Instructional Synopsis 1

Content Objectives: clearly defined, displayed, and reviewed with students (Echevarria,
Vogt & Short, 2017).
Objectives:
● Students will understand the importance of showing, not telling in their writing.
● Students will be able to show details instead of telling them in their writing.
Learning targets:
Today, I can tell the difference between a “showing” sentence and a “telling” sentence, so I can
“show, not tell” how the characters in my story are feeling. I'll know I've got it when I can use
words to describe a character's face, body, and voice.
Mrs. B. had the learning targets displayed on the whiteboard for the students. At the
beginning of the lesson, the teacher instructed the students to orally read the learning targets
together. The learning targets are written in a student-friendly way so the students can understand
what they are learning during the lesson. The school district does not require the teachers to write
or display the content or the language objectives. However, teachers are required to write only
the content objectives on the lesson plan. I noticed that the objectives for the lesson did not
include active verbs. When writing content and language objectives, educators should avoid
using verbs such as learn, know, and understand because these verbs are not observable and
measurable (Echevarría et al., 2017).

Activating prior knowledge: Concepts explicitly linked to students’ background experience

(Echevarria, Vogt & Short, 2017).
To activate the students’ prior knowledge, Mrs. B. asked the students, “How many of you
make pictures in your heads while reading? What words help you paint a picture in your mind?”
She had the students think about the questions and then shared their answers. Ms. B. also asked
the students, “Have you ever heard of the phrase, “Show, Don’t Tell”?, possibly in the first
grade?” Mrs. B. tapped into the students’ prior knowledge with familiar life experiences. For
example, all the students have read a book, therefore, they were able to make connections
between the new learning and material, vocabulary, and concepts previously covered in their
classes (Echevarría et al., 2017).

Key Vocabulary: emphasized (e.g., introduced, written, repeated, and highlighted for
students to see) (Echevarria, Vogt & Short, 2017).
Show: to display (emotions, or characteristics)
Tell: to give information or facts to someone.
Show, not tell: a strategy you use to describe the character’s feelings.
Mrs. B. displayed the key vocabulary words on chart paper near the whiteboard. She
briefly discussed the words with the students since they knew what the words meant. The key
vocabulary words used in this lesson are terms that can be used across the curriculum and for
Instructional Synopsis 2

language process and function. The words show and tell are some examples of language and
function that are common in the classroom discourse (Echevarría et al., 2017).

Materials: Hands-on materials and/or manipulatives provided for students to practice

using new content knowledge (Echevarria, Vogt & Short, 2017).
● “Show, Don’t Tell” anchor chart
● Teacher small moment essay (one copy per student)
● Showing/Telling popsicle sticks (one per student)
● Showing/Telling sorting activity (one per partnership)
● Show, Don’t Tell vocabulary rings (one per student)
● Show, Don’t Tell Cards for charades
● Four examples of telling and showing sentences

Strategies used to motivate and engage student learning.

At the beginning of the lesson, Mrs. B. “hooked” the students by telling them a story that
when she reads, she loves to close her eyes and picture exactly what the characters are doing in
the story. She gave an example of the book she is currently reading. While telling the story, Mrs.
B. was very animated and had a positive attitude. Her story motivated the students to think about
what they do to picture a story in their minds. Mrs. B.'s story led the students to activate their
prior knowledge and share what they do. Throughout the lesson, Mrs. B. constantly had the
students engaged in the lesson. For example, during the second activity, she had the students use
popsicle signs that had “showing” on one side and “telling” on the other side. They had to
answer questions by holding up the sign after Mrs. B. read example sentences. According to
Echevarría et al., (2017), “When learners are actively engaged, they are involved in tasks that
challenge them and allow them to gain confidence. Young learners prefer tasks with objects they
can manipulate or movements they can perform, as well as puzzles and learning games” (p.207).
In addition, Mrs. B. offered specific positive praise and feedback, such as “I love how you acted
out the feeling, nervous.” to engage the students in learning.

Lesson Plan Procedures:

● Mrs. B. introduced the lesson by instructing the students to orally read the learning
targets together. “Today, I can tell the difference between a “showing” sentence and a
“telling” sentence, so I can “show, not tell” how the characters in my story are feeling.
I'll know I've got it when I can use words to describe a character's face, body, and voice.”
● Mrs. B. activated the students' prior knowledge by asking the students “How many of you
make pictures in your heads while reading?” and “What words help you paint a picture
in your mind?” She had the students think about the questions and then shared their
answers. Ms. B. also asked the students, “Have you ever heard of the phrase, “Show,
Don’t Tell”?, possibly in the first grade?
Instructional Synopsis 3

