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The Iditarod: A Novel Study of Woodsong by Gary Paulsen
Subject Area:
Language Arts
Grade Level(s):
6-8
Duration of Activity:
This lesson can last two to four weeks depending on the depth of study. The lesson needs to take place at the same time as the Iditarod dog sled race so that students can interact with the mushers and gather actual race data during Internet research. The Iditarod usually takes place during the first three weeks in March.
Description of Activity:
This novel study incorporates the literature circle format to interpret text. (For background information on this format, see Medieval Times: A Novel Study Using Literature Circles.) The unit also promotes a connection with the novel and the real life Iditarod dog sled race. The students will use Internet search skills to talk to the mushers and to gather information about the race, weather conditions, and the cost of participation. The students will also develop spreadsheets to record information concerning the race and will produce PowerPoint presentations as a culminating activity for the novel study. This novel study incorporates activities that address different learning styles.
Objectives: The students will
- read and analyze Woodsong using the literature circle format. (See: Medieval Times: A Novel Study Using Literature Circles.)
- learn about the author Gary Paulsen.
- learn about the origin, rules, and terms of the Iditarod Race through research.
- develop interpersonal skills fostering group cooperation through activities involving decision-making, research, planning, and presentation.
- develop communication skills through journal entries, presentations, e-mail, and project discussions.
- develop intrapersonal skills through independent study and journal entries.
- develop thinking skills through brainstorming, planning, analyzing text, and making decisions about issues surrounding the race.
- exercise creativity through presentations, illustrations, decision-making, and journal entries.
Materials/Equipment:
- Copies of Woodsong by Gary Paulsen
- Paulsen, Gary. (2000). "The Way Stories Dance." Voices from the Middle, 8(1), 60-65.
- Computer/s with Internet access
- Literature circle responsibility sheets
- Handout 1: Connector
- Handout 2: Discussion Director
- Handout 3: Illustrator
- Handout 4: Literary Luminary
- Handout 5: Summarizer
- Handout 6: Word Wizard
Evaluation Sheets
- Handout 7: Individual Evaluation Sheet
- Handout 8: Group Evaluation Sheet
- Handout 9: Literature Circle Notebook
- Handout 10: Woodsong Project Sheet (Optional extension activity)
- Handout 11: Instructions for Writing a Book (Optional extension activity)
- Iditarod Teacher's Handbook (ordered through Iditarod Web site http://www.iditarod.com)
- Spreadsheet created in Microsoft Excel or other suitable computer programs
- PowerPoint instructions: "PowerPoint in the Classroom" http://www.actden.com/pp/
Prerequisites (skills or background needed):
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Students need to have a basic understanding of how to use the Internet for research and how to evaluate Web sites for reliability. (See: FYI: An Introduction to Research.)
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Students need to have a basic knowledge of keyboarding because it will save time when corresponding with email.
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The students need to be familiar with the PowerPoint presentation slides available for them to use in their presentations. This will help the students to form a mental image of the slides, enabling them to save time when they are working on their rough drafts of the presentations.
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Students need to have parental permission to use the Internet.
Procedure
Each day during the Iditarod race, the teacher will allow time for students to share daily race information with fellow classmates. Each day the literature circles will meet. Each person will share his or her insights concerning the homework assignment. The group leader will be sure to direct the discussion in an organized fashion. When the work has been shared and discussed, the group leader will make new reading assignments and the responsibilities will be rotated. This procedure will be followed every day until the book has been completed.
Teacher Component:
- The teacher needs to read the book Woodsong so that he/she can enter in discussion with the students and assess their understanding of the text.
- The teacher should read the article in the NCTE publication Voices from the Middle Volume 8, Number 1, September 2000, by Gary Paulsen concerning how and why he writes.
- The teacher needs to visit the Web sites in order to gather information for the unit and to order the teacher handbook. This handbook is an invaluable guide to the Iditarod race. The book also contains student activities that may be adapted to all grade levels.
- The teacher needs to bookmark the acceptable Web sites for the students to use during the Internet research. This will expedite the search process and will ensure that only safe sites are visited by students. The following are some acceptable Web sites to use in researching the Iditarod:
- The teacher needs to divide students into reading groups consisting of four or five students. It is helpful to have all levels of readers in each group. The strong readers can help the poorer readers with interpretation of text.
- The teacher will make copies of the literature circle responsibility sheets and will need to model them for the students. (Modeling is the key to the students’ success.)
- The teacher will need to create and make copies of a spreadsheet for students to use in recording race data during research. The spreadsheet may be created using Microsoft Excel or other suitable software.
