document-metadata

subject

ELA

grade

6

module

1

unit

1

lesson

1

standard

RL.6.1

title

Launching the Novel and Understanding Its Context

teaser

Students use evidence from Bud, Not Buddy to make inferences about the main character.

description

• The purpose of the lesson is to introduce Bud and gain an understanding of his place in America during the Great Depression.  
• In this lesson, the instruction focuses on the introduction to the novel and the main character. The focus is analysis of the character of Bud through the narration and historic context of the story.

text-title

Bud, Not Buddy

text-author

Christopher Paul Curtis

genre

Historical Fiction

text-type

novel

writing-type

group-size

ccss-strand

ccss-sub-strand

cc-attribution

•  This work is based on an original work of EL Education made available through licensing under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. This does not in any way imply that EL Education endorses this work.

Materials

• Bud, Not Buddy (book; one per student)
• Photograph for The World of Bud, Not Buddy chart
• The World of Bud, Not Buddy chart (new; teacher-created, one per triad; see Preparation)
• Word-catcher (one per student)
• Evidence flags (one bag per student)
• Summarizing and Making Inferences 1
• Summarizing and Making Inferences 2
• Tracking Bud’s Rules Graphic Organizer (one per student)
• Exit ticket: Summarizing and Making Inferences (one per student)

Preparation

• In advance: create one The World of Bud, Not Buddy chart for each triad. This can be half a sheet of chart paper or an 11-by-17 piece of paper, with the photograph and the caption placed at the center (see supporting materials)..
• Students work in triads often in this unit. Place students in heterogeneous groupings for their triads based on individual strengths and needs. Each student should understand that they bring individual strengths to their group: strong reading skills, writing skills, discussion facilitation, creativity, etc.
• Some students may benefit from using a ruler or piece of paper to underline the lines as they are read aloud.  Make these available to students.
• Prepare evidence flags. While reading this novel, students will engage in routines of collecting new vocabulary on a word-catcher and using evidence flags. “Evidence flags”  are sticky notes: the smallest size available or larger sizes cut into strips.  Prepare two baggies of evidence flags per student: one bag each for use during class and one bag for use at home.
• Throughout the module, triad discussions are used. Review the Think-Pair-Share protocol (see Appendix), and apply the steps of this protocol to the triad discussions.
• Post: learning target.

Long-Term Targets Addressed (Based on ELA CCSS)

I can cite text-based evidence to support an analysis of literary text. [RL.6.1]

Short Term Learning Targets: Objective

Ongoing Assessment

• I can use evidence from the text to make inferences about Bud.

• Exit ticket: Summarizing and Making Inferences

[agenda]

[metacog]

[Group: Opening]

[Group: Opening]

[Section: Unpacking Learning Targets]

[Section: Unpacking Learning Targets]

Post learning targets derived from the addressed standards and identify potentially complex or ambiguous vocabulary so students understand the goal for the day.

[Group: Work Time A]

[Group: Work Time A]

[Section: Establishing a Context]

[Section: Establishing a Context]

Provide an experience that allows students to establish a context for the text through engaging with the standards. Analyze an image, to practice the skills of a close reader, such as asking questions, noticing details, and looking back multiple times for different purposes.[QRD: http://pilot.unbounded.org/forthcoming.html?source=usingartwithtext; Using Art with Text]

[Section: Skill Builder: Preteach Vocabulary]

[Section: Skill Builder: Preteach Vocabulary]

Preteach vocabulary words that are critical to understanding the passage but difficult to discern using context clues. [QRD: http://pilot.unbounded.org/forthcoming.html?source=vocabulary; Vocabulary]

[Section: Whole Class Read of Chapter 1: Who Is Bud]

[Section: Whole Class Read of Chapter 1: Who Is Bud]

When using grade-level text at the beginning of the year, have students follow along as you read aloud portions of text to model fluency and provide opportunity for basic comprehension before directing students to engage with it for close reading. [QRD: http://pilot.unbounded.org/content_guides/15/building-fluency-unbound-a-guide-to-6-12-elaliteracy-practices; Fluency]

[Group: Work Time B]

[Group: Work Time B]

[Section: Skill Builder: Practicing Summary as a vehicle to Inference]

[Section: Skill Builder: Practicing Summary as a vehicle to Inference]

[scaffold] Before students can draw inferences from the text, they must be able to summarize to demonstrate comprehension of what is happening explicitly (RL.6.1). Guide students through the process of summarizing to model inner dialogue.

Summarizing provides a solid foundation from which students can address key ideas and details: RL.1 (analysis and inference), RL.2 (development of central idea),  and RL.3 (how elements in a story interact)

[Section: Skill Builder: Characterization]

[Section: Skill Builder: Characterization]

In order to analyze a character’s behavior and motivations, students first must understand how an author develops a character.  

This involves making inferences when the characterization is indirect.  

Use examples from the text to support direct instruction about how an author develops a character.

Use academic language when discussing characterization.

In order to be able to eventually explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text (RL.6.4), students need to understand characterization.

