Geronimo

Lesson Plan for "Geronimo and the Apaches at Fort Sill"
by Carla Mendez

Introduction to Lesson

P.A.S.S. objectives
Language Arts: The learner will

I.B.1.	Read and comprehend both fiction and nonfiction that is appropriately designed for the second half of Grade 4.
I.B.2.	Use reading strategies independently (e.g., preview, activate prior knowledge, predict content of text, formulate questions that might be answered by the text, establish purposes for reading).
II. B.	Identify the character's actions, traits, feelings, and motives.
II. C.	Describe important lessons learned by characters in stories.
II.H.	Use quotations from the text to support ideas, arguments, and generalizations.
II.K.	Connect information and events from the text to life experiences, other texts, and world events.

Social Studies: The learner will

I.B.1.

Locate, describe, and compare the human characteristics and early settlement patterns of regions in the United States and Oklahoma (locations of ethnic group concentrations, the impact of the westward movement, languages, economic activities, and cultural patterns).

Teacher's purposes for the lesson

1.	Teach unfamiliar vocabulary words from the Geronimo story using the exclusion strategy.
2.	Teach students a comprehension strategy (teach note taking using a semantic web, then generating the main idea of the story).
3.	Teach students to connect information and events from the story to actual life experiences, other text, and world events.
4.	Help students learn to use character journals as a way to identify character traits and motives and summarize important lessons learned by the characters

II.

Objectives

The learner will

A.	Complete an exclusion strategy chart, given an exclusion strategy chart and vocabulary from the story.
B.	Generate the main idea of the story, based on note taking using a semantic web related to the Geronimo story.
C.	Relate information and events from the Geronimo story to Japanese-American encampments, Nazis concentration camps, and African-American slavery.
D.	Generate an entry for his/her character journal based on one of the characters from the story

III.

Procedures

Materials:

1.	Reading material – Copy of the re-telling of “Geronimo and the Apaches at Fort Sill” for each student
2.	Vocabulary list: exclusion strategy, capture, tuberculosis, evade, reservation, malaria, revenge, pneumonia, relocate
3.	Exclusion strategy chart
4.	A semantic web related to the Geronimo story
5.	Character journal for each student
6.	A copy of each of the following books: Yoshiko Uchida’s Journey to Topaz and Journey Home; Deborah Hopkinson’s Sweet Clara and The Freedom Quilt; Gloria Houston’s Bright Freedom’s Song: A Story of the Underground Railroad; Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl, and Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars

Anticipatory set: As the students walk into the classroom, play Native American music in the background. Ask the students what they think they will be discussing today based on the music, display copies of the books mentioned above, and photographs of Geronimo and Fort Sill posted in the classroom.

1.	Key vocabulary and concepts: exclusion strategy, capture, tuberculosis, evade, reservation, malaria, revenge, pneumonia, relocate
2.	Methods: Mini-lecture: Introduce the exclusion strategy.
3.	Student purpose statement: "In this lesson, you will think about the new vocabulary words in the Geronimo story by using the exclusion strategy. You will also understand the story better by using quotations from the text to write the main idea of the story. You will pretend to be a character from the story and write about what appened to you and how you felt about it in your character journal. Then you will connect information and events from the story to your actual life experiences, other books you have read, and what you have already learned about world events."

Lesson activities

Input: Write the words hockey, baseball, basket weaving, and football on the chalkboard, then ask, "Which word does not belong in the following group of words?" Then ask, "What do the other three words have in common?" Introduce the exclusion strategy. (This vocabulary development strategy engages students' prior knowledge. Present students with the title of the reading material for the lesson. Then give them a list of words that will or will not be contained in the selection they are about to read. Ask students which words will probably be in the selectin and which will probably not be included.) Then ask the students to rate their knowledge of each vocabulary word by completing the following matrix:

Vocabulary Words	What Do I Think Is the Definition of this Word?	Where Have I Seen or Heard this Word Before?	I Don't Know This Word.
capture
tuberculosis
evade
reservation
malaria
revenge
pneumonia
relocate

Modeling: Demonstrate how to use the exclusion strategy using the first set of words:
1. tuberculosis, malaria, pneumonia, capture. Model completion of the first word (capture) in the matrix.

Guided practice: Have students divide into duos and practice the exclusion strategy using the last two sets of words:
2. capture, reservation, relocate, evade
3. revenge, retaliation, vengeance, relocate
Then have students complete the matrix independently before sharing their responses with their partner.

Checking for understanding: Walk around and observe students’ progress and provide feedback. Discuss their answers as a whole class activity. Then ask the students if they understand how to apply the exclusion strategy and complete the vocabulary matrix.

Culminating activities (independent practice): Have the students buddy-read the story with their partners, concentrating on completing the semantic web related to the story. Based on the basic information gathered from the story, students will generate a single sentence that expresses the main idea of the story.

Print the following names from the story on slips of paper (duplicate as necessary so that there is one slip of paper for each student). Fold the slips of paper and put them in a paper bag. Allow each student to draw a name. Then have the students assume the roles of the characters and write and illustrate entries in their character journals. Encourage students to explain their characters' motives for the things they did, how they felt about what they did, and what lessons they learned.

Sponge activity: Have each student write and illustrate a paragraph showing how the Geronimo story relates to his/her actual life experiences, other text, and world events. Remind students of the books they have read during this unit dealing with the Holocaust, Japanese-American encampments, and African-American slavery.

IV.

Closure

A.	Summary of what has been learned: Say, "Today you learned a new way to understand new vocabulary, the exclusion strategy. You also learned how to generate the main idea of a story. Finally, you learned that information and events from a story can be connected to your actual life experiences, other text, and world events."
B.	Transfer: Remind the students, "The exclusion strategy used in today's lesson can be utilized to understand vocabulary in any story. You practiced taking notes and generated the main idea of a short story. As you read a story, think about how the ideas in the story releate to your life and to history."
C.	Student evaluation: Was the student able to use the exclusion strategy to learn vocabulary words from the Geronimo story? (Assessment strategies: Checklist, teacher observation) Was the student able to use the semantic web to generate the main idea of the story)? (Assessment strategy: Collect and review the student's semantic web) Was the student able to connect information and events from the story to his/her actual life experiences, other text, and world events by writing a comparison/contrast paragraph and drawing an illustration? (Assessment strategy: Rubric for comparison/contrast paragraph and illustration)
D.	Teacher evaluation: Reflect on students' mastery of objectives (including re-teaching), teacher's personal response to the lesson, and changes that should be made before the lesson is taught again.