Overview

This unit is designed to be technology-rich. The activities are designed to do before, during, and after reading the novel, Bud, Not Buddy. The book itself could be read individually, aloud as a class, or in reading groups. The chapter questions and spelling lessons are designed to be used along with the novel over a three week period. Grading rubrics and self-evaluation forms are provided. Some or all of the following activities could be used.

Materials needed:
Copies of Bud, Not Buddy
Computer access – laptop lab, classroom computers, or computer lab
Activities can be accomplished in small groups or in one large group if computer access is limited.
Internet access
Word Processing Program
Powerpoint Program
Digital Camera
Digital Video Camera
TV or Computer Projector and Screen

Lesson Title: 1930s Powerpoint
Unit: Bud, Not Buddy
Grade Level: Sixth Grade
Time Placement: Before reading book
Summary:
Students will research and prepare a Powerpoint about the 1930s in small groups. Students’ prior knowledge will be built on to establish the setting for the novel.

Objectives:
• Activate students’ prior knowledge of the 1930s.
• Expand students’ knowledge so that they have an understanding of the setting, social issues, and terms used in the novel.
Content Standards:
TEKS: LArts(6.8C), (6.11B), (6.13C,E,F,G,I),(6.21A-G)
Technology(6.1H),(6.7G),
Social Studies(6.2A,B)

Assessment:
Teacher rubric to grade presentations.
Self-Evaluations Forms
Student generated rubric to evaluate presentations of peers.

Materials:
• Powerpoint program.
• Internet access.

Resources:
• Websites

Prior Knowledge/Skills:
Use of computer, internet, and Powerpoint program.
Knowledge of 1930s.

Procedures:
In small groups students will research the 1930 on the internet. The groups will gather information to put on a Powerpoint presentation. Groups will use the teacher made guide to lead them in their research. The groups will also be pulling photos and or video clips to use in their presentation. Topics to highlight: The Depression, Social Reform, Presidents, Jazz Music, and Entertainment.

Modifications:
• If necessary, information and/or visuals could be gathered ahead of time for the students use. Specific websites could be listed for their research.
Technology Infusion:
• The use of the Powerpoint program. Use of websites and practice in downloading visuals and video onto the program. Use of projector to present the project.
Cultural Connections:
Understanding of prejudice in the 1930s and social problems faced by black Americans during the 1930s.


Download an example.

Lesson Title: 1930s Interviews
Unit: Bud, Not Buddy
Grade Level: Sixth Grade
Time placement: Prior to reading book
Summary:
Students will interview people in their families or community and ask questions about the 1930s, and then write a newspaper article.

Objectives:
• Generate questions for interviews.
• Interview adults.
• Organize information.
• Generate newspaper article from information.
• Use correct spelling and grammar.
Content Standards:
TEKS: LArts (6.15), (6.18), (6.20A), (6.20), (6.1A), (6.4A,B)

Assessment:
Rubric to grade article.
Self-Evaluation Form.

Materials:
• Newsprint or Word Processing Program
• Video Camera or tape recorder

Resources:
• Family or community experience and knowledge.

Procedures:
Students will generate questions to ask a family member or community member that lived during the 1930s. Questions will be turned in and approved before the interviews. Interviews may be recorded on paper, cassette tape, or videoed. Interviews could then be shared with the class, provide permission is given. After the interviews, students will then write a newspaper article from the information gathered from their interview. A digital photo of the person or persons that were interviewed could be incorporated into the article with permission. Newsprint could be used to write the article on or a word processing program could be used.

Modifications:
• Adults could be brought in by the teacher to interview.
Technology Infusion:
• Word Processing if used.
Cultural and Family Connections:
Understanding of a time in our society and how it affected people that they know in their own community.

Lesson Title: Pamphlet Activity
Unit: Bud, Not Buddy
Grade Level: 6th Grade
Time placement: Prior to reading book or during first 3 chapters
Summary:
Students will create in small groups a pamphlet illustrating the programs of Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Objectives:
• Build on the students’ knowledge of the New Deal program and social economics during the 1930s.
• Create understanding for situations in the novel.
• Use digital camera.
• Use internet for research.
• Use word processing program.
• Use correct spelling and gammar.
Content Standards:
TEKS: LArts (6.18),(6.20),(6.21)
Technology (6.5), (6.7E,F), (6.10A)
SS(6.2A,B)

Assessment:
Teacher rubric to grade presentations.
Self-Evaluations Forms
Student generated rubric to evaluate presentations of peers.
Materials:
• Digital Camera
• Computers with internet
• Microsoft Word Brochure Template or similar program

Resources:
• Websites, such as:
www.wwcd.org/policy/US/newdeal.html
• Example pamphlets or brochures to look at.

Prior Knowledge/Skills:Knowledge of word processing.

Procedures:
Show students an example or two of a pamphlet, and ask students two or three days ahead of time to bring pamphlets from home or from their parents’ workplaces for examples to look at.

