Keena Ford
Students explore the concepts of honesty, forgiveness, and friendship by reading Freckle Juice, Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up, grappling with the concepts of peer pressure and jealousy.
Unit Summary
A note from our team: As part of the upgrade to Fishtank Plus, this unit will be revised this year. Some texts, materials, and questions may change as part of the revision.
In this unit students learn about making mistakes, honesty, and the power of forgiveness by reading the core texts Freckle Juice and Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up. In Freckle Juice, students explore what peer pressure is and the ways in which people can influence the decisions that we make. In Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up, students explore what it means to be honest, especially when it may seem difficult to tell the truth. Students will also explore the value of friendship and how jealousy can sometimes come between friends. Andrew in Freckle Juice and Keena Ford are both highly relatable characters who are struggling with issues that are common in second grade. Therefore, these books will give students a chance to grapple with and explore the nuances of peer pressure, honesty, friendship, and jealously in a non-threatening way.
For readers, this unit begins the transition from early chapter books that have an equal balance of words and pictures into chapter books where the picture support is removed. Therefore, over the course of the unit students will work on using the strategies they have learned to help build stamina in order to read longer texts. Besides building stamina, there are a few main focuses of the unit. One is on deeply understanding characters, including character motivations, perspectives, and relationships. Keena Ford shares lots of insight into how and why she does the things that she does, which will make it easier for students to internalize what it means to notice and track character over the course of a longer text. Another focus is on holding onto the plot across multiple chapters. This is the third chapter book that students will be reading, but the plot of this text is slightly more nuanced. Finally, students should continue to work on using context to figure out the meaning of unknown words and using the illustrations to deepen their understanding of the text.
As writers, students will continue to work on writing strong, focused text-based answers in response to the text. In this unit students will be pushed to include inferential and critical thinking to support their answers. They will also begin to use transition words as a way to support organizational structure and evidence. All grammar Focus Correction Areas in this unit are a review; therefore, students should be receiving weekly individualized feedback.
Texts and Materials
Some of the links below are Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click and make a purchase, we receive a small portion of the proceeds, which supports our non-profit mission.
Core Materials
-
Book: Freckle Juice by Judy Blume (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2014) — 570L
-
Book: Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up by Melissa Thomson (Puffin Books, 2009) — 620L
See Text Selection Rationale
Assessment
This assessment accompanies this unit and should be given on the suggested assessment day or after completing the unit.
- Download Assessment
Unit Prep
Intellectual Prep
?
Internalize Unit Standards and Texts:
- Read all unit texts and notice evidence of unit essential questions and standard.
- Unpack unit priority standards and determine the habits of good readers focuses for the unit. What does a reader need to know and understand in order to make sense of the text?
- Determine a discussion focus based on priority speaking and listening standards. Create a plan for how to introduce and reinforce teaching points over the course of the unit.
- Determine a fluency focus based on priority foundational reading standards. Create a plan for how to introduce and reinforce teaching points over the course of the unit.
- Take unit assessment and notice evidence of unit priority standards and demands of the assessment.
Essential Questions
?
- What does it mean to be honest? Why is it important to show honesty in our everyday lives?
- How do other people influence the decisions you make in your life?
- How can peer pressure be both positive and negative?
- What does it mean to forgive someone?
- How can we learn from our mistakes?
Writing Focus Areas
?
- In units 1 through 3 students learned how to write well-focused answers in response to the text that are supported with strong evidence. It is assumed that the majority of students are scoring at a 3 on the rubric for all previously taught Focus Correction Areas. Small-group remedial instruction should be planned for students who have not yet mastered previously taught Focus Correction Areas.
- The main focus of this unit is challenging students to include inferential or critical thinking in their answers that goes beyond literal comprehension of the text. This could be through a claim that shows inferential or critical thinking, or by including an explanation of evidence that has some level of critical thinking or inference. This Focus Correction Area requires that students have a deep understanding of the text before writing. The second focus for this unit is on using linking words and phrases to support the paragraph structure.
- All grammar Focus Correction Areas in this unit are spiraling. Students should be receiving weekly feedback on grammar based on individualized student needs.
Language Focus Areas
- uses correct end punctuation
- spells grade-level words correctly
- uses complete sentences
- uses correct capitalization
Writing-About-Reading Focus Areas
- makes an accurate claim that demonstrates comprehension of the text (spiral)
- includes some inferential or critical thinking
- uses relevant and accurate details, facts, and other varied evidence from the text (spiral)
- uses specific vocabulary from the text (spiral)
- groups information into a paragraph structure that introduces a topic and provides details (spiral)
- uses some linking words and phrases
Vocabulary
?
Literary Terms
character relationships, character perspective, character motivation, conflict
Roots and Affixes
Review: re-, un-, -ful, -less
Text-based
Freckle Juice: freckles, recipe, infer, allowance, desperate, peer pressure, confidence, self-assurance
Keena Ford: mess, instead, mysterious, wacky, supposed, permanent, compromise, admit, complain, grateful, actually, “getting into mess,” conflicting, disappointed, sternly, jealousy, startled, snooping, apology
Idioms and Cultural References
"clean slate", "back to the drawing board", "don’t cry over spilled milk", "get a taste of your own medicine", "get up on the wrong side of bed"
Content Knowledge and Connections
?
Previous Fishtank ELA Connections
Lesson Map
1
-
Freckle Juice — Ch. 1
RL.2.3
RL.2.5
RF.2.4
Describe Sharon by making inferences based on the words and phrases Judy Blume uses to characterize and describe Sharon.
