TLED 408: Pre-Reading Activity Assignment

For this assignment you will develop a pre-reading activity to be used in your unit plan. To
complete this assignment you will need to have an idea of the grade level, discipline, and both
the content and literacy standards that will be addressed. Using your knowledge of pre-reading
activities and the benefits of activating background knowledge, fully develop a pre-reading
activity. This activity should help students to activate and build their background knowledge of
both the process and product regarding both the content area and literacy.

Grade Level, Content Area, and Theme: 3rd grade, my content area is science, and the theme
for my unit is the conservation of key species and their environments.

Standards/Learning Objectives: 3.10 The student will investigate and understand that natural
events and human influences can affect the survival of species. Key concepts include: b) the
effects of human activity on the quality of air, water, and habitat;

Overall Description: For the pre-reading assignment, the preview and predict chart will be
completed. Each student will be given a piece of paper that has the two columns on it and they
will predict what they think will happen by observing pictures in the books and writing it down
in the chart and after they finish reading they will confirm if their predictions were correct. It
also allows the student to use their English skills to make a prediction about a scientific issue.

Rationale: This specific pre-reading strategy is beneficial to the students because it allows them
a chance to use their imagination and prior knowledge about animals and their habitats to think
about what the story will be about and teach them how they can help conserve keystone species
and their environments which is important for everyone to know about.

Materials:

1. Paper with the 2 columns (preview and predict, confirm)

2. A timer
3. Desks
4. Pencils/ pens
5. Music playing in the background
6. & the anchor text

Instructional Steps:

1. Place the paper with the columns on your desk

2. Make sure you have a pen or pencil to write with
3. Set the timer for 10 minutes, then see if they need more time
4. Before they begin, explain to them to only look at the pictures and not to read the full
pages.
5. Make sure everyone understands what they are supposed to be doing & begin playing
music and they will begin predicting.
 6. After the time is up, they will share with the fellow students at their table
7. I will ask if anyone wants to share their predictions with the class and if not I will share
my completed chart and state my predictions.
8. This should hopefully lead to an interesting discussion that will make them interested in
reading the story.

Differentiation: My lesson will need to be differentiated to fit the needs of all my students. If I
have a student with a physical impairment, I could make the pictures larger to see and separate
from the book so they don’t see the words and the picture, they will only have to focus on the
pictures. For my ESL learners, I could ask another teacher or even another student to help them
write down what they think is happening in the picture. I could also allow them the choice to
read the bold or italicized words near the picture but not the whole story.

Impact on Instructional Decisions: I will use the information learned from the pre-reading
activity to make sure they can see the real impacts humans have on the environment and key
stone species. If they cannot see the impacts, maybe I haven’t taught them clearly enough or they
aren’t seeing the connection between human impacts and the environment.

Format: This assignment can be completed using the bold headings above. There should be no
grammatical or spelling errors. It should be a typed word document written in 12 point font,
saved and submitted as TLED 408.lastname.firstname.prereading.
 Pre-Reading Activity Assignment Rubric

Points Possible
Grade Level, The student specifies the grade level, content area, and
Content Area, theme the unit will cover. The precise learning objectives
Theme, and that will be addressed by the unit are identified for both
Standards literacy and the discipline.

Description The student clearly identifies the pre-reading activity and

provides a brief description of how the pre-reading activity 0.5
will be used in the unit.
Rationale The student provides a clear rationale as to why this pre-
reading activity is appropriate for the unit. There are clear
1.0
connections made between the activity chosen and the
benefits for the students.
Materials The student provides a clear description of the materials
used in this activity. The student creates all of the materials 1.0
needed for the students to successfully complete the
activity.
Instructional The student outlines all of the instructional steps for the pre-
Steps reading activity. There is a clear beginning, middle and end 1.5
to the activity.
Differentiation The student clearly explains how and why the teacher will 0.5
differentiate during the pre-reading activity.
Impact on The student clearly explains how the information learned
Instructional from the activity will be used to guide instructional 0.5
Decisions decisions throughout the unit.
Format The assignment is presented using the bold headings
provided. There are no formatting or spelling errors. It is
written in 12pt black font.

Total _____/5
Points
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