- The teacher will need to create evaluation rubrics that will assess the following activities: the group work within the literature circle, individual self-assessment of participation, PowerPoint presentations, and Internet research . These rubrics need to be given to the students before the project begins so that each student will have a good idea of teacher expectation. Handout 7: Individual Evaluation Form and Handout 2: Group Evaluation Form have been provided for that purpose. The following sites offer information about creating rubrics should the user wish to create his/her own:
- The teacher will need to monitor daily the progress of each literature circle and the Internet research.
Student Activities:
- The student will become a member of a literature circle that will study Gary Paulsen's Woodsong
- Each literature circle will decide on a member to be the group leader. The group will decide how many pages will be read each night based on the number of days set to complete the project. The group leader has the job of assigning the night's readings and will oversee the rotation of responsibilities. The following responsibilities will be assigned and rotated daily:
- discussion director
- connector
- summarizer
- word wizard
- literary luminary
- illustrator
The word wizard and the literary luminary jobs are easily combined into one responsibility.
- Each student will hand in each assignment to the group leader and the group leader will compile the work into a group notebook. Handout 9: Literature Circle Notebook explains the information that should be in the notebooks.
- Each student will participate in the creation and presentation of the PowerPoint presentation of the book studied by the literary circle. The PowerPoint presentation must consist of the following slides: title and author slide, characters, summary, theme, setting, conflict, group members, reader ratings. The students work with more confidence if they use storyboarding techniques in which they draw their slides on a sheet of paper first. This also saves time because they have already decided what will be written on the slides. Students may enhance their presentations by using sound, clip art, or pictures. The more audio and pictures used, however, the more space required to store the file. A floppy may not be large enough. These presentation files may be saved to a zip disk, CD, or a designated file on the computer.
- Each student will respond to the following journal topics. Each student will answer each question completely and illustrate the page in an appropriate way. These entries will be kept in each student's writing folder. These writing activities are not part of the literature circle notebook but are separate journal entries that will be kept in each student's journal folder or portfolio.
- Consider the events that take place on pages 1-29. How did Gary Paulsen's experiences in these first three chapters affect his view of nature? How did he change? What did he learn? Describe your own reactions to one of these terrifying incidents.
- Review pages 30-47. Describe a real or imaginary experience you have had with an animal that has affected you deeply.
- Consider the "mysteries" on pages 48-63. Describe your reactions to one of the "mysteries" in the chapter.
- Review pages 64-85. Describe in detail one thing that Gary learned from the dogs. (Use one particular experience to make your point. Describe the incident from your perspective and tell how you think it changed Gary in some essential way.)
- Reflect on what you have read in the book. How can you explain the fact that somebody would not want to end this grueling, physically dangerous, and exhausting experience? Why would Gary say, "We'll be back to run it again"?
Accommodations:(Special Needs)
- The lesson activities may easily be modified to accommodate special needs students. Students may be placed with a partner in a literature circle.
- The other students within the circle may read orally to help the non-reader.
- Students who need help with written assignments may use tape recorders or their partner may record for them.
- Students proficient in Internet use can easily guide those who need personal help. They can also help record information.
- Group members can assist those students who need one-on-one help with the PowerPoint process.
- The classroom teacher will decide on the final product expectations based on the specific needs of the individual student.
Extension Activities:
- Students can participate in a Woodsong Creative Writing Project. Handout 10: Woodson Project Sheet and Handout 11: Instructions for Writing a Book: Instructions for Writing a Book can be used with this extension activity.
- The student will read another book by Gary Paulsen. He/she will compare/contrast this book with Woodsong. The student will also evaluate both books and share the information with the class.
- If the student has telecommunications capabilities, he/she will correspond with a person who has personal experience with the Iditarod. This can be someone who lives where the race takes place, a person who raises sled dogs, or a participant in the race.
- The student will prepare interview questions for review and approval by the teacher. Then, the student will send these questions to the person with whom he/she is corresponding and will report the communications to the class.
- The students can write poems/songs using their knowledge of the Iditarod race. They may sing it to the tune of "Camptown Ladies" or a tune of their own choosing.
- Following the protocol for writing mushers in the Iditarod Teacher Handbook, the class will compose a letter to send one of the mushers. According to the protocol, the class letter should not contain more than two questions, so the class will have to brainstorm and come to a consensus about which two questions to include in the letter. The letter will be written in correct friendly letter format.
- Additional language arts activities may be found in the book The Great Race to Nome by Karen Krupnick, The Learning Works, Inc., 1995 (ISBN 0-440-91061-7).
Integration:
These activities can be used in the following classes if the teachers are planning an integrated unit. They are not all extensions for English or Language Arts classes.
- Math, Science, and Social Studies
Design a Game
Your group has been commissioned by Milton Bradley to create a board game that demonstrates your knowledge of the Iditarod Trail. The game must contain questions in the subtopics of Alaska, Iditarod, Dog Sledding, and Woodsong and answers to the questions.
