Alexandra Moses Drawing Inferences Lesson Created by: Alexandra Moses School/Location: Washington Grove Elementary School, Gaithersburg

MD 1. Grade: 3 2. Library Context: o Fixed 3. Lesson Context: o Multiple lessons in a mini-unit 4. Collaboration Continuum: o Collaboration (co-teaching/co-planning with SLMS, coordinating with teachers) 5. Content/Unit: Reading language arts: Drawing inferences 6. Estimated Lesson time: 2 30-minute class periods. 7. Learner Characteristics & Implications to Lesson: In three third-grade classes, the accommodations include: Visual, written, and verbal instructions: Use the Promethean to display instructions in addition to orally describing them; use a graphic organizer handout to guide students thinking and remind them of the task during small-group session. Repeated directions: Describe the objectives for each day during the warm-up. Rephrase questions frequently during whole-group brainstorm to ensure students understand what they are being asked to think about. Describe the objectives for the next weeks lesson during the closing of the first day. Small groups: Groups of three-to-four students to encourage collaboration, but also to give students who struggle academically the chance to have success. Hearing accommodation: Wear device to amplify lesson for hearing impaired student. Behavior management: Assign table seating to keep students who need more intervention and have trouble focusing from landing at the same table.

8. Instructional Objectives:

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Students will be able to draw inferences, orally describing what they see, what they think, and why they think it, using wordless picture books and working in small groups. Students will be able to work collaboratively in small groups to draw inferences and verbally express their work to the teacher/class. 9. Standards for the 21st-Century Learner: 1.1.6, 1.1.9, 1.3.4, 2.1.5, 2.3.1, 2.4.3, and 3.1.3 10. Connection to local or state standards: MCPS Reading/Language Arts Standards:

5.3.A.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly. 5.3.A.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

11. Library lessons (each week, library time is 30 min.) Week 1: Warm-up whole-group brainstorming (7 minutes, on reading rug): Introduce the topic and ask the students what they know about inferences. Explain that inferences are informed guesses: They draw a conclusion based on what they see and what they know already. Show them slides of three images and ask them to orally express what they see, what they think, and why they think it. Call on students with hands raised as well as use random calling. Whole-group brainstorming: (15 minutes on reading rug): Show students the cover of The Lion and the Mouse, then the first two-page spread. Ask them what they see (the African savanna). Ask them to describe how they know that it is the savanna. Reinforce their responses by telling them that they used inferencing to draw this conclusion: they know that it is the savanna because they see lions, zebras, giraffes, and grassland, and they are drawing on their prior knowledge of what lives in the savanna and what it looks like to draw the conclusion. Continue in this way through the book, using random calling to make sure all students are participating. Closing (2 minutes, following book check-out): Preview that next week they will be working in small groups to repeat this task and collaborate with their classmates to make inferences.

Alexandra Moses Week 2 Warm-up (5 minutes, on reading rug): Ask the students: Who can tell me what we did last week? Ask them to define inferencing, and show them The Lion and the Mouse again. Show them the graphic organizer that they can use to guide their thinking at the tables (it does not have to be completed) and model, using the ELMO, how I might make notes on it or orally think about the inferences I draw from the picture books. Use an example from the Lion and the Mouse. Small group work (15 minutes, at tables): Ask students if they can define collaboration. Remind them that working together means that everyone has something to contribute. Again provide the directions for table work and ask for a student to repeat them (say what you see, say what you think, and say why you think it). Send students to tables to work in groups of three or four, examining one of four book selections. Monitor progress by going from table to table and listening to collaborative conversations and performing check-ins. Informal oral presentations (10 minutes, at tables): Tell groups to select one page to discuss with the whole class and have each table talk about the inferences they drew from their books. Ask each group member to contribute at least one thing to the informal presentation. Provide positive reinforcement to help students understand that what they have done is draw inferences. 12. Justification for choice of Instructional Strategies Warm-up: Starting each session with a warmup gives students the chance to settle in and get a glimpse of what the lesson holds. Using images from everyday life (first lesson) also motivates the students interest in the activity, and referring to the prior weeks lesson (second lesson) activates their prior knowledge. Whole-group brainstorming: Group brainstorming throughout allows each student to draw on their peers expertise and questions to drive their own responses. For example, the third-graders may know what they see and think, but may not be able to articulate why. The process of wholegroup brainstorming allows students to focus on the process of discovery for themselves, facilitated by the librarian. It also gives the librarian a valuable way to informally assess student knowledge and engagement. Small-group work: The small groups are necessary to meet the objective of collaboration. Students must be able to work together respectfully and productively and small-group work allows them to do that. It also serves as a scaffold for students who may struggle independently. Informal oral presentations: These hold students accountable for contributing in their groups and provides an incentive for them to stay engaged in the task. Closing: It is important to leave time at the end of the session to wrap-up the days activity and preview the next week. The closing also gives students the time to absorb what theyve just

Alexandra Moses learned and ask any lingering questions. For students who need extended directions, the closing serves as a key reminder of the tasks theyve done and will be doing. 13. Resources for Students o Books o Nonprint o Other (list): graphic organizer, pencils 14. List of resources/materials used in this lesson Wordless picture books: The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney, The Secret Box by Barbara Lehman, The Red Book by Barbara Lehman, Home by Jeannie Baker, and Unspoken by Henry Cole. Graphic organizer ActivInspire flipchart, Promethean board, ELMO

15. Justification for Selection of Materials and Resources: The students in these three third-grade classes have a range of abilities. It was therefore important to select books with universal design in mind, offering books that ranged from easy to difficult. The graphic organizer serves as an additional scaffold to remind students of their task. The Promethean and the ELMO also serves UDL functions and keeps students focus. 16. Assessment Students will be assessed via their informal oral responses. Each student will be asked to orally discuss the inferences they drew from their book.

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Drawing inferences checklist:

I see (what is in the I think (based on what Because (what do I picture?) I see, what do I think is know already that happening?) makes me think that?)