English Language Arts Grade 9-10
Reading: Informational Text Standard 2
Secondary Library Media (6-12)
Strand 6: Standard 1:
1 class periods of 90 minutes each
Large Groups
This lesson will introduce ESL students to critical background information about the Holocaust prior to reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and will help them synthesize that information into a product for presentation (a Wordle). The lesson begins with a brief review on nonfiction reading strategies. Following this, students will work in pairs to answer questions specific to an interactive Holocaust Hotlinks activity. Their final assignment will be to identify key words about the Holocaust from their Hotlink activity and synthesize these into a Wordle for presentation during the following class session.
Teachers will need familiarity with the Holocaust and Internet resources, as well as instructional strategies for building non-fiction text comprehension.
Teachers will also need to know how to create Wordle word clouds.
How to use a computer.
Familiarity with the Internet.
ESL Students will learn strategies for analyzing informational text to build background knowledge on the Holocaust before reading Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
ESL Students will create a Wordle and present them during the following class session.
Instructional Sequence:
Websites may be clustered so groups of students may jigsaw the shared information.
Students may individually create a Wordle instead of in pairs.
Students will be assessed on completeness of answers on the Holocaust Hotlink organizer and the creation and presentation of their Wordles.
Reviewed by Michelle Miles