All About African Elephants Lesson Plan

Michael T. Labagh

Special Education

Lesson Plan: All About African Elephants

Subject:

Fountas and Pinnell Reading Series - Book 85 – Level K

Content Area of Reading

Topic:

 Reading/Language Arts – Identifying the subjects and predicates in sentences through the use of the text

Objectives:

·         Given vocabulary, the students will participate and practice new vocabulary words in the story by giving an example of each word in a sentence of their own.

·         Given a text, the students will complete a picture walk and make oral predictions about what may happen in the text or what the text is mainly about.

·         Given the text, the students will complete a read aloud of the text in small groups.

·         Given a printable worksheet, the students will know and be able to correctly identify the subject and predicate of six sentences generated from the text, All About African Elephants.

·         Given a text, the students will participate in a running record assessment and complete the extension exercises while in their centers in the classroom.

Methods:

·         Direct Instruction – Small Group Instruction

·         Modeling

·         Guided Practice

·         Application

·         Assessment

Materials:

·         Fountas and Pinnell Reading Series – All About African Elephants -  Book 85 – Level K

·         Fountas and Pinnell Word Bags

·         Smart Board

·         Vocabulary Handout

·         Printables

·         Fountas and Pinnell Journals

·         Website: http://animal.discovery.com/videos/planets-best-african-elephant.html

·         Index cards

·         Pencils and Pens

Motivation:

Teacher will say, “Today we will learn about African Elephants! We will complete several activities that relate to these awesome elephants, but first, let’s watch a quick video on African Elephants!” http://animal.discovery.com/videos/planets-best-african-elephant.html “Wow, I didn’t know elephants could talk to one another.”

Activities:

The teacher will introduce the non-fiction text - All About African Elephants -  Book 85 – Level K. The teacher will activate the students’ prior knowledge of elephants by asking about the video they viewed and what else they know about elephants. The students will then complete the following objectives stated under the objectives section of this lesson plan.

·         Given vocabulary, the students will participate and practice new vocabulary words in the story by giving an example of each word in a sentence of their own.

·         Given a text, the students will complete a picture walk and make oral predictions about what may happen in the text or what the text is mainly about.

·         Given the text, the students will complete a read aloud of the text in small groups.

·         Given a printable worksheet, the students will know and be able to correctly identify the subject and predicate of six sentences generated from the text, All About African Elephants.

·         Given a text, the students will participate in a running record assessment and complete the extension exercises while in their centers in the classroom.

Practice Activity:

The teacher will provide several examples of what or how to identify a subject and predicate in a sentence. The subject in a sentence is the who or what the sentence is about. The predicate is what happens in the sentence. For example: Mr. Labagh walked to the store. The who, or subject in this sentence is Mr. Labagh. The predicate, or what happened in this sentence is, walked to the store. Nashua and Noel studied for their Spelling test (substitute your own student’s names). Nashua and Noel are the who in this sentence. What did they do? That’s right, they studied for their Spelling test. That is the predicate in this sentence. The New York Yankees won the baseball game. The subject in this sentence is what? Yes, it is The New York Yankees. What did they do? Yes, they won the baseball game. That is the predicate. You’ll notice that when we see a verb in the sentence, that is where the predicate begins. Remember, a verb is an action word, or it’s what we do. Let’s try one more. Isaac ate his lunch. Who can tell me what the subject and predicate in this sentence is? (Guide as needed). After this is complete, ask each student to create 3 sentences on their own and circle the subjects in each sentence and underline the predicates in each sentence. (Guide as needed. Some students may need the sentences created for them). After each student has completed this exercise and written it in their journals, ask them to complete the attached printable on subjects and predicates that relate to the story that they just read.

Independent Activity:

The students will complete the subject and predicate sheet that relates to African Elephants. The students can use the text and their journals to help them complete this exercise.

Evaluation:

·         Oral responses and participation throughout the lesson

·         Completed journal page of subjects and predicates

·         Completed ditto of subjects and predicates on African Elephants

·         Completed Running Record

Closure:

The teacher will ask the students what the purpose of this lesson was. The teacher will guide the students as needed. The students should answer that they learned about subjects and predicates and facts about African Elephants, as well as new vocabulary and participating in small group instructional activities.  The teacher will review what the purpose of the lesson was and then use the index cards with words from the story written on them. The students will take turns as they read the words written on the cards. When the word is read correctly, the student that reads the word will keep it and place it in his/her word bag.

Assessment:

There are several aspects that are being assessed in this lesson. Can the students participate in the small group instructional activities? What do I need to do in order to ensure that they can? Did the students learn the intended objectives? What do I need to do to ensure all of the students learned what I wanted them to learn? Were all of the activities completed? Did I teach the required content skills in order for my students to complete all of the exercises? Did I provide immediate and appropriate feedback to each student? Did I complete the running records? What do I need to do if a student did not perform well on a running record?

Assessments are on-going and not just student based.