Essential Questions
- How can we learn from our mistakes?
- What does it mean to be a good friend?
Literature Connection
- Novel: Can’t Look Away by Donna Cooner
- Poem: “Fame is a bee.” by Emily Dickinson
Standards Correlations
R.1, R.2, R.3, R.4, R.6, R.7, W.3, SL.1, L.4, L.5, L.6
Learning objective
Students will analyze how a character changes as she gains—and then loses—fame.
Key Skills
inference, text features, vocabulary, character, author’s craft, point of view, compare and contrast, figurative language, plot, interpreting text, theme, critical thinking, narrative writing
Complexity Factors
Levels of Meaning: The story explores themes of fame and friendship.
Structure: The story is told from a first-person perspective. After Part 1, events are told in chronological order.
Language: The language is conversational. Some figurative language is used.
Knowledge Demands: Some familiarity with social media will be helpful.
Levels
Guided Reading Level: R
DRA Level: 40
Lesson Plan: Girl Can't Dance
Essential Questions
Literature Connection
1. Preparing to Read
Making Connections (5 minutes)
Preview Text Features (5 minutes)
Guide students to locate the story. Then preview text features with the following prompts:
Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)
Set a Purpose for Reading
2. Reading and Unpacking the Text
Answers to the Close-Reading Questions (30 minutes)
Critical-Thinking Questions (5 minutes)
Would you want to be the star of a YouTube video that goes viral? How do you think you would react? Explain using details from the story and your own experience. (critical thinking) Answers will vary.
3. Skill Building and Writing
Learn Anywhere Activity
An enrichment activity to extend the learning journey at home or in the classroom
Build Empathy With Improv
After you respond to the writing prompt, take your ideas further by acting out Emma’s conversation with Aubree.
Improv is a type of acting that doesn’t involve a script. You make up your lines as you go along, based on what the other actors are saying and doing.
Choose a partner and decide who will play Emma and who will play Aubree. Then take turns speaking as your characters. Just as you should in a real-life conversation, listen carefully to what your partner says before deciding how you’ll answer.
Things to think about:
ELL Springboard
Teach contractions to make the story more accessible.
Before reading, review common contractions with your students. Tell them that a contraction is a word made by shortening one or more words and replacing the missing letters with an apostrophe. Note that the contraction can’t in the story’s title is a shortened version of the word cannot. Ask students what contractions can be made from the first two words of each sentence below:
After reading, review the following sentences from the story. Ask students to identify the words from which each underlined contraction is made.
Looking for more ELL support? Download our full lesson plan and scroll to p. 5 to find questions that will help your ELLs respond to the text at the level that’s right for them.