LESSON PLAN OUTLINE JMU Elementary Education Program

Lindsey Porter Kelly Fox, Clymore Elementary School Date and time lesson is to be presented: October 9, 2013 at 8:25 AM Date written plan is submitted to the practicum teacher: October 4, 2013

A. TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON Making Predictions with LaRue B. CONTEXT OF LESSON The students have been practicing their writing skills throughout the year, so I decided to teach a lesson that expanded on writing that included making predictions. Since the class includes students who read lower than a 4th grade reading level, I thought it would be beneficial to conduct a read-aloud and have them predict what will happen next in the story to practice making predictions. The students are already familiar with the main parts that go into a story, so expanding on those concepts would allow them to better understand what characteristics determine what a story is about. This lesson fits in with their curriculum sequence because there are several VA SOLs that attend to the concepts that will be taught in this lesson, such as communication, making predictions, and writing skills. Since the students are in fourth grade, much emphasis is placed on writing and being able to convey their thoughts through writing. This lesson will expand on that concept by teaching students that they can write about their predictions while also being fun and creative with their assignment. It also fits in with child development because the students are most likely in the concrete operational stage of Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development. Children in this stage are between the ages of 7-11 and are typically able to develop logical reasoning and problem solving through writing. C. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING Communication: Speaking, Listening, Media Literacy 4.1 The student will use effective oral communication skills in a variety of settings. b) Contribute to group discussions across content areas. c) Seek ideas and opinions of others. d) Use evidence to support opinions. e) Use grammatically correct language and specific vocabulary to communicate ideas. f) Communicate new ideas to others. h) Demonstrate the ability to work independently. Reading 4.5 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fictional texts, narrative nonfiction texts, and poetry. b) Describe how the choice of language, setting, characters, and information contributes to the authors purpose. c) Identify the main idea. h) Draw conclusions/make inferences about text. i) Make, confirm, or revise predictions. k) Use reading strategies throughout the reading process to monitor comprehension.

Writing 4.7 The student will write cohesively for a variety of purposes. a) Identify intended audience. b) Focus on one aspect of a topic. d) Organize writing to convey a central idea. i) Utilize elements of style, including word choice and sentence variation. j) Revise writing for clarity of content using specific vocabulary and information. k) Include supporting details that elaborate the main idea. 4.8 The student will edit writing for correct grammar, capitalization, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, and paragraphing. a) Use subject-verb agreement. d) Use noun-pronoun agreement. e) Use commas in series, dates, and addresses. f) Incorporate adjectives and adverbs. g) Use correct spelling for frequently used words, including common homophones. D. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Understand what are the broad Know what are the facts, rules, generalizations the students should specific data the students will gain begin to develop? (These are through this lesson? (These typically difficult to assess in one knows must be assessed in your lesson.) lesson.) U1 Making predictions can be K1 Students will use details from shown through writing. the story to make a prediction. Do what are the specific thinking behaviors students will be able to do through this lesson? (These will also be assessed in your lesson.) D1 The student will say what they predict will happen in the story. D2 The student will write what their prediction is and support their answer with details from the story.

E. ASSESSING LEARNING Objective Assessment Postcard Worksheet U1 Making predictions can be shown through writing. K1 Students will use details from the story to make a prediction. D1 The student will say what they predict will happen in the story. Postcard Worksheet

Interview

D2 The student will write what their prediction is and support their answer with details from the story.

Postcard Worksheet

Data Collected Students will make a prediction about the story and write about it in a letter format. Students will include details from the story to make a prediction in their letter. As the students are working on their postcard, I will walk around the room and individually ask each student what their prediction is. I will write down each students response to the question asked.

F. MATERIALS NEEDED LaRue Across America by Mark Teague (me)

Postcard template (me) Pencils (students) Colored pencils optional (students)

G. PROCEDURE At 8:20 AM, the students will switch classrooms based on their power-up group. When they are making this transition, I will gather the materials needed for the lesson. Once the students have arrived and settled at their seats, I will tell them to move to the carpet to listen to a story. I will introduce the book that I will be reading. I will tell them that I am reading LaRue Across America by Mark Teague. Then I will show the students the cover of the book and ask them what a prediction is. Students will raise their hand and I will individually call on students to share what their definition is of a prediction. When I have allowed several students to answer, I will ask them to tell me what they predict will happen in this book. As they raise their hands to answer, I will call on students one at a time to share what their prediction is. I will then read the story to them, stopping at several times to answer any questions and ask the students what they think will happen next. Once the story is over, I will ask the students if their prediction was correct. I will ask them what the main idea of the story is and allow them to raise their hands to answer. Then I will show them the postcard template. I will explain that the main character, LaRue, wrote postcards to Mrs. Higgens in the book, and they will be doing the same. I will ask them to think about what they think would happen next if they story were to continue. Taking on the role of LaRue, they will write a letter based on how they think the story will go on. I will explain to them the different parts of a postcard, including the date, greeting, message, closing, and signature. Once they finish writing their letter, they can decorate their postage stamp/postcard with colored pencils or crayons, time permitting. H. DIFFERENTIATION There are many students in the class who have different learning styles. By completing two activities, one including listening and the other including a writing activity, the students will have the opportunity to learn through both teaching strategies. The students who have difficulty paying attention during the story will be able to work on something tangible, and others can enjoy the story being read to them. For the students who have trouble paying attention to the story, I will assure them that they will soon be able to go back to their desk and work on an activity. If there are students who struggle with creative writing, I will assist them and give a few ideas or suggestions. Any students who have special needs will be assisted during the lesson if the have trouble completing their postcard. I can also tell them that they can ask their classmates for any help if they wish. If there are students who finish the activity early, I will allow them to decorate their postcard however they choose, using colored pencils or crayons. I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?

Some students may not be able to predict what will happen in the story based on the front cover. If that is the case, I will show them a few pictures from the book to allow them to make a prediction based on the pictures. At the end of the story, I will ask the students what the main idea was. If the students are not able to give the main idea, I will ask what the main characters role was in the book and what changed from the beginning of the story to the end. The postcard template only has a few lines to write a letter. Some students may not have enough space to write everything they would like to. If they need more space to write, I will tell them to get out a sheet of loose-leaf paper and continue to write there. If students are unable to come up with an idea about what to write, I will give them a few suggestions, such as telling them of a few locations they could write about or who they would like to write to.