Discuss President Roosevelt’s New Deal program during the depression as presented in the 1930s Powerpoints. Talk about the programs that were set up to help people such as Social Security, FDIC, AAA, CCC, etc. Discuss the WPA or another program and its goals. Tell the students that many building projects around our state were accomplished by WPA, such as the brick streets in many surrounding communities. If possible, have a local example. An example is the rock football field walls, school ditch walls, two-story elementary building, and home economic cottage at Gorman ISD were build by WPA.
Show the class examples of different pamphlets. Divide the class into groups of about four. Have each group look up information about the WPA or other such programs on the internet. Because we had a local example, we looked up the WPA, and I allowed each group to take a turn going outside with the digital camera to take a two or three photos of the structures build by WPA on our campus. Students will need to organize their information, including factual details to advertise the WPA. If local photos are available, the teacher will help each group scan their photos, and then using Microsoft Word’s brochure template, students will then create the pamphlets. If local photos are not possible, use photos or clip art from the internet.

Modifications:
• Pamphlets could be created by hand.
Technology Infusion:
• Use of the internet
• Use of a digital camera
• Use of Microsoft Word
Family Connection:
Pamphlets brought from parents’ workplaces will be highlighting different careers and family backgrounds as examples are shared and used by the class.

Download an example.

Lesson Title: Journal Activity
Unit: Bud, Not Buddy
Grade Level: Sixth Grade
Time placement: After each chapter
Summary:
Students will create journals with entries for each chapter of the book.

Objectives:
• Reflection and response to writing.
• Summarization
Content Standards:
TEKS: LArts (6.11), (6.10)

Assessment:
Rubric to grade journal.
Self-Evaluation Form.

Materials:
• Notebook or Paper.

Procedures:
After reading each chapter, students will put themselves in Bud’s shoes and write a journal entry. Each entry should act as a summary of the chapter read and tell how Bud feels (or the student thinks he feels) about what has happened in that chapter.

Cultural Connections:
Writers look at life through another’s prospective.

Lesson Title: All That Jazz Activity
Unit: Bud, Not Buddy
Grade Level: Sixth Grade
Time placement: After Chapter 8
Summary:
Students will research 1930s jazz greats and create a flyer advertising a fictional jazz band of their design.

Objectives:
• Research a topic.
Build on the students’ knowledge of black Jazz musicians in the 1930s.
• Generate a creative flyer from information.
Content Standards:
TEKS: LArts (6.18),(6.20),(6.21)
Technology (6.5), (6.7E,F), (6.11B)
SS(6.2A,B)

Assessment:
Rubric to grade flyers.
Self-Evaluation Form.

Materials:
• Computers
• Word processing program

Resources:
• Internet sites

Procedures:
Students will research jazz greats from the 1930s by visiting these websites:
Bessie Smith www.sbgmusic.com/html/teacher/reference/historical/1930s.html
Louis Armstrong afroamhistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbs.org%2Fjazz%2Fbiography%2Fartist_id_armstrong_louis.htm
Duke Ellington
www.btinternet.com/~dreklind/Soundone.htm.
Students will then create a flyer advertising a fictional jazz band of their design. Flyers could be made on paper, pencils, and colors or with as a word document.

Modifications:
• If the internet and computers are not available, then library resources and encyclopedias could be used for research.
Technology Infusion:
• Internet for research.
• Word processing program or Print Shop type program.
Cultural Connections:
Understanding of the culture of black Jazz greats during the depression.

Download an example.

Lesson Title: TV Commercial Activity
Unit: Bud, Not Buddy
Grade Level: Sixth Grade
Time placement: After Novel
Summary:
Students will plan, write, and record on video a commercial advertising the book.

Objectives:
• Creative interpretation of the novel.
• Writing Process.
• Use of a video camera and use of Microsoft Movie Maker or a simular program.
Content Standards:
TEKS: LArt (6.18), (6.20E), (6.11)
Technology (6.5)

Assessment:
Teacher rubric to grade presentations.
Self-Evaluations Forms
Student generated rubric to evaluate presentations of peers.
Materials:
• Video camera and movie making program

Resources:
• Novel

Procedures:
Students will be divided into groups of four to five. Each group will plan and write a TV commercial advertising the novel. The commercials should provide highlights from the book and encourage others to read it. The commercials could be patterned after commercials seen by the students. Costumes could even be worn. A digital video camera will be used to video each commercial. The digital video will be downloaded and finished with an introduction, credits, etc. using Microsoft Movie Maker. All of the commercials can then be shown to the class.

Modifications:
•
Technology Infusion:
• Use of video equipment and movie making program.
Cultural Connections:
Connection to current commercials in today’s society.
Family Connection:
Costumes from home.

Lesson Title: Creative Book Report Activity
Unit: Bud, Not Buddy
Grade Level: Sixth Grade
Time placement: After reading book
Summary (25-50 words):
Students will generate a creative book report after finishing the novel.

Objectives:
• Interpretation and understanding of Theme
• Literary Response
Content Standards:
TEKS: LArts (6.10), (6.11)

Assessment:
Teacher rubric to grade presentations.
Self-Evaluations Forms
Student generated rubric to evaluate presentations of peers.


