Technology

1. Technology Listening Speaking Thinking / Learning Viewing Art Reading Writing Dramaturgical Devices

2. Thinking / Learning Our main questions. These questions contain the information that will drive the lesson. General Class Discussion What is an island? Why is an island unique? Where are islands? What lives on an island? Etc.

3. Technology Since it is not possible to visit islands, have your students use “computer lab time” to investigate them. It might help to give them a chain to start their search. Possibilities might be: Bahamas, Solomon, Philippines, etc. Ex. Have students find out what the weather is like in the Bahamas.

4. Drama In most examples, an island usually has human inhabitants that live there. The people that live on islands develop unique cultures, each having their own values and methods of expression. Using musical samples from various cultures, create interpretive dances that go along with the music.

5. Viewing It is important to establish islands as a realistic world concept by allowing students to explore the location of islands on a map or globe. As a concrete way to explore them, have students pick an island(s) and chart how far away they are from the United States or write down what countries are nearby. Have students reveal and compare their choices to each other.

6. Reading As individual or peer groups, have the students read The Little Island by Golden MacDonald and Leonard Weisgard. This text can be used to ask higher level thinking questions, in simple terminology, about geography. For example: In the story, the little island says that it is not alone, but connected to the world. What does it mean?

7. Speaking The number of islands available to explore are countless, so in peer groups, have each group research a particular island or chain of islands to discover: • Where the island(s) is. • The general climate of that island. • What kinds of animals and plants live there. Have each peer group use this information to deliver a report to the class about their chosen island.

8. Listening For General Class Discussion, the teacher may start reading The Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann Wyss, while the students follow along. While a chapter book, reading it collectively allows scaffolding into a more complex genre of literature with exposure to new vocabulary opportunities.

9. Art Allowing the students an opportunity to express their concept of an island is a good way to assess their understanding of it. Have your students draw their very own island, complete with whatever landform features, animals, and plants they want to put on it. Use this to gauge how successful the learning has been by examining the features of a student’s drawing(s) in conjunction with those established for an island, with ample room for creative interpretation.

10. Writing From web-sites and books, students have seen the various aspects of an island. Using knowledge gained from the Speaking activity, have the students, individually, write about their chosen island from the perspective of one species of animal that lives on that island. Ex. The Japanese Panda, the Australian Koala, the Komodo Dragon (of the same island), etc.