Part 1- Introduction to Shelley Gill

Estimated Time: 2-3 class sessions

As a class, visit Shelley Gill's website at http://www.shelleygill.com. It would be best if each student is able to explore the site on their own as well. There are three parts of the site the class should visit and discuss, including the "Biography" page, "Books" page, and "Blog of Adventures" page. When visiting the "Biography" page, use the guiding question "How do you think Shelley's life has affected her writing?". When visiting the "Books" page, use the guiding questions "What do you notice about the settings of the books?" and "What similarities and differences do you notice?". When visiting the "Blog of Adventures" page, use the guiding question "How does Shelley's life affect her writing?". Once the students are done perusing the website, have a class discussion answering the guiding questions.

Read the book, Alaska by Shelley Gill, as a class. While reading, make sure to periodically stop to check and make sure the students are understanding the story. You should ask a student to summarize what has been read already or ask a student a question about what is being read. After completing the story, ask the students "What do you notice about the setting?" and "What did you learn about the state of Alaska?". After the discussion of those answers, start a KWL chart that will be used throughout the entire unit.

Introduction

Part 1- Reflection

What was completed:

All of the parts were completed. The class visited Shelley Gill's website. They visited the "Biography", "Books", and "Blog of Adventures" pages of Shelley Gill's website. A class discussion about what they learned and how it affected Shelley Gill's writing was completed. Then the reading of "Alaska" by Shelley Gill was completed. Followed by a discussion of the setting and the things learned about the state of Alaska. Additions of ideas from the class discussion were added to their graphic organizer. This part took two class periods to complete (about 45 minutes per class session).

What went well:

Part 1 was split into two days. On day one, students were introduced to the author Shelley Gill and explored the website. Students created a graphic organizer in their notebooks to organize their notes as they explored Shelley Gill's website. The students' notebooks were sectioned off into three parts: biography, books, and blog. Students worked in pairs to navigate the site, then shared out in a whole class discussion of their findings. On day two, the class read aloud "Alaska" and the students used a graphic organizer to organize their notes about the great state. This helped to focus student thinking and deepen their understanding of the content.

What was/should be changed:

Rather than using a class KWL chart, the students used their notebooks to make their own individual graphic organizers to organize their thoughts and ideas, and added to their individual organizers when new information was learned that deepened their understanding of the content. Additionally, there was difficulty locating the "Biography" section on Shelley Gill's website (it is under the "Books" link, then the "Author" link houses the Biography section). The students needed explicit instructions on getting to the section in order to maximize research time spent gleaning information about the author.

Part 2- The Iditarod

Estimated Time: 2-3 class sessions

Visit Discovery Education to view two different video segments on the Iditarod and dog sled racing. First view the segment, "Deskercise Iditarod" which is 5 minutes and 49 seconds long. Then view "Dog Sled Racing" which is 5 minutes long. Discuss the videos and what has been learned. Make any necessary additions to the KWL chart at this time.

Read the book, Kiana's Iditarod by Shelley Gill, as a class. While reading, make sure to periodically stop to check and make sure the students are understanding the story. You should ask a student to summarize what has been read already or ask a student a question about what is being read. You can also check in to see if the students have made any connections from the story to the videos previously watched. After completing the story, ask the students "How does the setting affect the sport?" and "What do the racers need to take into consideration because of the setting?". After the discussion of those answers, make any additions to the KWL chart.

Iditarod

Part 2- Reflection

What was completed:

All of the parts were completed. The class viewed the different video segments and then discussed what was learned from the videos with additions made to their KWL chart. The class read the book, Kiana's Iditarod by Shelley Gill with a discussion following the story. The class discussed the setting and how it affected the story, and made any necessary additions to the KWL chart.

What went well:

This part took about two days to complete. In order to help students organize their thoughts, a graphic organizer was used while watching the videos and reading the story. The students were engaged in the videos and story. It was beneficial to continue a similar routine as part one and the students responded positively to it.

What was/should be changed:

In order to assist students to better organize their thoughts in order to deeper comprehend what they are hearing, a graphic organizer was provided. This allowed the students to further their discussion with each other.

Part 3- Denali National Park

Estimated Time: 3-4 class sessions

Visit Discovery Education to a video on Alaska's national parks. The video, "Alaska's National Parks" is 21 minutes and 8 seconds long. Discuss the video and what has been learned. Make any necessary additions to the KWL chart at this time.

Read the book, Alaska's Three Bears by Shelley Gill, as a class. While reading, make sure to periodically stop to check and make sure the students are understanding the story. You should ask a student to summarize what has been read already or ask a student a question about what is being read. You can also check in to see if the students have made any connections from the story to the videos previously watched. After the book discussion, make any additions to the KWL chart.

Read the book, Up on Denali: Alaska's Wild Mountain by Shelley Gill, as a class. While reading, make sure to periodically stop to check and make sure the students are understanding the story. You should ask a student to summarize what has been read already or ask a student a question about what is being read. You can also check in to see if the students have made any connections from the story to the videos previously watched. After the book discussion, make any additions to the KWL chart.

