Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation by Jaqueline Jules

January Theme:  Organization

This month’s theme is Organization.  How can we use picture books to model for students how authors choose to organize their writing?

Recommended Grades: 4-6

Written as a school play, Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation is the story of the transition of the colonies moving to independent states, and finally to a national government.  There are brief overviews written in the form of narration, but the meat of the “story” comes from the children who play different parts in the play and really describe what happened during this time.  To further clarify, the author also added notes to the book.

Lesson idea: I love how the author took an informational topic and organized it in such a way to engage children.  Read aloud this book as part of lessons on the Revolutionary War time period and beyond.  Discuss how the author organized the information into a school play.  Have students re-enact the play from the book.  Discuss with students the elements of a play.  Have students write their own play based on a historical event.

If you are looking for additional resources and ways to teach organization to students, find past posts under the Organization tag.

**Note** I provide these lesson ideas under the assumption that you are familiar with The Six Traits of Writing.  If you are not, and would like more information on teaching students about organization or any other six traits component, please feel free to contact me at Dlittle[at]linkstoliteracy[dot]com.  I am happy to provide more specific lessons or resources if necessary.

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