Lesson Title: “Cactus Soup: Learning About Cacti” (1 Subject: Grade 4 Reading

hour)

PROGRAM OF STUDY OUTCOMES

GLO: Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to comprehend and respond personally and
critically to oral, print and other media texts.

SLOs:

- preview sections of print texts to identify the general nature of the information and to set appropriate
purpose and reading rate
- comprehend new ideas and information by responding personally and discussing ideas with others
- extend sight vocabulary to include words frequently used in other subject areas
- monitor understanding by confirming or revising inferences and predictions based on information in text

LEARNING OBJECTIVESBJECTIVES

Students will …

- Read along with the class in our informational booklets

- Differentiate between important and supporting information

- Choose interesting facts from the informational booklet to showcase on our Cacti Facts worksheet

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

- Smartboard
- Whiteboard/dry erase markers
- Writing utensils: pencils and highlighters
- Colouring utensils
- Cacti informational booklets
- Facts about Cacti worksheets

PREPARATION AND LOGISTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

- Students already have their informational Cacti books either in their “Things to Finish Later” folder, or in
their Reading duotangs
- Print 20 photocopies of p. 29 from the resource pack: Facts About Cacti
- Print 20 photocopies of San Miguel worksheet
 PROCEDURE
Introduction Time

ST will ask students to grab their informational booklets from their “Things to Finish Later” 5 minutes
folder, and grab a highlighter.When ST has ensured all students have their booklets and
highlighters out, the whole class will turn to the third page in the booklet. ST will have the
corresponding pages up on the Smartboard to read through with the class

Body Time

Topic: Together the class will read through the remaining pages in the informational 20 minutes
booklet. ST will be highlighting on the Smartboard with students following
along in their booklets.
When finished, ST will explain next part of activity: 10 minutes
- ST will hand out Cacti Facts worksheets
- Students will independently go through their booklets and find four
facts that they find interesting or think are important to write about.
- Students will write those four facts on their worksheets
- Once finished, students will colour the cacti 10 minutes
- ST will ask for lots of bright colours when students are colouring,
because the sheets are going to make a big class poster of all of the
things the class knows about cacti

Topic If time allows** 10 minutes

ST will hand out the San Miguel comprehension reading and have students
put it at the back of their Reading duotangs. When everyone’s sheets are in
and the students are ready to read, the class will read through the passage. ST
explains that the class is reading about San Miguel because it is the setting of
Cactus Soup and it is one of the ways to connect to the story. ST will explain
new words and ask for predictions, comments, questions.
When the passage has been read, the class will go through the comprehension
questions at the bottom of the page. ST will read the questions, and students
will answer independently. When all students have finished answering the
questions, ST will ask for students to share answers, and the class will have a
discussion about why answers are right or might need improvement.

Conclusion Time

ST will ask students to put away their informational booklets, Reading duotangs, and 5 minutes
writings and colouring utensils. The students will put on their masks, sanitize their hands, and
grab a snack to eat before first recess.

Assessment
ST will review students’ fact worksheets to understand how well the students were able to comprehend what was
asked, and if they were able to pull important facts about cacti when searching through their information booklets.
 Reflection:
Worked well:
- I brought in two cacti for class pets, which the kids were super excited about. Together we
named them and talked about taking proper care of them. They had to use critical thinking and
decision-making to determine which facts out of our informational cacti booklet they wanted to
put onto their cacti facts worksheets, which they did well with.
Improvement:
- They were finished earlier than I anticipated, so I had to print off another supplementary
worksheet for them in the middle of the lesson. I know to always plan more for if students are
finished early, but because it was the last day of this book study I hadn’t wanted to print
unnecessary items.