This lesson plan is for a 4th grade literacy lesson about the book "An A From Miss Keller" by Patricia Polacco. The objectives are for students to refer to details in the text, compare point of views, and write narratives. Students will infer how characters are feeling by reading half the book and answering questions. They will then write a letter from the perspective of the main character Patricia to her teacher Miss Keller based on inferences from the text. For homework, students will write a response letter from Miss Keller's point of view.
This lesson plan is for a 4th grade literacy lesson about the book "An A From Miss Keller" by Patricia Polacco. The objectives are for students to refer to details in the text, compare point of views, and write narratives. Students will infer how characters are feeling by reading half the book and answering questions. They will then write a letter from the perspective of the main character Patricia to her teacher Miss Keller based on inferences from the text. For homework, students will write a response letter from Miss Keller's point of view.
This lesson plan is for a 4th grade literacy lesson about the book "An A From Miss Keller" by Patricia Polacco. The objectives are for students to refer to details in the text, compare point of views, and write narratives. Students will infer how characters are feeling by reading half the book and answering questions. They will then write a letter from the perspective of the main character Patricia to her teacher Miss Keller based on inferences from the text. For homework, students will write a response letter from Miss Keller's point of view.
This lesson plan is for a 4th grade literacy lesson about the book "An A From Miss Keller" by Patricia Polacco. The objectives are for students to refer to details in the text, compare point of views, and write narratives. Students will infer how characters are feeling by reading half the book and answering questions. They will then write a letter from the perspective of the main character Patricia to her teacher Miss Keller based on inferences from the text. For homework, students will write a response letter from Miss Keller's point of view.
Approximate length of time: ~40 min. Curriculum area: Literacy Objectives: ● Reading: Literature Standard 1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. ● Reading: Literature Standard 6: Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations. ● Writing Standard 3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. Goals: ● Inferring; students will infer how characters are feeling and what they may be thinking in the story “An A from Miss Keller” Essential Question/s: ● How does inferring help us understand a story? ● Why is inferring important? Materials: ● The book “An A From Miss Keller” by Patricia Polacco, PowerPoint Accommodations/Adaptations: ● Writing vocab on the board so students can see the words written DAP: ● Book: “An A From Miss Keller” by Patricia Polacco ○ Gives opportunities for students to infer ○ Gives opportunities for students to connect with the character and her struggles ○ It demonstrates the influence and power a teacher can have on their students ○ It demonstrates that sometimes first impressions can be wrong Vocab words: ● Infer ● High expectations ● Thesaurus Stop and Thinks: ● How do you think Patricia and her classmates feel? ● How do you think Patricia feels about being teased? ● How do you think Pop feels talking about Millie? ● How do you think Patricia is feeling? ● Why do you think Miss Keller helped Pop’s son? ● How do you think Miss Keller feels? ● Why do you think Patricia is crying? ● How do you think Patricia feels about Miss Keller?
Implementation of Plan for Read Aloud: Phase I: Exploration and Explanation/Concept Development (15-25 min) 1. Assess prior knowledge while building background, as needed 2. (Slide 2) - Ask students if they know what “inferring” means 3. Think-pair-share 4. Discuss with class a. Possible answers: i. Interpreting something about the book that the author doesn’t tell you. ii. Making assumptions about the book using clues from the text. 5. (Slide 3) - Give examples on SmartBoard and have students infer a conclusion in a think-pair-share a. “When I woke up, there were branches and leaves all over the yard.” b. “We bought tickets and some popcorn.” c. “I forgot to set my alarm clock last night.” d. “A student falls asleep in class.” e. “One student put her hand in the air.” f. “Mary plays her recorder every day for two hours.” g. “Shannon grabbed her raincoat and umbrella.” 6. (Slide 4) - Ask for/ provide reasons why proficient readers make inferences a. You infer when you think about something the book tells you and put it together with something you knew before reading the book, from your background experiences or knowledge. b. There can be more than one correct answer. c. We need to be able to support inferences by using clues from the book/story. d. When you infer, you are interpreting something about the book that the author doesn’t tell you. e. If you don’t infer, you miss out on some of the author’s critical points. f. If we could only understand a story based on what the author tells us explicitly, and we don't bring any of our own ideas to the text, think how much we would miss! 7. (Slide 5) - Go over key vocabulary on SmartBoard a. Infer b. High expectations c. Thesaurus 8. Tell students you will be reading a book and they are going to have to infer how characters are feeling and what they may be thinking. 9. Read only half the book incorporating questions and think alouds (other half will be read in another lesson) a. (4-8 sticky notes are placed in book) 10. While reading and asking questions, praise students for making inferences. a. “Great, you just made an inference. You took information from the book and blended it with your understanding of X to infer something the author didn't tell us” 11. After reading the first half of the book, facilitate a discussion about the book and inferences from the book 12. Ask students questions such as: a. How do you think Patricia felt at the beginning of Miss Keller’s class? b. Have you ever had a teacher that you were nervous to have? c. Have you ever had a teacher that had high expectations? d. What do you think Patricia would say to Miss Keller if she had the opportunity? 13. Give them opportunities to think-pair-share 14. Tell students they are going to write a letter to Miss Keller from the perspective of Patricia
Phase II: Guided Practice (10-15 min) 1. Students will write a letter to Miss Keller from Patricia’s perspective. 2. Letter can include: a. Concerns, worries, questions, feelings, etc. that Patricia might be feeling. 3. Success criteria: a. Students write at least one paragraph letter to Miss Keller from Patricia’s perspective b. Letter must include inferences students had from reading the first half of the story 4. Model how to write a letter: a. Dear Miss Keller, 5. Model your thinking and use of inferences from the book a. Your class is hard and so are your assignment. Why do you make us use a thesaurus? 6. Have students share ideas and write them on the board as part of the letter. 7. Give students 10 minutes to write their letters 8. Bring them together the last few minutes to share what they wrote
Phase III: Independent Work/Assessment (Homework) 1. Students will write a letter from Miss Keller’s perspective replying to Patricia’s letter (the letter written in Phase II)