Chamberlain_Lesson Plan 2

Reading Lesson Plan # __2__ Rationale (What evidence do you have that your focus students need to learn this skill/strategy?): Many of my students struggle with this, but these students in particular tend to sacrifice comprehension in order to simply get through a text.  I rarely see my fourth graders to check on a meaning of a word while they are reading, and these particular students have never been one of them.  In fact, I chose these students because I feel they would be able to benefit and learn the most through extra practice with vocabulary and word-learning strategies.  One strategy that will help them with comprehension and is applicable not only now, but in the future as well, is using context clues to help decipher the meaning of a particular word.  Whether they are looking at grammar, root words, definitions, examples, or contrasting examples as clues, these are all things that are very important to one’s understanding of particular words, and as a result, their comprehension of a certain sentence or the text as a whole.  After having practice with the context clues strategy, these focus students will have the tools to puzzle through many unknown words that they encounter on a daily basis. Objective for this lesson: Throughout examining and interpreting Chapter VII of Stuart Little, students will become familiar with using context clues as a basis for finding unknown words through practice with specific examples from the book. Materials & supplies needed: Stuart Little by E.B. White, pages 36-46 (Chapter VII)

Procedures and approximate time allocated for each event  • Introduction to the lesson  (What will you say to help children understand the purpose of the lesson?  How will you help them make connections to prior lessons or experiences?  How will you motivate them to become engaged in the lesson?) (3 minutes)  Have either of you ever been reading something when you come across a word that you don’t know?  What do you do when this happens?  It is impossible to know every single word that we will ever come across when reading, and so it is important that we have strategies to help us figure out the meanings of those words so that we are still able to understand the text that we are reading.  When we use surrounding words and sentences to help us figure out the meanings of words we don’t know, we are using context clues. • OUTLINE of key events during the lesson (Include specific details about how you will begin and end activities; how you will teach students what the strategy is, how to use the strategy, and when to use it; what questions you will use; how you will help children understand behavior expectations during the lesson; when/how you will distribute supplies and materials) (20 minutes) I am going to read you a chapter from the book Stuart Little, by E. B. White.  In this chapter, we are going to read about a toy sailboat race, in which one of the boats is controlled by a mouse named Stuart.  Now, every so often I am going to stop and ask you to look at an unfamiliar word.  We are going to see if we can use context clues to help us figure out what these mystery words mean.  Now, you are going to get to work together to figure out the meanings, so make sure that you are listening to each other’s ideas and building off of each other’s strategies. Questions: Stopping points for using context clues to figure out the meanings of the chosen words. 1)     “The people were pushing each other harder and harder in their eagerness to see the sport, and although they really didn’t mean to, they pushed the policeman so hard they pushed him right off the concrete wall and into the pond.” pg. 38-39 2)     “…and the wave he made went curling outward, cresting and billowing, upsetting all manner of small craft and causing every owner of a boat on the pond to scream with delight and consternation.” pg. 39 3)     “He kicked hard with his feet, and thrashed hard with his tail, and in a minute or two he climbed back aboard the schooner, cold and wet  but quite unharmed.” pg. 40 4)     “He looked over and saw that the wave had capsized the Lillian B. Womrath but that she had righted herself and was sailing on her course…” pg. 41 5)     “…He saw an enormous paper bag looming up on the surface of the pond.” pg. 43 • Closing summary for the lesson (How will you bring closure to the lesson and involve children in reflecting on their experiences?  How will you involve them making connections to prior lessons or prepare for future experiences?  What kind of feedback do you want from them at this time?) (5 minutes) In closing, I will ask the students to think back to one of the “mystery words” that once they figured out the meaning of, really helped them to understand the story and what was going on in the text.  How might the meaning of the story have changed if they had not stopped to solve the mystery word? Ongoing-Assessment: (How will you know the students are progressing toward your identified objective?  What will you observe for and/or take notes on to help you plan follow-up instruction?) As a follow-up assessment, I will have the students use context clues to figure out the meaning of one last word, only this time by themselves.  This will help me to see whether or not they have picked up strategies for discovering meaning using context clues, and if they are able to apply those on their own.  They will then be able to come together and share their results.

Adaptations: Based on what you know about your focus students, what Academic, Social and/or Linguistic Support will be needed during the lesson? Although the students will have a copy of the book to follow along in, I will be reading the chapter out loud, so there will be no issues with them reading at different paces or getting tripped up on pronunciation, etc.; they will be able to solely focus on listening to the story and occasionally taking a closer look at specific words.  I am also allowing them to puzzle out the words together, so they do not feel as much pressure to get the meaning of a word exactly correct on their first try.