Module 3: Sustaining the Oceans
Unit 1: Author's Point of View and Idea Development in World without Fish
In this unit, students are involved in a study of how an author introduces, illustrates, and elaborates on an idea and how an author conveys his or her point of view. Students will begin reading Mark Kurlansky’s World without Fish, a literary nonfiction text about the causes of and solutions to the problem of fish depletion. The focus of Unit 1 is the first half of the book, in which Mark Kurlansky describes the problem. Students will return to the final chapters of the book and his suggested solutions in Unit 3. In the first half of the unit, the focus is on tracing the idea of fish depletion across the first five chapters of the book: how the idea is introduced at the beginning and how it is illustrated and elaborated on throughout the first half of the book. Through close reading of this text, students will learn multiple strategies for acquiring and using academic vocabulary. In the second half of the unit, students analyze Mark Kurlansky’s point of view in excerpts of the text and how he conveys that point of view. At the end of Unit 1, students are assessed on their analysis of the point of view and how it is conveyed in a new excerpt of the text.
In this unit, students are involved in a study of how an author introduces, illustrates, and elaborates on an idea and how an author conveys his or her point of view. Students will begin reading Mark Kurlansky’s World without Fish, a literary nonfiction text about the causes of and solutions to the problem of fish depletion. The focus of Unit 1 is the first half of the book, in which Mark Kurlansky describes the problem. Students will return to the final chapters of the book and his suggested solutions in Unit 3. In the first half of the unit, the focus is on tracing the idea of fish depletion across the first five chapters of the book: how the idea is introduced at the beginning and how it is illustrated and elaborated on throughout the first half of the book. Through close reading of this text, students will learn multiple strategies for acquiring and using academic vocabulary. In the second half of the unit, students analyze Mark Kurlansky’s point of view in excerpts of the text and how he conveys that point of view. At the end of Unit 1, students are assessed on their analysis of the point of view and how it is conveyed in a new excerpt of the text.
Unit 2: Narrator's Point of View and Evidence of Author's Perspective in Flush
In this unit, students are involved in a study of how an author develops point of view and how an author’s perspective, based on his or her geographic location, is evident in his or her writing. Students will begin reading Carl Hiaasen’s Flush (870L), a high-interest novel about a boy whose father has been arrested for sinking a casino boat that was polluting the ocean by pumping sewage into it. As they read the novel, students will also read excerpts of interviews with Carl Hiaasen in order to determine how his geographic location has shaped his perspective, and how his perspective is evident in Flush. Through the close reading of these texts, students will learn multiple strategies for acquiring and using academic vocabulary. At the end of the unit, having read most of the novel, students will analyze an excerpt of text for evidence of Carl Hiaasen’s perspective.
In this unit, students are involved in a study of how an author develops point of view and how an author’s perspective, based on his or her geographic location, is evident in his or her writing. Students will begin reading Carl Hiaasen’s Flush (870L), a high-interest novel about a boy whose father has been arrested for sinking a casino boat that was polluting the ocean by pumping sewage into it. As they read the novel, students will also read excerpts of interviews with Carl Hiaasen in order to determine how his geographic location has shaped his perspective, and how his perspective is evident in Flush. Through the close reading of these texts, students will learn multiple strategies for acquiring and using academic vocabulary. At the end of the unit, having read most of the novel, students will analyze an excerpt of text for evidence of Carl Hiaasen’s perspective.
Unit 3: What You Need to Know When Buying Fish
In this unit, students delve more deeply into learning about overfishing methods and case studies of specific fish depletion to answer the question: What do you need to know when buying fish? Students begin by researching factual information about overfishing methods, sustainable fishing methods, case studies, and ways to buy fish caught using sustainable methods, and record what they find on graphic organizers. In the second half of the unit, students analyze consumer guides to learn about the features. Students then evaluate the information they have collected through research to determine what is most compelling to include in their guides. They organize their information to create an eye-catching consumer guide to answer the research question.
In this unit, students delve more deeply into learning about overfishing methods and case studies of specific fish depletion to answer the question: What do you need to know when buying fish? Students begin by researching factual information about overfishing methods, sustainable fishing methods, case studies, and ways to buy fish caught using sustainable methods, and record what they find on graphic organizers. In the second half of the unit, students analyze consumer guides to learn about the features. Students then evaluate the information they have collected through research to determine what is most compelling to include in their guides. They organize their information to create an eye-catching consumer guide to answer the research question.