Week 3 Fifth Grade
Knightly News (Fiction, Level 15, Stage 2) by Anna Kenna
This week’s book is about a young man and his favorite hobby, filming his own news show. Throughout the story problems arise for both the boy and his mom, opportunities present themselves, and solutions come. We really enjoyed this book this week as well as the various activities provided in the Guided Lesson. From the prediction chart to the spelling cards and discussion and writing guides, this week was packed full of ways to comprehend and process this story together.
The activity I want to highlight this week is the Note to Teachers for Day 4 regarding the reading of Chapter 7 in the book. I believe it’s worth highlighting here. The note reads as follows: I read and selected Knightly News in February, 2001. The book was recommended and purchased by numerous schools during the summer in preparation for the 2001-2002 school year. As I reread the book and began to write the lesson plan on September 21, 2001, I experienced a totally different reaction to Chapter 7 due to the tragedy we all shared on September 11, 2001. Fortunately, the ending of the chapter is a happy one, but you must be prepared for some students commenting on the comparison of the two events. Please use your best professional judgment in handling the discussion that occurs. While the comparison didn’t come up from my 5th grader this week, I still believe this note applies, even so many years later, and I also believe it could prompt a rich discussion about the role our news people play when tragedies occur. This is why I always appreciate the thought and care that goes into creating each AlphaSkills lesson plan.
For more information about the AlphaSkills Read with Sarah curriculum and our family, see the AlphaSkills Blog Introduction.