by Yangsook Choi
Unhei struggles to find a new name because she is afraid her new classmates will not be able to pronounce her Korean name. Her classmates decide to help her out, but in the end she chooses her own Korean name and helps everyone pronounce it.
Strategies/Skills Used
Reading Strategy 2: Predict what will be learned or what will happen.
Reading Strategy 4: Self-monitor and self-correct.
Reading Strategy 5: Make mental pictures.
Reading Strategy 11: Make inferences and draw conclusions.
Writing Skill 6: I choose the tone and point of view that suit my writing purpose.
TEACHING THE ACTIVITY: PRE-READING
(1) Explain to students that in this lesson they will be working on the important pre-reading strategies of predicting, making mental pictures, making inferences and drawing conclusions.
(2) Use Reading Like an Author to structure the first part of your lesson. Have students predict from the title what the book will be about (think/pair/share). Have them record their predictions in Box 1.
(3) Present students with the main characters’ names (Unhei and Joey) and follow What’s in a Name? procedures.
TEACHING THE ACTIVITY: DURING READING
(4) Continue Reading like an Author procedures for Boxes 2, 3 and 4. In boxes 2 and 3, have students record what they think and/or what they would say as they react to each portion of the story. In Box 4, they assume the role of either Unhei or Joey and write their thoughts from this character’s perspective. Alternatively, students can write the story’s main idea or theme in the fourth box.
(5) Have students confirm or reject their predictions from the What’s in a Name? pre-reading activity.
TEACHING THE ACTIVITY: POST-READING
(6) After reading the story, tell the students they are going to practice an important writing strategy: writing to suit an audience by writing in role. Characterization…Writing in a Role
(7) Select one part of the story (it could be from sections above) and show students the picture that illustrates this part. Ask how they think the character is feeling. If you wish, have students speak in role as the character to tell how they are feeling and why.
(8) Have students think of a time when they felt like Unhei (ashamed about her name, appreciative of Joey’s actions) or like Joey (empathetic). Have them talk with a partner and answer the questions: What happened? Why did you feel the way you did? What did you think/say?
(9) Have students draw or write in role as one of the story’s characters, retelling the story from that character’s perspective.
TEACHING THE ACTIVITY: POST-READING EXTENSION
(10) Have students research the meaning and/or history of their own names and write a piece to explain how they’d feel if they shared Unhei’s experience.