For my final project for my Native Alaskan Literature course, I did

a multi-day mini-unit on the book the Kamik: an Inuit Puppy Story

based on the oral stories of a Nunavut elder Donald Uluadluak. First,
we did an initial reading of the book. A couple of days later, Geoff
Carroll visited our classroom with one of his sled dogs, Diamond, to talk
to us about raising and running dogs. Then, we did a closer reading of
our book, asking specific questions about how dogs were traditionally
raised and used in the community. Finally, we finished with a How To
writing activity, where the students took their learning, and put it in
their own words.
Lesson 1:

Grade Level: K
Date & Time of Lesson: April 11,

Length of Lesson: 30 minutes

2016 at 9:30am
Topic (name) of Lesson: Comparing

Content Area: ELA

Traditional and Contemporary

Methods of Raising and Train Sled
Dogs
Materials ( include technology)

# of Students: 18

A copy of the book Kamik: An Inuit Puppy Story

Chart paper or a large dry erase board to document student ideas

Markers / Dry erase markers

Standards:

Key Ideas and Details

1.With prompting and support, ask and answer
questions about a literary text using key details
from the text
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
9.With prompting and support, identify basic
similarities in and differences between
information presented in two texts on the same
topic (e.g., compare two photos or diagrams,
compare two animal babies).

STAGE ONE

STAGE TWO

Objective(s): Students will

Student Assessment: Students
read a culturally relevant text
will engage
about raising and training
in a
sled dogs and compare and
discussion of
contrast their personal
the text as it
experience and knowledge
relates to
with what is presented in the
their
text.
experiences
by comparing
1.
and
contrasting
with a Venn
Diagram that
all students
will
contribute
their ideas

to.

STAGE THREE:
Opportunities for Learning
Your lesson Design
Introduction or hook:
Last week, Geoff Carroll visited our classroom and talked to us about how he raises
and trains his sled dogs here in Barrow. Today, we will read a book about how sled
dogs were raised and trained by our elders. As we read, we are going pay attention
to similarities and differences in how dogs are raised and trained.
Process and products
Include:
We will start by reviewing some
of the facts that we noted during
Geoff Carrolls visit. Then, I will
introduce Kamik: an Inuit Puppy
Story and explain how it tells the
story of how sled dogs were
raised and trained in the past.
We have used Venn Diagrams
before in class, and I will draw
one on the board for this lesson.
As we read, students will
contribute to the diagram.
Students will be paired with a
Think-Pair-Share partner with
whom they will share their
thinking at various spots during
the text. Using popsicle sticks two
or three students will be invited
to share their thinking. (Without
this method, every student would
share with every question, and
time management and attention
span become a factor.)

Universal Design for Learning

(record intentionality): Provide
optionsforselfregulation
+Promoteexpectationsandbeliefsthatoptimize
motivation
+Facilitatepersonalcopingskillsandstrategies
+Developselfassessmentandreflection
Provideoptionsforsustainingeffort
andpersistance
+Heightensalienceofgoalsandobjectives
+Varydemandsandresourcestooptimizechallenge
+Fostercollaborationandcommunity
+Increasemasteryorientedfeedback
Provideoptionsforrecruitinginterest
+Optimizeindividualchoiceandautonomy
+Optimizerelevance,value,andauthenticity
+Minimizethreatsanddistractions

MymaingoalwiththeUDLcomponent
wastoemphasizetheculturalrelevanceof
thetexttomystudentsinordertoengage
themaslearners.

At the end of the lesson, we will

review our Venn Diagram and
share thoughts and observations
in preparation for the second
lesson, which will involve a
writing piece.
Closure (Content connections for students):
To close the lesson, we will share final thoughts on observations on
what weve learned about raising dogs and the differences between
contemporary and past practices.

How does this lesson help students make personal

connections to cultural and support language appreciations
and/or development?
In this lesson, the students will be studying a story that is based on
the oral stories of an elder, Donald Uluadluak, from Nunavat, Canada.
These stories convey important cultural information about raising
and training dogs during a time in which Inuit people depended on
dogs for transportation and hunting. Much of the information in this
book also applies to how dogs were important in Arctic Alaska before
snow machines were so common.
In terms of language development, there are a couple of aspects of
this lesson that highlight language importance and development.
First, this book is based on oral stories. We havent discussed oral
story telling explicitly in class, but the students have some
experience with story telling because we recently created a Puppet
Theater center. Students have had the opportunity to go there during
end of the day centers to re-tell familiar stories with puppets or to
make up their own stories. I will use that experience to introduce the
idea of story-telling in a larger, historical context.
The second way that language will be highlighted is that students will
be encouraged to share their thinking with partners during Think-PairShare times and with the whole class. Their thoughts will be
documented in the form of a Venn Diagram.

