Literature Unit Plan
Katie Weaver
3rd Grade
Theme: Biographies—African American History
Texts:
Fly, Bessie, Fly by Lynn Joseph
If a Bus Could Talk—The Story of Rosa Parks by Faith Ringgold
Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull
Ella Fitzgerald—The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa by Andrea Davis Pinkney and
Brian Pinkney
Language Chart Categories:
Why was this person important?
Obstacles/Struggles
Achievements
Connections
Involving Student in Personal Response:
The students will all have Post-It Notes with them while we are reading the story.
They will be responsible for writing down connections or thoughts they have that deal
with the four topics on the language chart. After we have finished reading the story, we
will have a class discussion and the students will be able to put their Post-It’s in the
corresponding section.
Unit Timeline:
I will begin teaching my literature unit on Monday November 2nd and teach it
Every Monday and Wednesday for two weeks until November 11th.
Basic Lesson Structure:
November 2:
 I will start out by introducing the unit. I will tell the students that we are going to
be learning about biographies. I will ask them to share what they know (if
anything) about biographies. Then I will explain that they are non-fiction, true
stories about a person’s life. I will also share that the stories I will be reading to
them will focus on African American history.
 Next I will explain the language chart and the different categories we are going to
be talking about. I will also explain how they are going to be using Post-It Notes
to write comments on to fill in the different sections of the chart.
 Read aloud Fly, Bessie, Fly by Lynn Joseph. Students will be taking notes on
their Post-Its
 After the read aloud, we will discuss as a class all of the categories on the
literature chart and place the students Post-Its in correct places.
November 4th:
 Review biographies we have talked about so far, give a little background about
the time Ella grew up in, talk about rights of african americans and women during
this time, point out interesting characteristics of the text (how it is written, who it
is written by)
 Read the story Ella Fitzgerald by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney. Stop
at designated areas marked in the text and ask students questions. Students will
again take notes on Post-Its for the class discussion.
 As a class, talk about Ella’s characteristics, obstacles, accomplishments, and
connections.
 Students will go back to their seats and write in their quick write journals. They
will write about why they think the author wrote the story though the perspective
of the cat and other wonderings they might have. They will also write about
personal obstacles and accomplishments they have had. While the students are
working on this we will listen to some songs by Ella Fitzgerald.
November 9th:
 I will review biographies again. Ask them what they have learned so far,
connections between the stories, etc.
 Read the story Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull. Pause when necessary and
ask students questions throughout.
 After the read aloud is over, the students will go back to their tables and work as a
group to discuss Wilma. They will be given 4 different color Post-Its and come up
with answers for Wilma’s characteristics, obstacles, accomplishments, and
connections.
 We will come back to the carpet and groups will share their answers with the rest
of the class.
November 11th:
 Start off by asking students what they know about Rosa Parks. Ask how she is the
same as the other people we have talked about before and how she is different.
Present them with some background information about her. Discuss the time
period when this occurred.
 Read aloud If a Bus Could Talk—The Story of Rosa Parks by Faith Ringgold.
Have students take notes on their Post-Its.
 After the story is over students will go back to their seats and write about the 4
categories on their own. They will also write in their quick write journals about
which of the characters in the biographies we have read up until this point they
best relate to.
Extension Activity: I will have the students write in their quick write journals on two
different occasions (the topics are discussed above).
Wrap-Up:
We will wrap-up the unit by having the students begin writing an essay about
African American history—this will end up doubling for the essay contest that they will
participate in during African American History month. For this essay, students will pick
one of the biographies that we read and do further research on the person so that they will
be able to write an essay about them.