“creative carle” - polk county public schools€¦ · creative carle idea made an impact on...

“Creative Carle”

n PROGRAM OVERVIEW While teaching writing to my fourth

grade students, I was struggling to stay excited about the curriculum. I knew that if I was bored in writing class, then my students were also. Due to the time requirements of the day, fitting in social studies, social skills, and science was difficult as well. I turned to Eric Carle’s books and other resources like Thinking Maps. The basic concept of this program is to take Eric Carle’s incredibly creative books and dissect them: teach writing, science, social skills, reading, and even a little math just from reading a quick story.

A wide variety of Sunshine State Standards and character education values can be taught throughout Creative Carle depending on specific grade level. The main focus of this program is writing. I found that if the students made a book-like essay (narrative or expository) they understood what an essay truly looked like. My ESE and ESOL students really benefited from this part of the program the most. Each paragraph of the story was on a separate sheet. I approved each paragraph before they went to the next paragraph to ensure understanding of organization. When all 5 paragraphs were approved and finished, they turned it into a book. Overall, my students LOVED this kind of writing assignment because they could relate to the characters in the story. They have all moved (A house for Hermit Crab), and they have all been grouchy for some reason (The Grouchy Ladybug).

For further information contact…

Jennifer J. BakerGeorge Jenkins High School

6000 Lakeland Highlands Rd Lakeland, FL 33813

863-648-3566

[email protected]

2006 - 2007 Idea Catalog of exCellenCe

Creative Carle can be as simple as one assignment lasting for a 30 minute period, or a teacher can choose to do this an entire year. It is very flexible and adaptable, depending on what the teacher needs to use it for.

I began this idea with just one book, but then I tried to find as many Eric Carle books as possible and found some connection to my Sunshine State Standards for my grade level. It is easy to add to an already tight daily schedule- and it is so rewarding. When students turned their required essays into real books, they understood the writing concept much better which resulted in higher writing grades.

I developed this program to use with entire 4th grade class. I had a wide-range of learning abilities, including ESE and ESOL students. The majority of my students had been retained at least one time. Many were frustrated and overwhelmed when it came to doing school work and making good choices.

n OVERALL VALUE While teaching Creative Carle, one

of my ESE students (a very unmotivated/depressed student) went to check out a library book. While she was there, she spotted a kindergarten student checking out The Grouchy Ladybug (By Eric Carle) and encouraged the kindergartener to read it. My Media Specialist emailed me right away to tell me about the incident and to keep reading to my kids! My

student had never shown that kind of excitement towards reading all school year. When she came back from the Media Center, she immediately worked on her essay. Her understanding and ability of writing drastically improved after that because she liked (and now understood) what we were doing. I knew that if the Creative Carle idea made an impact on this particular student, that any student would love Creative Carle.

n LESSON PLAN TITLES1. “A House for Hermit Crab”2. “The Grouchy Ladybug”3. “The Mixed-Up Chameleon”

n MATERIALS Materials for each lesson are listed

with each lesson plan. Overall materials budget including pricing and vendors follows the lesson plans.

n ABOUT THE DEVELOPER Jenn Baker graduated from Florida

Southern College with a B.S. in Social Studies Secondary Education. After teaching 2 years of 7th grade social studies, she moved down to elementary (4th grade for 2 years). She will be starting her 5th year of teaching at the high school level this school year. This is her 2nd grant from the Teacher-to-Teacher connection.

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2-TimeGrant

Winner

“Creative Carle” Jennifer BakerLesson Plan No 1: A House for Hermit Crab

n SUBJECTS COVEREDWriting, reading, science, social skills

n GRADES4th Grade

n OBJECTIVES 1 Students will create and write an

expository essay

2 Students will classify animals into the animal kingdom

3 Students will determine values of a friend

4 Students will increase vocabulary and comprehension

5 Students will gain understanding in character analysis

n SUNSHINE STATE STANDARDS

LAB121: students use a variety of strategies to prepare for writing

LAB122: students draft and revise writing

SCF123: students know that living things are different but share similar structures

LAA123: students use simple strategies t o de te rm ine and i nc rease vocabulary

LAA221: students read text and determines main idea/essential message

n MATERIALS • Books: A House for Hermit Crab

(Eric Carle), Graphic Organizers and Activities for Differentiated Instruction (Scholastic), Tools for Learning Manual (Thinking Maps)

• Unit: A Walk Across Florida (The Bag Ladies)

• Paper: chart paper, copy paper, construction paper

• Other: Laminator, markers, crayons, glue, etc.

• Crab pictures suitable for coloring can be found on line under a google search called “crab coloring page”.

n DIRECTIONS Create a Thinking Maps to show

understanding of the following: (This can be done as a whole group, small group, or as an individual project.

• Multi-Flow-Map to show causes and effects of having to move (social skills)

• Bubble Map for adjectives of the hermit crab (writing)

• Double-Bubble Map l ist ing vertebrates/invertebrates from the story (science, reading)

I l lus t ra ted “Snorkel Adventure” expository essay book- (Prompt: The ocean has millions of invertebrates (animals without backbones) Before you begin writing, think about what invertebrates you would see underwater if you were snorkeling. Now explain to the reader of your paper, what invertebrates you would see in the ocean while snorkeling.)

