Process
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Under the stars! |
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Mission 4 Missing Peg-Leg |
Mission 5 Rat snack |
Mission 6 Swarm of shark |
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Mission 7 Land lubbers |
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Key Question: How does an author choose an idea for a good book?
Mission Instructions: Shiver me timbers! These authors are fresh out of ideas and your task is to help them come up with ideas for a new book. And on top of that, Capt’n Black Tooth Pete is in need of new stories to tell his crew while they sail into unknown waters. When you accomplish this goal, the pirates will give you a clue to read to help them find the treasure. This is your first step to freedom! To begin this task you will be divided into groups of 4. Choose one of the following Best Book authors and websites for your author project:
Philip Pullman
Read the author’s website and locate a few of his/her books, including the Best Book in our library.
Your job is to develop characters, a setting, and a storyline, and then to convince your author to use your ideas for his/her next book. You will come up with a project that will include the following elements in order to convince the author to choose your book idea.
Each person will be assigned one of the following roles:
Character Creator: You will create at least 3 characters for the story. You may use the following parchment or graphic map. Setting Developer: You will create a setting that best fits this story. You will fill out the setting parchment. Plot Organizer: You will decide on the beginning, a middle, and an end to the story. Fill out the parchment. Author Specialist/Consultant: You are responsible for becoming with the author's life, writing style and other works, by visiting their website and looking at their books in our library. You will be available to help others as they work on their parts of the story. You will then compare your group's story with that of the author's style using this parchment. After the sections are completed, your group will meet to discuss, combine, refine and assemble the parts into your final story draft. Your group should also come up with a creative title.
Your group with then help compose an email with your story draft attached, to the author to convince him/her to choose your story for their newest book.
Resources:
http://www.robinkelly.btinternet.co.uk/cdw.rtf
http://www.epcc.edu/Student/Tutorial/Writingcenter/Handouts/criticalanalysisresearchpaper/criticalanalysis/Handouts/ElementsofFiction.pdf
http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/GO/character_story.htm
Remember, you may be asked to read your story to Capt’n Black Tooth Pete and his crew while they sail the high seas!
Key Question: How do you spark interest in literature and reading?
Mission Instructions: Avast! It’s been a long, hard journey and the crew has been at sea for many a day and night! They need something to entertain them, and if you don’t, Captain Black Tooth will make you “swab the decks”! Aaargh!
You will write a Readers’ Theatre script for one of the Best Books, perform it for the crew (class) and receive the next clue to the treasure.
Your teacher will divide you into groups of 3 to 4 to write a script based on the book.
Open up an example of the Reader’s Theatre Script and read it to become familiar with the format.
Choose a Best Book. Pick a critical chapter to read so your group can write a Readers’ Theatre script in Microsoft Word.
Make sure that you include the following items when writing your own script:
1. Create a title
2. Add the name of the Best Book 2008
3. Include all the names of the members of your group
4. List all characters (in order of appearance)
5. Use bold type for the character names and regular type for the dialog.
6. Revise and print the final draft making sure that you proofread and check for accuracy.
Tip! Take turns typing!
Rehearse your Reader’s Theatre script using the following tips:
1. Highlight the part that you speak in the script.
2. Practice reading your part silently and out loud.
3. Get up and read your script again trying out faces and actions.
4. Here are some other pointers to remember when you rehearsing and performing:
- Present the Reader’s Theatre script to the crew (class). We hope that they like it!
- The crew liked it so much that they want you to record your performance so that they can share it with the landlubbers!
- Record your script using Audacity software and a microphone.
Here are some tips for making a great recording:
- Practice! Practice! Practice!
- Pace yourself and don’t rush!
- Relax, you can always record again if you make a mistake!
- Don’t forget to breathe!
Resources:
Aaron Shepard’s Tips on Reading
http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/index.html
Mission 3: Parrot on the Shoulder
Key Question: What makes a website a useful source of information?
Mission Instructions:
One-Eyed Jane is one of the most fearsome pirates on the ship. Her faithful companion is a parrot called Chatterbox, and holds the next clue to the treasure’s whereabouts. In order to get Chatterbox to tell you the next clue, you will need to review the websites of Best Book authors, and choose the most useful one.
1. Look at this list of criterian for evaluating web pages:
- Accuracy. If your page lists the author and institution that published the page and provides a way of contacting him/her and . . .
- Authority. If your page lists the author credentials and its domain is preferred (.edu, .gov, .org, or .net), and, . .
- Objectivity. If your page provides accurate information with limited advertising and it is objective in presenting the information, and . . .
