Lesson Plan One
Objectives:
NCSS Standards:
Individual Development and Identity: students will make an “effort to understand others and their beliefs, feelings, and
convictions.”
Civic Ideals and Practices: students will “recognize and respect different points of view.”
Direct Instruction:
(Note: This lesson would take place while a teacher’s aide, parent, or other adult is in the room who can do the physical writing during the activity.)
Guided Practice:
DI/GP:
“Hmm. It seems like some of us see the picture one way, and some of us see it another way. That’s called ‘point of view.’ From ____’s point of view, it’s a duck, but from _____’s point of view, it’s a rabbit. We think about point of view when we read stories, too – one way to figure out whose point of view a story is written from is to say who’s telling the story. Remember when we read ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ yesterday? Whose point of view do you think that story was written from?” (students say “the narrator”; if they struggle, rephrase: “Who is telling the story?”) “Who else’s point of view could the story be told from?” (students say the troll, or one of the goats) “If the story were told from the little goat’s point of view, for example, he might talk about how scared he was to cross the bridge first.”
Independent Practice:
Students return to their seats and draw a picture of how they think the story would be different if it were told from the troll’s point of view. Students then write a sentence to go with their picture (i.e. “The troll says I’m really hungry” or something like that).
Assessment:
Rationale:
As I read Malcolm Gladwell's article on Atticus Finch from The New Yorker[1], I was struck by the fact that trials are a great example of point of view. Each person who testifies is telling the story from his or her own point of view – in To Kill a Mockingbird, the story is told by Mayella, Robinson, Atticus Finch, and I’m sure others. It’s important for children to understand that situations and stories can be seen from various points of view, and that stories are always written from a point of view.
Once students understand that a story is written from a point of view, they can begin to read more critically, looking for alternate interpretations of events. Being able to acknowledge multiple points of view helps students to think both critically and flexibly, understanding that their own version of what happens may not always be accurate and most certainly isn’t how everyone else sees it. By helping students understand points of view, I hope to encourage them to be metacognitive in their thinking; I understand that metacognition is difficult for young children, but I am laying a foundation by teaching them about points of view.
In addition to teaching them to think critically, learning to see from various points of view helps children become more empathetic and compassionate. Being able to see a situation from another person’s side is an important skill in conflict resolution and peacemaking, especially in a place where children encounter people of varied cultural backgrounds.
- SWBAT understand that stories can be told from multiple points of view.
- SWBAT offer an alternative point of view for “The Three Billy Goats Gruff.”
NCSS Standards:
Individual Development and Identity: students will make an “effort to understand others and their beliefs, feelings, and
convictions.”
Civic Ideals and Practices: students will “recognize and respect different points of view.”
Direct Instruction:
(Note: This lesson would take place while a teacher’s aide, parent, or other adult is in the room who can do the physical writing during the activity.)
- Read aloud Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.
- Ask students to decide whether they think it’s a duck or a rabbit, and to go to the side of the room that has the picture of that animal on the wall with a piece of chart paper. The teacher stays with one group; the other adult goes with the second group.
Guided Practice:
- Each group of students brainstorms reasons why they think it’s a duck or rabbit; the adult with that group writes down the reasons students give.
- Students return to the whole group and share their charts.
DI/GP:
“Hmm. It seems like some of us see the picture one way, and some of us see it another way. That’s called ‘point of view.’ From ____’s point of view, it’s a duck, but from _____’s point of view, it’s a rabbit. We think about point of view when we read stories, too – one way to figure out whose point of view a story is written from is to say who’s telling the story. Remember when we read ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ yesterday? Whose point of view do you think that story was written from?” (students say “the narrator”; if they struggle, rephrase: “Who is telling the story?”) “Who else’s point of view could the story be told from?” (students say the troll, or one of the goats) “If the story were told from the little goat’s point of view, for example, he might talk about how scared he was to cross the bridge first.”
Independent Practice:
Students return to their seats and draw a picture of how they think the story would be different if it were told from the troll’s point of view. Students then write a sentence to go with their picture (i.e. “The troll says I’m really hungry” or something like that).
Assessment:
- Informal observation during discussions
- Written work: charts based on “Duck! Rabbit!” and individual pictures/sentences that should demonstrate something different about the story from the troll’s perspective.
Rationale:
As I read Malcolm Gladwell's article on Atticus Finch from The New Yorker[1], I was struck by the fact that trials are a great example of point of view. Each person who testifies is telling the story from his or her own point of view – in To Kill a Mockingbird, the story is told by Mayella, Robinson, Atticus Finch, and I’m sure others. It’s important for children to understand that situations and stories can be seen from various points of view, and that stories are always written from a point of view.
Once students understand that a story is written from a point of view, they can begin to read more critically, looking for alternate interpretations of events. Being able to acknowledge multiple points of view helps students to think both critically and flexibly, understanding that their own version of what happens may not always be accurate and most certainly isn’t how everyone else sees it. By helping students understand points of view, I hope to encourage them to be metacognitive in their thinking; I understand that metacognition is difficult for young children, but I am laying a foundation by teaching them about points of view.