- Math
How much would it cost to run the Iditarod? About how much would it cost to run the Iditarod Trail? Your group must decide what you need on your trip and calculate the expense. You may use the Internet and mail order catalogs to price equipment, dogs, and whatever else you decide to take. Be prepared to discuss your findings and sources in class.
- Math on the Trail
Each student will choose two mushers to track throughout the Iditarod Race and will create a spreadsheet. On the spreadsheet the student will record the distance between checkpoints, predict the time it would take the mushers to travel between checkpoints, compare his/her prediction to the actual time, calculate the average speed (mph) between checkpoints, and keep an ongoing average speed (mph).
- Social Studies
Who Benefits?
Your group must carefully read the rules and policies for the Iditarod Race. Decide for each rule whether it benefits the musher, the dogs, or the race. You will share your findings with the class, and the class will come to an agreement for each rule.
- Travel Brochure
Using a desktop-publishing program such as Microsoft Publisher, your group will design a travel brochure promoting a visit to Alaska in connection with the Iditarod for an imaginary travel agency. Do not forget to give your agency a name. You may wish to collect brochures from travel agencies to get ideas for your brochure.
Assessments:
- The teacher will conduct informal assessments daily by observing the literature circles at work.
- Each student will complete a self-evaluation form to assess his/her participation within the group.
- Each group leader will complete the group member assessment sheet for each member of the literature circle.
- The teacher will formally assess the group notebook.
- The teacher will formally assess the PowerPoint presentation using a rubric designed to assess the use of technology and creative writing. The following sites offer information about creating rubrics
URLs:
Curriculum Frameworks
Mississippi:
Sixth Grade, Seventh Grade, Eighth Grade
- Communicate for a variety of purposes through different forms of writing using processes of reading, writing, listening, and viewing for an expanding audience.
- Complete projects and tasks in an organized and coherent manner.
- Read, listen to, and view multimedia sources to select and use information.
- Develop self-monitoring skills to work independently and cooperatively.
- Participate cooperatively while engaging in small group activities to analyze and interpret information, to make decisions, to solve problems, and to produce a given product.
- Discover the history and inherent beauty of cultural expression in language and literature.
- Read independently with fluency and for meaning using a variety of strategies.
National Educational Technology Standards (NETS):
- Apply productivity /multimedia tools and peripherals to support personal productivity, group collaboration, and learning throughout the curriculum. (3,6)
- Design, develop, publish, and present products using technology resources that demonstrate and communicate curriculum concepts to audiences inside and outside the classroom. (4, 5, 6)
- Collaborate with peers, experts, and others using telecommunications and collaborative tools to investigate curriculum related problems, issues, and information, and to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.(4, 5)
- Select and use appropriate tools and technology resources to accomplish a variety for tasks and solve problems
- Research and evaluate the accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, comprehensiveness, and bias of electronic information sources concerning real-world problems. (2, 5, 6)
TerraNova:
01 Oral Comprehension (Level 10,11)
Demonstrate both literal and interpretive understanding of passages that are read aloud.
Use writing or other means to respond to literal and interpretive questions about passages that are read aloud.
02 Basic Understanding (Level 10-21/22)
Demonstrate understanding of the literal meaning of a passage through identifying stated information, indicating sequence of events, and defining grade-level vocabulary.
Write responses to questions requiring literal information from passages and documents.
03 Analyze Text (Level 11-21/22)
Demonstrate comprehension by drawing conclusions ;inferring relationships, such as cause and effect; and identifying theme and story elements, such as plot, climax, character, and setting.
Write responses that show an understanding of the text that goes beyond surface meaning
04 Evaluate and Extend Meaning (Level 11-21/22)
Demonstrate critical understanding by making predictions; distinguishing between fact and opinion, and reality and fantasy; transferring ideas to other situations; and judging author purpose, point of view, and effectiveness.
Write responses that make connections between texts based on common themes and concepts; evaluate author's purpose and effectiveness; and extend meaning to other contexts.
05 Identify reading strategies (Level 11-21/22)
Demonstrate awareness of techniques that enhance comprehension, such as using existing knowledge, summarizing content, comparing information across texts, using graphics and text structure, and formulating questions that deepen understanding.
Write responses that interpret and extend the use of information from documents and forms, and that demonstrate knowledge and use of strategies.
07 Sentence Structure (Level 11-21/22)
Demonstrate an understanding of conventions for writing complete and effective sentences, including treatment of subject and verb, punctuation, and capitalization.
08 Writing Strategies (Level 11-21/22)
Demonstrate knowledge of information sources, outlines, and other pre-writing techniques.
Demonstrate an understanding of the use of topic sentences, concluding sentences, connective and transitional words and phrases, supporting statements, sequencing ideas, and relevant information in writing expository prose.
Link and Feedback to Author(s):
Debbie Hurt, Tupelo Middle School, Tupelo, MS
hurtdp@tupelo.k12.ms.us
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