Pirate Story Mapping

Reading and
Responding 1.1 CS: Students use appropriate strategies before, during and after
reading in order to construct meaning.

27. Apply
comprehension strategies, such as connecting, predicting, questioning,
inferring and visualizing to above grade-level stories read aloud by the
teacher and to own reading at independent level.

35. Respond to oral and written questions about story
elements, e.g.,  characters,
setting, plot, theme, conflict and point of view.

36. Respond to oral and written questions about the facts in nonfiction text.

44. Make connections to text representing different
perspectives family, friendship, culture and tradition, generating
personal and text-based responses.

2. Objectives:

•     Students will answer questions based on expository text.
  
•     Students will fill out a Story Map using The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. 
•     Students will use text-to-self to respond to a narrative text.

3. Children should work in pairs to complete this Webquest.

4.  This Webquest is designed for students in second grade; however, it may be used for advanced students in first grade or struggling students in upper grades.

Ideas for differentiation: 

ELLs: Teacher must assess student's background knowledge and provide visuals when necessary. Teachers will also front-load vocabulary before students read the facts from the National Geographic website and before reading The Rainbow Fish. Teacher should review story elements with students. Teachers could pair ELLs with advanced readers or assist them in the Webquest. Teacher could explicitly explain directions for each task (e.g. use gestures to explain "giving away something" on The Rainbow Fish activity sheet). If necessary, the following link (a read aloud of The Rainbow Fish) can be used with ELLs; students can follow along in their books while listening to the story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LItaC5TjKQ4&feature=related

(this link may also be used if your classroom does not have the book or enough books for each pair of students)

TAG: Provide TAG students with more challenging questions in the Pirate Guide; these students can also be instructed to create their own story mapping graphic organizer. TAG students can use the Pirate Words and Phrases (attached below, as well as in the Conclusion section of this Webquest) to create a pirate skit including pirate vocabulary. 

5. Depending on the circumstances, this Webquest could either be completed all at once or spread out over several days.

6. This Webquest engages students because students are given the opportunity to role play; students will be excited to take on the role of an adventurous pirate. This Webquest exemplifies student discovery because students are able to research on their own and interact with different websites, instead of being given the information directly from the teacher. Students work collaboratively to research, answer questions, and apply comprehension strategies, which will help them improve research and social skills, along with reading comprehension skills.