Uni the Unicorn

Uni the Unicorn: A story about Believing

The selling tool (above) is in JPEG form and could be used as a poster or posted on a library website. 

Title: Uni the Unicorn:  a story about believing

Author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Illustrator: Bridette Barrager

Lexile: AD720L

Pub Date: Aug. 26th, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-385-37555-9

Page count: 48pp

Publisher: Random House

Social emotional learning, specifically teaching children to believe in themselves,
set and reach for goals, and care for others is something that is very important to me.  
I also want to help children have the capacity to dream big and take risks.
I see this book meeting so many different goals and objectives in that context but also having a STEM
connection as an introduction to thinking creatively and using your imagination.
For this assignment, I am going to use this as a springboard for children to think about what they
believe they can do and set goals as a beginning of school assignment.

Possible learning activity for the book:

1. Read-aloud the story to the class
2. For an auditory connection you can play Auli'i Cravalho - ¨How Far I'll Go¨ for students
3. Students will begin to think about the things that they believe in that might make them different from others.  
4. Class discussion should be centered on the ideas that everyone has different beliefs and goals, but that like Uni, everyone is entitled to this and should stick to their own convictions. Just like Uni believed her dream was possible, students need to think about the inventions and ideas that they believe are possible!
5. Students will create goals for themselves and present that using a digital tool like Canva or Prezi  (students should be given choices based on what tools have been taught previously).  These goals should include a goal for reading as well as an idea for something they would like to create in a Makerspace.  

Learning standard:

1. EMPIRE STATE INFORMATION FLUENCY CONTINUUM
1.  STANDARD 2 PURSUING PERSONAL AND AESTHETIC GROWTH:  “I am an explorer.” An independent learner responds to and creates literary and artistic expressions, uses effective strategies for personal exploration of ideas, and reads on his or her own by choice.
2.  ISTE:
1. Empowered Learner: (1a)
2.  Creative Communicator: (6a)

Goal: Students will set appropriate goals that will be used throughout the year.

Objectives:

1. (Cognitive) Students will identify appropriate personal goals during the class period 
2. (Psycho motor) Students will utilize a digital tool to present their goals and ideas for the school year in a cohesive and detailed format.
3. (Affective) Students will develop appreciation for their classmates' perspectives by listening and respecting the opinions of others with limited input from teacher

Outcome: Students will begin to think about a no risk mentality and understand that in
order to be successful they must take risks and believe in themselves, just like Uni did.
By having specific goals and ideas to work towards in library class, students will hold themselves
accountable. This would be something that should be referred to throughout the year as students
continue to assess and reflect on their progress.

Resources:

http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/1A931D4E-1620-4672-ABEF-460A273D0D5F/0/EmpireStateIFC.pdf

http://www.iste.org/standards/for-students

And Tango Makes Three written by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

And Tango Makes Three
Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
AD720L

            This is a story about the real-life penguins Roy and Silo and how they adopt an abandoned egg. The two penguins are both males but show affection to one another as mates and raise the egg until it hatches into a baby penguin, named Tango. The fact this was an actual story that happened between two male penguins raising a child together made this book banned due to homosexual content.

American Library Association Notable Children's Book - 2006
ASPCA's Henry Berg Award - 2005
Cooperative Children's Book Council choice - 2006

Learning Activity -
Using the information from the real life penguins from the zoo and in And Tango Makes Three, have the student compare these animal parents to other ones they've seen in their personal life, in stories, or how they can see parents they know (their own or friends') that are similar to Roy and Silo.

Standards:
CCSS.ELA-L.RL.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-L.RL.K.2 With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.
CCSS.ELA-L.RL.K.9 With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories.

Goal:
After listening to the text, the student can think about their own experiences with animal parents and human parents. Then they can talk about how the roles of each parent are similar to the two male parents in the story with one another.

Objective:
Cognitive -
            The student will compare the story's parents with sets of parents they know in other fiction or in real life.
            The student will provide at least 2 examples of other parents and compare those examples to Tango’s parents.
            The student will discuss their examples in small groups of 3 or 4.

Outcome:
The student will discuss how each parent functions within the family and how animals and humans are similar in how they feel for their families.