Legends

**Grade 4**  **Unit:** Legends  **Purposes:** narrative writing, legends
 * Essential Questions:** Why were legends written? What do legends have in common?

 **Description:** In this unit, students will compare and contrast the elements of legends. Using what they learned during their study of legends and myths, they will write their own legend that tells the tale of how one of earth's natural wonders came to be. This piece of writing will require students to apply all of the writing strategies and skills learned up until this point in the year.

Desired Results

**Common Core State Standards**
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. c. Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events. d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events. 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. 5. With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. 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 one page in a single sitting. 10.Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes and audiences. 1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking 2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. 3. Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. a. Choose words and phrases to convey ideas precisely. b. Choose punctuation for effect. 5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
 * Writing**
 * Text Type and Purposes**
 * Production and Distribution of Writing**
 * Range of Writing**
 * Language Standards K-5**
 * Conventions of Standard English**
 * Knowledge of Language**
 * Vocabulary Acquisition and Use**
 * Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs.

CT Grade Level Expectations

 * Write a myth, legend or fantasy piece
 * Use complete sentences in writing.
 * Write a variety of sentence beginnings, e.g., starts with an introductory adverb clause: //If you want to see an ant up close, you should use a magnifying glass.//
 * Write a variety of sentence lengths.
 * Write a variety of sentence structures, e.g., //My dog enjoys music and howls when we listen to certain songs. It makes me laugh. After his song is over, I give him a treat//.
 * Write a descriptive anecdote within a narrative to enhance elaboration
 * Use literary devices, e.g. personification, metaphor, similes
 * Apply spelling knowledge in writing


 * Writing Process**
 * ** Plan: ** choose an appropriate written, oral or visual format based on audience and purpose
 * ** Draft: ** complete a draft demonstrating connections among ideas
 * ** Revise: ** revise a completed draft, incorporating feedback from peers and teacher, e.g., … //helped me understand the topic more clearly//, //I was confused by//…, //Be more clear about// …, //Use a better word for// …
 * ** Edit: ** use multiple resources, e.g., dictionary, glossary, thesaurus, for proofreading and editing
 * ** Publish/Present: ** publish and present final products in a variety of ways, including the arts and technology, e.g., book of poetry, a theatrical performance, a newscast
 * ** Reflect: ** critique one’s own and a peer’s writing, using established criteria, e.g., //I improved on// …, //This piece demonstrates how well I elaborate.//

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students: b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression. Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information
 * NETS for Students**
 * 1. Creativity and Innovation**
 * 3. Research and Information Fluency**

Direct Assessment of Writing Authors have purpose for their storytelling. || **Essential Questions** Why are legends written? ||
 * Connecticut Mastery Test Objectives**
 * **Understandings**
 * Stories within a genre have common elements and organization. || What do legends have in common? ||


 * **Knowledge:**

//The student will know...// || **Skills:**

//The students will be able to...// || flow and rhythm variety of sentence beginnings and how they enhance writing, lengths and structures literary devices and how they enhance writing: similes, personification, word choice, sensory details techniques for improving writing || Write a legend Plan, draft, revise, edit, publish/present, reflect Use complete sentences in writing. Write a variety of sentence beginnings, sentence lengths and sentence structures Write poems and narratives using literary devices Write a descriptive anecdote within a narrative Enhance elaboration Apply spelling knowledge in writing ||  ||
 * multiple editing resources

myth hero antagonist protagonist building suspense events conflict resolution 6 Traits:
 * Content Vocabulary ||
 * legend
 * [|Ideas], the main message;
 * [|Organization], the internal structure of the piece;
 * [|Voice], the personal tone and flavor of the author's message;
 * [|Word Choice], the vocabulary a writer chooses to convey meaning;
 * [|Sentence Fluency], the rhythm and flow of the language;
 * [|Conventions], the mechanical correctness;
 * and [|Presentation], how the writing actually looks on the page. ||

Assessment Evidence Published Legend
 * Performance Tasks**

[|Six Traits post-it notes] Writing Samples Conference Notes
 * Formative Assessments**

Writing Prompt CMT
 * Summative Assessments**

Reflections [|Six Traits post-it notes] Learning Plan
 * Student Self-Assessments**
 * Resources**

A collection of legends with a focus on those that tell the tale of how something came to be.

Legend of Fruitless Mountain from Where the Mountain Meets the Moon || [|Seven Natural Wonders of the World] || [|Mythical Monsters] ||
 * **Anchor Activities** ||
 * **What is a legend? Why were they written?** Introduce project and tell students that you will be examining legends for writing models. Students read and listen to a variety of legends from different cultures and discuss why they were written. ||  ||
 * **What do legends have in common?** Students work together to analyze the commonalities between legends. They then use a graphic organizer to pull out and organize the legends' elements. || Graphic Organizer
 * **Legends that Explain How Something Came to Be:** Read a legend that tells how something was created, ask is this really how it was created? What do we know now? Look it up on the Internet to get the facts. ||  ||
 * **Choose a Wonder of the World** Students select wonders of the world that will be created in their legends. || [|wondersoftheworld.doc]
 * **Design an Antagonist** Students use a mentor text as they design and describe the antagonist for their legends in this technology integrated series of activities. || [|Descriptive Dragons lesson] (just modify and use the text Mythical Monsters instead of Dragons)
 * **Antagonist Poems** Students use a poetry interactive to write descriptive poems about their antagonists. || [|Monster Poem Maker] ||
 * **What are the qualities of a hero?** Students generate a list of qualities that heroes in legends have as they referring to the legends they have read in their study. ||  ||
 * **Design a Protagonist** Students design and describe the protagonist for their legends. || [|The Hero's Journey Interactive] ||
 * **Write the Legend** Students may use the graphic organizer used to analyze legends to make a plan for their own legends. They go through the writing process as they write a complete legend. ||