I did not write The Mighty Mars Rovers
with the Common Core standards in mind, but it turns out that all of my
nonfiction books, and I would venture to say virtually all of the I.N.K.
bloggers nonfiction titles, offer rich opportunities to support Common Core
learning. (Adopted in 45 states, the
Common Core State Standards will be shaping teaching and learning across the
country in years to come.)
But
how exactly can teachers use high-quality nonfiction to support Common Core
learning? Teacher Erin Dees and I collaborated on a Common Core guide to The Mighty Mars Rovers, which you
can download for free here. Before
giving students these Common Core tasks, I hope teachers will first have
students read and enjoy the book. I think being engaged in a book can inspire kids to
be more interested in delving into how the book was researched and written.
What
follows are some excerpts from our guide.
I hope to make Common Core guides for all my other nonfiction titles, so
I would love any feedback from teachers, other educators, and other writers…
Craft and Structure
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.5 Describe
the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect,
problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part
of a text.
- Ask students to describe
the overall structure of The Mighty Mars Rovers and why
author Elizabeth Rusch might have structured it that way. What are some
other structures she might have considered? How would they have changed
the book? What would be gained and what would be lost?
- The author also uses all of the structures listed above
within the main structure. Where? Why?
- Chronology of events.
EX: The book is written
chronologically for each rover.
- Comparison of ideas,
concepts, and information. EX: The
book switches focus from rover to rover in order to compare their two
journeys.
- Cause/effect &
problem/solution. EX: Many
obstacles cause the rovers to put their journeys on hold. The team works
together to free/help the rovers.
- The rovers encountered
some obstacles along the way. Ask students to describe the cause and
effect of each situation. Summarize how the JPL dealt with and solved
problems the rovers encountered:
- Opportunity’s jam in
the Purgatory Dune on page 55.
- Spirit’s stuck wheel on
page 59.
- Dust storm on page 64.
- The book spans more than
eight years, so some material was left out. Ask students to compare events
in the book to those described in mission update on the website http://marsrover.nasa.gov/mission/wir/. What did the author emphasize
and what did she leave out? Why? Do you think there was anything else she
should have included? Why?
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.6 Compare
and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic;
describe the differences in focus and the information provided.
- Encourage students to
compare and contrast daily rover updates for Spirit and Opportunity with
accounts in the book. How are the adventures of the rovers the same and
different?
- http://marsrover.nasa.gov/mission/status_spirit.html
- http://marsrover.nasa.gov/mission/status_opportunity.html
- http://marsrover.nasa.gov/mission/status.html
- Ask students to read firsthand blogs from
NASA engineers then match and compare/contrast them to events detailed in
the book.
- Ask students to compare
Rusch’s version of Opportunity’s journey toward Endeavor (pg 63-64) to a
Robotics Engineer’s version.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.7 Interpret
information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts,
graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages)
and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in
which it appears.
- The book provides many
opportunities to teach text features. It includes titles, subtitles,
sidebars, maps, images, captions, maps, an index, a table of contents, and
a glossary. Create a treasure hunt to help students find and understand
these important text features.
- Ask students to
interpret the photographs of Steve Squires as a child and young man on
page 8 and 9. What do they tell us about Steve? Why did the author include
them? How will/do they help us understand the motivations and passions of
Steve Squires?
- What does the diagram of
the solar system on page 14 tell us about the launch of the rovers? How
does this diagram contribute to the understanding of the text on page 15?
- Page 53 displays a map
of Opportunity’s adventures. How does this map help the reader understand
the journey of the rover?
- Ask students to
interpret the image on page 64. Ask
students to explain how the information detailed in the image relates to
the story on page 64, starting: “Suddenly, whoosh, a huge dust storm blew in.” What does the image show?
Why did the author decide to add this image? How would the image affect
your perception of the story if it was an image of only the last
measurement?
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.9 Integrate
information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about
the subject knowledgeably.
AND
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.7 Conduct
short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different
aspects of a topic.
- Students may combine
information from The Mighty Mars
Rovers with information from other books on the same topic to compile
research papers. Check out Cars on
Mars by Alexandra Siy or Eyewitness
Mars by Stuart Murray.
- Have students pick a
subtopic from the book to research. They may use the book and other
resources to write short informational reports. Potential topics:
- Early Mars exploration
- Rover tools/parts of
the rover
- Life of Mars
- Powering the Rovers
- Landing rovers on Mars
- The next Mars rover, Curiosity, landed on Mars in August 2012 and offers a great opportunity deepen students’ knowledge and understanding of space exploration. Send students to the NASA website on the mission: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/ Ask students to compare the two missions. How are they the same? How are they different? How have rover design, launch, and landing changed? What are the biggest challenges of each mission? How were they overcome? What questions are the missions designed to answer? What tools do the rovers and scientists have to answers those questions? What questions might come next?
Thanks,
Elizabeth Rusch
1 comment:
writing and reading is a good habit. I also like this two part.
book publicist
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