Procedures:
After reading the novel, students will generate a creative interpretation of a theme from the story.

Theme Choices:
o Friendship
o Sense of Humor
o Racism
o Family Relationships
o Hope
o Survival

Example Report Ideas:
o Newspaper
o Comic Strip
o Game
o Book Jacket
o Flyer
o Magazine Cover
o Song
o Mobile
o Children’s Picture Book
o Skit
o Imaginary Interview with Author or Character(s)

Book reports that involve skits could be videoed and shown to the class.

Technology Infusion:
• Technology could be used depending on report type.

Download an example.

Lesson Title: E-mail Activity
Unit: Bud, Not Buddy
Grade Level: Sixth Grade
Time placement: After reading book
Summary:
Students will e-mail the author.

Objectives:
• Writing Process
• Response to literature.
• Interaction with writer
Content Standards:
TEKS: LArts (6.18), (6.21B)

Assessment:
Rubric to grade letter.
Self-Evaluation Form.

Resources:
• E-mail

Prior Knowledge/Skills:
Letter writing
Knowledge of E-mail

Procedures:
After reading the book, students will write a letter to Christopher Paul Curtis. The letter will be written on paper and turned in for approval from the teacher. Then, the letter will be typed as an e-mail on the following website www.christopherpaulcurtis.smartwriters.com/index.2ts?page=contact to be sent to the author.
The letter needs to include:
Date

Dear Mr. Curtis:

First Paragraph gives a friendly greeting and introduction.

Second Paragraph tells whether the reader liked the book or not, and gives good reasons and examples from the story.

Third Paragraph tells what the reader's favorite part of the book and why. Also, it tell which character was identified with or liked the most and why.

Fourth Paragraph tells what lesson(s) the reader learned from the book and how the book taught that lesson(s).

Fifth paragraph will be the closing.


Sincerely,

First Name


Technology Infusion:
• E-mail

Lesson Title: Riding the Rails Activity
Unit: Bud, Not Buddy
Grade Level: Sixth Grade
Time placement: After Chapter 8
Summary:
Students will watch the documentary Riding the Rails, take part in a discussion, and generate a letter from a character from the novel.

Objectives:
• Build understand of culture during the depression.
• Reflect on a character’s choices in the novel.
• Generate ideas and write in letter format.
• Use correct spelling and grammar.
Content Standards:
TEKS: LArts (6.18)
SS (6.15)

Assessment:
Rubric to grade letters.
Self-Evaluation Form.

Materials:
Video - Riding the Rails. PBS Video. The American History Project/Out of the Blue Productions, Inc., 1-800-255-9424.
TV and VCR

Resources:
• Discussion notes.

Procedures:
Discuss Bugs and Bud going to ride the rails in chapter 8. Discuss how common this was during the depression.

Background information:
Thousands of men and boys were roaming America in search of a better life. Some left in search of employment; others left in shame over their family life being destroyed by the Depression; some left seeking adventure.
By the summer of 1932, it was very common to see hundreds of people hanging off the sides of train cars, as well as on the road. Most boys (and the occasional girl) traveled together in small groups, as it was a dangerous environment.
One of the most dangerous aspects of riding the rails was the train itself. Though it was thrilling to be riding at the top of the train across the Great Plains, it could also be deadly. Between the years of 1930 and 1939, it is estimated that approximately 24,000 people were killed and 27,000 were injured on railroad property.
However, riding the trains was not the only dangerous aspect of living on the road. There were multiple diseases transmitted, as well as poor conditions related to exposure, lack of cleanliness, and hunger. Most men and boys would go days without eating, and when they did eat, it was usually food left in the garbage, spoiled and unsanitary.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to curb the amount of runaways and railroad trespassers. Unemployed and unmarried men between the ages of 18 and 25 were eligible to enroll. They were to be paid approximately $30 a month with the most of those wages going to their families. These young men were put to work in national forests and parks. The CCC did not eliminate all of the runaways, as the permanent jobs did not come until after WW II began.
Teacher Created Materials, Inc.

Watch the documentary Riding the Rails, which portrays the dilemma and life of the young men or boys riding the rails during the Depression.
Riding the Rails. PBS Video. The American History Project/Out of the Blue Productions, Inc., 1-800-255-9424.

After watching the video, students will write a letter from Bugs to Bud telling him how he is and how life is riding the rails.


Modifications:
• If video cannot not be acquired, class discussion of the topic and Bugs’s choice to ride the rails could take place before the letters are written.
Technology Infusion:
• Video
Cultural Connections:
Understanding of the plight of extremely poor Americans during the depression.

Spelling lists for three weeks are provided. The words from each lesson are from the novel and have a particular pattern.

Download Spelling Lessons.

Chapter Questions are divided into the following sections:
Chapter 1-3
Chpater 4-8
Chapter 9-11
Chapter 12-14
Chapter 15-19

Download Questions.

Download test.

Download Grading Rubrics.

Bibliography