EARTH HEALERS LESSON PLAN (Chapter 5)

LESSON PLAN
Chapter 5: The Awakened Giants

This lesson plan is based on the output of Group 5. The crossword puzzle would have been a perfect way to review the previous chapters, but it turned out to be too cumbersome to include in this blog. I don't have a techie's know-how to do it. It should be much easier to create a puzzle on Manila paper.

It is important to complete the discussion on the elements of the story by this chapter because the conflict is presented full-blown here. I've also included a lesson on point of view or perspective here.

Feel free to include any language skill that you need to teach this quarter. I absolutely think you can teach any grammar skill using this story.

I. Objective

Identify the elements of a story
Understand the point of view in a story

II. Subject Matter

Skills:
Identifying the elements of the story
Understanding point of view

Reference:
“Earth Healers” by Cyan Abad-Jugo, Chapter 5–The Awakened Giants

Materials:
Philippine Daily Inquirer Learning section, Power Point Presentation (pictures), graphic organizers (story map)

III. Procedure

A. Pre-Reading

Review previous chapters.

Unlocking of difficulties (context clues, may be demonstrated; for each word ask for the equivalent in Filipino)

1. Mr Munuri, wringing his hands, asked the crowd why they came to the mines.
a. wrinkling b. folding c. twisting

2. The people saw the room where the gold was filtered out from the sludge.
a. mud b. powder c. slice

3. Jopi had always wanted to see what a gold nugget looked like.
a. bracelet b. lump c. bird

4. The mayor came out of the makeshift, air-conditioned office.
a. temporary b. concrete c. permanent

5. The drill juddered to a stop.
a. exploded b. rang c. vibrated

Motivation
Show pictures of the aftermath of earthquakes and landslides using PPP

Motive question:
If you were Jopi, what would you do to save your town from a big earthquake?

B. During-Reading

1. The students will read the story silently.
2. The teacher will read the story aloud with occasional questions.

C. Post-Reading

1. Comprehension check (may be made into a crossword puzzle or a game):

Who was the mayor’s foreman?
Where did Jopi meet the mayor?
What was being mined?
What vehicle did Jopi stop?
What caused the mine to cave in?
Who grabbed the mayor?

2. Discussion of the elements of a story.

Guide the students through a discussion of characters, setting, plot, conflict, etc. so they can fill in the rest of the Story Map first introduced in the Chapter 2 Student Activity Guide.

D. Skills Development

Discuss point of view (POV) or perspective. Who is telling the Earth Healers story? Obviously, the story is not being told from a first-person POV. There is no “I” character who is witnessing and reporting what is happening in the mines and in the community.

Explain that the story is told from a third-person POV, using “he,” “she” or “they” instead of “I”. With third-person POV, the writer presents the story by following the main character (Jopi) and letting the reader know about Jopi’s thoughts and feelings, as well as what he sees. So the reader gets to know about the events in the story as Jopi gets involved in them.

1. Identifying the POV

Ask the class whose POV is presented in the following examples (answers are in parentheses).

I can see a woman and a young boy approaching the gate. The miners are moving in and out of the tunnel entrance. We need to keep working so the drill can go further down into the tunnel, but I have to stop directing the miners so I can meet these uninvited guests. I’m worried they might bring trouble. “What are you doing?” I asked. “What do you want? No onlookers allowed here." (Mr. Munuri)

“I need to talk to the Mayor,” I said to the foreman, who frowned at me. I am not welcome at the mines. I’ve tried getting inside the mines before but I was turned away. They think I’m a trouble maker. But I know Jopi needs my help. He’s just a young boy. (Aling Cita)

Suddenly the ground shuddered. Many of those miners underground rushed to the surface, screaming. I broke free from the Mayor's hold. I have to stop that drill. I have to do something quick. I ran to the truck and hurled myself up to face the monster drill. I saw the shock on the face of worker manning the drill. “Stop!” I screamed. (Jopi)

2. Retelling the story from other POVs:
Ask the class to rewrite paragraphs from the story from the POV of:

(a) the Mayor
(b) the earth-healers
(c) the awakened giant
(d) Jopi's mother

E. Engagement Activities

Groups 1, 2 and 3 – Stage a debate over the mining issue, with time limit. Group 1 will present the points of view of the government, the mining companies, the workers and people who use and buy gold. Group 2 will present the points of view of environmentalists and the people in the town where he mining is located. Group 3 students will serve as moderators and judges.

Group 4 - Present the important confrontation scene with the Mayor, the awakening of the giant and the earthquake through Reader's Theater.

Group 5 - Create a colorful poster containing a collage of young heroes from the stories in the newspaper.

F. Evaluation (Student Activity Guide from the Learning section, PDI)

EARTH HEALERS LESSON PLAN (Chapter 3)

Chapter 3: Beneath the Mines

THIS lesson plan is for Chapter 3 of "Earth Healers" by Cyan Abad-Jugo (read it on p. I6, Learning, Inquirer, Sept. 24, 2012). I have substantially revised Group 3's output. I was hoping someone from the group would email me a revised lesson plan, but since nobody did, I went ahead and wrote this. Again, feel free to use just portions or all of this plan. I'd encourage teachers to seriously think of teaming up with the Science teacher beginning with this chapter because the students need to learn the scientific explanation for earthquakes. Please emphasize to the students that real earthquakes are not caused by giants rumbling and grumbling underground.

