Preston Lesson Plan 1

Rationale:  When reading new text, the children in my classroom often hesitate when they come across a word that they don’t recognize.  The students will immediately look to the teacher for help.  The students attempt to guess the word based on the picture in the book.  Most of the time the word they are guessing is not even based on contextual clues, such as the first letter in the word, but is based exclusively from the given picture.  For example if there is a picture of a hen next to the word “hen” they instantly read the word as “chicken” basing their knowledge on the picture.  When I ask them to sound out the word they are able to identify that the first letter begins with “h” but still will resort to guessing the word as “chicken”.  This tells me that the child is not using the letters in the word as a clue to help him decode the word. This strategy hinders the children’s comprehension of the text.  During this guided reading lesson I will work on the strategy of combining both prior knowledge of sounding out words with the use of context clues to enhance their reading abilities and guide them to becoming more independent readers.

Objective for this lesson:  Students will develop word knowledge and comprehension skills by reading s selection and using context clues to identify unknown words. 

Materials & supplies needed: 5 copies of the book Spring will Bring (printable book from www.kinderblogger.org) 

***PROCEDURE***

Introduction to the lesson  (3 minutes):  

My guided reading lesson will take place during literacy centers, in which I will call the four students over to work with my a separate table.  Each student will have their own copy of the book and I will also have a copy. 

•   I will begin the lesson by tapping into the children’s background knowledge.  I will ask, “Tell me what you know about spring? What do you do in the Springtime? How do you know that it is spring?  Anticipated student responses include, "It's warmer outside" "There are lots of flowers."

• I will introduce the activity by saying, "Today we are going to be reading about the things that happen in the spring.  Sometimes when you read something, you come across a word that you don't recognize.  When this happens, it is your job to be a detective and look for clues in the book to help you figure out the new word.  Book have clues to help us learn.  Today we are going to be reading detectives.  Detectives have a problem or a mystery to solve.  Out questions that we are going to investigate is 'What will Spring Bring?'  As we read this book we are going to look for clues that will help us identify the new words on each page. Clues we will look for include the letters in the word and the pictures on each page." 

 OUTLINE of key events during the lesson  (10 minutes): 

I will first model how to use context clues to figure out unfamiliar words. the strategy by "thinking

aloud" as I read the first page to the students.  I will start by saying "The title of this book is

'Spring will Bring'".  I will point to the words as I read them.   

• On page 1 I will read "Spring will bring....”  and I will stop on the word “colorful.”  I will say "hmmm I don’t know what this word is so I will first skip it and keep reading.”  I will then read the next word which is "flowers."  

• I will say, “ So far I know this page says 'Spring will bring blank flowers'.  Hmmmm lets look at the clues to figure out what the unfamiliar word could be."

• I will go through where to look for the different clues on the page. 

•  "The first place I will look for clues is in the letters in the word.  I notice that the first letter is a C.  Hmmm what do I know about the letter C? It makes the sound /k/.  The next letter in the word is an O.  I know an O makes an /u/ sound.  Now I know this word starts with the sound /ku/. 

• "The next place I will look for clues is in the picture. I notice that the picture has lots of flowers.  The flowers are different colors. One is a yellow flower, a blue flower, and a pink flower.  Remember the word I am trying to figure out starts with the sound /ku/.  I will reread the sentence, "Spring will bring something flowers. Maybe it's blue flowers. Spring will bring blue flowers.  Does that make sense? Does blues start with the sound /ku/? No. May  is color.  Does color start with the sound /ku/?  Yes.  The word could be color." 

•  I will reread the sentence to see if it makes sense. "Spring will bring color flowers. Does that make sense? No. Les’t look at the word again." I will sound out the word color and look at the end of the word-ful. I will sound out the end of this word.  "This part says color.  What is this ending part say. /f/, /u/, /l/. I will blend the sounds together to say "ful".   "Color-ful. I think I got it! Let’s reread the sentence to see if that makes sense.  Does that make sense? “Yes it did!”   I used the clues on the page to figure out the word I didn't know. 

For the rest of the book I will explain that the children will take turns reading each page. 

• I will have the children to point to the words as they read. 

•  If a student stops on a word that he doesn't know, I will encourage all students to look for clues to help them figure out the unknown word. “What clues on the page can help you figure out the word.”  This will support the gradual release of teacher led instruction and guide them to use more independent thinking. 

Closing summary for the lesson (5 minutes): 

• I will reread the book with the students using choral reading.  This repetition will build the readers confidence and further familiarize them with the new words they are learning. 

• While the students are reading I will point our one or two words that each child struggles with and ask them to explain how what clues they used to figure out the word.  For example I will say, "Remember Joseph when you first read this page you didn't know the word ladybug.  You used your detective skills to figure out what word it was. What were the clues that helped you figure out the word?" 

• At the end of the lesson I will review the different context clues to look for when you come across an unfamiliar word: 
• Looking at the letters at the beginning of the word.
• Looking at the pictures on the page
• Rereading the sentence to see if the word they think it is makes sense based on the clues. 

• I will discuss with the children how all of the "detective skills" we used when reading this book can be used when they are reading any book. I will explain, "All books have clues to help the reader learn new words all you have to do is use your detective skills to figure them out." 

• I will give the books to the children to take home with them and challenge them to read the book to someone in their family. 

Ongoing-Assessment: I will observe what strategies the children use when they come across a new word. Are they able to identify the context clues that will help the determine the word?  Are they successfully able to apply the new information?  I will take notes of the words that the student originally struggled with but were eventually able to figure out using the context clues and apply them to to future reading lessons to see if they are able to recognize the word. 

Adaptations: Based on what you know about your focus students, what Academic, Social and/or Linguistic Support will be needed during the lesson?  To support the students during this lesson I will provide each with their own copy of the book.  If student don't know what to do when the come across an unfamiliar word I will support their recognition of the steps to use the new learned strategy by asking them guided questions such as "Where should you look for the clues first."  In addition I will encourage all students to look to clues and work together to figure out the unfamiliar word.