Students will participate in Book Club by choosing groups of 3-5 students and a book at their reading level according to their interest, or the subject currently being studied.  They will decide together how to split the book into three or more sections to finish in four weeks or less.  They will prepare and write out a discussion role for each meeting (Word Wizard, Connector, Summarizer, Questioner, or Passage Person).  This plan is written for either in class, blended, or remote learning.

 This plan was created by Jean Harper as part of the 2020 ESU-NDE  Learning Plan Project. Educators worked with coaches to create plans.The attached plan is designed for Grade 5th English Language Arts students. Students will analyze and evaluate the elements of literary text, build background knowledge to clarify text and deepen understanding, and use relevant evidence from a variety of sources to assist in analysis and reflection of complex text. This plan addresses the following NDE Standard: NE LA 5.1.6.a, LA 5.1.6.d, LA 5.1.6.k, LA 5.1.6.nIt is expected that this plan will take students 60 minutes to complete.

 Are you looking for an enticing way to introduce identifying the theme of a story to your students? This lesson on identifying the theme of a text was created by Jennifer Bauer as an introductory lesson to understanding and analyzing a text to identify a common theme within the text. This lesson engages students by using the read aloud "Salt in His Shoes", a storybook on Michael Jordan's struggles as an adolescent, as a way to gain an understanding of the literary element of theme. This English Language Arts lesson is designed for Grades 3-5, but could also be adapted for middle school students as well. This lesson plan addresses the following NDE Standards: LA 3.1.6.d Summarize a literary text and/or media, using key details to identify the theme. LA 4.1.6.d Summarize a literary text and/or media, using key details to identify the theme. LA 5.1.6.d Summarize and analyze a literary text and/or media, using key details to explain the theme.It is expected that this lesson will take students 60 minutes to complete.

This is an activity that includes student's own ideas and beliefs about the central ideas and important parts of the text. Students will also do a bit of writing to support their opinions. This activity gets at the heart of a text. I see this as introductory to deeper dives into theme. This lesson could be structured to be online or face to face. This is written as a class activity but an online discussion could easily be created after students had followed the protocol a few times and seen the discussion that results. This could easily work in many classrooms through high school.