Character Analysis (reading) “Character Diamante” attached

Daily Journal writing prompts (writing)

• Have you ever had to move? How did that make you feel? How did you react?

• What characteristics of a friend do you look for when picking a friend?

• What makes you a good friend?

n EVALUATION/ASSESSMENT Based on the Florida Writes scoring

rubric, the invertebrate essay will be graded and scored. The other Thinking Maps can be graded on completion/understanding if needed for each particular subject. The social skill Thinking Maps are a permanent fixture in my classroom. The students refer to them often to help manage their social skills.

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~ This is for Lesson Plan No. 1 and Lesson Plan No. 2 ~

n SUBJECTS COVERED Writing, reading, science, math, social skills

n GRADES4th Grade

n OBJECTIVES 1 Students will create and write a

narrative essay

2 Students will classify animals into the animal kingdom

3 Students will practice cause and effect skill

4 Students will increase vocabulary and comprehension

5 Students will gain understanding in character analysis






LAA221: students read text and determines main idea/essential message

n MATERIALS - Books: The Grouchy Ladybug

(Eric Carle), Graphic Organizers and Activities for Differentiated Instruction (Scholastic), Tools for Learning Manual (Thinking Maps)

- Paper: chart paper, copy paper, construction paper

- Other: markers, crayons, glue, etc.

n DIRECTIONS Create a Thinking Maps to show

understanding of the following: (This can be done as a whole group, small group, or as an individual project.)

• Multi-Flow-Map to show causes and effects of being grouchy (social skills)

• Circle Map for other ways to say “Said” (writing)

• Multi-Flow Map of the effects of aphids (science)

• Bubble Map for adjectives of the ladybug or synonyms for grouchy (writing)

• Tree Map listing vertebrates/invertebrates from the story (science)

• Bridge Map to show what made each animal intimidating (science and writing)

• Flow Map for elapsed time (math)

Illustrated “ladybug adventure” narrative essay book (Prompt: Imagine being a ladybug. Think about all of the adventures you could have while being a ladybug. Now, tell about an exciting adventure you had while being a ladybug.)

Character Analysis (reading) “Character Diamante”

“Creative Carle” Jennifer BakerLesson Plan No 2: The Grouchy Ladybug

Daily Journal writing prompts (writing)

• What makes you grouchy?

• Describe in vivid detail the skunks smell.

• Describe the colors of the book (use similes).

• Who is the grouchiest person you know? What makes them grouchy?


rubric, the ladybug essay will be graded and scored. The other Thinking Maps can be graded on completion/understanding if needed for each particular subject. The social skill Thinking Maps are a permanent fixture in my classroom. The students refer to them often to help manager their social skills.

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“Creative Carle” Jennifer BakerLesson Plan No 2: The Grouchy Ladybug



“Creative Carle” Jennifer BakerLesson Plan No 3: The Mixed-Up Chameleon

n DIRECTIONS This activity was used as a way to

get students writing at the very beginning of the school year. I read the story as a whole group, and then I gave them time to create and draw their own animal (putting two known animals together as one). Students drew their animal in class.

Next, I modeled what a descriptive paragraph should include. Students then created their own descriptive paragraph based on their new creation.

For homework (with the intentions of being a parent/student project), students had to create their new animal out of any materials and bring it back to school. All descriptive paragraphs and models were displayed for parent open house.


rubric, the mixed up animal paragraph essay will be graded and scored. Special attention will be made to creativity, sentence structure, voice, and details.

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n SUBJECTS COVERED Writing

n GRADES4th Grade

n OBJECTIVES 1. Students will brainstorm and write a

descriptive paragraph

2. Students will classify animals into the animal kingdom

3. Students will increase vocabulary and comprehension






n MATERIALS • Books: The Mixed-Up Chameleon

(Eric Carle), Tools for Learning Manual (Thinking Maps)

• Paper: chart paper, copy paper, construction paper

• Other: students will create their own “mixed up animal” at home. They will be responsible for all objects needed to create their animal.

Materials Budget ITeM DesCrIPTIoN QTy CosT sUPPLIer ToTAL CosT

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Subtotal

Tax if applicable

Shipping if applicable

TOTALBUDGETAMOUNT

“Creative Carle” Jennifer BakerLesson Plans Materials Budget

Bag Ladies unit “A walk across Florida” 1 $17.00 www.bagladiesonline.com $17.00 *

Tools for learning manual (Thinking Maps) & posters 1 of ea $95.00 www.thinkingmaps.com $95.00 **

Books - “A house for Hermit Crab”,

“The Grouchy Ladybug”, & “The Mixed-Up Chemleon” 1 of ea $7.99 $23.97

“Graphic Organizers and Activities for Differentiated

Instruction in Reading” book 1 $14.95 www.scholastic.com $14.95 ***

Art Supplies to complete posters, Thinking Maps,

and books Random $35.58 Walmart or PCSB warehouse $35.58

* plus $2.00 Shipping & handling

** plus $7.00 Shipping & handling

*** plus $4.50 Shipping & handling

Jennifer BakerGeorge Jenkins High School

$186.50

$13.50

$200.00


www.amazon.com or local bookstore

“creative carle” - polk county public schools€¦ · creative carle idea made an impact on...

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