Visit the National Park Service website. Make sure while viewing the website to direct the students to the Denali photos, the webcams of the different parts of the Denali National Park, and the landscape types of the Denali National Park. Once the students are done perusing the website, have a class discussion about the website observations. If possible, you can also arrange a time for distance learning opportunities with the Denali National Park Service, including learning about the US government's only dog-sled team, why the Denali mountains are so tall, or a question and answer session with an Alaskan. For information on these distance learning opportunities, visit https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/education/learning/index.htm. Then make any additions to the KWL chart.

Denali

Part 3- Reflection

What was completed:

The parts completed from this section include viewing the 'Alaska's National Parks' video, class discussing the video and adding to the KWL chart, reading 'Alaska's Three Bears' by Shelley Gill, and class discussion of connections to the video from the book with any additions to the KWL chart as necessary.

What went well:

The parts that were completed from this section took two days to complete. From the parts completed, the students were engaged in the video, and were able to make different connections to the story.

What was/should be changed:

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, the other parts of this section were not able to be completed. Even though the other parts were not able to be completed, the students were still able to glean the information needed in order to make this section useful. Next time, it would be better if there were multiple copies of the stories and the students were able to jigsaw and share their learning. This would allow more parts of this section to be completed, as well as increase student engagement and accountability.

Part 4- Tongass Rain Forest

Estimated Time: 1-2 class sessions

Visit Discovery Education to view a video segments on a rain forest. View the segment, "Temperate Rain Forest in Olympic National Park" which is 4 minutes and 31 seconds long. Discuss the video and what has been learned. Make any necessary additions to the KWL chart at this time.

Read the book, Tongass by Shelley Gill, as a class. While reading, make sure to periodically stop to check and make sure the students are understanding the story. You should ask a student to summarize what has been read already or ask a student a question about what is being read. You can also check in to see if the students have made any connections from the story to the videos previously watched. After the book discussion, make any additions to the KWL chart.

Visit the USDA Forest Service website. Make sure while viewing the website to direct the students to the "Tongass- About the forest" page. You can also direct the students to a page with a video series, called Shades of Green, of the Tongass that links to YouTube videos that were made of the Tongass National Forest. Then make any additions to the KWL chart.

Tongass

Part 4- Reflection

What was completed:

The parts completed in this section were viewing the 'Temperate Rain Forest in Olympic National Park' video, class discussion of the video with any necessary additions to the KWL chart, reading 'Tongass' by Shelley Gill. This took one day to complete.

What went well:

The students were able to make some strong connections between the video and the book during the discussion, which were added to the KWL chart.

What was/should be changed:

Part 5- Sitka

Estimated Time: 1-2 class sessions

Read the book, Sitka Rose by Shelley Gill, as a class. While reading, make sure to periodically stop to check and make sure the students are understanding the story. You should ask a student to summarize what has been read already or ask a student a question about what is being read. After completing the story and having a book discussion, make any additions to the KWL chart.

Visit Google Maps to view Sitka. First utilize the following created map, Sitka and Yukon River map. The students should look at the distance of the Yukon River and the differences of the topography and terrain around the Yukon River and Sitka. You can then switch to the street view and the topography view to make more observations about the area and Alaska as a whole. Then make any additions to the KWL chart.

Sitka

Part 5- Reflection

What was completed:

All of the parts in this section were completed. The class read 'Sitka Rose' by Shelley Gill, discussed the book with any additions being added to the KWL chart, visited Sitka on Google Maps, visited the Sitka and Yukon river, viewed different topography and terrain on the map, and a discussion of the maps with any additions being added to the KWL chart. It took two days to complete this part.

What went well:

The students loved using Google Maps and "walking around" the premises while noting the various topography. It was very interactive and engaging for the students.

What was/should be changed:

Nothing was or should be changed. It is good how it is written without any modifications.

Part 6- Writing Piece

Estimated Time: 2-3 class sessions

Using the information learned from the unit, the students will individually complete an informative writing piece. Provide the students with the following guiding questions to complete their writing:

- What did you learn about Alaska and the region? (i.e. topography, climate, wildlife)

- What generalizations can you make about the region?

- What generalizations can you make about the people who live in this region?

- How does the different topography, climate, and wildlife impact a person's way of life in this region?

- How does the region compare and contrast Delaware?

Writing

Part 6- Reflection

What was completed:

All of the parts in this section were completed. The students were provided with the guiding questions, and the students individually completed an informative piece of writing. This section took about one full week to complete.

What went well:

The students were able to successfully complete the short writing assignment to demonstrate some of their learning from this unit of study.

What was/should be changed:

At this time, nothing was or should be changed.

Part 7- Presentation

Estimated Time: 5-6 class sessions

Organize the students into groups of about four to five students. The groups will use their written assignments to create a presentation for their classmates on their thoughts, which includes answers to all of the guiding questions from the writing pieces. The students can use Google slides, Powtoon, Prezi, or any other pre-approved platform to create their presentation. All students in the group need to contribute equally.

Each group will give their presentation to the class. Each student in the group should have an equal part during the presentation.

Presentation