IPad Literacy: Engage and Enrich 21st Century Learners

Curriculum Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2014).

Learning Target: I can use a character trait of the main character to describe why the character chooses to do what he does.

Criteria for Success: Students will use an action detail from the text to support the character trait of the main character.

Hook: Each group has a different picture or photograph of a wolf on their IPads along with 4 musical segments (one dangerous sounding, one happy sounding, one sad sounding, one adventurous sounding). Each group listens to the music and decides which best fits their character. Each group then shares the picture and the music with the class and explains why they chose that music to fit the character. Help groups define a word to describe that character and music.

Teacher Model: Introduce the traits Devious and Trustworthy. Give a scenario, such as the character sees someone drop a $10 bill walking down the street. Think aloud about how a devious character would react and how a trustworthy character would react.
Complete a picture walk (first half of the book, stop when the character begins to change) with the class, after each page have a student think out loud about what might be happening and why the main character might be doing what he is doing.

In the activities, they will have to decide if the character was Devious or Trustworthy. These words are preloaded on the IAuthor page along with a digital version of the story. The IAuthor has tasks for Read With Some/Listen to Reading and for Work on Writing.

Group Practice Read With Someone: Read/Listen to the story Wolf! When finished, the group must decide if Wolf was devious or trustworthy. In each IAuthor, write about why Wolf did what he did, use the character trait.

Partner Practice Listen to Reading and Work On Writing: Listen to Wolf!. Each partner writes of 2 questions to ask Wolf. In IAuthor, partners take turns being Wolf. Record asking the questions and “Wolf’s” response.

Read to Self: Choose books to read where a wolf is a character (fiction and non fiction).

Teacher Conferences: Use IPad to take notes on students’ progress towards reading goals.

Check in between Rotation: Any new information to offer about the character?

Closing: Share some of the IAuthor responses (either recorded activity or description of Wolf).

Target Response/Formative Assessment: What lesson did you learn from the wolf?

Book Reference
Bloom, B.(1999). Wolf! New York, NY: Orchard Books.