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.