Objectives and Lesson Plans – April 11-15, 2016

Winner of the 2013 Newbery Medal and a #1 New York Times bestseller, this stirring and unforgettable novel from renowned author Katherine Applegate celebrates the transformative power of unexpected friendships. Inspired by the true story of a captive gorilla known as Ivan, this illustrated novel is told from the point-of-view of Ivan himself.

Having spent 27 years behind the glass walls of his enclosure in a shopping mall, Ivan has grown accustomed to humans watching him. He hardly ever thinks about his life in the jungle. Instead, Ivan occupies himself with television, his friends Stella and Bob, and painting. But when he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from the wild, he is forced to see their home, and his art, through new eyes.

The One and Only Ivan was hailed as a best book of the year by Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Amazon, demonstrating it is a true classic in the making. In the tradition of timeless stories like Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little, Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope. An author’s note depicts the differences between the fictional story and true events.

Supports the Common Core State Standards

To help bridge gaps between the book and our real life, Grade 4 also adopted a gorilla from http://www.worldwildlife.org/. With this adoption, we will receive:

Some of the learning objectives (or WALT as we refer to them in Grade 4; We Are Learning To) and questions that we will cover while reading are:

• Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions). Compare and contrast the points of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.
• How does point of view contribute to the authenticity of a story? Write an explanatory text telling how the author uses point of view in the book and how you as the reader were impacted.
• How do authors develop characterization, and how does characterization enhance the reader’s understanding of the character’s personality?
• How does the author use figurative language through the character’s eon?