Rising to the Occasion: a Themed Literature Unit

Learning Target and Category

Concept/Generalization:

1. Students will understand that the responsible thing to do is often the harder choice or requires more effort.

Concept/Generalization

2. Students will understand that many situations are easier when responsibility is shared among a group.

Concept/Generalization

3. Students will understand that being responsible requires upholding your end of a bargain and contributing your talents.

Thematic Book List

Berenstein, Stan and Jan. (2005) The Berenstein Bears' New Pup. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Literature circles. Brother and Sister convince their parents to bring home a new pup and follow through on their promise to care for and to clean up after it.

Brown, Marc. (1999) Buster Makes the Grade. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company.

Literature circles. Buster is at risk of repeating third grade. His friends offer to help him prepare for the big test, but he continues to blow off the work. Finally, he takes responsibility for himself, hits the books and earns a passing grade.

Bosca, Francesca. (2004). The Three Grasshoppers. New York, NY: Purple Bear Books.

Literature circle. A musical trio of grasshoppers realizes they need to take responsibility for collecting food for the winter. After initially competing for resources, the group shares responsibility and is better off for it.

Clements, Andrew. (2004). The Last Holiday Concert. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Read aloud. A sixth grade student, Hart, angers his choir teacher who puts the responsibility of creating and running the winter concert on the students. The class casts a secret vote to make Hart the official director. He faces bumps and hurdles along the way.

Haas, Jessie. (2005) Jigsaw Pony. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

Literature circles. Twin girls work out a plan to share responsibility for their new pony.

Jennings, Sharon. (2007) Franklin and the Duckling. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, Inc.

Literature circles. Franklin befriends a duck who follows him home. After unsuccessfully trying to keep the duck as a pet, Franklin returns the duck to the wild.

Lobel, Arnold. (1979) Days with Frog and Toad. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Theme introduction and literature circles. In the first of five short stories, titled Tomorrow, Toad puts off cleaning his house and other chores for another day. Eventually he realizes that "tomorrow" is going to be a rotten day and starts checking things off his list, one chore at a time.

Morris, Ann. (1999). Teamwork. New York, NY: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books.

Read aloud/model for art project. Teams of all kinds share responsibility to achieve a goal.

Soto, Gary. (2006) My Little Car: Mi Carrito. New York, NY: Penguin Books

Focus lesson or literature circle. Teresa receives a Big Wheels type of car from her grandfather. Before long, she has stopped caring for it and it is in bad shape. After her car aids her in a close escape from an aggressive dog, Teresa fixes up the car with the help of her understanding grandfather.

Wheeler, Lisa. (2006) Castaway Cats. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Focus lesson or literature circle. Shipwrecked cats wind up fighting over who's in charge of building their escape raft. After sharing the responsibility, they devise a plan to leave before realizing they are happy together on the island and choose to stay.