Day 1

Goals:

1. The students will become familiar with various aspects of the Caribbean area which may include the following issues/concepts: location, culture, traditions, people, water, or sea creatures.

2. The students will familiarize themselves with various adolescent children's literature books dealing with the Caribbean area.

Time:

30-45 minutes

Resources/Materials:

Adolescent literature and books dealing with aspects of the Caribbean that will be studied for the four week unit


Taylor, Theodore. (1990). The Cay. Santa Barbara, CA: Cornerstone Books.

Taylor, Timothy. (1993). Timothy of the Cay. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace.


Hodge, Merle. (1993). For the Life of Laetitia. New York: Farrar Straus Giraux.


Phillips, Rita. (1993). Hue Boy. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.


Macaulay, David. Mitchell Ship.
 
Myers, Lynn Born & Christopher A. Myers. Galapagos Islands of Change.
 
Wu, Norbert. A City Under the Sea: Life in a Coral Reef.
 
Markle, Sandra. Outside and Inside Sharks. 


Defoe, Daniel. (1946). The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. New York: The World Publishing Company.

Yolen, Jane. Greyling.
 
Cooper, Susan. The Selkie Girl.
 
Alevizon, William. (1989). A Sea Dreams Primer of Coral Reef Fish. Melbourne Beach, Florida: SeaDreams Publications.
 
Arnold, Caroline. (1988). A Walk on the Great Barrier Reef. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, Inc. 
 
Cousteau Society. (1992). Corals: The Sea's Great Builders. New York: Simon & Schuster.
 
Jacobs, Francine. (1980). Coral. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
 
Maddern, Eric. (1990). Curious Clownfish. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 
 
McClung, Robert. (1972). Treasures in the Sea. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic.
 
Muzik, Katy. (1992). At Home in the Coral Reef. Watertown, Massachusetts: Charlesbridge Publishing. 
 
Selberg, Ingrid. (1990). Secrets of the Deep. New York: Dial Books. 

Stratton, Barbara R. (1991). What is a Fish? New York: Franklin Watts.
 
Wood, John Norris. (1985). Nature Hide and Seek:Oceans. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

chalk, chalkboard, paper, pens

Procedure:

1. Teacher will introduce the topic of the Caribbean through a children's literature book. One book that could be used is The Cay by Theodore Taylor. The teacher could introduce this piece of literature by creating a television commercial from an aspect of the book to get the children interested in reading the book as well as to excite them about learning about the Caribbean.

2. Teacher will introduce a variety of adolescent literature books that relate to the Caribbean area.

3. Students will use a two minute reflective thought time to think about what prior knowledge they have on this topic.

Assessment:

None

Curricular Strands:

English - reading, writing, listening, literature

Social Studies - geography, culture, people

Science - water, temperature

Math - scales

Extensions:

Students could begin reading a literature book. Students could share the ideas they came up with about the Caribbean region.

Carribean Unit - written by Trina Collins, Richard Wheeler, & Daniel Shimek

This page submitted by St. Norbert College Ocean Voyagers Program