I. Objectives

Note details of the story’s setting
Use the dictionary and the thesaurus as writing tools
Identify the uses of figures of speech: alliteration and hyperbole
Write sentences using alliteration and hyperbole
Define and identify foreshadowing

II. Subject Matter

Defining and identifying the setting
Using the dictionary and the thesaurus
Understanding figures of speech
Writing sentences using alliteration and hyperbole

References:
1. Philippine Daily Inquirer Learning Section
“Earth Healers” by Cyan Abad-Jugo, Chapter 3: Beneath the Mines
2. Dictionary
3. Thesaurus

Materials:
Bond paper, pencil, scissors, coloring pencils

III. Procedure

A. Pre-reading activities:

1. Motivation

Set up the lesson by asking:

What are the parts of a story?
What does the setting tell you about a story?
How important is the setting in a story?
Have you experienced an earthquake?
Have you ever been to a mining site?

2. Motive Question

What kind of place did Jopi discover with Tim?

3. Unlocking of difficult words

Look up the meaning of each of the following words in the dictionary and use each in your own sentence.

seismic                         quivered                           fissure
shuddering                        shaft                           discernible
blasted                         discernnible                          sagely

B. During Reading

Shared Reading: Divide the class into three groups. Assign one group to read Jopi’s part, another group to read Tim’s part and the third group to read the rest of the text as narrator.

C. Post-Reading Activities

1. Comprehension check-up

a. So far, who are the characters in the story?
b. How did Jopi get underground?
c. How did the author describe the trip of Jopi and Tim to the mines?
d. Can you describe the setting of this chapter?
e. If you were Jopi, would you feel safe in this setting? Why or why not?
f. What caused the earthquake while Jopi and Tim were in the mines?
g. What is the earth’s crust made of?
h. Who put Jopi under a spell so he could see underground?
i. Why was Jopi put under the spell?

2. Engagement activities

The class will be divided into fIve groups to do different activities.

a. Readers Theater: Rewrite this chapter in your own words into a simple script that can be read in class.
b. Imagine what it is like underneath the mines from the descriptions of the author and make an illustration.
c. Find an example of a setting in the newspaper (example, a community, a house, a street). Cut out the picture and paste it on a piece of blank paper. Write a short story using this setting. Share your story with the class to illustrate how setting is an integral part of
d. Using a T-chart, compare and contrast the feelings of Jopi as he and Tim were going down the tunnel into the mines.
e. Interview with a Giant: Pretend you are face to face with one of the giants in this story. Ask questions about what they’d prefer to happen to the mines.

D. Reading-Writing Connection

1. Identifying alliteration

The author uses a figure of speech called alliteration to make her writing more interesting. Alliteration means repeating the same letter sound at the beginning of several words in a sentence. What letter sound is repeated in each of the following sentences from the story? In some sentences, there are two letter sounds that are repeated. (NOTE: Be sure to take out the italicized answers if you are going to reproduce these sentence on PowerPoint.)

a. Boiling, broiling, unbearable heat blasted into his face. (b)
b. The quaking ceased, shuddering to a stop. (s)
c. He saw so many giants, side by side and foot to foot, heaped high. (s, f, h)
d. Each movement made a sound, from a scritch to a scrape to a scrunch. (s)
e.. Some giants grimaced and groaned, as if struggling to surface from some dream. (g, s)

2. Identifying hyperbole

The author also uses the figure of speech called hyperbole, which means an exaggeration or excessive description used only for emphasis and not to be taken literally.

In the following examples from the story, the hyperbole is the italicized portion in each sentence. What do these words mean?

a. The tunnel was so cold Jopi felt as if he were freezing into an icy pebble.
b. Sometimes he felt he was hardening into a diamond.
c. You cannot go too far down underground or you will burn into a crisp.
d. The extreme temperature can make you feel like you’re freezing into a popsicle.
e. Jopi began to think he was sitting in an oven, with the knob turning slowly from low to medium to high.

3. Exercise #1 – Alliteration

Identify the letter sound in the alliteration in each sentence. Using a dictionary and a thesaurus, write your own version of the alliteration underneath each sentence.

1. Betty bought some butter but the butter was bitter.
2. The crazy cat climbed up the couch.
3. Don’t dream it, drive it.
4. I wait and wonder why she won’t walk with me.
5. Students who stay up late stunt their growth.
6. It is really vexing that in Vampire Village there are only vultures.
7. Maria must me at the market on Monday.
8. The dog dashed down the street.
9. Thank you for the thumbs up.
10. Fairy tales are fairly fun for families to read.

4. Exercise #2 – Hyperbole

In the following sentences, underline the hyperbole. Using a dictionary and a thesaurus, change each sentence by making up your own hyperbole.

a. The girl says she thinks of her “crush” gazillion times a day.
b. I’m dying of hunger and there’s absolutely nothing to eat in the kitchen .
c. Our town is so small if you blink at the welcome arch you will miss it.
d. My mother is so busy I have to make reservations two weeks ahead for a hug.
e. The boy’s school bag weighs a ton and if you carry it you will break your back.
f. I will kill you if you don’t call me.
g. He was so tired he thought he could sleep for a year.
h. The traveler would give a fortune for a bowl of soup.
i. Pacquaio is so bent on winning he turned into a raging bull in the ring.
j. She cried buckets of tears over him.

F. Student Activity Guide (Go to page I6, Learning, Inquirer, Sept. 24, 2012)

G. Evaluation

H. Integration with other subjects

Science: What is the earth’s inner structure? What causes earthquakes?
Art: Interpret this chapter through a storyboard.