Flotsam by David Wiesner Caldecott Winner Included: A brief excerpt from the book and rigorous question set activities promoting higher level-thinking development

Tier 1 Excerpt from book Jacob’s Ladder Goals & Objectives Habits of Mind

Excerpt When a curious boy goes to the beach in search of items that have been washed ashore, he discovers an underwater camera. Upon developing its film, he finds a treasure greater then he could have ever imagined: The photographs have many layers of interesting pictures within, exposing the wonders of the deep sea. Obtain the book from a school library to read the story in its entirety and complete the ladder activities.

Students will be able: Ladder A A1 Sequencing-To list in order of importance specific events or plot summaries A2 Cause and Effect-To identify and predict relationships between character behavior and story events, and their effects upon other characters or events. A3 Consequences and Implications-To predict character actions, story outcomes, and make real-world forecasts. Ladder C C1 Literary Elements-To identify and explain specific story elements. C2 Inference-To use textual clues to read between the lines and make judgments about specific textual events, ideas, or character analysis. C3 Theme and Concept-To identify a major theme or ideas common throughout the text. Ladder D D1-Paraphrasing—To restate lines read using their own words. D2-Summarizing—To provide a synopsis of text sections. D3-Creative Synthesis—To create something new using what they have learned from the reading and their synopsis.

Habits of Mind Working Interdependently Thinking about Thinking (metacognition) Innovating, Creating, Imagining Refer to Jacob’s Ladder Story Table for Ladder A, C, D Thinking Questions.

Tier 2 Rigor (Discussion) High Level Strategies with Ladder A, C, D Questions

Discussion Strategies: Think-Pair-Share, Write-around, Role Play, Journaling Choose 3 of 4 questions below to complete. A1-Can you identify the different events that happened before the boy found the camera? What are some of the pictures in the story that support your answers? A2-What effect did the camera have on the children who found it? Use evidence from the story to explain your answer. C2-Why did the boy take a picture of himself and then throw the camera back into the water? Support your answer using other pictures in the story. D1-How would you explain what happened after the boy threw the camera into the ocean?

Tier 3 Rigor ( Discussion) High Level Strategies with Ladder A, C, D Questions

Discussion Strategies: Think-Pair-Share, Write-around, Journaling, role playing. Choose 2 of 3 questions below to complete. A3-What happened in the story as a result of the boy finding the camera? Explain how you know what happened. C1-Why do you think the author used photos to tell a story? Why are some photos close up and others far away? How does that help the reader understand what is going on? C3-How would you explain the use of close-up and far-away shots to help communicate the author’s purpose for writing the story? D2-What page of the story would you select as your favorite and why is it your favorite?

Tier 4 Reflections/Relevance

Choose one activity to complete: 1. Think about the world around you and all of the things that happen in it. Create a picture story of at least five pictures from different points of view that illustrate what is going on in the treetops, grass, or other areas of your world that you cannot see. Have a partner read your story; then you read your story to your partner and compare stories. 2. Using a classroom collection of everyday items such as coat hangers, belts, unused rubber gloves, plastic cups, scarves or whatever you can find to create an imaginary undersea creature. How would this creatures move? Play music as the creature performs. Give your creature a name. What is the creature’s habitat and life cycle? Draw or take pictures with a camera of your creature and dancing movements (ask a friend to help); Download into computer; use the photos or your drawings to design a poster about this newly discovered underwater life. Additional project strategies: Create a puppet show; develop a Public Service Announcement; write and be an actor in a skit; picture dictionary; slideshow.