Depth and Complexity Novel Study for The Sign of the Beaver
4.9 (471 reviews)Reading and Responding to The Sign of the Beaver with Depth and Complexity! Bring your students’ thinking and discussion to a whole new level while reading Elizabeth George Speare’s The Sign of The Beaver. This critical thinking companion resource is designed to “dig deeper” when compared to…
- Grade
- Grade 5
- Subject
- Reading
- Pages
- 24
- Answer key
- Not Included
- Teaching duration
- 4 Weeks
- Digital download
Description
Reading and Responding to The Sign of the Beaver with Depth and Complexity!
Bring your students’ thinking and discussion to a whole new level while reading Elizabeth George Speare’s The Sign of The Beaver. This critical thinking companion resource is designed to “dig deeper” when compared to traditional novel worksheets available. Each chapter has a unique graphic organizer that contains 4 critical thinking questions questions and 1 related “Core Question”. All questions within the graphic organizers are open-ended, can be answered in multiple ways, and encourage textual support from the book.
This teaching tool can be applied in multiple ways…
*”Expert Group” Sharing
*”Jig Saw” Activity
*Whole-Class “Shared Reading”
*”Think-Pair-Shares”
*”Literature Circle” Activity
*Writing Prompts
*Assessments
➡FREE Depth and Complexity Posters
You might also like…
Critical Thinking Task Cards for Literature
Critical Thinking Task Cards for Science
Critical Thinking Task Cards for Social Studies
Teach Critical Thinking Using Fairytales
Critical Thinking Literature Circles
Critical Literary Literary Response Booklet
IMPORTANT: This resource has recently been reformatted. Please read through the product description carefully and download the preview to see exactly what is included.
This resource was created based on the Depth and Complexity framework, which was developed by Dr. Sandra Kaplan under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Research and Improvement: 1996
Get all the latest Teacher Thrive news!
➜FOLLOW me on Teachers Pay Teachers!
➜FOLLOW me on TeacherThrive.com!
Please read: This is a nonrefundable digital download. Please read the description carefully and examine the preview file before purchasing.
© Copyright 2018 M. Tallman. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to copy pages specifically designed for student or teacher use by the original purchaser or licensee. This is intended to be used by one teacher unless additional licenses have been purchased. The reproduction of any other part of this product is strictly prohibited. Copying any part of this product and placing it on the Internet in any form (even a personal/classroom website) is strictly forbidden. Doing so makes it possible for an Internet search to make the document available on the Internet, free of charge, and is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Reviews
Showing 11–15 of 374 reviews
Not appropriate for beginning of the year
This is very hard for me to implement until almost the third quarter. Week one has decimals, and my fourth graders don't learn about decimals until the third quarter. It also jumps into division and bigger multiplication early. I wish it had a few weeks of third-grade review.
Affixes Resource Pack
This was not exactly what I was looking for for a supplemental resource for my 5th grade class.
Not a "spiral" review
I wanted to like this so much because it was exactly what I wanted. But, Week 1 already starts talking about coordinate grids and volume, standards that aren't covered until later on in the school year. I wish it was organized by the order the standards are taught throughout the school year instead of introducing end-of-year concepts in the first few weeks.
Great Activities, but Limited Direct Instruction
This resource is advertised as a week-long unit, but in practice it functions more like one day of direct instruction followed by several activity days. There is only one PowerPoint for teaching, with the remaining materials focused on practice.
I expected a more balanced structure with instruction and assessment spread across multiple days. For example, I was able to use the PowerPoint and the second day’s worksheet within a single class period, and the “scoot” activity worked well for a separate day. However, I’m unsure how I’ll incorporate the remaining sketch notes, which might have been more effective if directly integrated into the initial instruction.
One major area for improvement is alignment between instruction and assessment. The assessments and task cards include concepts like “to be” verbs and auxiliary verbs, but these are not introduced or modeled in the PowerPoint. This created confusion for my students and could easily be developed into an additional day of instruction.
Overall, the materials are well-designed and engaging, but the unit would benefit from more comprehensive instruction and clearer alignment between teaching and assessment.
This starts off Running
I thought the assessments would get progressively harder but I do not feel I could start these assessments with my students week 1. I may be able to start them mid year
Questions & Answers (9)
Have a question about this resource? Log in to ask a question.
What detalla does the author include that help you get to know the character Matt?
By chance do you have an answer key for this wonderful resource? I know there could be multiple answers but some samples would be extremely helpful. Thank you!
Hello. Due to the open-ended nature of these novel studies, answer keys are not provided. These questions are designed to be answered in multiple and even conflicting ways.
Is there a way I can make it a fillable document for distance learning? I love your product and want to use it online with my students this year.
Thank you!
Hi Susanne,
I am not sure. I know you can use notability, which will allow students to annotate them.
Hello
Do you have this for the novel Island of the Blue Dolphins
Hello! No I don’t have one for that book.
If purchased, are you able to provide an editable version? I would like for my students to answer these questions digitally through google classroom.
Hello! I do not offer an editable version. However, you are more than welcome to use the PDF in annotation apps (such as notability).
By any chance will you be making one of these for The Wizard of Oz? Thank you for your consideration.
Hello! I don't have plans for this title, but I will add it to my list.
Love the use of the icons! Do you also have a CCSS alignment for this resource?
Thanks, Jennifer. I do not have a CCSS alignment for this. Sorry.
Hello, I'm interested in purchasing your Depth and Complexity Novel Guides. Please tell me what the icons represent and how they are to be used. Thanks so much!
Hi There! The icons are based on Sandra Kaplan and Bette Gould's Depth and Complexity Framework. Please email me at GotToTeach[at]iCloud[dot]com and I would be happy to forward you some information on it. You can also check out http://jtayloreducation.com for more information.
Does this have a vocabulary component?
Hello. No this doesn't not come with a vocabulary component. Thank you for your interest.