In addition to teaching them to think critically, learning to see from various points of view helps children become more empathetic and compassionate. Being able to see a situation from another person’s side is an important skill in conflict resolution and peacemaking, especially in a place where children encounter people of varied cultural backgrounds.
Lesson Plan Two
Objectives:
NCSS Standards:
Individual Development and Identity: students will make an “effort to understand others and their beliefs, feelings, and
convictions.”
Civic Ideals and Practices: students will “recognize and respect different points of view.”
Direct Instruction:
Guided Practice:
Together, students brainstorm details that are the same in the two versions of the story. Teacher writes the details on post-it notes and sticks them to the center of the Venn Diagram.
Individual Practice:
Guided Practice:
Ask students to decide whose point of view they believe – the pigs’ or the wolf’s. Model how to defend your argument – “I believe the _____ because ______.” Students do a think-pair-share in which they share what their partner said.
Optional Math Extension:
Students graph the number of students who believe the pigs vs the number of students who believe the wolf; students represent the data using pictures, words, and numbers in their math journals.
Assessment:
Rationale:
This lesson is a continuation of the first lesson, which introduced point of view, so much of the rationale is the same. In this lesson, the students are asked to compare/contrast the two versions of The Three Little Pigs to show how the story changes when told from someone else’s point of view. Understanding point of view and being able to understand that other people have different beliefs than you are important critical thinking skills for young children to develop. These skills will be part of the foundation for their understanding of civics, democracy, and various world cultures.
These lessons would be part of a larger unit of study on point of view and empathy. After this lesson, I would begin to introduce point of view in real-life situations. Students would participate in role-plays that reflect situations they experience in their lives, like one student running into another student during recess. In that situation, the question for the students would be whether it was an accident or on purpose – in kindergarten the person who got run into tends to think it was on purpose! The objective would be for students to understand that their point of view is not the only way to see a situation. I would spend several days in role plays and reading stories about real-life interactions, focusing on having students think and speak about how the people in the situations felt. Eventually I would move into lessons on talking kindly and clearly with others about feelings and conflict resolution.
[1] Gladwell, M. (August 10, 2009). POLITICS AND PROSE - The Courthouse Ring - The truth about Atticus Finch. The New Yorker, 26.
- SWBAT understand that stories can be told from multiple points of view.
- SWBAT compare and contrast two versions of a fairy tale (The Three Little Pigs).
- SWBAT defend their position on an issue.
NCSS Standards:
Individual Development and Identity: students will make an “effort to understand others and their beliefs, feelings, and
convictions.”
Civic Ideals and Practices: students will “recognize and respect different points of view.”
Direct Instruction:
- Review traditional version of The Three Little Pigs that was read aloud and story-mapped on a prior day.
- Remind students of the activity we completed yesterday (Lesson Plan One) and the term “point of view.”
- Read aloud Jon Scieszka’s The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Ask students to think during the read-aloud about whose point of view the story is written from.
- Ask students whose point of the view the book is written from and how they know.
Guided Practice:
Together, students brainstorm details that are the same in the two versions of the story. Teacher writes the details on post-it notes and sticks them to the center of the Venn Diagram.
Individual Practice:
- Give each student a post-it note and have him/her draw and write one detail that is different in the two versions of the story.
- Reconvene; have students share what they wrote and place the post-it note on the appropriate side of the Venn Diagram. Teacher writes on post-its that have illegible/no writing.
Guided Practice:
Ask students to decide whose point of view they believe – the pigs’ or the wolf’s. Model how to defend your argument – “I believe the _____ because ______.” Students do a think-pair-share in which they share what their partner said.
Optional Math Extension:
Students graph the number of students who believe the pigs vs the number of students who believe the wolf; students represent the data using pictures, words, and numbers in their math journals.
Assessment:
- Informal observation during discussions
- Observation during sharing portion of think-pair-share
- Written work: students’ details that are different between the versions of the story
Rationale:
This lesson is a continuation of the first lesson, which introduced point of view, so much of the rationale is the same. In this lesson, the students are asked to compare/contrast the two versions of The Three Little Pigs to show how the story changes when told from someone else’s point of view. Understanding point of view and being able to understand that other people have different beliefs than you are important critical thinking skills for young children to develop. These skills will be part of the foundation for their understanding of civics, democracy, and various world cultures.
These lessons would be part of a larger unit of study on point of view and empathy. After this lesson, I would begin to introduce point of view in real-life situations. Students would participate in role-plays that reflect situations they experience in their lives, like one student running into another student during recess. In that situation, the question for the students would be whether it was an accident or on purpose – in kindergarten the person who got run into tends to think it was on purpose! The objective would be for students to understand that their point of view is not the only way to see a situation. I would spend several days in role plays and reading stories about real-life interactions, focusing on having students think and speak about how the people in the situations felt. Eventually I would move into lessons on talking kindly and clearly with others about feelings and conflict resolution.
[1] Gladwell, M. (August 10, 2009). POLITICS AND PROSE - The Courthouse Ring - The truth about Atticus Finch. The New Yorker, 26.