EARTH HEALERS LESSON PLAN (Chapter 4)

Chapter 4: The Danger

THIS lesson plan is for Chapter 4 of "Earth Healers" by Cyan Abad-Jugo (read it on p. H4, Learning, Inquirer, Oct. 1, 2012). I have revised Group 4's output by expanding the vocabulary as well as the cause and effect lessons.

If anyone from Group 5 or 6 cares to revise their group's output, please email revisions to me at cbformoso@inquirer.com.ph and learning@inquirer.com.ph ASAP.

Here's a suggestion to our Bench-IIE partner teachers: Instead of a quiz or any other form of evaluation, consider the Student Activity Guide that comes with the chapter story as an evaluation. After the students have accomplished the Guide, please evaluate for correct answers, neatness and creativity before submitting to the Inquirer.

Again, if you can, please take the time to teach the students about the earth's structure and what can cause earthquakes, if this is something that their Science teacher cannot do. I understand that earthquakes are in the Grade 6 Science curriculum. If you're teaching fourth or fifth graders, please give a brief scientific explanation for earthquakes.


I. Objectives

Use compound words
Identify cause and effect relationships in the chapter story.
Develop the sense of concern for others.

II. Subject Matter

Forming compound words
Understanding cause and effect
Developing concern for others

Reference: Philippine Daily Inquirer, “Earth Healers” Chapter 4 – The Danger

Materials:
Inquirer Learning Section, cause and effect Manila strips (teacher made), strips of paper to make into a chain, construction paper, pictures

Value: Concern for others

III. Procedure

A. Pre-reading

1. Drill

Match Column A to Column B to form compound words

A	B
1. earth 2. motor 3. break 4. out 5. under	a. fast b. stand c. side d. cycles e. quake

2. Review previous chapters.

3. Vocabulary: Unlocking of difficulties (contextual clues)

1. Gossamer strands of hair.
a. substantial b. delicate c. sturdy

2. Jopi wished he had not raised his voice above a whisper.
a. soft speech b. loud voice c. noise

3. “Find the mayor,” chittered the trees, and Jopi could see them, the tree-spirits, joining voice.
a. yelled b. shouted c. chirped

4. If just one wakes, he’ll be angry, and there will be a tremblor.
a. tribute b. commotion c. earthquake

5. It will set off volcanoes, or unleash the river into your town.
a. release b. control c. predict

6. Big, burly men on motorcycles followed the Mayor’s car.
a. obese b. muscular c. slim

7. He felt quiet and becalmed, and fell asleep.
a. soothed b. tired c. anxious

8. Jopi woke in a sea of sweat, scrabblingat his mat.
a. struggling b. screaming c. whispering

9. The hens whirled above their heads in a flurry of feathers.
a. sea b. gust c. confusion

10. Jopi squared his shoulders and sat in front.
a. stood up straight b. slumped c. shook

4. Motivation

Newspaper connection: Show pictures of calamities taken at mine sites or depicting the dangers caused by mining.

5. Motive Questions

Based on these pictures, what might happen to a community with a mining industry?
Can a young boy help his community at a time of danger?

B. During Reading – Guided reading

C. Post-Reading

1. Comprehension check

a. Who are the earth healers?
b. What will happen if the giants are disturbed from their sleep?
c. Where do the giants live?
d. When does work start at the mine?
e. Why does Jopi need to find the mayor?
f. If you were Jopi, would you do the same? Why/why not?

2. Skills Development

Discuss cause and effect. Cause is why something happens, or an action in the story that makes something happen. Effect is the result of the action or the cause. There are signal words for C&E: because, therefore, so, since, as a result of, on account of, for this reason, led to, due to.

a. Demonstrate cause and effect (C&E): Bring a balloon and stick a pin into it. Then ask the class, “Why did the balloon pop (or burst)?” The class will get that sticking the pin is the cause and effect is the popping of the balloon. Or dip a roll of paper into a glass of water and ask, “Why is this paper wet?” Students should be able to relate the cause to the effect.

b. Draw two columns on the board. On the second row of the right column, write: “I got a high score in the test.” On the left opposite it, write, “I studied for the test.” Ask the class which is the cause and which is the effect. Then write the heading “Cause” on the first row of the left column and the heading “Effect” on the first row of the right column. Ask the students to write more examples of this from everyday school experiences on the board.

c. Relate C&E to the story. Each action a character (cause) makes has a consequent reaction (effect). Distribute pre-made strips of Manila paper containing causes and effects from the story (see chart below for examples). Ask the students to find the matching cause (or effect) to the strips of paper they are holding and tape the matching C&E on the board.

Cause	Effect
if a giant awakens	he'll be angry
because they are getting too weak	the Earth-healers cannot take care of the giants for long
due to the machine drilling too deep into the earth	there will be an earthquake
when the volcano is set off and the river is unleashed	there will be many deaths and much suffering
Jopi cannot see the Mayor sitting in the car	because the car windows are tinted too dark
if they ride in the jeepney with Eddie	they will get to the mountain much faster

D. Engagement activities

Group 1: Make a C&E paper chain with a cause then an effect that then becomes the cause for another effect, and so on and so forth – all from the story, including what you remember from the previous chapters.

Group 2: Make a C&E window using construction paper. The front will show a drawing of the cause taken from this chapter and has a frame around it. When you open the “window” a drawing of the effect is on the inside. Color both illustrations and decorate the window frame. Write down the C&E at the bottom.

