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Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources for Who Was Walt Disney?

The cover for Who Was Walt Disney? Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources

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Use Who Was Walt Disney? by Whitney Stewart to turn your read aloud or small group work into a time to improve comprehension and talk about the text in purposeful ways.

Introduce students to the lesser known side of the man who created the Happiest Place on Earth, Walt Disney. From humble beginnings growing up on a farm, to his career that began as an amateur animator, one thing that remained constant for Walt was his love of family. In addition to the personal details, this biography also contains amazing illustrations and secondary articles that add to the reader's understanding of Walt's life; making this text a perfect choice for a Book Club focused on exploring visual features.

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Explore lesson plans and activities to help you teach with Who Was Walt Disney? in the drop down below.

Instructional Overview

The instructional overview includes instructional background for visual features in a text, instructional objectives for each of the Book Club meetings, and a list of the materials and preparation necessary to host the Who Was Walt Disney? Book Club.

Common Core State Standards Alignment

TEKS Alignment

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Management Resources

The management resources include a Book Club Calendar, conversation prompts, Student Self-Evaluation forms, Reading Response Board (with optional Common Core alignment), and an Expectations for Book Club anchor chart.

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Meeting 1

Focus student attention on the things that a reader can learn by attending to illustrations and photographs by browsing through copies of National Geographic magazine. Use this discussion as a springboard for the importance of attending to the visual elements in a text like Whitney Stewart's Who Was Walt Disney?

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Meeting 2

Author Whitney Stewart incorporated an abundance of illustrations to support her writing of the biography, Who Was Walt Disney? Teaching readers to pay close attention to these visual features is important because the illustrations can help improve the reader's understanding of the text.

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Meeting 3

Who Was Walt Disney? includes a variety of secondary articles that provide the reader with information he/she can use to know more about the time period and influences of Walt's life. Readers may be tempted to skip over these pages, but by drawing attention to the ways in which the secondary articles improve comprehension, readers will be more likely to explore this valuable information.

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Meeting 4

This final Who Was Walt Disney? Book Club meeting provides readers with the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the role of visual features in the text. The culminating activity has students climbing into the author's chair and creating a new visual feature that supports the text.

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Vocabulary Connections with Who Was Walt Disney?

This set of vocabulary development resources for Who Was Walt Disney? highlights the words that are most important for students to know and understand while reading the book. Through engaging in fun word games, matching words to definitions, and practicing how to categorize words, students will develop the vocabulary necessary to comprehend this story and many others.

Common Core State Standards Alignment

L.4.4a,L.4.5c,L.4.6

TEKS Alignment

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Focus Assessment and Rubric

Use this six-question assessment to determine whether or not students understand the key concepts associated with Illustrations in Chapter Books.

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Comprehension Assessment with Who Was Walt Disney?

This 9 question Common Core aligned assessment can be used to determine students' overall comprehension of Who Was Walt Disney? and their mastery of the Common Core State Standards.

Common Core State Standards Alignment

TEKS Alignment

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Management Resources - Spanish

The management resources include a Book Club Calendar, conversation prompts, Student Self-Evaluation forms, Reading Response Board (with optional Common Core alignment), and an Expectations for Book Club anchor chart.

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About the Book

The cover for the book Who Was Walt Disney?

Title: Who Was Walt Disney?

Author: Whitney Stewart

Genre: Biography, Nonfiction

Themes: History

ISBN: 9780448450520

Publisher's Summary:

Walt Disney is a household name thanks to his unforgettable creations like Mickey Mouse and the magic of Disneyland, but how much do young readers know about the man himself? Who Was Walt Disney? by Whitney Stewart offers an engaging and accessible biography tailored for elementary students. The book introduces Walt Disney's early years growing up in Missouri, highlighting his creative spirit and love of entertaining others—even when it meant getting into a bit of trouble. Readers will discover how Disney's humble beginnings and family experiences shaped his imagination, eventually inspiring the small-town charm seen in Disneyland's Main Street.

This biography traces Disney's journey from sketching as a child to founding his first animation studio, and then creating some of the world's most beloved films and characters. It covers the challenges he faced, such as financial difficulties and public scrutiny, as well as the perseverance that fueled his innovations. Whitney Stewart's clear, inviting prose and the book's black-and-white illustrations help bring to life both the public figure and the private dreamer behind the magic. Teachers will find this book a useful resource for lessons on creativity, resilience, and American cultural history, as students learn about the enduring impact of Walt Disney on entertainment and imagination.

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Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources for Who Was Walt Disney?