Common Core Aligned Activities and Assessment Tips
Activity 1Book Trailer:
As we work towards answering our final question (What does acceptance
mean to you?), our first activity will include watching a quick book trailer
about “The Ugly Duckling.” Your task is to first watch this video and think
about the following terms: alone, abandoned, hope, love, and acceptance.
---- Your next step is to take out your writer’s journal or go to and write about your initial thoughts or questions you may have about the story. When writing your entry be sure to include your very own definitions of alone, abandoned, hope, love, and acceptance. EXAMPLE: Activity 2Character Traits: Your next task is to read “The Ugly Duckling”
adapted by Jerry Pinkney. As you read the story, focus on the ugly duckling and
how he feels during each of the events of the story. After reading, download
the attached document twice. I want you to choose two significant events in the
story and complete the graphic organizer. Make sure to write your name and the events you chose on the document.
Activity 3Your Traits:
Since reading the ugly duckling, you were able to notice how different
events made the duckling feel either good or bad. Next, I want you to first
draw a picture of yourself. Below the picture, write adjectives that describe
you. On the left side of the picture, I want you to write a short paragraph
explaining a time that you felt left out or excluded from others. On the right
side of the picture, write another short paragraph that explains an event that
made you feel accepted by your peers or family. Feel free to use a blank sheet of paper or a doodle app on your iPad or computer to complete this activity.
EXAMPLE: Activity 4Definitions:
I want you to revisit the definitions that you created in the very first
activity. Your next task is to use a dictionary define these words
correctly. After you define them,
use a thesaurus to find a word that is similar and find instances in the story
that you think this word can be used to describe the event.
EXAMPLE: Abandoned means to be forsaken or deserted. A synonym of abandoned is rejected. I think the ugly duckling was rejected when all of the other farm animals made fun of him. Activity 5What if…:
What if the ugly duckling was raised by a family of swans? Do you think
he still would have been treated differently by his peers? Do you think that He
would have known what it felt like to be accepted way before he turned into a
swan? Reflect on these questions for a few moments. Create a new story line for
the ugly duckling and post it on Glogster. If you need help starting your new
story use the image on the left as a writing prompt.
EXAMPLE: The Beautiful Duckling I think that if the duckling was born into the swan family he would have felt love and acceptance from the very beginning of the story. I think that instead of being picked on by his brothers and sisters that they would have wanted to include him in all of their games they played. The ugly duckling would be known as the prettiest duckling of all. He would be kind and compassionate towards everyone and made it his priority to be nice to every single animal he met. I would make this story into a tale like the Good Samaritan. The Beautiful Duckling would be especially loving to those who are seen as outcasts of the community. Activity 66 Word Memoir:
This is the final activity for the book and it is my favorite! It is a
lot of fun to create. You will be writing your very own six word memoir. What
is a six word memoir? Simply put, it is a story that can be told in only six words.
You will be writing a six word story about your experience with acceptance. You
can write your definition of acceptance, how it makes you feel, an event that
happened, or whatever you think works best. Once you have written your memoir,
you will be loading it onto Glogster and creating or uploading images that
represent your memoir. You should also write a short paragraph that explains your
memoir and upload that onto Glogster as well.
Need more information? Look at this website at other six word memoirs: http://www.sixwordmemoirs.com/life/index.php EXAMPLE: |
Alignment and Assessment (1)
A possible assessment strategy for this activity would be to read each of the entries. Make sure that the students are making inferences form the book trailer and that they include definitions each of the specified words. Alignment and Assessment (2)
Possible assessment would be to make sure each of the students have correctly filled out the chart. Alignment and Assessment (3)
Alignment and Assessment (4)
To assess the students, I would make sure that there are correctly identifying the vocabulary words. Make sure that they comprehend the definition by looking at the aspects of the story that they included in their definitions. Alignment and Assessment (5)
One way to assess the students would be to make sure that they have correctly placed the events in a sequential order. You can also add specific requirements to their timeline. Such as, the students must include a unique title, character, setting, etc. Alignment and Assessment (6)
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