[Section: Skill Builder: Applying Learning] 

[Section: Skill Builder: Applying Learning]

Provide opportunity for students to identify characterization and make inferences about the character based on that characterization to demonstrate comprehension, knowledge of characterization, and the ability to draw realistic inferences using evidence from their reading.  Review at least one example so students can assess their learning and you can assess your efficacy in instruction.

[Group: Closing and Assessment]

[Group: Closing and Assessment]

[Section: Exit Ticket: Summarizing and Making Inferences]

[Section: Exit Ticket: Summarizing and Making Inferences]

Assess student ability to cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly, as well as inferences drawn from the text, using a graphic organizer that outlines the steps students need to follow to make an inference tied to evidence.

[Group: Homework]

[Group: Homework]

[Section: Read Chapter 2 of Bud, Not Buddy]

[Section: Read Chapter 2 of Bud, Not Buddy]

Assign a “first draft” reading with the understanding that students reading below grade-level may struggle with comprehension. Provide options to listen to an audio as they read.

[Group: Resources]

[Vocabulary]

Task-Centered

inference

evidence

narrator

protagonist

characterization

Text-Centered

vagrant

[Group: Opening]

[Meeting Students’ Needs]

[Section: Unpacking Learning Targets]

Invite a student to read aloud the learning target:

• “I can use evidence from the text to make inferences about Bud.”

Ask:

• “What words in the learning target do you think are most important? Why?”

As students respond, circle words on the posted learning target, and annotate words for meaning or associations. Guide students toward the words evidence, text, inference, and Bud.

Posting learning targets allows students to reference them throughout the lesson to check their understanding. They also provide a reminder to students and teachers about the intended learning behind a given lesson or activity.

Discussing and clarifying the language of learning targets helps build academic vocabulary.

[Group: Work Time A]

[Meeting Students’ Needs]

[Section: Establishing a Context]

Provide students with the Photograph for The World of Bud, Not Buddy chart, and display The World of Bud, Not Buddy chart (see Preparation). Tell students to begin by focusing only on the photograph. Ask:

• “What do you notice?”

Invite students to silently jot their ideas about the photograph in the space around it.

After about 1 minute of writing, ask:

• “Zoom more closely into the image. Think about the details. Now, what do you notice?”

Again, give students a couple of minutes to write down the details they see.

Finally, invite students to think about the questions that both this photograph and caption make them wonder. Ask:

• “How does this image connect to the reading we have done about the Great Depression?

Invite students to silently jot their thoughts about the photograph in the area around it.

Distribute the Word-catcher handout. Point out that this word-catcher is different than the vocabulary work we did in the Expert Pack, but the idea is the same. It is a tool to collect new words they are learning through the reading and discussion of texts throughout this module.

Introduce the vocabulary word vagrant. Ask them to include it in their word-catcher. Ask the students to define vagrant in their word-catcher using context from the pictures and the text.

Having students analyze an image allows them to practice the skills of a close reader, such as asking questions, noticing details, and looking back multiple times for different purposes.

[Section: Skill Builder: Preteach Vocabulary]

Pre-teach (review) the following vocabulary words: narrator, protagonist, characterization, summary, and paraphrase.

A quick method for this kind of pre-teaching is as follows:

1. Show the spelling of the word.
2. Pronounce the word.
3. Have the students repeat the pronunciation.
4. Present a student-friendly explanation of the word; think of how you would explain the meaning of a word to a friend.
5. Illustrate the word with examples and non-examples, and check for student understanding.
6. Review and repeat the words over time.

Post these words in the classroom. 

[QRD: http://pilot.unbounded.org/forthcoming.html?source=vocabulary; Vocabulary]

 [Section: Whole Class Read of Chapter 1: Who Is Bud]

Distribute a copy of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis and a baggie of evidence flags to each student. Tell students that they will use this novel as a way to launch their next study: “Rules to Live By . . .”

As you distribute the texts, tell students that in order to get into the novel, you will read aloud the first chapter as they read along. First, however, they should take a couple of minutes to examine the cover and read the blurb on the back of the book. This will allow them to begin thinking about the character, setting, and plot of the story. After students have examined the cover and read the blurb, post the discussion questions and  ask:

• “What do you think this book is about?”
• “Who is the main character, or protagonist, of the book?”

Tell students that each time you revisit a text, you notice new details and make new connections.

Distribute one bag of evidence flags to each student. Tell them that these will be used to mark places in the text where they did important thinking, made realizations, or found evidence. When you find any evidence that gives you some insight (or ideas) about the protagonist, mark that page with an evidence flag.

 Invite the class to read along as you read aloud Chapter 1 of Bud, Not Buddy.

Assign student triads if they are not already sitting in specific groups

After the reading, invite students to discuss with their triads:

• “What kind of person is Bud so far? What evidence from the text makes you think this?” (use flags)

Give students 3 minutes to discuss. Invite a few whole class shares to help all students come to a similar understanding. If Bud’s age has not come up, ask students for his age. (It’s ten, and a possible misconception might be “six” because of all the time Bud spends discussing why six is a bad age.)

