarity with non-fiction video (text), high intertextuality (implied)
Strategies:
Students will be able to make text-to-world connections using strong listening and visual skills to extract information from a video.
Students will be able to make text-to-self connections as they make predictions and synthesize information acquired from a video and a non-fiction text to generate a K-W-H-L graphic organizer.
Students will be able to make text-to-world connections using strategies to locate specific vocabulary in video, fiction and non-fiction texts, and represent meaning using illustrations and written descriptions.
Students will be able to make text-to-text connections as they analyze texts to find common key ideas.
Students will be able to make text-to-text connections as they compare similarities and differences between genres.
Materials/Resources:
- Critter Cam: Blue Whales! National Geographic video on TumbleBookLibrary
- Jessie’s Island and Big Blue e-books on TumbleBookLibrary
- SmartBoard or other interactive white board (or projector/laptops)
- K-W-L graphic organizer
- Paper, pencils, coloured pencils, markers
- Writing books/logs
Strategic Lesson Plan:
Instructional Activity #1
- Explain to students this week’s literature lessons will be focused on exploring different genres and types of texts all connected by topic/theme, as we make connections to our world, ourselves and the texts we are reading
- We will be using the following reading strategies: making predictions, activating prior knowledge, building vocabulary, synthesizing, summarizing, making connections
- today’s literature lesson is actually a short, non-fiction video related to the blue whale and characteristics of the blue whale
- Display a blank K-W-H-L graphic organizer on the SmartBoard (or distribute copies to pairs of students)
- Ask the students to write down what they know or think they know about blue whales already on the ‘K’ section of the chart, then turn to the closest student (or pair of students) beside them to quickly share their knowledge (time: 3 minutes)
- Next, have students work together in pairs/quads to generate questions under the ‘W’ section of the chart –what do they want to know
- Together, share the ‘W’ questions and collectively complete the ‘H’ – how will we find out? Explain that over the course of the week, we will be exploring three types of texts (video, fiction, non-fiction) to help us gather this data – brainstorm other ways students might be able to locate new information if this were to become a long, in-depth research project – how is this work similar/different?
- Invite the students to share the video Crittercam: Blue Whales! as a whole class, in pairs or independently on Tumblebooks while they jot notes in their writing journal about the new information the video is giving them on the topic of blue whales
- Bring the class back together to discuss what they learned from the video; ask them to turn to a partner and discuss their learning (5 – 8 minutes) – they can share/add to the jot notes in their writing journals/logs
- Complete the ‘L’ category of the K-W-L chart together
- Together as a whole class, brainstorm and create a SmartBoard list of Key Words (focus on whale-related words, not on the Crittercam element of the video)
- Additional activity: on a separate chart paper, jot down any additional questions the students might have, and any ideas they think might be true but don’t know for sure yet – could assign some ‘investigators’ to find out more
These activities can be used as a formative assessment activity to assess abilities to listen and visually extract information from a video to generate a K-W-H-L chart.
K-W-H-L CHART
What we KNOW / What we WANT to know / HOW we will find out? / What we LEARNEDInstructional Activity #2:
· Explain to the students today we are going to expand our understanding of the blue whale as we explore a non-fiction text and pull up the Key Words generated from the previous video lesson
· Briefly discuss what they learned from the previous lesson (activating prior knowledge) and ask students to listen/read carefully to see if they hear any of the same key words
· Have students review the e-book Big Blue on Tumblebooks in partners
· Together, add/change to the Key Words Chart (e.g. Dive to diving, etc)
· Summarize together the information from Big Blue
o 5 sentences: who, what, when, where, why, how
o build together on the SmartBoard or in pairs in writing logs
o Share together in a shared writing activity
· Optional Activity:
o On graph paper, create a scale sized illustration of a blue whale (if students have covered scale in math) – or alternatively, draw a blue whale compared to a school bus in approximate size (class researchers can find out the approximate size – sample chart below)
This activity can be used as a formative assessment activity to assess abilities to listen/read, extract and represent information from a non-fiction text.
Instructional Activity #3
· Explain today’s lesson will make connections for the students between a fiction story, the non-fiction e-book and the video on blue whales
· There are 3 things the students need to be listening/reading for (be attentive to) in today’s reading:
o Ask the students to consider, as they are listening/reading the text, how the blue whale figures in the story (minor role, adds to the story with background information, helps to understand the lifestyle of living on the ocean, etc)
o Today’s story, the e-book Jessie’s Island, is a special kind of story, told in a particular way
o Encourage the students to notice how the story is written and be prepared to come and discuss this with the class
o Show the Key Words list and ask students to listen for any of the words and, also, to explain how the key words might be relevant to the fiction story even if they do are not actually used in the text
· Have the students read/listen to the text in pairs or triads, with writing notebooks ready for jot notes on:
o key words
o the role of the blue whale in the story
o the way in which the story is written (e.g. In letters)
· When students have finished the text, have them quietly discuss these 3 idea targets for a few minutes
· Bring the large group together and review ideas:
o Add/modify and discuss Key Words list
o Discuss the use of letters Jessie’s Island - does this help us understand the story better? Why? (it is a device that helps present different points of view)
o Discuss what role the blue whale played in the story
· Assign the children:
o Create a large 3-section pie chart in your writing journals (or on a large piece of paper)
In each section, illustrate a scene from each genre of text – through your illustration, represent the blue whale in the way it is presented in each text (e.g. As an animal to be studied, as an animal in the wild, as a part of the background in a person’s lifestyle, etc)
This activity can be used as a formative assessment activity to assess abilities to listen/read, extract and represent information from a fiction text.