Mar 13, 2012 ... Additional texts to teach figurative language (informational text connected to
extended text). Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth is.
GPB LIVE-STREAMING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING GRADE 5 MARCH 13, 2012 ADDENDUM TO RESOURCE PACKET: SMARTBOARD MATERIAL
Poem used to illustrate lesson on figurative language.
By Myself by Eloise Greenfield When I'm by myself And I close my eyes I'm a twin I'm a dimple in a chin I'm a room full of toys I'm a squeaky noise I'm a gospel song I'm a gong I'm a leaf turning red I'm a loaf of brown bread I'm a whatever I want to be And anything I care to be And when I open my eyes What I care to be Is me
Example of DOK Level 1 assessment on figurative language.
1. “I’m a room full of toys” is what kind of figurative language: a) metaphor
b) simile
c) personification
d) verb 2. Which kind of figurative language makes a comparison using “like” or “as”? a) personification b) hyperbole c) simile d) metaphor 3. Identify 3 descriptive words in the poem: ________
_________ _________
Additional texts to teach figurative language (prose from extended text).
The shoreline was peaceful and flat, and the calm sea bumped it playfully along the sandy beach. In the distance a beautiful island covered with palm trees and flowers beckoned invitingly from the sparkling water. "Nothing can possibly go wrong now," cried the Humbug happily, and as soon as he'd said it he leaped from the car as nimble as a cat, and sailed all the way to the little island. "And we'll have plenty of time,'' answered Tock, who hadn't noticed that the bug was missing--and he, too, suddenly leaped into the air and disappeared. "It certainly couldn't be a nicer day," agreed Milo, who was too busy looking at the road to see that the others had gone. And in a split second he was gone also. - The Phantom Tollbooth
Additional texts to teach figurative language (informational text connected to extended text).
Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth is like a breath of fresh air on the children’s literature scene. It has been many years since a book has called to the imaginations of children and adults alike in the way that this delightful book does. To open its cover is to be transported to a magical land where life lessons lie hidden like crystal jewels amid the fun and seeming nonsense of Milo’s journey. - reader review, Amazon.co
Rigorous, CCGPS-appropriate assessments on the figurative language lesson.
We have read a poem, an excerpt from our literary text, and an excerpt from an informational text, all on the topic of The Phantom Tollbooth. Using words and phrases from the texts, show how each author used figurative language and imagery to affect his or her reader. Paraphrase one example of figurative language from each text to show what you think it meant literally; then explain how the use of simile or metaphor makes the idea more clear, more fun, or more interesting.
Sample student response.
In the poem the author talked about all the ways people can feel when they close their eyes. The person in the poem is probably a kid because sometimes the person feels like a room full of toys. She compares the way you feel when you close your eyes to a lot of things, but most of them are good. I do not know if brown bread is good, but the other things are pretty good. Feeling like a room full of toys shows how you are happy because everybody likes toys, and this is a whole room full of them. She could have just said, “I feel happy,” or “I feel like I have a lot of fun things I could do,” but saying that she is a room full of toys makes you feel like she is happy, excited, and has lots of choices for fun things. The second thing we read was from the book about Milo. This is the part of the book where Milo jumps to the island of conclusions. I learned that this is called a pun because the island is called Conclusions and Milo jumps to it and can’t get off. This is just like how people jump to conclusions which means deciding about something before you have thought about it enough. Mr. Juster says that the island beckons to Milo and that is not literal because islands can’t beckon. He was saying that the island looked good like a good place to go, but it was better when he said beckoned because I looked that up and it means the island was trying to tempt him to come. That is just what jumping to conclusions is and that says it stronger than just saying it looked like a good place to go. The last thing we read was somebody’s ideas about the book. They really liked the book I think. They said it has jewels, which is good, and that it was delightful, which is also good. At the beginning the person was probably just saying that the book was something new and different, but what it says is that it is “like a breath of fresh air.” When you think of getting to breathe clean air when maybe you have been inside the house too long or inside school or something, you can remember that feeling of happiness and fresh waking up that new air gives you, especially when the air is cold. That makes me think this book is more than just new. It makes you feel energy and like you are free.
Two grade 5 text choices, literary.
Texts representing informational choices that are thematically connected to the literary choices on the previous page.
