Lesson Plan: Coming Together While Apart

Essential Questions

• What can teens do to help their neighbors?
• How can tough times make you stronger?

Literature Connection

You Can Change Your World!: Creative Ways to Volunteer & Make a Difference by Sondra Clark

Build Background Knowledge  (10 minutes) 

• Show our video “Coronavirus Diaries” to activate and build students’ background knowledge.

Preview Text Features (15 minutes)

Have students open their magazines to page 4. Preview the text features by asking the following questions:

• Read the title and the subtitle. What do you think the title “Coming Together While Apart” refers to? Why were people apart? How do you think they came together? People have had to be apart to avoid spreading the coronavirus. They may have found ways to come together by being there for each other or helping each other, even if they could not do it in person.
• Look at the photos on page 5 and read the captions in the red boxes. How are the activities described in the captions different? How are they the same? The activities are all different: making face masks, holding an online prom, talking to lonely people, and helping the homeless. What they have in common is that they’re all ways to solve problems and to connect with others.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

• Direct students to the vocabulary box on page 4 and go over the words (shortages, robotics, quarantine, seniors, volunteers) and their definitions together.
• Play the Vocabulary Slideshow. 

Make a Plan for Reading  (5 minutes)

Before students start to read, walk them through a reading plan:

• Set a purpose for reading: Tell students that by reading this article, they’ll learn about a number of things that teens have done to support their communities during the coronavirus crisis. 
• Point out the Pause and Think boxes starting on page 4. Ask students to check their understanding of what they’ve read by answering these questions using text evidence.
• Point out the activity on page 7, and let students know that they’ll complete the activity after reading the article. Encourage students to briefly review the questions in the activity and to keep  them in mind as they read.
• As students finish each section, tell them to look at the text features on the page (e.g., photos and section headings) and ask themselves how these features relate to what they’ve just read.

Guide students to read the article. Once they understand it and can answer the Pause and Think questions, discuss the following questions. 

Close-Reading Questions (10 minutes)

• At the beginning of the article, the author says that during the coronavirus pandemic, “people got to know their family members way too well.” What does he mean? (interpreting text) The author means that, with schools closed and activities canceled, many families were spending far more time together than usual. Being together all the time can make people aware of each other’s annoying habits and cause people to become frustrated with each other.
• What gave Rem Johannknecht the idea for Connect Chicago? (cause and  effect) Rem got the idea for Connect Chicago while thinking of his grandmother. She lives in senior housing, and he knew she wouldn’t have many chances to connect with people. He thought about other elderly people who might be feeling lonely too and decided to do something to help.
• Based on her comments, how does Ruby Allison feel about her Minecraft prom? (inference) You can tell that Ruby feels proud and happy to have organized a fun and successful event. She says that she and her classmates turned a disappointing situation into “something we could be proud of.”  

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

• Why do you think the teens mentioned in the article wanted to do something for others during the coronavirus crisis? (critical thinking) Answers will vary. Students may say that the teens saw problems around them and wanted to help, possibly to have some power in an uncertain situation. Plus, because most sports and activities were canceled, many of them might have suddenly had a lot more time that they could put to good use.
• Why are celebrations, such as proms and graduation ceremonies, important to us? Why do you think people worked so hard to make sure celebrations happened even while social distancing? (critical thinking) Answers will vary. Students might say that celebrations are a way to show love and appreciation for others, or that celebrations are how we reward ourselves and others for hard work. They might also say that with so many activities canceled during the coronavirus crisis, people needed things to look forward to more than ever.

• Guide students to complete the activity on page 7. You might also consider showing the video “Skills in Action: What Is a Summary?” first.
• Use our Writing a Summary Skill Builder, available in a higher and lower level version. (Click here to see all your Skill Builders.)
• Writing prompt: Think about the teens and their projects featured in the article. Which project or service interests you the most? Write a letter to the teen (or teens) who came up with the project or service. In the letter, explain why the project interests you, and ask at least two questions about it. (For example, you can ask what the most fun or challenging part was.)