Non-written activities:
For lower elementary and/or for students who need and like alternative methods of expressing them-
selves:
Students can paint a picture to illustrate their book that shows how the forest is depicted. Mood and
feeling can be expressed with line, color, value, shape, and rhythm.
Students can invent a board game that involves travelling through a forest as depicted in an interpreta-
tion of `wilderness' that includes the dangers alluded to in the text.
Students can act out a play version of the story, adapting dialog or inventing their own dialog, following
an outline of scenes.
Assessment :
Student work should reflect an understanding of the theme of wilderness as assigned, and contain all the
elements of good writing, speaking, or other skills involved in their task. Older students' work should
reflect some comparative analysis and/or research into history, philosophy, and literature.
Illinois Goals and Standards addressed:
English Language Arts
Goal 2: Read and understand literature representative of various societies, eras, and ideas.
Standard A: Understand how literary elements and techniques are used to convey meaning.
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Late Elementary: 2.A.2b: Describe how story elements are used in literature to create meaning.
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Middle/Junior High: 2.A.3b: Describe how the development of theme, character, plot, and
setting contribute to the overall impact of a piece of literature.
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Early High: 2.A.4a : Analyze and evaluate the effective use of literary techniques (figurative
language, allusion, dialogue, description, symbolism, word choice, dialect) in classic and con-
temporary literature.
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Late High: 2.A.5d: Evaluate the influence of historical context on form, style, and point of view
for a variety of literary works.
Standard B: Read and interpret a variety of literary works.
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Early Elementary: 2.B.1b: Identify common themes in literature from a variety of eras.
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Late Elementary: 2.B.2b: Identify and explain themes that have been explored in literature for
different societies and eras.
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Middle/Junior High: 2.B.3b : Compare and contrast common literary themes across various
societies and eras.
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Early High School: 2.B.4b: Analyze form, content, purpose, and major themes of American
literature and literature of other countries in their historical perspectives.
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Late High School: 2.B.5b: Apply knowledge gained from literature as means of understanding
contemporary and historical economic, social, and political issues and perspectives.