UNIT BIG IDEA

The unit big idea is that we are all a part of something bigger than ourselves. This lesson
supports the big idea of the unit because it demonstrates how word choice is an important
component of the six traits of writing.

LESSON RATIONALE
By understanding this lesson, students will be able to see how word choice strengthens the
impact of their writing. Specifically, when students know how word choice to fits into the
purpose of the piece of writing, they can begin to recognize how word choice is used in the texts
they encounter as well as how to effectively apply it in their own writing. Understanding this
concept will help students bolster their knowledge of mathematics and add to their success in this
subject in their future academic careers.

READINESS
I. Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A. Goal(s):
1. Students will understand the importance of revising their writing when the
intent is to publish.
2. Students will understand how to improve their word choice in their
writing.
B. Objective(s):
1. Through the analysis of the pumpkin poem, students will encounter good
examples of word choice, and explore potential word choice changes.
2. During the writing time, students will make contextualized decisions about
word choice in their own writing.
3. When students share their writing, they will evaluate their own word
choice decisions.

C. Standard(s):
 3.W.4: Apply the writing process to –
o Generate a draft by developing, selecting and organizing ideas relevant
to topic, purpose, and genre; revise to improve writing, using
appropriate reference materials (e.g., quality of ideas, organization,
sentence fluency, word choice); and edit writing for format and
conventions (e.g., spelling, capitalization, usage, punctuation).
o Use available technology to produce and publish legible documents

II. Management Plan

Time Space Expectations Materials

Anticipatory 5 Minutes Students are Students should Access to the

Set & Purpose moving from one be participating internet, a
Statement side of the room in the WOULD computer, a
to the other as a YOU RATHER project, access to
way to vote for game. the WOULD
their choice. YOU RATHER
 GAME (slides 1
and 2 of the
PowerPoint).

Mini Lesson 8 minutes Students are Students should Access to the

sitting in their be listening to internet, a
spots on the the information computer, a
carpet. presented and projector, and
participating as access to the
prompted by the WORD
teacher. CHOICE
POWERPOINT
(attached at
bottom of LP).

Writing and 12 minutes Students are at Students work WORD

Conferencing their seats. independently to CHOICE
improve word POWERPOINT
choice in one slides 8 and 9
piece of their and materials to
writing. conference with
students.

Sharing and 5 Minutes Students are Students are Nothing.

Closure: sitting at their sharing their
seats. word choice
revisions with
their table group,
and if they want
to, with the
class.

III. Anticipatory Set

Have the first slide of the WORD CHOICE PowerPoint pulled up on a screen so only the teacher
can see it. “Good morning students! In a few moments we are going to play a game called would
you rather. In this game, I will read two statements and you will pick which one you’d rather do.
If you choose the first statement, you will go to the left side of the room, and if you choose the
second statement, you will go to the right side of the room. Are you ready to play?” Wait for
students to collectively respond. Then, read the first Would You Rather Scenario. “Alright let’s
begin. Would you rather, pet a cute puppy or pet a soft, snuggly puppy. Remember if you want to
pet the cute puppy, or the first choice, go to the left side of the room, and if you want to pet the
soft, snuggly puppy, or the second choice, go to the right side of the room.” Take note of which
side students choose. Most should choose the right side, with the soft, snuggly puppy simply
because of the words that you used to describe this. “Alright everyone come back to the middle.”
Continue this process with the next three Would You Rather scenarios or as many as time
allows.
IV. Purpose Statement:
“Today in class, we will be examining how using word choice can make us better
writers. This is important because purposeful word choice can better convey our meaning to the
reader.

