In this "Drought: 5 Day Reading Comp Camp Pairing Fiction and Nonfiction," students will meet daily for 1 week to listen to and discuss new books about how drought affects our lives--what we can do about it.  Through legends and true accounts of how boys and girls changed their world impacted by drought, students will gain a greater understanding of how water is such a vital resource for us all.  We will discuss basic ways we can make better choices to conserve water.

Students at this age are learning to be good readers.  Good readers use prior knowledge, make predictions, summarize, question, infer, visualize, and make inferences.  It is important for children to be able to comprehend what they read--but HOW does that happen?  Students must apply literal, inferential, and evaluative skills to answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions based on the text.  In this class, we will focus on characterization and cause/effect while we will practice answering the 5 W's + H (how).  Students will review new vocabulary, make predictions, and make connections while reading each story.

During the 45 minute class:
• Students will be welcomed to class.  We will quickly review the class rules, our learning goals, and writing prompts together as a class.  
• Students will listen to a narrative story about the impact of drought and discuss plot details and historical events.  We will focus on causes and effects of droughts, as well as the people impacted by droughts.  Students will review the 5 W’s + an H (who, what, when, where, why, how) of comprehension as I ask questions.
• Students will then be given approximately 10 minutes to respond to a writing prompt.  Younger children will draw a picture with details to respond to the prompt.  Teacher support will be available to all students during this time. Students should raise their hand if they have a question during this time.
• Once the independent writing time is over, students may share their writing with the class.  Sharing is optional but encouraged. 
• As a class, we will review the material covered in the mini lesson and I will answer any questions prior to dismissing the class. 

Book Sequence:
Day 1: Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain
Day 2: The Dust Bowl by David Booth
Day 3: Desert Girl, Monsoon Boy
Rain and Fire Retold by Cheryl Clark
Day 4: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
Day 5: Hope Springs by Eric Walters

(NOTE:  Children learn vocabulary, sequencing, and prediction skills through repetition of stories.  If you feel your child would benefit from hearing the story again, I would love to have them join me in additional sections of the class!)