2
-
Freckle Juice — Ch. 2
RL.2.3
RF.2.4
Describe how Andrew is desperate by analyzing details to draw conclusions about characters’ actions and motivations.
3
-
Freckle Juice — Ch. 3
RL.2.3
RL.2.6
RF.2.4
Describe how Andrew has changed and how Sharon’s and Andrew’s personalities contributed to the change by making inferences about character change and relationships.
4
-
Freckle Juice — Ch. 4
RL.2.3
RL.2.6
RF.2.4
Describe Andrew’s feelings toward Sharon by making inferences based on evidence that shows a character’s perspective on another character.
5
-
Freckle Juice — Ch. 5
RL.2.3
RF.2.4
Explain what role Miss Kelly plays in the solution to Andrew’s problem by identifying and describing roles between characters.
6
Discussion
-
Freckle Juice
RL.2.2
RL.2.5
W.2.2
SL.2.2
Explain how other people influenced the decisions that Andrew made and what we can learn from him to make our lives better by identifying and interpreting key details that support the main lesson of a text.
7
-
Keena Ford — Book Review
RL.2.3
RF.2.4
Predict what will happen in Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up by identifying and explaining evidence about character actions and motivations.
8
-
Keena Ford pp. 1 – 7
RL.2.3
RF.2.4
Explain why Keena’s mom thinks a journal is a good idea by drawing conclusions about character motivation and relationships.
9
-
Keena Ford pp. 8 – 17
RL.2.3
RL.2.4
RF.2.4
Describe Eric and Keena’s relationship by drawing conclusions about character motivation and relationships.
10
-
Keena Ford pp. 18 – 28
RL.2.3
RF.2.4
Describe the relationship between Keena and her father by identifying and describing evidence that shows character relationships and feelings.
11
-
Keena Ford pp. 29 – 37
RL.2.3
RL.2.6
RF.2.4
Explain how Keena’s feelings about second grade change by identifying evidence that shows character feelings and character change.
12
-
Keena Ford pp. 38 – 44
RL.2.3
RF.2.4
Describe what “mess” Keena gets herself into and what she decides to do by identifying evidence that shows character conflict and perspective.
13
Writing
-
Keena Ford
RL.2.2
RL.2.5
W.2.1
Write a letter to Keena describing what she should do by stating a claim and supporting the claim with details from the text and personal connections.
14
-
Keena Ford pp. 45 – 51 — stop before 3:30
RL.2.3
RF.2.4
Describe the conflicting feelings that Keena has by identifying and explaining evidence that shows character feelings and perspective.
15
-
Keena Ford pp. 51 – 62 — read to "NOW"
RL.2.3
RF.2.4
Describe what makes Keena believe that it really is her birthday and how her mom responds by identifying and explaining evidence that shows character feeling and perspective.
16
-
Keena Ford pp. 62 – 66
RL.2.3
RL.2.4
RF.2.4
Describe how Miss Campbell reacts to Keena’s lies and what this tells us about Miss Campbell by identifying and explaining evidence that shows character feeling and perspective.
17
Writing
-
Keena Ford
RL.2.2
RL.2.5
W.2.1
Write a letter to Keena describing what she should do by stating a claim and supporting the claim with details from the text and personal connections.
18
-
Keena Ford pp. 67 – 73
RL.2.3
RL.2.6
RF.2.4
Explain how Keena feels about Linny and why they become friends by identifying and describing key details that show character feelings and relationships.
19
-
Keena Ford pp. 73 – 81
RL.2.3
RL.2.6
RF.2.4
Explain why Keena decides to go into Miss Hanson’s classroom by identifying and describing key details that show character feelings and motivations.
20
-
Keena Ford pp. 81 – 89
RL.2.3
RL.2.6
RF.2.4
Analyze how Miss Campbell is feeling and why by closely reading a text to determine evidence that deepens understanding of character feelings and motivations.
21
-
Keena Ford pp. 90 – 102
RL.2.2
RL.2.3
RF.2.4
Describe how Keena, Eric, and Miss Campbell show forgiveness by identifying and describing key details that support the main lesson of a text.
22
Discussion
-
Keena Ford
RL.2.3
RL.2.5
SL.2.1
SL.2.6
L.2.6
Discuss and debate unit essential questions by stating a claim and supporting the claim with evidence and details from the entire unit.
23
Writing
-
Keena Ford
RL.2.2
RL.2.5
W.2.1
Write a letter to Keena describing what she should do by stating a claim and supporting the claim with details from the text and personal connections.
24
Assessment
25
Project
-
Scenario cards
SL.2.1
SL.2.4
Act out appropriate reactions to scenarios from the unit texts.
Common Core Standards
Language Standards
-
L.2.1 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
-
L.2.2 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
-
L.2.4 — Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
-
L.2.5 — Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
-
L.2.6 — Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using adjectives and adverbs to describe (e.g., When other kids are happy that makes me happy).
Reading Standards for Literature
-
RL.2.2 — Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
-
RL.2.3 — Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
-
RL.2.4 — Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.
-
RL.2.5 — Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
-
RL.2.6 — Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.
-
RL.2.10 — By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2—3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
Reading Standards: Foundational Skills
-
RF.2.4 — Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
Speaking and Listening Standards
-
SL.2.1 — Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
-
SL.2.2 — Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.
-
SL.2.4 — Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences.
-
SL.2.6 — Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.
Writing Standards
-
W.2.1 — Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.
-
W.2.2 — Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
-
W.2.8 — Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
