Unit Title: My Virtual World
Duration: 6 weeks (September 10- October 19,2012)
Unit Rationale:
The fascination people have about what their ideal world would be like extends from the fanciful, to the factual, from dreaming of possibilities to actually planning how they would build their virtual world. Many children and young people today see a world of their own in their imagination. Using this imaginary world as a catalyst, a teacher can introduce gifted students to complex concepts in Social Studies, Language Arts and Science. Using the elements of a culture, students develop a world based on imagination and creativity. Reading science fiction and a fantasy literature, writing a short story and poems, producing a work of art and making a 3D model of their virtual world augment their study.
Measurable Learner Objectives:
By the end of the unit students will be able to:
· Employ effective written, verbal and visual communication skills to convey ideas and information about their imaginary world.
· Apply appropriate problem-solving strategies to solve problems related to creating their own world.
· Acquire knowledge and skills to make decisions about what a world should be like.
· Acquire the skills to become a responsible group member.
Knowledge:
Geographical description of a country
Government and law
Natural resources
Imports and exports
Clothing and education
Industries
Agricultural production
Family and housing
Food and recreation
History
Transportation and communication
Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS):
ELACC5W3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
c. Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events.
d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
ELACC5W4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
ELACC5SL1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
ELACC5SL5: Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
ELACC5RL1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
ELACC5RL7: Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the
meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).
ELACC5L1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
ELACC5L2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Instructional Strategies:
Working as a group, students will:
· Read stories that others have written about their virtual world.
· Read each other’s stories and poems about their virtual world.
· Complete Bonus Boxes activities
· Complete research activities (for example the types of crop suitable for the type of land that is there in their world.)
· Create their own world on kid-friendly websites such as woozworld.com
Individually, students will:
· Write poems and stories about different aspects of their virtual world.
· Draw different types of maps of their world eg. Agricultural map.
· Make sketches of things that are present in their virtual world.
· Use Blockcad on the computer to create models of aspects of their virtual world.
· Complete worksheets about what their virtual world would be like.
· Create a flip book using their poems and stories.
Assessments:
· Make a 3D model of their virtual world complete with physical features, buildings, people etc,
· Write and illustrate poems about their virtual world.
· Write a story about their virtual world.
· Draw pictures/make a painting of their virtual world.
· Sketch a plan of their virtual world.
Resources:
Internet: http://www.adifferentplace.org
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/flipbook/
Stories about others’ virtual world
Software: BlockCadWebsites: www.woozworld.com (Design your own world)
Books:
Running out of Time- Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Hobbit- J.R.R Tolkien
The Golden Compass-Phillip Pullman
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
_____ I have seen and read the gifted curriculum unit 1 entitled: My Virtual World.
_____ I have not seen nor read the gifted curriculum unit 1 entitled: My Virtual World.
Parent Signature______Date: ______
Dear Parent/Guardian,
I am so excited to be working with your gifted child this year! I am also elated about our first unit that we began today, September 10, 2012. It will largely focus on Reading and Language Arts Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS). Your child will complete most of the work on this unit at school in our gifted and talented classes but might come home with a piece or two to work on. I crave your support and help with any piece of work that he/she might take home to work on. We will be reading and discussing these three books for this unit: Running out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix, The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien and The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
Kindly see if you can help your child to check out The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien from your local library as soon as possible and begin reading it. You can also find an online version of this book at: http://100bestebooks.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/j-r-r-tolkien-the-hobbit1.pdf
Also, if it is at all possible, could you please get the following supplies for your child? (I know that he/she might already have some of these, so you need only to get what they do not already have)
1 composition notebook for journal
1 drawing book for art (without lines)
1 plastic folder and loose leaf papers
I am enclosing a copy of the unit plan. Please sign that you have seen and read it. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me in person at the school or call me.
Sincerely,
Carlene Burrell (Mrs.)
Gifted Education Specialist/Teacher
6449 Church Street | Riverdale, Georgia 30274 | 770.756.9710 | www.scholarsacademy.us