Personal Reflection: How do you feel the lesson went (lesson

process), what might you change in the future, what insights do you
now have from this lesson experience?
Since this was a dialogic lesson, the focus was on
questioning and discussion around aspects of the text. The students
all were partnered with a buddy, and all of the questions were ThinkPair-Shares, so students had a chance to think, share their ideas with
a partner, and then one or two students were selected randomly
(popsicle sticks) to share aloud with the class.
These are the questions that I planned, and a few others
came up during the reading:
CROWD Prompts:
1. Completion
After re-reading the text several times, I decided to not use the
completion prompt. I almost always use this technique when a text
has rhyme or another predictable pattern, but this text did not. I
ultimately decided that it would be too much guessing which would
pull the students out of the text rather than help them engage more
deeply with it.
2. Recall
Pg 6 Jakes grandfather said that raisings dogs is like raising what? (a
child)
Pg 18 Can you remember why the dogs would be happy to see
grandmother? (she takes good care of them; she is kind to the dogs)
3. Open-Ended
Pg 22 Why do you think Kamik doesnt follow Jake? (Jake is loud /

uses unkind words, Kamik likes Grandfather better)

Pg 23 Why do you think Jake changes Kamiks name to Tuhaaji?
(passing down names, He wants Kamik to act like Tuhaaji did)
4. WhPg 1 What do you notice in this picture? (Picture is an example of
Jake getting frustrated because his puppy isnt listening.)
Pg 5 Look at this picture. What is Jakes grandmother doing in this
picture? (This picture is an example of positive dog raising.)
5. Distancing
Pg 11 Do you know anyone who raises dogs? (Geoff, and it came out
in discussion that Steves dad also raises dogs.)
Pg 15 Has your dog ever helped you? (barked at strangers, plays
with me)

The students did a great job, for the most part working with
their partners and listening when it was someones turn to share with
the whole group. Since we were all seated on the carpet, I was able
to listen to all of the partner groups share with one another and help
out the partner groups that were having a difficult time, and every
student had an opportunity to share out to the whole group. The
process of discussing the text and focusing on what they noticed in
the illustrations allowed them engage more fully in the text using
details from the text and their own lives.
For example, theres a student in my class with severe health
issues, and he often misses large chunks of time for doctor visits in
Anchorage and Seattle. However, what he most often chooses to talk
about and write about is hunting with his dad. This student
occasionally uses a wheelchair when hes in more pain than usual,
but his stories and illustrations focus on hunting caribou, going
boating, shooting ducks, and going camping. During todays lesson,

he shared with his partner that his dad also raises dogs. Getting
some of his first hand experiences with stories and lessons from his
dad helped flesh-out our reading, and this quiet student may not
have shared these stories if he hadnt had so many opportunities to
Think-Pair-Share with his neighbor.
The whole first part of our lesson went really well, but I
overshot what I was hoping to accomplish in this lesson. Our picture
book is a relatively long story with a lot of narrative, and by the time
we finished our dialogic reading, the students had been sitting for 30
minutes, and they were maxed out. I started to write the Venn
Diagram on the board, and I saw them start wriggling around on the
carpet, and I knew that to try to push them more would be unfair. So,
instead, we got up to do our morning stretches, and I quietly let my
Vice Principal know that we were going to stop there and skip the
Venn Diagram. Good idea, she nodded. She has been in elementary
school long enough to know when students have reached their
saturation point. So, I feel like I should have either gone through the
story more quickly, or I should have anticipated that it would take 30
minutes and planned accordingly.
Another issue that weve had is absences. As I referred to
Geoffs visit last week, several of my students were confused
because they had been out sick. There have been a number of

stomach bugs and viruses going around, and Ive been missing
nearly 25% of my class each day for the past two or three weeks.
Some students had knowledge and experiences that the others didnt
because they missed the guest visitor. Now, I realize that one thing
that I could have done was copied the Power Point Presentation that
Geoff used onto my computer to share with absent students when
they returned.
Overall, I feel that the students were engaged with the text
thanks to the types of questioning and connections encouraged by a
dialogic reading. If I were to teach this lesson in the future, I would do
so with the understanding that the lesson needs to be chunked to
allow students time to process their ideas and learning as well as
move their bodies. I would also try to make sure that I provide some
of the background knowledge to students who were absent during
crucial lessons leading up to this reading. This could easily be done
quickly in a small group during end of the day centers or during
afternoon snack time.

