Traveling With Miss Rumphius
Patricia
Liefer
Red Bud Elementary School
200 W Field Dr
Red Bud IL 62278
Promoting
Geographic Knowledge Through Literature Workshop
July 7-19, 2002
Background Literary Preview: Miss Rumphius, a delightful piece of literature by Barbara Cooney, takes the reader on an adventurous trip all over the world and teaches an inspiring message. The book is written from the voice of the grandniece of Alice Rumphius as she remembers the important values taught to her as a young girl. Alice wishes to travel to faraway places and live by the sea, just like her beloved grandfather. However, her sage grandfather stresses that she must also make a commitment to make the world more beautiful. Miss Rumphius fulfills her three goals in her own way and in her own time. Readers come away from this writing with a renewed sense of journey, self-actualization, and dedication to better the world.
Lesson Overview: Students will cooperatively read Miss Rumphius predicting, discussing, analyzing, and connecting the literature to their own lives. Groups will research, collect, and document information about world regions.
Connection to Curriculum: Language Arts, Social Studies, and Art
Suggested Grade Level: Grades 2 to 4
National Geography Standards:
Essential Element: Places and Regions
Standard #4: The physical and human characteristics of places.
Essential Element: Human Systems
Standard #12: The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement.
Geography Themes: Location, Place, Human Environment Interaction, Movement, and Regions
IL State Learning Standards: English Language Arts--1.B, 1.C, 2.A, 2.B, 3.C, 4.A, 5.A, 5.B, 5.C and Social Science 17.A
Topics/Themes: Travel, Family Relationships, Making a Difference in the World
Time: Four to five 40-minute class periods
Materials:
§ Classroom set of Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
§ Reciprocal teaching card sets—one card set per group (see attached master—cut one question per card)
§ Reader response journals—one notebook/journal per student
§ 12” x 12” square white construction paper—one per student
§ Crayons, colored pencils, and/or markers
§ Scissors—one pair per student
§ Glue
§ Atlases, travel guides, encyclopedias, geography computer software (like Encarta, World Book Encyclopedia, Cartopedia, National Geographic Society Picture Atlas of the World—Revised Edition, etc.), and various other world regional resource books.
§ Computer with Internet access (See references for websites.)
§ Optional: Microsoft Office PowerPoint program
Teacher Background: Knowledge of author Barbara Cooney
Objectives:
§ Students will activate prior knowledge and predict outcomes for a story.
§ Students will silently read in groups making predictions, questions, summaries, and wonder statements (using reciprocal teaching).
§ Students will relate their own experiences/thoughts with those of the main character in the story by writing in a reader response journal.
§ Students will create a triorama (a three dimensional story scene) that will depict the students’ extension for the story.
§ Students will research and document facts about specific world regions.
Procedure:
1.
As an opening, the teacher will show the cover of Miss
Rumphius to the class and ask for story
element predictions.
2.
To make possible connections, the teacher will ask, “What does the
cover remind you of?”
Listen to
student responses.
3. Give a short author talk about Barbara Cooney.
4. Divide the class into heterogeneous groups of approximately five students.
5. Tell each group that they are to read Miss Rumphius using the reciprocal teaching card sets.
6.
Instruct the class that when each group is finished reading, the students
from the group should
respond in their reader response journals to the following
questions (written on a chart or
blackboard):
1.“Where would you like to live when you grow up?” 2. “What would
you like to
do when you are older?” and 3. “What would you do to make the
world more beautiful?”
7.
During the next class period, ask for a few student volunteers to read
their responses
connecting to the Miss Rumphius theme.
Each volunteer could sit in the “author’s chair” to
read the
response. Other students may ask
questions or offer comments after each response.
8.
Tell the class that today they will be making a triorama, using their
responses from their
journals. Pass
out instruction sheets for the trioramas. (See attached.)
9. Demonstrate each step for the triorama as the class constructs each part.
10. Offer assistance when needed.
11. Share the finished products and relate back to Miss Rumphius.
12.
For the next two-three class periods, students will again work in their
original cooperative
groups.
13.
Each group will become a “travel agency” that needs to design a
“Traveling With Miss
Rumphius” travel brochure/itinerary that follows the
travels in the book. Group members
may
collect information from the provided atlases, encyclopedias, software, etc. The brochure
should include the following for each region
traveled: mode of transportation to
travel there,
what clothes, supplies, or travel tips for the climate, name of
country and continent, at least
one major tourist attraction, and landform of
the area.
14.
If desired, the group
members may consist of different roles: recorder,
researchers, computer
experts, etc. The
instructor should act as a facilitator.
15. Groups should be encouraged to be as creative and informative as possible.
16.
On the last day of the lesson, group members should present their version
of “Traveling With
Miss Rumphius”.
17. Optional: The brochures/itineraries may be documented on Microsoft PowerPoint.
Assessment: Grade each triorama, reader response journals, and group brochure presentations. Informal assessment may include observational notes.
Extensions:
Language Arts—Write a poem about a better world. Design and write a postcard from each region visited. Have each group make a “television commercial” promoting their brochure. Pretend you are Miss Rumphius and write a travel journal (see attached travel journal sheet).
References:
Cooney, Barbara. Miss Rumphius. Puffin Books USA, Inc., New York,
New York, 1982. ISBN 0140505393
Grupper, Jonathan. Destination: Rain Forest, National Geographic School
Publishing, 2002.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com
http://www.geography.about.com
http://nationalgeographic.com/education/alliancelinks
