Steve Kinney

This is the first entry in my professional portfolio. It is a small, five-lesson unit that I co-wrote over the summer. It focuses on teaching point of view to fourth and fifth grade students. Although, it could easily be adapted higher or lower as necessary.

The unit focuses on three books to teach the skill – all of which are amazing:

• Seedfolk by Paul Fleischman
• The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
• The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Sciezka

Yes, the Fleischmans are related. I’ve included an annotated bibliography that will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the three books. I’ve also included the New York state standards that the unit addresses.

From the unit:

This purpose of this unit is to teach students in 4th and 5th grade how to understand and identify different points of views taken by characters within fictional texts. It is crucial for students to understand how every event, whether fictional or real, could be interpreted through many different points of views. Students will therefore learn to see any event as a multi-layered, complex incident that needs to be analyzed at a much deeper level. The ability to identify different points of views within fictional texts will enable students to understand the different points of views of events that they witness or partake in their own lives.

This unit is primarily guided by Hunter College School of Education’s social justice conceptual framework sphere. Teachers within this unit are fully dedicated and bonded to the idea that students will be successful. Students will be asked to analyze how all events are complex since they involve many different perspectives from different people. Students will also be asked to observe their own neighborhoods and determine what components are needed to have a healthy and thriving neighborhood. In addition students will also be expected to read their revised children’s books to different kindergarten classes in their school.

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