The+Challenge+of+Being+First+or+...est

= The Challenge of Being First =

===In our society, being 1st is often thought of as being the best. But what about those 1sts that weren't the best? Can being 1st not be a good thing? Does being 1st present any challenges? We will explore these questions as we read about those that were 1st and times that something was the 1st time.===

Pre-reading:
====Click here to go to Kidblog. Before we start our exploration of 1st, I would like you to write about a time you were 1st at something and how it felt. Or write about the 1st time you tried something new and tell about your feelings and experience.====

Reading Selections:
====We will be reading several selections in our study of 1st. In honor of the American League Champions, your Texas Rangers, Opening Day coming soon (April 1st ) our first 1st will explore a famous 1st in baseball - Jackie Robinson. First - go to the Discussion Tab and click to answer Mrs. Fullhart's question====

Jackie Robinson: 1st African American to play on a major league baseball team - the Brooklyn Dodgers
====Reading selections for the next three weeks comes from a book called __Jackie's Nine: Jackie Robinson's Values to Live By__ written by his daughter, Sharon Robinson. We will be reading the following selections:====
 * Courage: In the Shadow of Your Wings by Sharon Robinson
 * Courage: The Meeting by Jules Tygiel
 * Determination: Breaking the Color Barrier by Jackie Robinson
 * Persistence: Wait "Til Next Year by Jackie Robinson
 * Citizenship: From the Hall of Fame to Birmingham by Jackie Robinson
 * Justice: I Never Had It Made by Jackie Robinson
 * Excellence: A Grand Tribute by Sharon Robinson

**__Vocabulary__**:
====For the next two weeks you will have two vocabulary lists - one from nine values Jackie Robinson lived by and another list of Interesting and Challenging words you have found during your reading. This list should have a total of 8-12 words on it and at least one word in each category.====

**Jackie's list**:
Courage, Determination, Teamwork, Persistence, Integrity, Citizenship, Justice, Commitment, Excellence

__Vocabulary Activity for Jackie's List__ Make a Tree Map - your branches are: Values, Definition, How Jackie Showed This Value in His Life, and How I Show This Value In My Life (Some of these are from sections of the book we are not reading - you will need to use your inference skills to determine how Jackie showed those characteristics in the way he lived his life.)

__Vocabulary Activities for Your List__ - choose **one** of the following activities
 * 1) Vocabulary Analysis - Choose 4 words from your list to work with. Create a Tree Map with the following branches: Definition, Synonym or Antonym, How Used in Story, My Own Sentence
 * 2) Word Cycle - choose 8 words to fit into the word cycle. As you arrange the word you will have to state how it relates to the word that follows it.

This week - March 21- April 5, 2011
Read the selections from the values of Courage and Determination.

__**Activities**__ : Choose 1-2 of the following activities

 * 1) In the selection "The Shadow of Your Wings" three firsts were revealed. Create a 3 Circle Venn Diagram to compare and contrast these first experiences. [[image:General_3_way_Venn.png]]
 * 2) VIP (Very Important Points) - Get a small sticky note from Mrs. Fullhart or your teacher. Hold the sticky note on the sticky end. With a pair of scissors cut the note so that there are 6-7 slim strips of paper ready to tear off and use to mark significant points in the story. These points may be significant because you find them interesting, confusing or you felt a personal connection. During discussion next week be ready to justify why you chose each point - why you feel they are VIPs.

3. Choose one of the pieces we read and rewrite it as a news reporter might. You may want to do this on paper or type it on the computer using a newspaper template. Don't forget those important news reporter words: Who, What, Where, When, How.

4. Retell date - write the date that Jackie Robinson took the field as the first African American MLB player, 4/15/1947. Choose one of our readings from this week and retell it using this date. The number tells you how many words can be on that line. (If you need more numbers to finish your retell, you can add 4 and 2 because that was his number on his jersey.)

Blog:
Use one of your Power of ONE words to write about. Go to your blogand state which story you are writing about and what your ONE word is (claim) and explain what about this story shows this word (evidence) and why you chose this particle word (reason).

Week of April 5-22
This week you will read the rest of the articles from Jackie's Nine
 * Persistence: Wait "Til Next Year by Jackie Robinson
 * Citizenship: From the Hall of Fame to Birmingham by Jackie Robinson
 * Justice: I Never Had It Made by Jackie Robinson
 * Excellence: A Grand Tribute by Sharon Robinson

Once again as you read each piece decide on ONE word to sum up your feelings or thoughts about EACH of the reading selections for the week.

Vocabulary:
Once again build a list of Interesting and Challenging words from this week's reading selections. Your vocabulary choices are the same as listed before.

**Activities** : Choose 1-2 of the following activities

 * ======VIP (Very Important Points) - Get a small sticky note from Mrs. Fullhart or your teacher. Hold the sticky note on the sticky end. With a pair of scissors cut the note so that there are 6-7 slim strips of paper ready to tear off and use to mark significant points in the story. These points may be significant because you find them interesting, confusing or you felt a personal connection. During discussion next week be ready to justify why you chose each point - why you feel they are VIPs.======

(If you need more numbers to finish your retell, you can add 4 and 2 because that was his number on his jersey.)
 * Retell date - write the date that Jackie Robinson took the field as the first African American MLB player, 4/15/1947. Choose one of our readings from this week and retell it using this date. The number tells you how many words can be on that line.
 * Rank 'Em - think about the 4 articles you read this week. Create a Ranking system and rank the stories according to your system - be sure to state why you placed them in the order you did. For example: Greatest Influence on Others 4th - A Grand Tribute Even though this article talked about Jackie's accomplishments, it was mostly about showing respect for Jackie; 3rd - From the Hall of Fame to Birmingham because in this article Jackie talked about his work in the Civil Rights Movement - he was mostly a follower and helped the cause. 2nd - Wat 'Til Next Year - in this article Jackie talked about how when he took a big risk and stole home when the Dodgers were down by 2 points, it excited his team and helped them to change their attitude and go on to win the World Series that year. 1st - I loved Jackie's quote "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." Jackie knew that just because he hit lots of homeruns and stole lots of bases - that wasn't enough. He decided to use his fame to serve others.
 * What did Jackie mean when he said "Remember this; Cooperstown, New York and Birmingham, Alabama, are both in the United States." Choose a Thinking Map or create a drawing to explain your thoughts.

Blog:
Once again use one of your Power of ONE words to write about. Go to your blogand state which story you are writing about and what your ONE word is (claim) and explain what about this story shows this word (evidence) and why you chose this particle word (reason). Click here to see our One Word Wordles - I took all the words you wrote on the colored sheets and made them into Wordles. = Comparing Firsts = Choose one of the articles Mrs. Fullhart has about another person that achieved a first in their field. Read through it and decide which character traits of Jackie's 9 that this person displayed to accomplish their first. Next week, our last ELE class we will write our thoughts in our class blog - be sure to use CER in your last post of the year!