Scripted Minilesson
Unit 6:Examining Social Issues: Book Clubs
Goal 1: Readers identify and discuss social issues while analyzing who has the power.
Language Arts Florida Standard(s):
LAFS.4.RL.1.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says
explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
LAFS.4.RL.1.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text;
summarize the text.
LAFS.4.RL.1.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing
on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).
Teaching Point A: Readers identify social issues by asking, “How do the struggles of
my character represent bigger issues that affect many people?”
Teaching Method: Demonstration
Ongoing Assessment: See inside the minilesson for details.
Materials:
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Reading Materials (book baggies with independent books, pencil, reading notebook,
sticky notes)
Chart paper and markers
Mentor Text: Uncle Jed’s Barbershop by Margaree King Mitchell
Mentor Text: Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
Chart created during previous read alouds and discussion: Social Issues
Strategy Chart: How Do Readers Identify Social Issues?
Process Chart: Readers Pay Attention to Character Struggles to Identify Social Issues
Anchor Chart from Unit 4: Prompts to Push Our Thinking
(Note: Students will start this goal by reading their own independent text then move into same
book partnerships. Throughout goals 1 and 2, you will want students to be reading a variety of
text and discussing many different social issues with the whole class and their partner.)
Connection: Readers, during our character unit in the beginning of the year, we spent some time
gathering key details about character’s thoughts, actions, and feeling in order to determine what it
is the character is struggling with. Characters in texts struggle with the same social issues, or life
struggles that many groups of people face in real life. It is important to notice and identify social
issues that characters face in texts because it will help us understand the many different
perspectives people can have in life based on the struggles that they face in today’s world. In read
aloud we did a lot of work together around identifying social issues. We even started an anchor
chart listing out all the social issues we identified during read aloud.
Teaching Point: Today, I want to teach you that readers identify social issues by asking,
“How do the struggles of my character represent bigger issues that affect many people?”
Created February 2015, SDPBC, Department of Elementary Curriculum
Unit 6 Grade 4
Copyright © 2015 by School Board of Palm Beach County, Department of Elementary Education
27
Teach: One way we can do this is to first read and identify the character’s struggle and the impact
it is having on them. Then ask, “How do the struggles of my character represent bigger issues that
affect many people?” Finally, name the social issue as it relates to groups of people in life. Let’s
return to our familiar read aloud Uncle Jed’s Barbershop by Margaree King Mitchell. (Refer to
the chart below.)
Below is an example of a process chart, if needed for this lesson/teaching point:
Readers Pay Attention to Character Struggles to Identify Social Issues
1. Read and identify character’s struggle and impact on character.
2. Ask, “How do the struggles of my character represent bigger issues that affect many
people?”
3. Name the social issue as it relates to groups of people in life.
(Give the students a quick synopsis of the story so they remember what is happening up to this
point in the story). Watch me as I do this work.
First, I am going to read an excerpt from the text and identify the character’s struggle and the
impact it is having on him. (Read aloud beginning with, “When I was five years old…” and ending
with “… until they had the money.”) I am going to stop here and think, “What is the character’s
struggle and the impact it is having on them? The character, Sarah Jean and her family is struggling
with the decision of the doctor and the fact that everything at the hospital is separated based on the
color of their skin. The doctor does not see Sarah until all of the white people have been seen, even
though she was unconscious, or passed out, because she was so sick. As a result, she and her family
witness firsthand the results of segregation and being treated unfairly because of the color of their
skin.
Next, I am going to ask, “How do the struggles of my character represent bigger issues that affect
many people?” Sarah and her family are struggling with the idea of segregation and how it has
kept her from getting the care she needed in a timely manner. She had a really high fever and she
was made to wait in the waiting room, only because the doctor would see the white people first.
This is a struggle that people deal with today in their life. People of different races and ethnicities
are treated unfairly in today’s world over something they have no control over.
Finally, I am going to identify the social issue as it relates to groups of people. The social issue
that this character is struggling with is around treating people fairly, no matter their race or
ethnicity. I am going to call this, “Social Justice – treating everyone as equals” and add that to our
Social Issues chart. (Create a new anchor chart titled “Social Issues.” Bullet, treating everyone
as equals on the chart to give the students a running definition.)