● Mrs. B. discussed the vocabulary words, show, tell, and the phrase, “Show, Don’t Tell”.
The teacher stated, “Show, Don’t Tell” refers to a writing strategy that is used to give
descriptions of the characters' feelings, by describing the character’s face, body, and
voice.” She referred to the anchor chart (e.g., What would the hands be doing? What
would the mouth be doing? What would the eyes be doing?).
● First activity: Mrs. B. read the first example, “Ben is mad.” she explained, “This
sentence is telling us that Ben was mad, not showing us. It’s hard for the reader to picture
how Ben is really feeling. When writers show a reader what the character is feeling, it
gives the reader a better mental picture and insight into the character.” Mrs. B. then
shared a “showing” sentence. “Ben stomped into the room with narrow eyes and a red
face. He put his hands on hips and glared at his brother.” She asked the students if they
knew what the word glared meant. After discussing the word, Mrs. B. and the students
acted out the sentence. She continued to go over a few more examples of telling vs.
showing sentences.
● Second activity: The students practice telling the difference between a “telling” sentence
and a “showing” sentence. Mrs. B. read aloud a few sentences and the student had to hold
up their popsicle sign stating whether the sentence is a “telling” or a “showing” sentence.
● Third activity: The students worked with a partner to complete the telling vs. showing
sorting activity. The students were given five sentence strips to read. First, they had to
discuss and decide what type of sentence it was. Then, they had to put the strips in the
correct column on the worksheet.
● Fourth activity: The students were given a copy of the teacher’s small moment essay.
The students independently practiced showing the reader how the characters in the story
feel. Mrs. B. pointed out that all the feeling words have been highlighted. The students
had to rewrite the “telling” sentences to “showing” sentences on a post-it. The students
were given the Show Don’t Tell vocabulary cards on rings to support their writing.
● Fifth activity: The students played charades as a group. The students took turns acting
different feelings, while the other students guessed the feeling word.

Differentiated Instruction:
Mrs. B. modified and enhanced the lesson by including a variety of learning modalities to
accommodate her students. She used visual charts, a graphic organizer to sort the “telling” and
“showing” sentences, vocabulary cards that included pictures, and mini signs for the students to
hold up during one of the activities. With the teacher’s small moment essay, Mrs. B. highlighted
the feeling words to support her students. I noticed that Mrs. B. used a slower rate and simple
sentences when speaking to her students. The students were definitely engaged and listened
intently during the lesson. Echevarría et al., (2017) noted that educators make a huge
contribution to their student’s attitudes toward learning. They also pointed out that
“Differentiating how information is delivered so that it is comprehensible helps students with
Instructional Synopsis 4

lower levels of proficiency feel accepted, understood, and as much a part of the class as native
speakers of English” (p.112).

Opportunities for Practice:

During the lesson, the students had many opportunities to practice the “Show, Don’t Tell”
strategy. The second activity was a class group activity in which the teacher read a few sentences
and each student had to decide whether or not the sentence was “showing’ or “telling”. They also
have to explain why they chose their answer. In the third activity, the students were given ample
time to practice the strategy with a partner. In addition to practicing the strategy, students were
also practicing their communication skills, which include listening, speaking, and reading. After
this activity, the whole class discussed their answers. The fourth activity was an individual
activity where students practiced rewriting “telling” sentences into “showing” sentences. The
students were also given ample time to complete the activity, and once all the students finished,
they shared their sentences with the whole class. I believed that Mrs. B. efficiently demonstrated
a balance between instructional time and practice time. The students were given the opportunity
to practice and apply the information in a meaningful way.

Comments:
At the end of the lesson, Mrs. B. engaged the students in a brief discussion about what it
means to “Show, Don’t Tell” and how they will use this strategy in their writing. Afterward, the
students played a fun game of charades. The students loved playing the game and were able to
connect new information they learned by acting out their feelings. This activity helped them to
visualize how they could bring their narrative stories to life.

Assessment:
Mrs. B. used a variety of methods to assess the student’s understanding of the learning
objectives. She observed the students’ oral and written responses during independent and group
activities to see whether they were making progress toward the learning objectives. During the
activities, she would ask additional questions to individual students and offer positive feedback.
In addition, Mrs. B. used the thumbs up/down assessment tool when asking questions to monitor
if students understood certain words or concepts before moving on to the next activity. She used
a checklist to record whether the students completed the task correctly. At the end of the lesson,
Mrs. B. collected the teacher’s small moment essay activity with the students’ “showing”
sentences that were written on post-its.

Classroom Management:
Mrs. B. uses the following to manage behavior:
● Tickets
● marble jar
Instructional Synopsis 5

Mrs. B. gives tickets to students when they show good behavior, such as when they raise their
hand instead of calling out and completing their work. When a student receives ten tickets, he or
she can pick a prize from the prize box. The marble jar is used for the whole class behavior, such
as when the students show kindness towards each other or help each other with reading or
writing. Mrs. B will grab a handful of marbles and place them in the jar at the end of the lesson.
When the jar is full, all the students will receive a prize.

Promoting an environment where diversity is celebrated:

Mrs. B. has a great relationship with her students and they love talking to her. Before the
lesson started, the students shared what they were going to do for the upcoming weekend.
Having casual conversations where students can share their experiences helps them to open up,
build strong communication skills, and promote a friendly learning environment. I noticed that
Mrs. B. used a variety of multicultural children's clipart in the anchor charts and the vocabulary
cards. When using a variety of pictures with different multicultural people, it promotes a positive
inclusive classroom environment.

References

Echevarría, J., Short, D., & Vogt, M. (2017). Making Content Comprehensible for English

Learners: The SIOP Model (5th ed.). Pearson.