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

V. Adaptation to Individual Differences and Diverse Learners
● To students with Muscular Dystrophy or another ailment that limits students’ abilities to
write in a pencil paper manner, allow them to dictate their “favorite thing” response.
Then, when they go to examine the word choice, have someone highlight those words
that they want changed, and use a comment to show what they want to change it to.
● To help ELL students throughout the lesson, provide students with the PowerPoint slides
and the pumpkin poem ahead of time. Then, during the “favorite response” provide them
with sentence stems and have them brainstorm synonyms for words in the stems. When
the student is able to conference with the teacher, she will help students choose the best
word. If possible, provide them with a Spanish to English thesaurus.
VI: Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)
● Mini Lesson (8 Minutes): Have the WORD CHOICE PowerPoint pulled up and projected
onto the white board starting on slide 3. “Now, as you know, we have been talking about
the 6 traits of writing. Today, we will be talking about word choice. We know that word
choice is an important part of a piece of published writing, but today we will be looking
into what it is and how to use it in our writing.” Change to slide 4 and read the
information on the slide. Then, change it to slide 5. “When we look at word choice in our
writing, it is important to consider these four things: placement of words, rhythm of
words, sound of words and strength of words. So, if I have a sentence such as ‘Sally likes
running.’ I am going to look at the placement of the words. The order makes sense. So
then, I can move on to the rhythm of the words. When I say it out loud ‘Sally likes
running,’ it flows fine. However, when I think about how it sounds, I think it sounds
incomplete so I might consider changing the sentence to ‘Sally likes running with her dog
Sam.’ Now, someone reading that sentence has more information about Sally and how
she feels about running. Finally, I look at the strength of the words I used. I ask myself:
Do they mean what I want them to mean to a reader who knows nothing about Sally? I
think they do. So, I can move on to another sentence. Change to slide 6. Now you may be
wondering, how do I incorporate this into my own writing. Well, a good place to start is
to look at the adjectives you have used. Can someone remind me what an adjective is?
Call on one student. “Yes, Jake an adjective is a descriptive word. Adjectives are
important so that your reader knows more details. It is also important to use pronouns.
Think about the sentence earlier, I said Sally likes running. Saying Sally likes running is
a lot clearer to readers than she likes running. We don’t want to leave our readers
wondering who she is. The third thing to look at is overused words. An example of an
overused word could be ‘good.’ If you have used this a lot in your writing, you may want
to avoid using it again. Plus, I bet you can think of some synonyms, or words with the
same meaning for good. Tell a partner a synonym that you came up with. Allow time for
students to share with each other. “Finally, we really want to look at the meaning of the
words. If you reread your writing and notice that your meaning is not clear. Take a look
 at your word choice. Oftentimes, if you add, remove, or change a word that helps a lot.”
Move to slide 7. “Now let’s take a look at this poem. I’m going to read it out loud while
you follow along on the screen. As I read, start thinking about the word choice in this
poem. Think about what words are really strong and what words you might change.”
Read poem aloud. “I’ll start us off. I really liked the author’s choice of the word
stomped. She could have said walked, but the word stomped gives the reader a better
mental picture of what is happening in the poem. Also, have you ever been to a pumpkin
patch? I have. There is a lot of uneven ground to cover and you have to step over
pumpkins and sometimes I find myself stomping around too. Who has another word in
the poem that they thought was really good? Allow one student to share. “Yes, Griffin. I
thinking hunting was a really good word too. Can you tell me why you think that? Allow
Griffin to share why. “Yes, I also think hunting is a better word than looking. It does
show that the person is really looking hard for the perfect pumpkin.” Underline the good
words so they stand out. Continue this process and call on as many students as time or the
poem allows. Make sure to highlight the fact that words in the poem could be changed to
make them stronger as well.
● Writing and Conferencing (12 Minutes): Change the PowerPoint to slide 8 and instruct
students to head back to their seats. “Once you are back at your seat, please take out a pencil
and a sheet of paper. For the next 6 minutes, I want you to free write a paragraph about your
favorite thing. It can be a favorite food, sport, place, book, or anything you can think of as long
as it is your favorite. This will help me to get to know you better and provide a piece of writing
for us to look at word choice. As you write, I will be coming around to conference with some of
you. Now, let’s get writing! Set a timer for 6 minutes. While this is going on begin conferencing
with students. Try to switch at least every two minutes. While conferencing, you should be
asking students questions about what they are writing and how it is going. You may provide
them something to encourage them during this time; however, they may not need it as they have
just started writing. Once the 6 minutes is up regain attention and switch PowerPoint to slide 9.
“Alright class finish your last sentence. It is okay if they are not done. These aren’t for a grade I
just want to learn more about you. Now, take out another color writing utensil. It can be a pen,
marker, or highlighter. Reread over what you just wrote and take a look at your word choice.
For the next 6 minutes I want you to make changes to the word choice of your paper. If you need
help, take a look at the board, and use your resources. You may ask the people at your table for
help, but don’t give too much away because we will be sharing later! Go ahead and start editing
your word choice. See if you can get at least 3.” As students edit, spend more time conferencing
taking anecdotal notes and switching between students at least every two minutes as you go.
Once the next 6 minutes are up, regain attention.
VII. Check for Understanding
● During the Mini Lesson, the class will be examining a poem for word choice. At this
time, students can ask questions and share their ideas. With this information, the teacher
will be able to get a feel for how much of the concept the students have grasped.
● While students are writing, the teacher will be conferencing with students and taking
anecdotal records to gauge student understanding.
● At the close of the lesson, students will have the opportunity to ask questions as well as
rate how confident they feel with the new information on their revised writing piece.
 ● If learning has not gone well, the teacher can stop at any point to provide more
information. If this concept needs to be retaught, this will be tackled in small guided
reading groups.

