All About Bats Lesson Plan

Michael T. Labagh

 Special Education

Lesson Plan: Bats

Subject:

Fountas and Pinnell Reading Series

Content Area of Reading

Topic:

Facts and Opinions about bats.

Objectives:

·         Given vocabulary, the students will practice the vocabulary in the story by giving an example in a sentence.

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

·         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 six facts and three opinions about bats.

·         Given a text, the students will know and be able to read it while participating in a running record assessment.

Methods:

·         Direct Instruction – Small Group

·         Modeling

·         Guided Practice

·         Application

·         Assessment

Materials:

·         Fountas and Pinnell – All About Bats – nonfiction book 73 – Level J

·         Animal Atlas: Creepy Creatures DVD – Bats in the Belfry

·         Vocabulary handout

·         Printables

·         SmartBoard

·         Fountas and Pinnell Word Bags

·         Fountas and Pinnell Journals

·         Pencils and pens

Motivation:

Teacher will say, “Today we will learn about bats! What are they? Why do they do what they do? After we read about bats, we will complete several activities and connect them to bats! First, let’s watch a quick video clip of why bats hang upside down (http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/429-why-ask-why-bats-video.htm ). I’m so excited! I wonder if Batman learned this stuff already.”

Activities:

The teacher will introduce a nonfiction text – All About Bats. The teacher will activate the students’ prior knowledge by connecting this book to Little Bat, a fiction text in the Fountas and Pinnell reading series - Book 27 Level E. The activities that the students will complete match the lesson objectives stated under the objectives section of this lesson plan.

·         The students will practice the vocabulary in the story.

·         The students will complete a picture walk and make predictions about the text.

·         The students will complete a read aloud of the text in small groups

·         The students will generate 6 facts and at least 3 opinions about bats

·         The students will complete a running record generated from the story, All About Bats.

Practice Activity:

 The teacher will provide several examples of what a fact is to the students such as, “You are a student at Bunker Hill School” and “you are in the 4^th grade”.  “Triple H is a wrestler for the WWE” and “ICarly is on Nickelodeon”.  The teacher will then provide examples to the students about what an opinion is. “Tacos are the best food in the world” and “summer is my favorite season!” The teacher will use himself as an example to model facts and opinions. Facts: “My name is Mr. Labagh.” “I work at Bunker Hill School.” “I have a beard”. Opinions: “Mr. Labagh is awesome!” “Mr. Labagh is the funniest teacher.” The teacher will ask the students to give one fact and one opinion about the teacher and one fact and one opinion about themselves. Students will share orally and then write what a fact and opinion are in their journals with examples to help them remember.

Independent Activity:

The students will generate 6 facts and 3 opinions about facts. The students will be able to use their notes in their journals and their text, All About Bats to help them complete the assignment.

Evaluation:

·         Oral responses (participation) throughout the lesson

·         Completed journal page of facts and opinions

·         Completed Running Record

Closure:

The teacher will ask the students what the purpose of the lesson was. The teacher will be looking for the students to respond with making connections, new vocabulary, facts and opinions about a topic, and practicing their reading skills. The teacher will then summarize the lesson and explain why it was important to learn the concepts presented.

Assessment:

There are several different aspects that I am assessing throughout this lesson. By using the book, All About Bats from the Fountas and Pinnell reading series, I am able to connect it to other topics in the curriculum, such as fact and opinion.

The students will complete the fact and opinion hand out that was generated for this lesson. The students must write six facts and three opinions as they relate to bats (one student will have the accommodation of speaking the six facts and three opinions instead of writing down his response. His answers will be recorded by the teacher). Assessments are on-going for the students. They will not end when these exercises generated from the book All About Bats end.

Extension lessons include, Mathematics word problem examples, a Narrative writing prompt, nouns and verb identification linked to the story, All About Bats, and labeling a diagram of bat body parts. These activities will be completed in centers in the classroom.