Learning Understanding from Literature
Grade
Grade 3
UNIT
8
•
Understanding
In Unit 8, Lesson 1, “Learning Understanding from Literature,” students will learn examples of understanding from a contemporary work of children’s literature. Students will also write sentences demonstrating their comprehension of the word understanding. Finally, students will practice reading and conversation skills by sharing sentences with classmates.
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SUGGESTED TIME:
20 minutes
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- Listen to a read aloud to reinforce understanding of English sentence structure, syntax, and grammar
- Practice reading aloud to a partner to support reading comprehension
- Spell, define, and give an example of understanding
- Compose sentences that demonstrate comprehension of the word understanding
- Demonstrate understanding of standard English sentence structure and grammar in writing and speaking
- Practice reading and conversation skills by sharing sentences with classmates
REQUIRED MATERIALS:
- Book: Beatrice Zinker Upside Down Thinker by Shelley Johannes or
- Video: Read aloud: Chapter 1 of Beatrice Zinker Upside Down Thinker by teacher Nicole Angelo (~4 min)
- Prohuman Grade 3 Unit 8 Worksheet 1: Learning Understanding from Literature
VOCABULARY:
- Understanding: I seek knowledge and try to learn the truth. I think about other people’s views that might be different from mine.
ELA COMMON CORE STANDARDS MET
CHARACTER AND SOCIAL EMOTIONAL (CSED) NATIONAL STANDARDS MET
LESSON PROCEDURE
Today we will learn about understanding.
- Write understanding on the board.
- Ask students what understanding means.
- Give them the definition: Understanding means that we seek knowledge and try to learn the truth. We think about other people’s views that might be different from ours.
- Without giving them any information other than this is from an advertisement, show students the first image (the giraffe) in this Jeep advertisement and ask what they see.
- Show students the second image (the penguin) in the advertisement and ask what they see.
- Ask what they notice about the first and second pictures.
- Repeat this process for the third image (the deer) and the fourth image (the seal).
- Repeat this process for the fifth image (the elephant) and the final image (the swan).
- Ask students: What do these images teach us about understanding?
- Tell the students that it is important to look at things from different perspectives, even upside down.
- Today we will read about an upside-down thinker.
- Read the book Beatrice Zinker Upside Down Thinker by Shelley Johannes or
- Play the video: Read aloud of Chapter 1 of Beatrice Zinker Upside Down Thinker by teacher Nicole Angelo (~4 min)
- Ask students to answer the questions on their worksheet.
- Ask students to read their answers to a partner.
GRADE 3 UNIT 8 WORKSHEET 1: LEARNING UNDERSTANDING FROM LITERATURE
Understanding: I seek knowledge and try to learn the truth. I think about other people’s views that might be different from mine.
ACTIVITY:
- Who is the main character in the story?
- How did Beatrice do her best thinking?
- What can be good about moving outside of boxes and boundaries?
- Why can it be good to think about maybes, what-ifs, and could-bes?
- How did Beatrice show understanding?
Prohuman K-12 Curriculum © 2025 by Prohuman Foundation is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/