In the Zone

Friendship, Coorperation, Kindness

• Reading and discussing “In the Zone” along with the other technology-themed texts in the magazine (the nonfiction article, “Can a Robot Be a Friend?,” the Words & Pictures feature, “Robot Roundup,” and the fiction, “A Clean Start”) should give kids insight into ways technology can be helpful and ways it can be a hindrance.
• Through the above genres, students will discuss: Does technology make our lives better? How can it be helpful? How can it cause harm? How do I use technology in my own life?
• This story also stands on its own. It’s not only super fun, but it also gives kids great experience reading and thinking about graphic novels as a literary form.

Choose a Video (We have two!) (10 minutes)

• You have two choices for a video with this story.

1. ““The Big Question: Does Technology Make Our Lives Better?” (This video also goes with other stories in this month’s Storyworks 2.)

• Before your students watch, ask them to think about: “Does technology make our lives better?”
• Watch the video.
• After watching, ask the question again. Write students’ ideas on chart paper.

2. “What’s in a Comic?”

• Our second video teaches kids about the features of a comic.
• Before watching, tell kids to look out for four features they might find in a comic.
• After watching, ask for kids’ help to fill out a list of comic features on chart paper. The features mentioned in the video are: panels, speech bubbles, thought bubbles, and onomatopoeia.
• Tell kids to look for those features in the mini graphic novel. They can fill in our “Comic Features Hunt” skills sheet after reading.

Set a Purpose for Reading (5 minutes)

• Open your magazines to “In the Zone.” Ask kids: What kind of story is this? (a comic or a mini graphic novel)
• Next, read the Think and Read prompt on page 13: “As you read, think about the technology the kids use. When is it fun and when is it not so fun?” Encourage children to think about this prompt as they read. 

• Kids can read this story individually, in small groups, or as a class.
• As they read, ask kids to jot down when the technology stops being fun for the characters in the story.

Extend the Story With an Activity (20 minutes)

• Kids can “finish” the story with the “What Happens Next?” printable. They’ll fill in the voice bubbles for the characters and create their own comic panel.
• This activity works in the skill of making inferences.

Assessment: Quiz (10 minutes)

• Pass out the quiz to assess comprehension of the article.
• We also offer a lower-level quiz.

ELA Focus: Opinion Writing (20 minutes)

• Use the “Does Technology Make Our Lives Better?” printable. Kids will write a letter to a friend giving their reasons for why they think technology does or doesn’t make our lives better.
• Note: Kids can also do this page in connection with our other technology-themed articles. Making text-to-text connections builds knowledge and comprehension. We layer Storyworks 2 with many ways for your students to make connections.

Enrich the Learning: Paired Text Opportunities (time amount varies)

Making text-to-text connections builds knowledge and comprehension. We layer Storyworks 2 with many ways for your students to make connections.

Pairable Texts “Can a Robot Be a Friend?” (pages 6-11) and “A Clean Start” (pages 24-29)

• These stories ask questions similar to those posed in the mini graphic novel. Does technology make our lives better? How do people use technology?
• Kids can compare the technologies in the three stories using our “Technology Chart” online printable. How are the technologies alike and how are they different?

NEW! Special Lesson for Independent Learning While Remote (30-40 minutes)

• We created a brand-new resource to make it easy for your students to do an independent remote lesson with the mini graphic novel.
• Look in your Resources section for the “Slide Lesson.” It’s a self-contained group of slides that walk your students through the Mini Graphic Novel.
• This easy-to-use group of Google Slides walks your students through watching the video “Does Technology Make Our Lives Better?” and then answering a question about it, reading the story independently, answering three questions after reading, and then doing our “What Happens Next?” inference page.
• It’s a simple way to take the resources we have already created and put them in one place so you don’t have to create anything new!