Group 3: Write a Readers’ Theater script of a scene from the chapter that shows examples of C&E. Present in class.

Group 4: Cut out pictures or headlines from the Inquirer showing cause and effect. For example: A picture of flooding and people evacuating their homes.

E. Evaluation

The class will work on the Student Activity Guide on page H4, Learning section, (PDI, Oct. 1, 2012). Students' work will be evaluated by teacher before submission to the Learning editor the following Monday.

Unless . . .

THE most important word in "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss, I think, is "unless" and if you've read the book, you'll most probably agree with me on this.

"Unless someone cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

I made the mistake of attributing this quote to the Lorax in my story in the Learning section of the Feb. 27th Inquirer. The words are actually from an older, poorer, wiser and contrite Once-ler, a central character in this cautionary tale from the universally beloved Dr. Seuss.

If you haven't read the book and if you have children in the house who haven't either, I suggest you get a copy and read it (easy at 71 pages) before you all go see the movie, which is scheduled to be shown in March.

"Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" owes its animated 3D version to Universal and Illumination Entertainment, the same team that brought us the immensely wicked and enjoyable "Despicable Me". It features the voices of Danny DeVito as the Lorax, Zac Efron as the boy Ted, Taylor Swift as the girl Audrey, Betty White as the grandma, and Ed Helms as the Once-ler.

The book says nothing about why the boy has wandered into the Street of the Lifted Lorax, but the movie gives him a reason for being there.

"It' a girl, right?" guesses the Once-ler whom the boy seeks out for information on where he can get a real tree.

You see, where Ted and Audrey live (Thneed-ville in the new movie) there are no trees, this being long after the Once-ler and his factory have denuded and degraded the place. Now the town is entirely artificial but for the folks who live there. Thus Audrey's fondest wish is to see a real truffula tree.

The boy has no name in the book, and the girl is not even in the original story, but both are given names in the movie. I like it that they are named after Dr. Seuss, whose real name is Theodore Seuss Geisel (Ted for short), and his wife Audrey.

I've read that Geisel's widow gave a lot of input during the filming, so I have high hopes that this won't be one of those movies that are disastrously far removed from the original material.

Dr. Seuss first published "The Lorax" in 1971, long before Al Gore became the poster boy for global warming due to all kinds of human abuse of the planet. The story is amusing for its use of invented words and clever rhymes, a Seuss trademark (great for teaching phonetic reading to beginning readers) and distinctive illustrations (the trees, in candy colors, look delicious enough to eat).

Beyond this whimsical presentation, however, is a message that seems to have been made to-order for the present time.

Massive floodings? Frequent landslides? We all know what brings about these disasters.

"I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues," says the Lorax to the enterprising Once-ler who has started to cut down the truffula trees at an alarming speed to mass produce "thneeds" or "the things that man needs". We all know that many "thneeds" are really not "needs" but "wants," don't we? Unlike the Lorax, however, we don't put up a fight.

The Once-ler, consumed by greed, doesn't heed the pleas of the Lorax and plunders what is once a paradise for the brown Barbaloots, the Swamee Swans and the Humming Fish. Trees are felled not just to make thneeds but also to make way for a factory and houses for the families who work the assembly line.

Soon after the last truffula tree is axed down, the place turns into a ghost town, breaking the Lorax's heart so bad it lifted itself up and out a hole in the sky.

Is there salvation for the world after this? Fret not because from Dr. Seuss' pen always comes a stroke of hope. The Once-ler, that dirty scoundrel, has saved a tiny truffula tree seed, it turns out. And this is where the "unless" quote comes in handy.

Dr. Seuss came out with a short-film version of "The Lorax" for television in 1972. Logging companies vehemently fought the airing of the short animation, so I've read, and that was that. Almost two decade later, when people had become more concerned about the environment, "The Lorax" was re-issued on VHS format, just in time for my children to enjoy it in their childhood years.

A remastered deluxe edition of this short-film in DVD format was released on Valentine's Day. Also, a pop-up edition of the book.

As for the new full-length 3D movie, it will be screened in the United States on March 2 on the occasion of the 108th birthday of Dr. Seuss.

It is slated for showing locally on March 14, which is too bad because by then the kids will be deep in final exams, if not already off on vacation. There won't be time for teachers to use "The Lorax" story to teach about conservation, about materialism and about the ill effects of progress.

I remember infecting a gifted class of fifth and sixth graders with my enthusiasm for Dr. Seuss. They had as much fun with "The Lorax" as I did teaching it, and what was nice was, well, it wasn't empty fun. (We also took up "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" in this Language Arts class around Christmas.)

Unfortunately, I cannot find my lesson plans for these Seuss stories, or I would have posted them here. But I know they will turn up one day when I'm not looking for them and when they do, I will definitely share them with our readers.

The possibilities for teaching a classic like "The Lorax" are almost limitless. You can plan all kinds of age-appropriate activities for the kids in their art, science, language and values classes. And the teaching doesn't have to be left to classroom teachers only.

Parents will get as much satisfaction from imparting to their kids the ideas and values in both the book and the movie. "The Lorax" is definitely a family story and will make for a great dinner-time family discussion.

The local distributors of "The Lorax," United International Pictures and Solar Entertainment, have teamed up with Greenpeace on a massive eco-awareness contest for students. For more, check out the Feb. 27, 2012 Learning section story on "The Lorax" (just click on the blue title).