Lesson Plan Teaching Point of View With Two Bad Ants

Grades 35 Lesson Plan Type Standard Lesson Estimated Time Two 50-minute sessions Lesson Author Sharon Morris San Angelo, Texas Expanded by Dominique Cully, Sara Wilson-Ybarra, Dorothy Hampton, & Molly Muller

OVERVIEW This lesson provides students with the opportunity to use illustrations and text to develop an understanding of the point of view of the characters. Students read the story Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg, work in pairs to analyze the illustrations and text, and compare and contrast points of view. After rereading the story, students apply their knowledge of point of view by writing a short story from an ant's perspective. After reading the story, students demonstrate their knowledge by creating one of five activities using characters with different points of view. FEATURED RESOURCES Stapleless Book: This handy tool allows students to use their creativity when they write about going on adventures from the point of view of an ant.

Common Core Standards RL.3.3. Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events. RL.3.6. Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters. RL.3.7. Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting). MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY

Several copies of Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin, 1988)
Promethean Board (flipchart) Audacity Storybird Wordle Ebook from www.Openlibrary.org Book on tape copy of book

STUDENT INTERACTIVES Grades K 12 | Student Interactive | Writing & Publishing Prose Stapleless Book The Stapleless Book can be used for taking notes while reading, making picture books, collecting facts, or creating vocabulary booklets . . . the possibilities are endless! PRINTOUTS Assessment Rubric Point of View Chart PREPARATION

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Obtain several copies of the book Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg. Photocopy the Point of View Chart so that each student can have a copy.
Create Flipchart for Promethean board for point of view vocab terms and KWL chart. Obtain an ebook copy of Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg from www.Openlibrary.org

STUDENT OBJECTIVES Students will: Identify point of view in a story by examining the text and illustrations, thinking about how an ant "sees" the world Demonstrate that they understand point of view by finding specific examples or evidence from of the ant's point of view in the text Apply their knowledge and understanding of point of view by writing and illustrating a story from the perspective of the main character (in this case, an ant)

Session 1
1.

Explain to students that point of view refers to how a person or character looks at, or views, an object or a situation.
Use the KWL chart to fill in what students already know about point of view and what they want to know. Define key words and then use flipchart on Promethean board as an interactive activity where students can do a matching game with point of view vocabulary and their definitions.

2.

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4.

Tell students that, like in the photographs, characters may view objects from perspectives that differ from their own. To appreciate the plot of a story and understand the actions of the characters, students must understand the characters' differing points of view. Show students the cover illustration from Two Bad Ants, a story in which the main characters are ants.

5.

Discuss how the text and the illustrations show objects from an ant's point of view. Ask students how an ant's view is different from a person's view. Do objects look big or small to an ant? i. What might your shoe look like to an ant? ii. What might your classroom look like to an ant?
Have you ever been in a certain situation where you feel differently from someone else? iv. Did your opinion change once you realized why that person felt the way they felt? (Were you able to identify with them after hearing their opinion?
iii.

* Play Voki for students to listen to the goal of the lesson of Two Bad Ants.
6.

Have students read the story Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg.Students will have the following options for reading the story: Read Story (Hard Copy), Read Story (eBook), Read aloud with a buddy, or Listen to the book on tape. Have students work together in small groups. Give each group a copy of Two Bad Ants. Ask them to examine the illustrations and the text to find more evidence of situations described from the ant's point of view. Have students brainstorm different stories that they know well and discuss the characters differeing points of view. Distribute the Point of View Chart to students. Have them work in small groups to think of everyday items that ants see one way and people see another. Have students record their findings on the chart. For example, under "A Person's Point of View," students might write "grass," and under "An Ant's Point of View," they might write "forest." Bring class together and discuss the stories and characters point of view, using an Inspiration-made chart on point of view. Reread Two Bad Ants to students. Ask them if their understanding has improved since they first listened to the story. If so, ask them to tell what aspects of point of view they understand better.

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Session 2

1.

Brainstorm with students, having them name objects that would appear differently to an ant than to a person. Record students' ideas on chart paper or on the blackboard.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT/REFLECTIONS Students will demonstrate their understanding of point-of-view through the use of one of the following choices. We will share our products with the class in Writers Circle. Recorded Sound Bites: (oral expression, auditory learners, no writing
required, less outgoing students

Find four or five pictures of different scenes. Record your voice expressing what the two different characters are thinking about in that scene. Source suggestions- Story Starters, Norman Rockwell Act out a Scene: (Kinesthetic, no writing required, outgoing students, can
use a buddy)

Do this activity with another student. Choose one of the situations brainstormed with the class. Decide on a short scene Act out the scene several times from different characters point of view.

Wordle: (Visual, some writing) Choose one of the situations brainstormed with the class. Create at least two Wordles, one for each point of view. Wordle should contain words that represent that characters feelings, thought, and actions in the scene. Paste in a picture from the scene. Staple-less Books

Help students make an interactive Stapleless Book demonstrating that they understand an ant's point of view. Have them write their own adventures about ants, using their own ideas or objects from the list described in step #1. Suggest that they use words that indicate how an object looks to an ant. For example, a shoe might be tall; slippery; or sloped, like a hill. ii. Have them illustrate their adventures, and encourage them to show how the world looks to an ant.
i.

Storybird: (use of digital storytelling, kinesthetic, visual, writing required) Write a short story using characters with different points of view. Create the story using Storybird on the computer. 2. Conduct Writers Circle - students share their projects.

EXTENSIONS Have each student choose one illustration in Two Bad Ants and write a detailed account of how an ant would view this experience. Have each student imagine another predicament that the ants could get into and draw a picture from an ant's point of view. Have students read Hey, Little Ant by Philip M. Hoose (Tricycle Press, 1998) in pairs, which allows them to reinforce their concept of point of view. One student should read the part of the boy, and another should read the part of the ant. Extend lesson with Resources for Further Learning: Ant Bully by John Nickle Another Point of View: Readers Theatre and Fairy Tales Duck!Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/pov1.html (resource added) http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/math-games/point-out-view/ (resource added)

STUDENT ASSESSMENT/REFLECTIONS Evaluate the students' Point of View Charts.

Information should be accurate, demonstrating an understanding of point of view. Information should come directly from the story Two Bad Ants. Evaluate the students' booklets in Session 2 using the Assessment Rubric.