Summary
Highlights
The class turns to page 189 to find the first piece of evidence. They read about Ivan facing a fierce windstorm at sea, but instead of giving up, he keeps sailing until he lands on an island of pure salt. This event clearly demonstrates his perseverance in the face of nature's obstacles.
Students find another instance of perseverance on page 194, where Ivan encounters a gloomy giant. Instead of running away terrified, Ivan tells the giant his story, leading to the giant's help and kindness. This shows Ivan facing an 'other' obstacle without giving up, ultimately achieving his goal of assistance.
The lesson concludes with students learning to use transition phrases like 'in the middle of the story' to introduce their evidence smoothly. They also practice explaining how Ivan's encounter with the giant demonstrates perseverance by contrasting his actions with how 'most people' would react. The entire process of formulating and writing the opinion is reviewed, with an emphasis on oral rehearsal before writing.
To explain the evidence, students differentiate Ivan's actions from what 'most people' would do. Most people would be terrified and give up in a windstorm, but Ivan's continued sailing and searching for his destination show his perseverance, even though he might have been scared.
The lesson introduces the concept of forming and writing an opinion about a story. It highlights that an opinion is what someone thinks or feels about a story. The lesson then elevates this by focusing on having an opinion about a story's 'theme,' which is revealed through a character's actions, thoughts, and words throughout the narrative. Perseverance is introduced as the key theme for the day's story, 'Salt'.
Perseverance is defined as someone facing obstacles (their own fears, others, nature, or illness) and never giving up until they reach their goal. Students practice this definition physically and orally, reinforcing the understanding of perseverance before applying it to the story.
The class learns the three main parts of an opinion: a quick summary to provide context, stating your opinion, and 'calling in the team' to back it up with evidence. This structure ensures that the opinion is well-supported and understood by the audience.
Students are guided to create a two-paragraph organizer. The first paragraph will contain the 'quick summary' (QS) and 'opinion' (O), while the second paragraph will present the 'team' (T) to back up the opinion. They learn how to label these sections and the importance of indenting for paragraphs.
The quick summary begins by identifying the author (Harve Zemach) and the title ('Salt'). Students learn formatting rules for short story titles (quotation marks) versus novels (underlined). They then add key details about the main character (Ivan the Fool), the setting (faraway kingdom), and the core conflict (Ivan needs to find salt to become rich), forming the initial sentences of their opinion piece.
With the quick summary established, students focus on articulating their opinion. They decide to state that 'one of the interesting themes of the story was perseverance.' The instructor emphasizes that opinions need to be 'backed up' with evidence from the text.