Database Lesson Plan

1. Unit Goal:

The student will develop an appreciation for children's literature.

2. Instructional Objectives:

The student will help create a classroom database.
The student will participate in a classroom mail-merge.
The student will recognize similarities and differences in mail-merged stories.

3. Set:

Before we begin our lesson, let me ask if anyone has ever created a story about yourself and the people around you? Well, that's what you're going to do today. Tell students that you are about to read a story called Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard and James Marshall. Explain that they should listen with open imaginations because they will soon "edit" themselves into the story.

4. Instruction:

Have a word processing document prepared beforehand, with appropriate citation of literature used, omitting the following words or phrases from the story:

Miss Nelson (replace with Field 1)
spitballs (replace with Field 2)
Room 207 (replace with Field 3)
paper planes (replace with Field 4)
Miss Viola Swamp (replace with Field 5)
they (where appropriate-replace with Field 6)
Detective McSmogg (replace with Field 7)
butterflies (replace with Field 8)
their (where appropriate-replace with Field 9)

After reading the story aloud, begin to create a classroom database. Go "round robin" in the class with each child giving information in the following categories:

Field 1-teacher's name
Field 2-favorite sticky substance
Field 3-school or class name
Field 4-favorite flying object
Field 5-substitute teacher's name
Field 6-child's name
Field 7-name of detective
Field 8-favorite animals
Field 9-possessive pronoun(his/her)
Field 10-pronoun(he/she)

Conduct a mail-merge with created database and prepared word processing document. After printing, hand out individualized stories to class. Remind the students the story was originally Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard and James Marshall and those men are the "authors". Discuss what an author is. Tell the students what they have done is rework that story into a more personalized one.

5.Closure:

Have students take turns sharing their versions of the story. Discuss similarities and differences. Remind students that differences in the story were a result of the information they gave earlier while creating a classroom database.

6.Reminders:

Any special circumstances?

Children with special needs?

7.Self-Evaluation:

What would you do differently?

What were the successes?

What were the problems?

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