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Reading Lesson Plan

Teacher: Mackenzie Wright Cluster: 2
Global Quality of Life
Grade: 7

SLOs:

• KC-002 Describe the impact of various factors on quality of life in Canada and elsewhere in
the world. Examples: access to shelter, food, water, health care, and education; globalization
• KP-039 Give examples of government decisions that affect quality of life.
• KC-001 Describe the impact of various factors on citizenship rights in Canada and
elsewhere in the world. Examples: laws, culture, labour practices, education...
• KE-045 Give examples of the uneven distribution of wealth and resources in the world and
describe the impact on individuals, communities, and nations.

Part One: The Text

Title: Migration in the 21st century and its effects
on education Author: Human Rights Watch

Focus for Close Reading:

Language: ☐Other: _______________________________
☐Word Choice
☐Vocabulary Context:
☐Notice Key Details ☐Historical Context of Document
☒Summarize ☐Author Bias
☒Connections
Structure & Craft: ☐Opinion
☐Text Structure ☐Other:
☐Text Features ________________________________
☐Author’s Purpose

Part Two: Text-Based Questions
Generate several questions that you may ask depending on students’ conversations. Questions should be text
based and should require students use evidence from the text.
• The author says that many migrant children are fleeing their homes because of abuse
in their country. What type of abuse could they be referring to? What does that imply
about their country? Is it a safe or dangerous place to live?
• All children have the right to education, but in some countries many girls are denied
this opportunity. Why do you think that are girls more likely to be denied an
education in comparison to boys?
• In France, a certain refugee camp is referred to as the “Jungle.” What do you think
this metaphor means?
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• How does the author describe laws and policies?

• In what ways does the stories of migrant children and their denial of an education
connect to what you know about the education system. Discuss both the past and
present

Part Three: Establish Purpose
The purpose of the first read is to determine what the text says. Establish a purpose. Limit front loading.
Front loading should not take students away from the text.

First Read: The first reading of a text should allow the reader to determine what a text says.
Decide who will read the passage for the first time. Rule of Thumb: primary grades teacher will do the first
read; upper grades students may do first read themselves.
☒Teacher Read ☐Student Read

Remind students: if you come to an unfamiliar word, look inside the word (structural analysis) for familiar
portions and outside the word (contextual analysis) for clues to its meaning. List words in the margin that you
use this technique with and other words that you are still stuck on.
Encourage students to make notes to themselves about major events.
Encourage students to circle or underline words, phrases, or sentences that are unclear to them.

Notes:
• Teacher will be doing a read aloud of the article
• All students will be provided with a photocopy
• For differentiation students could be provided with lower reading levels
• As you sit quietly at your desk and listen to me read, I want you to mark up the page. I want
you to underline any words or phrases that helped you make a personal connection. That
connection may be to your family, the way you learn, or our classroom. Then, I want you to
draw a square around any words that are new to you or words that you don’t understand. I
also want you to put a question mark beside any parts of the article that you need to re-read
or ask about for deeper understanding.


First Discussion:
Student dialogue about understanding of the text. This can take many forms. Teacher listens and assesses
what students have gleamed from the text. Questions posed should reflect the purpose set.

• What is the author sharing with you about migrant children?
• Based on what you have read, how is the United Nations reacting to children not being in
school?
• Using evidence from the text, what kind of daily life experiences do you believe these
children have? What kind of world are they growing up in? How is it similar and different to
our own?
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• What indications do you get about life after migration? Are the effects positive or negative?
• What clues does the author give to why parents are sending their children to work instead of
going to find a job themselves?

Second Read: The second reading should allow the reader to determine how a text works.
Teacher-Led Shared Reading and Think Aloud

Individually, we are going to read the article for a second time. This time I want you to focus on
how the author compares migrant experiences based on the country that they are in. See if you can
find specific similarities and differences.

Second Discussion: Text-Dependent Questions
The purposes of text-dependent questions are to prompt rereading, encouraging textual evidence to support
answers, and deepen comprehension all analytic processes. This should not take the form of a worksheet!

• Now that you have read the text for a second time, turn to your table partners and discuss
parts of the text that you still do not understand or are curious about.
• The author states that “in 2015 more than 35,000 children [went] to Sweden without their
parents,” why is this a problem? What is it saying about society? Or how does it show us that
our world is changing?
• How does being a migrant change / shape your identity? How do you know if it does?

Third Read: The third reading should allow the reader to evaluate the quality of a text.
Integration of Knowledge & Ideas/Connecting Text to Other Texts
• As you read the article for the last time jot down any personal connections that you have
made or experiences that remind you of the hardships these children are currently facing.
Using a different color pen, I want you to write them in the margins or draw an image to
explain. Why is having the right to education vital to our personal development?

Third Discussion: Strive for Meaning
This discussion can take the form of a writing prompt or an extended discussion with a focus on synthesizing
ideas.
• In what ways do you connect to the migrant children?
• Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you were denied a basic human right?
• What does the author want us to take away from these children’s experiences?

Teacher Reflection:
Possible Questions:
§ How did students respond?
§ What was their level of understanding?
§ What could be revised to improve the close reading?
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§ What are your next steps in the process?
§ Do you need to provide additional support for small groups of students?

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