In this 8-day unit plan, students will explore wordless picture books and discuss the specific elements of the illustration that "tell" the story. They will learn to "read" illustrations as they look at the ways in which pictures reveal information about the characters, setting, and plot of a story. In addition, students will work in pairs and use this information to write a story to accompany the illustrations of a selected wordless picture book.

Students will be able to:

- Read a wordless picture book and discern the main elements of the story, such as character, setting, and plot.

- Work in teams of 2 to create a well-developed story that matches the illustrations of a selected wordless picture book.

- Red Fox Running by Eve Bunting

- Big books: There's a Dragon in My Wagon, and Pinkerton, Behave

- Overhead projector, collection of wordless picture books, - - Easel

- 4-Square graphic organizer

- Drawing paper

- Pencils

- Lined post-it notes for rough-draft of stories (students can stick them on the illustrations as they write their stories)

- Story Skeleton Worksheet

- Thesaurus

- Grading Rubric

- Computer Lab/computer access

See supporting files for complete lesson plan

Observation throughout the unit was used as one assessment tool to determine that all students were contributing to their team-created stories.

Teachers also conferenced with teams as they completed their work to determine their readiness to move to next step.

A rubric is attached that was used to assess the final stories and presentations to the group.

Annette Herbert, LMS, Maria Kohne, 4th Grade Teacher Maryanne McEvoy, 4th Grade Teacher