Wit and Wisdom- Module 1

In this module, students will explore the literal and figurative meaning of the word heart. They will study famous people like Clara Barton, Helen Keller, and Anne Frank in order to see how the thoughts and actions of people demonstrate compassion and courage which exemplifies a great heart. Students will then explore the literal meaning of heart by looking at the systematic, pulmonary, and coronary circuits of the heart by reading the book The Circulatory System. In this story, the students will follow a red blood cell as it journeys through the human body. They will then continue their study of the heart by reading the story Love That Dog, focusing on the figurative meaning of heart. In this story, the boy finds his voice by evaluating his broken heart. At the end of the module, the students will write an informative essay explaining what it means to have a great heart, both literally and figuratively. They will use all the information they learned throughout the unit to compose their piece of writing.

• While reading a book with your child, ask them two important questions- What do you notice? What do you wonder?
• Someone who is greathearted is kind, brave, generous, or loving. Tell someone at home about a person you feel is greathearted and explain why.
• After reading a story, pick one character and think of a character trait to describe them. Once you have come up with that character trait, give evidence to support your idea.
• Go for a run. When you come back, find your pulse point on your wrist. Count how many beats you feel in one minute.
• Find a nonfiction text and look at just two pages. Look at the heading, illustrations, and words on the page. Put all that information together and tell someone at home what is happening.
• Find a nonfiction text. Follow the following steps to find the main idea: Read the text, find the details and write them next down, reread the text for clues in the text features, decide what the details and clues are all about, and then compose a short sentence for the main idea.
• Look at the illustration in a nonfiction text. Explain how it helps the reader understand the story.
• Look through a book of your choice and find five adjectives the author uses to describe something in the story.

• Read a fiction book. Identify the character and then explain how this character is greathearted. Use evidence in the story to support your answer.