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Subject

English Language Arts (2005)

Assessment

1. Students will complete graphic organizer
2. Students will use a rubric to self correct friendly letter (see Rubric: Friendly Letter under Related Content below)

Duration

40 minutes per day/5 days

Instructional/Environment Modifications

Students can work in pairs for research and completion of graphic organizer.

Procedure

Day 1

1. Using a KWL chart, class will discuss summer safety. What do they know?, What do they want to know? And on Day 5, discuss what they learned.

Day 2

1. Using a KWL chart, teacher will discuss what students know about summer safety.
2. Students will visit McGruff, the crime dog, at http://www.mcgruff.org
3. On this site, student clicks on Problem Solver. Choose from one of the "problems" or "issues" listed.
4. At this point, students will choose 3 ideas or important points and write them on graphic organizer.

Day 3

1. Students will use information from graphic organizer to write a letter to McGruff.
2. Friendly letter will include what the student learned from the website and how they will use the pointers on summer safety that they learned from the website.
3. Students will include in their letter a request for a comic book.

Day 4

1. Once letter is edited, students will re-write corrected copy of letter.

Day 5

1. Continue conversation in class on summer safety.
2. Review KWL chart.
3. Students will make a “McGruff” puppet using a paper bag and art supplies.

Student Work

1. Research
2. Complete graphic organizer
3. Write friendly letter
4. Create puppet

Description

Students will use the website, McGruff.org, to research information on one of several problems or issues, including:

• For Girls
• Be Fire Safe!
• Bullies
• Back to School Safety
• Hanging Out In the Neighborhood
• Strangers and Other Dangers
• Staying Home Alone
• Riding Right
• Surf the Web Safely
• Getting Around
• Scruff's Steps for Getting Along
• Helping Out in the Community
• What You Need to Know About Drugs and Alcohol

Once the students or the teachers choose a topic, the students will complete a graphic organizer using the information obtained from the website. Students will write a friendly letter to "McGruff" explaining what they have learned and how they will use this information. The unit will end with students making a "McGruff" puppet and having a puppet show using the information they learned.

Website(s)

McGruff the Crime Dog

Materials Needed

• graphic organizer
• pencils
• paper
• paper bags
• art supplies
• computer(s) with Internet connection

Related Academic Standards

New York State

ELA1.E.LR1A Students gather and interpret information from children's reference books, magazines, textbooks, electronic bulletin boards, audio and media presentations, oral interviews, and from such forms as charts, graphs, maps and diagrams.

ELA1.E.LR1B Students select information appropriate to the purpose of their investigation and relate ideas from one text to another.

ELA1.E.LR1C Students select and use strategies they have been taught for note-taking, organizing and categorizing information.

ELA1.E.LR1E Students make appropriate and effective use of strategies to construct meaning from print, such as prior knowledge about a subject, structural and context clues, and an understanding of letter-sound relationships to decode difficult words.

ELA1.E.LR1F Students support inferences about information and ideas with reference to text features, such as vocabulary and organizational patterns.

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