Read it, Write it, Tell it Head 11
Read it, Write it, Tell it Head 11 Home Introduction Teaching Materials Grades 3-4 Grades 5-7 Links Videos Read it, Write it, Tell it Head 11 Read it, Write it, Tell it Head 11

 

Neil Armstrong

Themes Lessons

Grades 3-4
Grades 5-7

 

 

Extension Activities

Theme, Pattern, and Symbol • Activities

  • Conduct a debate centered around possible themes for the story.
  • Design a poster to advertise the theme of the story.
  • Write an original story with the same theme of a given story.
  • Write, tell or show how the theme of the story would be different if another character was the main focus of the story.
  • Research current trends and/or opinions in the United States for the story’s theme.

Theme • Online Resources

Online Sources of Quotations

Read • Write • Think

  • http://www.readwritethink.org
  • ReadWriteThink, established in April of 2002, is a partnership between the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the Verizon Foundation.

“Writing ABC Books to Enhance Reading Comprehension,” Grades 3-5

  • http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=392
  • In this lesson, students will use an online interactive, the Alphabet Organizer, to think critically about a piece of literature. Using the alphabet as an organizing structure, students will analyze literary elements in the story, such as characters, setting, and themes, organizing their observations in an alphabet book.

“Creating Classroom Community by Crafting Themed Poetry Collections,” Grades 3-5

“Literature as a Catalyst for Social Action: Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges,” Grades 3-5

“Flying to Freedom: Tar Beach and The People Could Fly,” Grades 3-5

  • Comparing the award-winning books Tar Beach and The People Could Fly enables students to interpret themes of liberation and racism in a complex, multifaceted manner.

“Book Report Alternative: Comic Strips and Cartoon Squares,” Grades 6-8

  • http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=195
  • Students tire of responding to novels in the same ways. They want new ways to think about a work of literature and new ways to dig into it. By creating comic strips or cartoon squares featuring characters in books, they're encouraged to think analytically about the characters, events, and themes they've explored in ways that expand their critical thinking by focusing on crystallizing the significant points of the book in a few short scenes.

“Doodle Splash: Using Graphics to Discuss Literature,” Grades 6-8

  • http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=190 
  • Taking advantage of students’ natural tendency to doodle, students keep a doodle journal while reading short stories by a common author. In small groups, students combine their doodles into a graphic representation of the text that they present to the class while discussing their story. Students also do individual graphics and, ultimately, write group essays analyzing the author’s themes.

Ohio Instructional Management System

“Descriptive Language and Theme - Grade Three,” English Language Arts > Reading > Literary Text

  • Students tune their ears to listen for and appreciate descriptive language within texts. They identify and synthesize description and consider how it shows, supports or enhances an author’s intended message.

“Seeing Themes in Young Adult Literature - Grade Seven,” English Language Arts > Reading > Literary Text

  • The lesson teaches/reviews the concept of theme. Students then explore common themes found in literature dealing with issues of adolescence. In the Post Assessment, students respond to a series of self-selected readings by identifying themes and the details which support and develop them. A mandatory extension activity allows students to respond to their reading and discussion with either a comparison paper or an open-ended original creation.

Neil Armstrong • Follow-up Activities

Figurative Language from the Neil Armstrong Episode

  • Neil and his friends’ walking sticks had a compass on top, 50 feet of corded rope wrapped around it and every fishing lure known to man hooked on the sides for a complete survival kit.
  • A giant eagle carries Neil to touch the moon and carries water troughs to save the town.
  • Shifting fog lifted Neil up away from his friends.
  • The magic walking staff warns Neil of a snake on the trail, [it] pulsates, and [its] carvings shift.

Research Ideas        

  • Armstrong is flown about by a giant eagle in the episode. What does this bird have to do with Armstrong's real life?
  • Did Armstrong ever touch the moon?
  • What does Ohio look like where Neil Armstrong grew up? Does it have hills as mentioned in the episode?
  • What is an Eagle Scout? Can girls become Eagle Scouts, too?