[QRD: http://pilot.unbounded.org/content_guides/15/building-fluency-unbound-a-guide-to-6-12-elaliteracy-practices; Fluency]

Consider providing sticky notes for students to jot down questions as they read, if they are confused as you read.

[OptBreak]

• Wrap up learning
• Reread Chapter 1 for tomorrow.
• Begin next day with asking students to summarize Chapter 1 to review.

[Group: Work Time B]

[Section: Skill Builder: Practicing Summary as a vehicle to Inference]

Explain to the students that sometimes to get a better understanding of the text, we have to go back in and closely examine it. Direct students to turn to the paragraph beginning, “Here we go again. I feel like I was walking in my sleep as I followed Jerry . . .,” continuing through the conclusion of the paragraph, “. . .it seems like my eyes don’t cry anymore.” Reread the excerpt from the text to model fluent reading.

Share the handouts Summarizing and Making Inferences 1. Direct students to write a summary of what this excerpt is about in one sentence. Circulate while students work on the handout.

Ask for two or three pairs to share their summaries.

Ask students to individually list what they know for sure about Bud’s character from this paragraph and to pull evidence from the text to support their ideas. If necessary, do one together.

Have participants share their answers with a shoulder partner, and then ask for several responses.

Paraphrasing key portions of the text helps students determine the explicit meanings of the text. If students struggle with summary, work with paraphrasing first.

[Section: Skill Builder: Characterization]

In Bud Not Buddy we have to make inferences about Bud’s character.  Review the definition of inferencing.  Explain that a lot of what we learn about Bud comes from inferences we make based on some of what he says.  An inference is a conclusion we make based on the evidence provided to us - an educated guess or “speculation.”  Ask students to make an inference about Bud based on what he shares in the paragraph (“Here we go again”) and share.

Say: “Sometimes an author does not tell you information about a character directly. The author instead shows us through the character’s  behavior (including reactions of others), thoughts, dialogue, appearance and/or relationships. This is called indirect characterization. In this novel the author is not directly telling us that Bud is scared; he is showing us fear through behavior or dialogue.” Refer back to the inferences the students made based on what they learned about Bud, and what kind of characterization it was. For example:

• “Here we go again” (behavior)
• Following Jerry tells you nothing in this paragraph, but we do know from the surrounding text that he is kind to Jerry. (relationships)
• His sadness (thoughts)

[Section: Skill Builder: Applying Learning] 

Direct students to the text in Chapter 1, beginning with the paragraph, “Even though it was me who was in a lot of trouble, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Jerry . . .,” and ending with, “Six is real tough. That’s how old I was when I came to live here in the Home. That’s how old I was when Momma died.”  

Read the first sentence to the class as they follow along. Ask: “What can we infer about Bud?” (he is sensitive to the needs of others), and, “How does the author tell us this? Does the author say, ‘Bud feels sorry for Jerry?’” (No, he uses Bud’s dialogue to show us.)  

Read the next sentence chorally as a class: “Not only because he was going to have to live around three girls, but also because six is a real rough age to be at.” Let students know that Curtis (the author) just invited us to make an important inference. Ask students what that is (Jerry is six). If students have a tough time getting the answer, scaffold the question with, “Why would he suddenly start talking about being six years old? How old is Bud? So it can’t be Bud that is six, and an author wouldn’t just start talking about being six. He talks about being six as a reason he feels sorry for Jerry.” This is an excellent example of an author giving us just enough information from which to infer, without ever stating, a fact.

Direct students to read the remainder of the excerpt, using the Summarizing and Making Inferences 2 Handout to answer the questions. This can be done collaboratively.  

[Group: Closing and Assessment]

[Section: Exit Ticket: Summarizing and Making Inferences]

Hand out the Exit Ticket: Summarizing and Making Inferences, and review the directions. This is what they have been doing all class.

Provide ELLs or struggling readers with a sentence starter to aid in language production. For example: “I think that Bud . . .” or “I think this because . . .”

[Group: Homework]

[Section: Read Chapter 2 of Bud, Not Buddy]

• Tell students that in the next chapter, they will be introduced to some “rules” by which Bud lives his life. These rules provide another window into Bud’s character and past. 
• Distribute a Tracking Bud’s Rules Graphic Organizer to each student. Tell them that they will use this organizer to think, write, and talk about Bud’s rules. Often, this graphic organizer will be used for homework as they read, and then for discussion at the beginning of class.
• Review each column with students. Explain that the second column requires them to support their answer with evidence from the text. The third column will not rely on evidence; it is their opinion.
• Tell students it is all right if they feel a little confused when trying this out for homework; they will reread and look more closely at this graphic organizer in the next lesson.
• Do a “first draft” read of Chapter 2 of Bud, Not Buddy. In this chapter, Bud will begin to share his “rules.” After reading the chapter, complete the Tracking Bud’s Rules graphic organizer. You will discuss your writing and thoughts at the beginning of the next lesson.

[Group: Resources]