Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls: Realistic Fiction

This is an emotional story between a 10 year old boy and his two hounds that all live in the Ozark Mountains. The boy, Billy, saved enough money selling fruit and bait to fisherman that he is able to purchase two hound dogs who he names Old Dan and Little Ann, and teaches them how to hunt for raccoons. Billy trains his dogs so well that he ends up champion of the coon-hunting contest winning his family three hundred dollars which is enough to leave the country and move into the city where there are more opportunities. Unfortunately, his dogs die as well. Old Dan trees a mountain lion which ultimately attacks and the dogs end up saving him becoming badly wounded. This book is relative to students, seeing as how most children know what a dog is and can put themselves in Billy’s shoes. They also can express the heartache of having their companions die either from getting lost in the story, or by reliving a family member dying.

Objectives:
2.03 Create/modify simple content area databases to enter/edit, collect, organize, and display content data for class/group assignment/project, citing resources.
1.02 Select key vocabulary critical to the text and apply appropriate meanings as necessary for comprehension.
2.02 Interact with the text before, during, and after reading, listening, and viewing by: supporting answers from textual information, previous experience, and/or other sources, seeking additional information, and making connections with previous experiences, information, and ideas.
Ultimately, I would like for the student to be able to read a text and organize their thoughts into a concise and organized online story pyramid. This will seal comprehension by having the student recall three events using decoding, building on personal experiences and other necessary strategies.

Procedures:
First I want to the student to read the book. When she comes to school having read the book, I want to ask her engaging questions about the text that will start her thinking about what she actually read. I will include questions such as “What was your favorite part?” “How do you think Billy felt when both dogs died?” “What do you think Billy felt like knowing that he helped his family financially?” “How would you have handled the situation?”
After these initial questions are posed to generate some aspects of a book talk between the teacher and the student, the teacher will introduce a story pyramid from the online resource. I like this resource because the student can input the necessary information, and the application will spit the information out in a clear organized fashion. Using technology will also boost motivation and keep engagement with the activity high. This application is not colorful or flashy but it serves its purpose.
If I was doing this with a larger group of people, I would have them share their events and I would post them in the room.

Assessment:
For an assessment, I would have an informal discussion asking open ended questions. The engaging hook comprised of questioning that I open the lesson with would be considered as an informal pre-assessment. After the activity, I would ask students why they filled in a particular blank the way we did. Also I would question why they put the events in the order that they did. This is meant to be a fun activity and although it is meant to be fun, the actual pyramid could be the assessment to check for comprehension and to confirm that they read the material.

Modifications:
If I had ELL learners, I would modify this lesson by having them write their ideas in their native language and then translate it into English. I feel as though they would benefit from this by using the skills in their native language to fill in the blanks and then transfer them to English. Other modifications could include using a paper copy of the pyramid available or allowing students to work in partners to aid them in their work.
I took one student aside who loves to read. I knew I could ask her to read an additional text because she loves to read and she could read a text quickly. I picked Where the Red Fern Grows mainly because it was a chapter book that was age appropriate; however, my student was above grade level. With this being said, she had not read the book and after reading it, she said she was engaged the entire time and she loved it. She said that she would enjoy discussing her ideas with one of her friends or peers and that it seemed like a good idea for her English teacher to use.