Intermediate Guided Reading Lesson Plan
Title:
Genre:
War Heroes: Voices from Iraq Biography
by Allan Zullo.
Scholastic, ISBN 978-0-54509026-1
Note: This book contains
realistic descriptions of
combat situations and is not
suitable for all students
Literacy Core Objective:
Comprehension. Students understand,
interpret, and analyze narrative and
informational grade level text.
Text Structure:
Narrative
Content Core Objective:
6th Grade Social Studies Standard IV:
Students will understand current global
issues and their rights and responsibilities
in the interconnected world.
“I Can Statements” - Essential Questions:
Informational
Level:
Y
Enduring Understanding: Purpose for reading
Humility is a trait that helps us understand the
civic rights and responsibilities humans have to
one another.
What current global issues are we facing in our
modern world?
Who should be involved in resolving those issues
and why?
ELL Strategies:
Students reading at this level are likely to
be quite fluent speakers of English although
they may need more support with idioms,
expressions, vocabulary, and multiple
meaning words. This will affect their
ability to draw conclusions and infer from
the text. Encourage these students to use
sticky notes or a notebook to jot questions
they have while reading to be
discussed/clarified at the guided reading
table during the following session.
What are essential human rights?
What civic responsibilities do humans have to one
another in the modern world?
See
http://www.uen.org/core/socialstudies/sixth/eueq.s
html for more information on Enduring
Understanding and Essential Questions.
Other ELL strategies can be found at
http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/pages/4x4
activity.htm
and tailored to the individual needs of your
students.
Before Reading
Vocabulary:
Tier 2 Vocabulary Words: High frequency words that are found across a variety of domains.
Provide student-friendly explanations that tell what a word means in everyday connected
language. For more information, please see Bringing Words to Life by Beck & McKeyown.
fanatic
deliberate
allies
dictator
dismantled
insurgents
cache
bedlam
percussion
militants
Activate/Build Prior Knowledge:
Shared reading of Author’s Note
Explain graphic organizer
Comprehension Strategy:
Dealing with unknown words – there are a lot of military terms and Middle Eastern place names
in this book. Show the glossary. Remind students that they can use the context to figure out
some of these words. For the average reader it is probably not important to keep track of the
difference between an M4 and an M16, the reader will be able to use the context of the sentence
to figure out that they are both types of guns. For students with more interest in the military
details of the book, they can use the glossary.
During Reading
Using appropriate Guided reading strategies, students will be reading at their own pace and
teachers will be listening to students read, monitoring, giving feedback, taking anecdotal notes
and running records.
Attend to Comprehension Within, Beyond, & About the text:
After Reading
Discussion questions:
 As the U.S. involvement in Iraq is controversial, it would be prudent for the teacher to show
balance in the discussions.
 Help students process what they are reading, some students may be more sensitive to the
violence.
 Discuss examples students have written on their graphic organizers.
 Great examples of foreboding in the book, beginning on page 5.
 Why do you think Montoya insisted on being a “grunt”? (p. 8)
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What are your thoughts on Montoya’s journal entry on page 10?
Why do you think they are called leathernecks? (p. 13)
No one follows Workman up the stairs the first time, were you expecting that? (p. 23)
What does “cut down” mean? (p.27)
What do you think about the line, “As in all wars, life and death is often a matter of good
fortune or bad luck” on page 38?
On page 51 Mike compares his feelings in battle to the adrenaline rush he used to feel
running out on the football field. Do you think that contributes to his willingness to run into
the fire?
What does the expression “had my bell rung,” mean? (p. 52)
What was your reaction to the things Marco’s teachers said about him on page 62?
What are “spider holes”? (p. 67)
In Martinez’s story he mentions that the battle has gone on for three hours (p. 73). Does it
seem like that long when you read about it? Can you imagine the toll that would take?
What do you think it would be like to have a metal splinter in your head for a month like
Rubio (p. 87)?
On page 90 we find out that the gunner is the only person in the back of the truck who gets to
see where they are going. He’s also a target. Would you rather be the gunner or one of the
troops inside?
On page 103 we learn that 59 members of Lima company earn Purple Hearts (which means
that they were injured in battle) and that 23 of those people earned it “posthumously”. What
percent is that?
What is your reaction to Chiarini sparing the life of the insurgent on page 111?
On page 115 what do you learn about the phrase “riding shotgun”?
Pages 117-118 illustrate the idea of triage, which is a word that students may hear in other
media. Discuss.
Page 122 provides a good opportunity to again clarify the role of the U.S. – working with the
Iraqis against the insurgents.
Do you expect the reaction that Hill and her colleagues have on page 130 to Hill’s injury?
How does the phrase “fake it till you make it” relate to Malmberg on page 138?
Attend to Comprehension Within, Beyond, & About the text:
Content Core Integration:(Science, Soc. St., Math, etc.)
Assessment:
Activities:
Completion of the organizer assignment.
There is a lesson called “Writing Free Verse in the
“Voice” of Cesar Chavez” available at
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_vie
w.asp?id=777. If they have done this lesson first,
the structure of writing a free verse poem in
another person’s voice could be applied to this
book, allowing students to pick one of the soldiers
in the book and writing a free verse poem in their
voice.
*Not all activities will be done in each lesson. Some lessons may take multiple days to complete.
However, all students should be reading each time you meet.
Name: _______________________
War Heroes: Voices from Iraq
The author states, “(a)ll ten persons profiled in this book shared a common trait – humility.” As you
read, look for examples of each person’s humility and complete the following table. Include page
numbers and direct quotes.
Person
Sergeant Scott Montoya
Corporal Jeremiah Workman
Staff Sergeant Daniel Bogart
Specialist Jason Mike
Corporal Marco Martinez
Hospital Corpsman Second
Class Juan Rubio
Lance Corporal Mark Camp
Hospital Corpsman Third
Class Joshua Chiarini
Chief Warrant Officer
Lori Hill
Staff Sergeant
Chad Malmberg
Example of Humility