Lesson
Plan 3 “I want to
rewrite history and change the future” Materials:
The
Betrayal of Man Book,
pencils, paper or writing journal for story, art supplies Objective: Students will create an
alternate ending to the story the Betrayal of Man. Within the story the student
will highlight ways to conserve water, avoid polluting water and share it
amongst all the world’s peoples. In addition students will create an
illustrated representation of each of the steps as seen in the book. Helpful
Prior Knowledge:
brainstorming. writing skills, use of art media chosen Procedures:
This
lesson should be used concurrently in social studies, language arts and writing.
Starts with a 30-40 min whole group brainstorming and discussion session
followed by independent organization of findings for approximately 20 minutes. The
teacher may need to allow more than one session for prewriting, first draft,
editing and publishing. 1.
If it has been more than a few days since the original reading, read aloud or have
students read/reread pages 30 through 37. 2.
Discuss as a whole group the ending to the story, how Man did not listen to the
warnings of Life, Water and Energy. Also point out the result from Man’s
actions. 3.
Have a discussion on what point in the book are we as humans at, in today’s
society. Questions
for warm up discussion can include: Have
we had any major warnings from Life, Energy or a Messenger so far? If so, what
are they?
Answers may include: countries with water shortages, famine, disease caused
by water pollution, genetic defects in animals etc. (Teacher may reference the facts and
figures section of the book for discussion ideas.) How have we reacted to
them as a society? Answers may include: water education programs,
conservation efforts, technology, and people moving to places where the water
is more abundant and cleaner. Who else can be considered a messenger other
than surfers? Can you be a messenger for Water? How? What are ways to get the
message out?(You will create an action plan for getting the message out in
Lesson 5) 4.
Once a general consensus has been reached as to where we are in the book’s
timeline discuss ways of changing the outcome. 5.
Have students brainstorm ways to change the sad ending in the book. They can
use any of the characters in the book (Man, Water, Life, Energy). How would
these characters help each other change Man’s ways before it is too late. The
students may pick a page to continue the story from. 6.
If possible, we want the students to write in a similar style, told as a myth
or folktale. Tell them to imagine a village or tribal elder telling this story
to the young people of their community, and that is the voice they want to
portray. 7.
This writing task should not be more than 4-5 paragraphs highlighting the steps
Man and the other characters use to work together. The examples should not be
specific as in “putting water saving faucets on the sinks”, but more along the
lines of “Man begins treating the fresh water with care, sharing it among life
forms and watching over it like a sleeping baby”. 8.
Students will create in a media of their choice, an illustration representing
each paragraph/major event in the writing to give a colorful creative
interpretation. 9.
Students will present the new ending orally to the class reading the page from
the book that precedes the new ending then continuing on. Assessment: Ø
Score
the writing assignment on a 4,3,2,1 scale according to grade level writing
standards. GATE:
Have GATE students focus in the story a
more ETHICS based
ending. They should highlight and research some of the issues facing 3rd
world countries and try to incorporate that into a reason for Man’s change of
behavior. EL:
Allow EL
students, depending on their level, to focus on drawing the pictures first and
writing second. Also you may allow them to write sentences instead of
paragraphs. Follow
up activities for research, presenting and journaling: :
Writing
another ending using other solutions for the problem :
Changing
the point of view of the story or introducing a new character :
Making
a different messenger other than the Surfer in the writing Nathan Gibbs ©2006