Lesson 2:
School: Ipalook Elementary School

Grade Level: K

# of Students: 18

Date & Time of Lesson: April 13,

Length of Lesson: 30 minutes

2016 at 11:45am
Content Area: ELA

Topic (name) of Lesson:

Informational Writing: How to Raise
Sled Dogs

Materials ( include technology)

A copy of the book Kamik: An Inuit Puppy Story

Chart paper or a large dry erase board to document student ideas
Markers / Dry erase markers
Writing Supply Caddies with paper (lined and unlined), pens, pencils, and
crayons
Stapler (for students wanting to make books)
Tape (for students wanting to make scrolls)

Standards:

Key Ideas and Details (Reading)

2.With prompting and support, retell familiar

stories, using key details.
Text Types and Purposes (Writing)

2. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose

informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are
writing about and supply some information on the topic .

STAGE ONE

STAGE TWO

Objective(s): With teacher

Student Assessment: Students
prompting and a picture walk,
will write an
students will retell the story
informational
of Kamik: an Inuit Puppy
text that
Story, focusing on the details
includes at
of how to raise a sled dog
least two
puppy. Using what they have
factual

learned, students will write a

piece of information writing
that explains how to raise
sled dogs.
2.

pieces of
information
that are
important to
raising sled
dogs.

STAGE THREE:
Opportunities for Learning
Your lesson Design

Process and products

Include:
We will start by reviewing some
of the facts that we noted during
Geoff Carrolls visit and our
reading of Kamik: an Inuit Puppy
Story.
We will review our Venn Diagram
to start brainstorming writing
ideas. We will do a group write in
which I will ask students to help
me construct a sample How To
Text. Then, I will remove the text
to encourage independent
thinking.
Students will think-pair-share
their ideas before moving to their
table groups to write. As students
work, I will circulate among them,
providing assistance as needed.
At the end of the time frame,
students will share their work
with their writing partner for
feedback. (Is there a title? Are the

Universal Design for Learning

(record intentionality): Provide
optionsforselfregulation
+Promoteexpectationsandbeliefsthatoptimize
motivation
+Facilitatepersonalcopingskillsandstrategies
+Developselfassessmentandreflection
Provideoptionsforsustainingeffort
andpersistance
+Heightensalienceofgoalsandobjectives
+Varydemandsandresourcestooptimizechallenge
+Fostercollaborationandcommunity
+Increasemasteryorientedfeedback
Provideoptionsforrecruitinginterest
+Optimizeindividualchoiceandautonomy
+Optimizerelevance,value,andauthenticity
+Minimizethreatsanddistractions
CAST(2011).UniversalDesignforLearning
Guidelinesversion2.0.Wakefield,MA:Author.

MymaingoalwiththeUDLcomponent
wastoemphasizetheculturalrelevanceof
thetexttomystudentsinordertoengage
themaslearners.

steps numbered? Is there a

picture for each step? Are the
directions clear?)
Closure (Content connections for students):
To close the lesson, we will share final thoughts on our informational
writing pieces about raising sled dogs.

How does this lesson help students make personal

connections to cultural and support language appreciations
and/or development?
In this lesson, the students will use writing to reflect on what they
learned from a guest visitor, Geoff Carroll, who is a resident of our
community, Barrow, Alaska, and a book we read called Kamik: an
Inuit Puppy Story. Geoff has raised and trained sled dogs in Alaska
for the past 30 years and has gone on a number of adventures,
including a trip to the North Pole with his dogs. Kamik: an Inuit Puppy
Story is a retelling of oral stories from Nunavut that instruct in the
traditional methods of raising and training sled dogs.
Both of these information sources are culturally relevant to our
community, and they promote literacy skills and language
development. With Geoffs visit, the students listened and asked
questions about his dogs and experiences as well as verbally shared
their own experiences with pets. With the book, students answered
questions and shared their responses to the text verbally with their
partners in think-pair-shares and through whole group response. In
todays lesson, the students will consolidate their learning and
understanding by creating a written piece that teaches how to raise
sled dogs.

Personal Reflection: How do you feel the lesson went (lesson

process), what might you change in the future, what insights do you

now have from this lesson experience?

I started this lesson differently than I initially intended
because I realized that there were large information gaps based on
the number of absences in my class the past couple of weeks. There
have been several days where 25% of my class has been out do to
various illnesses going around the Kindergarten Wing in our school.
So, we took some time to review the information from Geoff and our
book Kamik: an Inuit Puppy Story. In terms of what could have been
done better, one of the main challenges was the time of day. The
observation ended up being right after our recess and lunch block,
and the class was pretty rowdy. Normally during this time, we do an
interactive math lesson, followed by math work stations where the
students play math games with partners. So, this writing lesson was
a big departure from our normal routine. Ideally, I would have taught
this lesson during one of our normal writing blocks, but it wasnt
possible for this lesson.
Overall, this series of lessons was very well received by my
students. They loved learning about dog sledding and meeting Geoff
and Diamond. They also love to write, and this final assignment was
a good demonstration of what they learned during the course of this
mini-unit.