- Currency. If your page is current and updated regularly (as stated on the page) and the links (if any) are also up-to-date, and . . .
- Coverage. If you can view the information properly--not limited to fees, browser technology, or software requirement, then . . .
2. Go to each of the following author websites with the above criteria in mind:
Philip Pullman, The Scarecrow and His Servant
Elise Broach, Shakespeare’s Secret
Eoin Colfer, The Legend of Spud Murphy
3. When you have chosen the most useful website, print out the parchment for this mission (Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6) and use that website to answer the questions.
Resources:
"Getting the Most Out of the Internet: Which sites are good sites?" Skalski, Jennifer. August 1, 2007. http://questgarden.com/52/91/7/070626134603/index.htm
"Five Criterian for Evaluating Web Pages."
"A Big6 Skills Overview." Big6 Associates, LLC. August 1, 2007. http://www.big6.com/showarticle.php?id=16
Mission 4: The Missing Peg Leg
Key Question: How can you find a copy of a book you want through the Sno-Isle Regional Library System?
Mission Instructions:
Poor Pegleg Paco is missing his peg leg, and cannot leave the ship to dig for gold. Your mission is to find the peg leg, and the clue hidden within. In order to find the peg leg, you must locate an available copy of one of the Best Books in one of the Sno-Isle libraries.
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Print out your parchment (click here).
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Look at the list of Best Books by clicking this link: List of Nominees--choose one of the book titles to use for your search.
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Then go to the Sno-Isle Library website (Sno-Isle Regional Library System) and type in the book title in the search box--you will need to use the pull-down menu to make sure you are searching by Title. You may also need to choose the book format (avoid large-print copies and audio versions).
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Find out how many copies of the book are available and write that number on your parchment.
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Then find one library branch that has a copy ("Not checked out") and write that name on your parchment.
Resources:
“Sno-Isle Libraries: Home Page.” Sno-Isle Regional Library System. August 1, 2007. http://www.sno-isle.org/page/?ID=1
Mission 5 (under construction!): The Captain's Quarters Key Question: How can note-taking and organizing skills help us tell a great story?
Mission Instructions:
Black Tooth Pete, the ill-tempered and foul-breathed captain on the Black Widow, has hidden a clue somewhere within his quarters. You will need to sneak in while he sleeps and search for the next clue. Shhhhhh!
You will read 5 passages from Best Book nominees. You will choose a character from one of the passages, and take notes on the character’s traits. Then you will meet with 3 other students, compare your character profiles, and create a new short story involving these 4 characters.
1. Read each passage by clicking each link.
2. Choose one character from one of the passages, and list traits of that character in a web organizer using Inspiration software (click here for an example). Print out your character profile.
3. You will then be placed in a team with 3 other characters. Each of you will tell the group about your character, and then brainstorm ideas for a new story involving all 4 characters.
4. You will write a rough draft for a short story involving these characters using Microsoft Word software.
Resources: Fleischman, Sid. The Giant Rat of Sumatra. Greenwillow Books: New York, NY, 2005. Kehret, Peg. The Ghost's Grave. Dutton Children's Books: New York, NY, 2005. Couloumbus, Audrey. The Misadventures of Maude March. Random House: New York, NY, 2005. Greene, Stephanie. Owen Foote, Mighty Scientist. Clarion Books: New York, NY, 2005. Microsoft Word software, Microsoft Corporation. Inspiration software, Inspiration Software, Inc. Mission #6: Swarm of sharks Key Question: Can you apply genre labels to books? Mission Instructions: The pirates are hungry! They are threatening to throw you overboard and make you shark bait if you do not find something to cook for them. Fortunately, there is a clue in a historical fiction book but you must organize their books to find it. Below is a list of categories or genres and some features or characteristics of each genre. At the end is a link to the Best Book List. Categorize the books on the list by genre to find the most likely book with the clue. Some books fit in more than one category but no more than four. How many historical fiction books are there? Which might contain the recipe? Genre Characteristics FANTASY: HISTORICAL FICTION: MYSTERY:
REALISTIC FICTION:
stories that take place in modern times SCIENCE FICTION:
Here is a parchment of books and summaries Here is a parchment on which to type genre names Read the summaries and write as many genres as you can in the last column and save it to your locker. Key Question: Can you evaluate a book review?
Mission Instructions: The pirates are complaining about those land-lubbing Book Critics. Seems as though they do not like the reviews of their favorite books. To keep them from making you swab the deck, you must find and compare various book reviews to highlight the variety of opinions about books. The task is to comment on what other people think about the books, Matey.