Text Complexity Rubric COMMON CORE GEORGIA PERFORMANCE STANDARDS TEXT COMPLEXITY RUBRIC TEXT:
The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster
COMPLEXITY MEASURE
GENRE: Literary
GRADE: 5 LOW (1-3 POINTS)
MODERATE (4-6 PTS)
HIGH (7-10 POINTS)
Qualitative aspects of text complexity best measured by an attentive human reader, such as levels of meaning or purpose; structure; language conventionality and clarity; and knowledge demands. Levels of meaning. K-5: Symbolism, abstract thought,/technical, academic 10 content Punning, 6-12: Satire, allegory, pun, symbolism, or complex motif/technical, academic symbolism content Structure. K-5: Chapters, multiple plot lines, glossaries, headings, or footnotes. 5 6-12: Legal documents, technical manuals, non-traditional uses of time or (chapters) language K-12: Text length Language conventionality. K-5: colloquialisms, figurative/ idiomatic 10 language, dialects, technical and academic vocabulary Playful, 6-12: Historical language such as Elizabethan or Old English constructions; invented technical and academic vocabulary 8 Background knowledge. Content with which students might reasonably be Relatable expected to be acquainted or that will be comprehensible when introduced themes Quantitative aspects of text complexity, such as word length or frequency, sentence length, and text cohesion, that are difficult for a human reader to evaluate efficiently, as measured by Lexile. K-1 n/a 2-3 450L - 790L 9 4-5 770L - 980L Slightly 6-8 955L - 1155L above 9-10 1080L - 1305L range 11-12 1215L - 1355L Reader and Task Considerations focus on the inherent complexity of text, reader motivation, knowledge, and experience and the purpose and complexity of the task at hand. Best made by teachers employing their professional judgment. 10 Does this text challenge readers? Readers comprehend about 75% of the Challentext, working to make meaning of the remaining 25% ging 8 Does this text match the interests of the students? High (When appropriate) interest 6 Is this text ideal for the task? Puns above For example a scientific journal for a research project versus Shakespeare for grade level a dramatic presentation 6 Mismatches for which qualitative and quantitative measures cannot Often read easily account. to not by For example low Lexile books with adult content Miscellaneous considerations. You may award up to 10 points for specific merits of a text not covered in the rubric domains. 8 classic Specific Merits TOTAL SCORE 80 - 100 POINTS: 50-79 POINTS: 25-49 POINTS: 0 - 24 POINTS:
80 / 100
EXTREMELY APPROPRIATE TEXT CHOICE ACCEPTABLE TEXT CHOICE RECONSIDER OR CHANGE GRADE/PURPOSE OF THIS TEXT CHOICE ELIMINATE OR CHANGE GRADE/PURPOSE OF THIS TEXT
Example of a DOK Level 1 reading comprehension quiz
1. Right after Milo goes through the Phantom Tollbooth, he meets a man named the _______ Man, who lives in a town called Expectations. 2. Milo takes a ticking watchdog named ____ on his journey. 3. King ____ the Unabridged is the ruler of Dictionopolis. 4. Milo meets a bug named the ______ in Dictionopolis. 5. In the forest of sight, Milo meets a very strange boy named ____ Bings. 6. ______ is the conductor of the orchestra that creates all the color in the world. 7. The ___________ has a fortress in which all the sounds in the world are stored. 8. _____ lives on the island of Conclusions. 9. The _____________ is the ruler of Digitopolis. 10. The Princess of Sweet Rhyme and the Princess of ____ ______ were imprisoned in the Castle in the Air until Milo rescued them.
Example of an appropriately rigorous CCGPS assessment on the same reading material.
In The Phantom Tollbooth, Milo gives us a good example of how challenges experienced by a character can help us to understand the theme - or author’s main message - of a story. before
after
crisis In an informational essay explaining the theme of The Phantom Tollbooth, use the process illustrated by the graphic organizer above. First, using evidence from the text, describe Milo before his trip through the tollbooth. How was he feeling and what was his attitude? Then, using evidence from the text, explain some things that happened to Milo that might have helped him to learn lessons about life or about himself. Consider the ways in which Milo had a different attitude and outlook after he returned home. Now you are ready to think about theme. In your final paragraph, explain what you think the author wanted his audience to learn or understand from this story.
Sample response to prompt.