VIII. Review Learning Outcomes/Closure

Instruct students to put down their pencils. “Today, we learned how word choice can affect the
meaning of our writing. Take a moment to think about any questions you may still have before
we share our writing. If you do not have any questions, think about your favorite part of the
lesson.” Give students a minute to think. “Do you still have any unanswered questions that the
whole class could benefit from the answer? Allow for students to share and answer their
questions to the best of your ability. “Thank you for sharing! Now, I want each of you to share
the revisions you made to specific words with your table. It is not necessary to read your whole
paragraph, but if everyone has had a chance to share you may. Give students time to share with
each other. If time allows, have some students share their word choice revisions with the whole
class. When you are finished, I want you to rate how confident you feel about word choice. 1
means I need a lot more help and 5 means I know it so well I could help teach this lesson to a
friend. You can also rate yourself somewhere in the middle. Write your answer on the top of
your “favorite thing” paragraph. When you are done, go ahead and stack your writings on my
desk. I will read them and give you some feedback. Great job today!”

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT

Formative: During the anticipatory set, the teacher will observe the teacher will observe whether
or not word choice affects student choice. Then, during the mini lesson as the class analyzes the
pumpkin poem for good examples or word choice or anything they would change, the teacher
should observe if students are beginning to apply what they know about word choice. Next,
during the writing activity, the teacher will be conferencing with students, answering questions,
and taking anecdotal records of their understanding. Finally, when students share the changes
writing the teacher will listen in and gauge student understanding so that she can adapt her
lessons moving forward for more or less support.
Summative: The summative assessment for this lesson is the revisions they make to their word
choice in response to the prompt. The teacher will collect these writings to learn more about the
student’s favorite things as well as see how well they grasp the concept of word choice.

REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS

1. How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why not?
2. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3. How should I alter this lesson?
4. How would I pace it differently?
5. Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
6. What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
1. Bloom’s Taxonomy
2. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
7. Would my lesson be more effective if each of the students had a copy of the pumpkin
poem to mark for their own use?
8. Would it have beneficial to get students up and moving during the mini lesson or
sharing?
 9. Would students like the lesson more if I didn’t include a prompt for them to write to?

RESOURCES:
 WORD CHOICE POWERPOINT