home

=**Welcome to Mr. Stern's Themed Literature Unit Home Page!**=


 * This page was created in October 2011 for my Seattle University Master in Teaching course TEED 521. I took the course in Fall quarter, 2011.**

__**Theme: Persevering To Make A Better Life**__

 * Our goal in this unit is to help our students become better readers and writers. One proven way to help students retain interest in both of these "skills" is to make the lessons for them more interesting. As such, we have decided to do a unit for reading and writing that has universal appeal. Because of the appealing theme of the unit, and the great books that we are using to support the theme, your student will likely be very excited to work on their reading and writing. The specifics of what we do in this unit are listed below.**


 * As Part of this unit, the students will talk about the theme, and generalizations that can be related to the theme. A couple of generalizations that I would like the students to take from the theme are:**
 * 1) Students will understand that doing nothing is not a strategy for solving problems or getting through tough situations; and**
 * 2) Students will learn that they are capable of doing amazing things even though they are young.**


 * Additionally, the students will work on a number of skill sets during this unit, including:**
 * 1) learning to plan and set goals for their reading in order to complete assignments in a timely manner;**
 * 2) using a number of different strategies to understand words and ideas in their reading; and**
 * 3) learning and working on new revision techniques to improve their writing.**

__**Books For Our Unit:**__
McCurdy, M. (1997). //Trapped by the Ice! Shackleton’s amazing Antarctic Adventure//. New York, NY. Walker Publishing Company, Inc. This book will be used for independent reading, vocabulary and for discussing reading comprehension.
 * Book 1:**
 * Sir Ernest Shackleton makes an attempt to cross the Southern Polar cap, but his ship gets stuck in the ice and then sinks. This true life story tells of how Shackleton and his men survived the frigid weather and stormy seas in order to get help and back to civilization.
 * Shackleton and his men made it through an incredibly tough situation through perseverance and hope that they could get back to their good lives.



Williams, M. (2005). //Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan//. (Christie, R.G., illus.). New York, NY. Lee & Low Books. This story will be used as an independent reading book, as well as for reading comprehension and vocabulary lessons.
 * Book 2:**
 * The true story of a group of boys in Sudan have to walk miles through hot, dangerous land to escape a war that has taken their parents. They travel from Sudan, to Ethiopia, back to Sudan, and finally to Kenya before making their way to the U.S. They have to travel mostly by walking over hundreds of miles, and often have to scavenge and hunt for their own food.
 * The lost boys of Sudan have to face amazing dangers and persevere through incredibly difficult situations to make a life for themselves after losing their parents.



Sachar, L. (1998). //Holes//. New York, NY. Frances Foster Books. The students will read this book independently, discuss it in literature circles, and the class will use its story for theme and generalization discussions.
 * Book 3:**
 * Stanley Yelnats is a young boy who gets wrongly accused of a crime. He is sent to a youth detention facility where he and his fellow inmates have to dig holes in a dry lakebed in order to “build character.” Stanley finds out that the warden is having them dig holes for something other than to "build character."
 * Stanley makes it through the difficult times at the detention facility by knowing that he can have a good life when he gets out.



Ellis, D. (2000). //The Breadwinner//. Toronto, Ontario. Groundwood Books. This book will be used for independent reading, literature circles, and for discussion of theme and generalizations.
 * Book 4:**
 * When Parvana, an eleven year old girl in Afghanistan has her father taken away by the Taliban, the girl has to find a way to feed her family. In order to do so, she has to pretend she is a boy and risk severe consequences if she is caught. The girl has to persevere through an incredibly difficult situation where she has no adult to care for her and simply earning money could get her imprisoned or killed.
 * Parvana has to get through incredibly difficult times in the story, and she does so with the hope of a better life when she gets through the difficulties.



Hobbs, W. (2006). //Crossing the Wire//. New York, NY. Harper Collins. I will read this book to the students for "Read Aloud" time.
 * Book 5:**
 * Victor, a 15 year old boy in Mexico, is forced to cross the border into the U.S. to earn enough money to feed his family. He faces a lot of scary situations on his quest to cross the U.S. border and find work.
 * Victor must leave his family and go on a very dangerous journey to help his family survive.



__**FAMILIES**__
Missing a copy of my first letter home, which contains information on the entire unit as well as information on the assignment planner? Please click here.

Missing a copy of the second letter home, which goes into more detail on our first three books? Please click here.

Missing my final letter home about this unit, which contains a couple of short family interview questions? Please click here.

Want to know more about Themed Literature Units, Literature Circles, or need to look up some references about teaching strategies for reading and writing? Please see my professor's web site at [|litcircles.org]