Relationships between Events Mini lesson — 5th grade

Connection: We recently discussed how to ask questions to better understand characters in informational text. By responding to these questions we get a better sense of the relationships between individuals and are able to explain their interactions.

Teaching Point: Today we will learn how to ask questions to better understand the relationship between events in informational text.

Teaching: A relationship is the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected. Interactions are the actions between two or more people, ideas, events, or concepts. We are going to listen to Baseball Saved Us again by Ken Mochizuki from our last lesson. This time as we read see if you can identify an event that caused a changed in the narrator’s perspective.

Baseball Saved Us is told from the perspective of a Japanese boy sent to live in an internment camp with his family during WWII. The story describes how his father used baseball as a means of distraction from the harsh reality of their new lives. The most obvious aspect of writing craft utilized in this book is tension. The major conflict comes in the form of America's treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII. However, the author also creates an internal conflict within the little boy. According to Fletcher, "internal struggles can produce unique forms of tension as the character gets torn between conflict impulses." In this particular instance, the little boy feels a sense of worry and shame over his situation in the internment camp.

He tries to reconcile his life before the camp with his life during and after his internment. One senses his confusion over the events of WWII (Pearl Harbor), his forced removal to the middle of nowhere, and the hatred shown toward Japanese Americans. Although we know the ultimate outcome of WWII, the book closes with signs of hope, but no real solution to the boy's conflict. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew03-zBlTzE

After Reading: To better understand the relationship or interactions between the narrator and the guard, I am going to ask myself some questions: Why is this topic important? This topic is important because it shows how unfairly Japanese Americans were treated in America during WWII. What perspective does the author take on this topic? The author tells the story through the eyes of the narrator, the boy in Camp. What is the overall feeling of the main character or characters? The people in Camp are feeling frustrated, irritable, sad. Is there an event that caused a change in perspective or perception? When the narrator’s father decides to build a baseball field, the people at camp start pitching in to help. They work together and all find jobs to do. When the field is complete, grown-ups and kids play together. The guard, the man in the tower, goes from always just watching to grinning and giving the thumbs up sign.

Now that I have answered these questions, I can ask: What is the relationship between the building of the baseball field and the time Japanese Americans spent at Camp? The building of the baseball field was the catalyst that brought the Japanese Americans in Camp together as a community. By asking questions about the topic, perspective, characters, and changes in characters’ perspective, readers are able to identify and explain relationships between events.

Link Today we learned how to explain the relationships between events in informational texts. As you read, try looking for answers to the questions above to help you better understand relationships between events in informational text.

Why is this topic important? We can ask ourselves questions that will help us explain the interactions and relationships between characters in informational text. Why is this topic important? What perspective does the author take on this topic? What is the overall feeling of the main character or characters? Is there an event that caused a change in perspective or perception?