At the beginning of The Phantom Tollbooth, Milo is a boy who is bored with life. There are many things in the book that show how Milo is feeling at first. For one thing, he has many toys in his room, and they seem like pretty good toys, but he is too bored to play with them. The author also says that Milo hates school and thinks that learning is the most boring thing of all. From these facts we can see that Milo is not very thankful for all the things he has and is waiting for things to happen to him instead of looking for the fun in life. He is missing out on a lot of things because of his bored attitude. After Milo finds the tollbooth in his room, he becomes interested in something for the first time. We can tell that he is curious about it because he is wondering where it came from and saying that it is not Christmas or his birthday, so he is interested. Also he opens it and builds it and drives through it, which shows more interest than he has had in any of his other toys for a long time. After Milo gets into the world inside the tollbooth, he starts to learn not to take things for granted anymore. For example, Milo learns that his high expectations (going to the land of “Expectations”) sometimes end up making him depressed and disappointed (the “Doldrums.”) He gets out of the doldrums by thinking. Milo learns that he has to live his life and help out and not just sit and wait for things to happen and get depressed. When Milo got home, he was excited about living his life and doing things like he never was before. He was not bored anymore. What Milo learned was that you have to be part of your life and be interested and alive and try and make an effort. You have to be careful about being lazy in your mind or you will be the only one to lose out. I think the theme of this story is to pay attention to life or lose out.
Illustration of expanded vocabulary study (words from text, words thematically related to text from other domains, and academic vocabulary.)
VOCABULARY STUDY
PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH TEXT: LETHARGY
DOLDRUMS
________________
STRENUOUS
______________
Domain words: TOLLBOOTH, VEHICLE
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY: FORMULATE
COMPREHEND
FORMAT
____________
____________ ___________
Text and prompt choices from Unit.
EXTENDED TEXT: The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster (1000 L)
THEMATICALLY CONNECTED SHORT TEXTS (mixture of literary and informational): A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle (excerpted) (740L) Complementary Poems for a study of The Phantom Tollbooth http://inquiryunlimited.org/lit/poetry/phant/phant_poe ms1.html#G Ox, House, Stick: The History of our Alphabet, Don Robb Where Words Come From, Jack Umstatter Why Pi?, Johnny Ball
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The VARK Questionnaire on Learning Styles http://www.varklearn.com/english/page.asp?p=younger The Phantom Tollboth (DVD), 1970, Butch Patrick About The Phantom Tollbooth, fun interviews with the author and illustrator http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/2011/10/50thanniversary-of-phantom-tollbooth.html A Wrinkle in Time, TV Film Version (2003) Available for purchase or for viewing through You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yd8tzkBufM&fea ture=related
1. In The Phantom Tollbooth, the author Norton Juster plays tricks with words to connect the stages of Milo’s journey to stages we go through in our lives. For example, Milo travels towards a place called “Expectations” but gets caught in the “Doldrums,” just as we travel in life towards things we are excited about (Expectations) but sometimes lose steam or get discouraged along the way (Doldrums, or depression). Choose any part of the book you like, and talk about what the author’s “word tricks” mean and symbolize in that section. Use evidence from the text to show the connections to what you think Juster was talking about both literally and figuratively. Your teacher will show you some examples.
2. After viewing the movie and reading excerpts from the book, choose one character from Madeleine L’Engle’s Wrinkle in Time and write an essay comparing and contrasting some of the fantastical creatures from each novel. Milo, for example, meets a talking dog, a boy who floats in the air, and a policeman who is wider than he is tall and never locks his jail, while Meg Murray and her friends and family meet witches, angels, centaurs, and mind readers to name just a few. Choose one or more creature from each novel to compare and contrast with one or more from the other novel. Think about connections you can make (good, evil, helpful, harmful, big, small, mysterious, funny, etc.) Use evidence from the text to support all of your inferences about similarities and differences in the creatures you choose to write about.
1. Demonstrating your knowledge of writing
events in sequence and using descriptive language, write a very short story telling of a fantastical adventure such as the one Meg Murray takes to a distant planet or the one Milo takes when he goes through the magical tollbooth (you can also think about other similar stories you’ve heard, such as The Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland). Be as creative as you’d like; go down a drain pipe, into a grain of sand, to the reaches of outer space, or inside the mind of your dog - you name it! Compare yourself to at least one character from one other book, movie, or poem in your piece using proper title punctuation.
