Dinosaur Lesson Plan

Michael T. Labagh

Special Education

Lesson Plan: All About Dinosaurs

Subject:

Fountas and Pinnell

Content Area:

Reading

Topic:

Locating Information and Summarizing Information

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 questions, students will be able to use the text to locate information and answer comprehension questions.

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

Methods:

·         Direct Instruction

·         Modeling

·         Guided Practice

·         Application

·         Assessment

Materials:

·         Wrestling biographies with questions

·         Dinosaur Fossil discovery Kit

·         Vocabulary Handout

·         Printables

·         Fountas and Pinnell Word Bags

·         Fountas and Pinnell Journals

·         Pencils and Pens

Motivation:

Teacher will say, “Today we will learn about dinosaurs! First let’s go on an expedition and pretend we are paleontologists and find our own dinosaur fossils! After we discover fossils, we will use wrestling biographies and a nonfiction text about dinosaurs to find information that will help us learn how to answer questions! Let’s get digging now!”

Activities:

After the students dig for fossils, they will read the non-fiction text, All About Dinosaurs.

·         The teacher will introduce the book; All About Dinosaurs after the students have made predictions from the a picture that they complete.

·         The students will practice the vocabulary in the text.

·         The students will complete a read aloud of the text.

·         The students will complete comprehension questions about wrestlers and then from their assigned text.

·         The students will complete related activities.

·         The students will complete a running record of All About Dinosaurs.

Practice Activity:

After the students have read All About Dinosaurs, and the teacher has had the students look at the headings again in the text, the students will then read and review wrestling biographies with the teacher. The teacher will read the text about wrestlers and point out the headings in each biography. The teacher will inform the students that each title inside in text gives the reader a clue about what the reader will read. When answering questions given by a teacher or on an assessment, the students can look for the title headings to help them locate information.

After the students and teacher read the wrestling biographies, the teacher will ask the students when Triple H was born. The teacher will guide the students to the section titled, personal information because that is where we can find personal information about Triple H. After a student responds, the teacher will ask the students what one of The Undertaker’s trademark wrestling moves are. The students will be guided as needed to find the section titled, Trade Marks. After the students can answer this information, the teacher will ask the students to answer the following questions from the wrestling biography sections….

1. What is The Undertaker’s record at Wrestlemania?

2. When did Triple H make his debut in the WWE?

3. Who did Triple H win the European Championship from?

4. When was The Undertaker born? What is his real name?

After the students have answered these questions and the teacher has guided the students as needed, the students will then begin their independent activity.

Independent Activity:

The students will answer comprehension questions based from the text, All About Dinosaurs. The students can answer the questions in either their journals, on the computer, or on a separate sheet of paper. The students will answer three comprehension questions. Spelling and grammar are not being assessed so these should not be used as indicators of a student’s ability to answer the comprehension questions. The students are encouraged to use their texts and follow heading titles to help them answer the comprehension questions correctly.

Evaluation:

·         Participation

·         Completed extension exercises

·         Completed comprehension questions from the text

Closure:

The teacher will describe what the purpose of this lesson was. When reading non-fiction texts, there are clues in the stories we read to help us locate information. If we read the headings/titles, we can find answers to questions that may be asked by a teacher, student, or even a test we take.

Assessment:

Assessments are on-going. Students will be asked to answer comprehension questions throughout the course of the school year and throughout the tenure as a student. If students are able to locate information, they will be able to answer non-fiction comprehension questions more easily.

Students will have to answer comprehension questions on the DRA’s and on the CMT’s.