Readers, do you see what I just did? I identified the social issue by revisiting a text we know well,
thinking about their characters’ struggles and how those struggles represent bigger issues that
affect many people in life. First, I read and identify the character’s struggle and the impact it is
Created February 2015, SDPBC, Department of Elementary Curriculum
Unit 6 Grade 4
Copyright © 2015 by School Board of Palm Beach County, Department of Elementary Education
28
having on them. Then I asked, “How do the struggles of my character represent bigger issues that
affect many people?” Finally, I named the social issue as it relates to groups of people in real life.
Active Engagement: Now, it is your turn to try. Let’s try it with Stone Fox. I’m going to read
part of the text. As I read I want you to identify the part where the character is struggling with an
issue. Then, ask, “How do the struggles of my character represent bigger issues that affect many
people?” Last, I want you to identify the social issue as it relates to a group of people. Write the
social issue on the sticky note so you are ready to share with your partner. (Read pg. 16 beginning
with, “The next day…” and end on pg. 18 ending with, “Especially from friends.” Give the
students a few minutes to complete these steps).
Readers, I would like you to turn and talk with your partner about the social issue the character is
struggling with in Stone Fox and how it relates to a group of people in real life. (Listen in carefully
to the partners discussing their books. You may want to note a few of the social issues you are
hearing and chart them on the “Social Issues” chart that started during your demonstration.)
Link: So readers, I want you to understand that noticing a character’s struggles and how it impacts
them is not just about getting to know the character, but also how the character’s struggles teach
us about life and the perspectives of others. Today and every day, you can identify social issues
by thinking about characters’ struggles and how those struggles represent bigger issues that affect
many people in life.
Below is the strategy chart that is building across this goal:
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How Do Readers Identify Social Issues?
Pay attention to characters’ struggles and ask yourself, “How do the struggles of my
character represent bigger issues that affect many people?”
Ongoing Assessment: As students are working independently observe and note who is:
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Using text evidence to support their thinking
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Gathering key ideas and details about the characters, setting, and plot to name the social
issue the character is struggling with
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Relating the characters’ struggles to how it can affect many people
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Making inferences based on characters’ actions.
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Writing long and extending their thinking about text
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Keeping track of their reading on a reading log consistently
Independent Reading: You may want to consider having students reread fiction texts they know
well, identifying the social issues that are represented in those books.
Mid-Teach: Readers, can I have your attention for a minute? I wanted to you show you how you
can mark places in your text where you can identify a character’s struggle and stop to think about
how it represents the bigger social issue. (Demonstrate rereading a part of text and using a sticky
note to mark and keep track of your thinking about the struggle and social issue that has been
Created February 2015, SDPBC, Department of Elementary Curriculum
Unit 6 Grade 4
Copyright © 2015 by School Board of Palm Beach County, Department of Elementary Education
29
identified.) Today, when you meet with your partner/group, you’re going to refer back to the parts
of your text where you identified a character’s struggle(s) and talk about how they relate to social
issues that affect groups of people. (You may want to consider giving students time to reread parts
of their text with their partner and discuss character’s struggles and the impact those struggles
have on them.)
Readers, if you haven’t already done so, please use your sticky note to mark a page where you
noticed and stopped to think about characters’ struggles and how they go beyond the text into real
life. Talk with your partner. Take turns identifying possible social issues from your text as it relates
to groups of people. Remember, when you talk, also stop to listen to each other and ask any
questions that may help you to understand what your partner is telling you.
(About 5 minutes before independent reading is over, have partners talk to each other about the
social issues in the text. Refer back to the anchor chart “Prompts to push our Thinking” that was
used in Unit 4 to remind students of ways they can respond to partner’s statements and add on to
their statements as well.)
Share: Readers, when I was listening to your partnerships, I heard you sharing the struggles of
your characters and how they represented social issues in your books. (Select 1 or 2 partnerships
to share out their struggles and social issues found in their books. Add to the “Social Issues”
chart.) I also noticed some great conversations happening with partnerships in the room. (Share
out what you noticed and highlight what you want to reinforce with partner work: i.e. partners
asking questions, partners using text to explain their answers, partners making eye contact and
facing each other, and listening to what their partner is saying.)
Homework: Readers, be sure to take your book baggies home with you tonight. We have been
reading for ___ minutes each day, so make sure you are reading for at least ___ minutes at
home as well. Remember to add your reading to your book log and use your repertoire of
reading strategies that we have been learning. Please make sure to take home some sticky notes
so that you are able to track your thinking across your text.
Created February 2015, SDPBC, Department of Elementary Curriculum
Unit 6 Grade 4
Copyright © 2015 by School Board of Palm Beach County, Department of Elementary Education
30