Nick Brindisi

Number the Stars: chapter 1

1. Objectives:

Students will:

• Describe the setting in chapter 1 of the novel.

• Relate aspects of their own friendships to the relationships between
characters.
• Identify thoughts and actions limited to specific characteristics in the story
and the traits shown as a result of those thoughts and actions.

2. Standards:

Key ideas:

1. Listening and reading to acquire information and understanding involves

collecting data, facts, and ideas; discovering relationships, concepts, and
generalizations; and using knowledge from oral, written, and electronic sources

Performance Indicators:

1. Recognize how new information is related to prior knowledge or experience

2. Identify main ideas and supporting details in informational texts to distinguish

relevant and irrelevant information.

3. Make, confirm, or revise predictions, with assistance.

3. Anticipatory Set

Upon entering the classroom, on the SMART board will be a question to provoke
reflection of chapter 1. The question will be, “describe the setting in chapter 1.”
Students will be given approximately 5-8 minutes to thoroughly answer the question.
Review answers, check for understanding.

4. Teaching Outline:

Input:
Begin a conversation about friendship. Why is friendship important? (friends
help each other, friends “hang out” together, friends care for each other.

Modeling:
Hand out friendship worksheet and give directions. (check for understanding)
They will have 8-10 minutes to work on the sheet individually. Next, they’ll briefly
discuss the handout with a neighbor. Finally, we will come together as a whole group
and complete the worksheet on the SMART board. ASK: how might this activity relate
to Number the Stars?

Check for Understanding:

I will check for understanding throughout the lesson by using teacher proximity,
asking thoughtful questions, and asking students to repeat the directions occasionally.

5. Guided Practice:

Character activity: Give directions for carrousel review. Students will visit 4
stations set up in the classroom where they’ll list thoughts and actions of 4 characters in
chapter 1. Each student should list at least 1 thought or action expressed by Annemarie,
Ellen, Kirsti, and Nazi soldiers. I’ll break the whole group up randomly into 4 equal
groups and give them 5 minutes to write their response on a large piece of poster paper.
When students are finished with their final station, I’ll bring them back together as a
whole group and review the responses on the SMART board.

6. Closure:

When students are finished with the activity, they’ll come back as a whole group.
I’ll post a chart on the SMART board and list their responses. What character traits do
these thoughts and actions show?