The One and Only Ivan - novel study

About the Book:

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he's seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it's up to Ivan to make it a change for the better. - Source

Author: Katherine Applegate

Essential Questions:

• What makes good writing?

• Is it wrong to use animals for entertainment?

• What makes a society civilized?

• What is empathy?

• Why are individual principles important?

• How do words hold power?

• What is respect?

Standards, Goals and Strategies:

• RL.5.2 - Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

• Summarize the main events/ideas in the story.

• Analyze the speaker's perspective in a poem through diction, emphasis words, and interaction with other characters.

• Analyze how characters respond to challenges through actions and dialogue

• Explain characters' growth or static nature as a result of challenges and explain how that affects other characters.

• Determine the theme of a story

• Identify how/whether speaker's perspective evolves/changes

• Paraphrase key details or information.

• Summarize the text.

• Analyze which details best support main ideas.

• Explain how key details or information, including those found in text features, support the main ideas.

• RL.5.3 - Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).

• Compare and contrast specific details about two or more characters, setting or events using specific details from the text (how relationships affect characters actions, how characters interact, characterization/ how they affect the plot).

• RL 5.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes

• Identity the differences between metaphors and similes in a text and identify their meaning in a text.

• RL 5.6 - Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described.

• Identify narrator's/speaker's point of view.

• Analyze word choice to determine the point of view of a literary text, including the way in which the narrator tells the story (e.g., in an amusing way, in a serious way, etc.).

• Explain the effect of the narrator’s or the speaker’s point of view on other elements of the text (e.g., events, characters, etc.).

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.A Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.B Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.C Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.D Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.2 Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation.

Assessments:

• Student discussions

• Observations of student participation in learning activities

• Student writing on empathy, principles, respect and protests

• Student writing on point of view of characters.

• Student verbal and written responses to question sets.

• Student discussions on what makes a society civilized.

• Student created poetry in free verse.

• Student research on zoos and subsequent discussions and writings.

• Student close reading of specific pages to analyze authors text.

Writing:

After completing the activities within the Ivan unit, students will research the effectiveness of zoos. They will write a thesis regarding zoos and write a researched opinion piece, with citations, supporting their opinion of zoos.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.1.A Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer's purpose.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.1.B Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.1.C Link opinion and reasons using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., consequently, specifically).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.1.D Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 5 here.)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.6 With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.