Plants that Eat Bugs Lesson Plan

Mike Labagh

Lesson Plan – Plants That Eat Bugs

Subject:

Fountas and Pinnell

Content Area:

Reading

Topic:

Fiction and non-fiction texts

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 different text samples, students will be able to decipher between fiction and non-fiction

·         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:

·         Venus Fly Trap

·         Printables

·         Journals

·         Fountas and Pinnell text, Plants That Eat Bugs

·         http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/life-venus-flytrap-catches-flies.html - video clip

·         Index cards

·         Pencils and Pens

·         Computer with Internet access

Motivation:

Teacher will say, “We will grow our very own Venus Fly Trap in our classroom. Does anyone know what a Venus Fly Trap is? First we will watch a video clip of a real Venus Fly Trap in action, then we will read about some very interesting plants. After that, we will learn the difference between fiction and non-fiction texts and then we will complete some fun activities before we grow our own Venus Fly Trap!”

Activities:

·         The teacher will introduce the book; Plants That Eat Bugs

·         The students will practice the vocabulary in the text.

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

·         The students will read fictional and non-fictional text and decide which type of text they are reading

·         The students will complete related activities.

·         The students will complete a running record of.

Practice Activity:

The students will read, Plants that Eat Bugs. As a group the teacher will describe why this is a non-fiction text. The teacher will make note of pictures, stated facts in the text (bugs eat leaves, some plants eat bugs) and remind the students about the video clip they saw. The teacher will then read with the students 4 stories and the students will decide which story is fiction and which is non - fiction. The students will be looking for facts, describing details, talking animals or objects, and using their prior knowledge about concepts to decide if something can really happen or not. The teacher must guide as needed as each student’s prior knowledge is not the same! The students will underline information (at least 3 details) that they feel is important in deciding whether the story is fiction or non-fiction. As a group, the teacher and the students will discuss possible answers.

Independent Activity:

The students will read 3 different stories. 2 will be fiction, 1 will be non-fiction. The students must read the passages and decide which is fiction or non-fiction. The students must then underline the reasons (at least 3 details) from the story that helped them decide which to choose. As a group, the teacher and the students will review answers. Students that are able to complete this assignment easily can complete comprehension questions of the texts that they are reading, while other students are reviewing how to decipher between fiction and non-fiction.

Evaluation:

·         Completed Assignments, including the extension lessons

·         Participation

Closure:

The teacher will ask the students what the purpose of the fiction and non-fiction lessons were. The teacher will review the concepts of fiction and non-fiction with the students. The teacher will then assist the students in growing the Venus Fly Trap.

Assessment:

·         Monitoring the students asking for help when needed if it is needed (this is important! We want students to ask us questions. This is also how we get to know our students)

·         Ongoing

·         Self-Assessment questionnaire

·         Running Records

·         Reviewing extension lessons with students. They are important as well as they focus on writing, critical thinking, and Mathematical concepts.

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.

All About Snakes Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan

All About Snakes

Mike Labagh

Subject:

Fountas and Pinnell Reading Series

Topic:

Cloze Procedures

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 utilize Cloze practices.

·         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 Snakes – non-fiction text – Book 30 – level C

·         Snakes DVD

·         Real Snakeskin

·         Vocabulary Handout

·         Printables

·         Smart Board

·         Fountas and Pinnell Word Bags and Journals

·         Pens and Pencils

Motivation:

Teacher will say, “Today we will learn about snakes! We’ll learn about what they can do and what some of them look like. First, we’ll touch a real snake skin. Then we’ll read a story about snakes. Finally, we’ll practice cloze practices involving snakes and then we’ll watch a quick DVD about snakes. I’m so excited!”

Activities:

After the students feel the real snake skin they will…

·         The teacher will introduce the book; All About Snakes 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 utilize cloze practices.

·         The students will complete related activities.

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

Practice Activity:

After the students read the story, All About Snakes, they will practice using cloze practices by completing a cloze practice sheet based from the story they read. They will be able to use their books. The teacher will guide as the students complete this exercise and remind the students of their vocabulary when the lesson started. The students will be prompted to look at pictures, eliminate words that do not make sense, and read the entire sentence before they make their selection. For students that are not struggling with this, the students can complete this exercise without using their text.

Independent Activity:

The students will complete a cloze exercise on seasonal clothing and washing clothes. While there are not pictures for this exercise, they can be added if a teacher feels the need to help the students connect to the seasons of the year. I’m attempting this lesson without doing so. Before I send my students to their seats to complete this assignment, I will review orally what people wear during summer, winter, how we wash clothing, and what we do when we buy clothing. I do not want prior knowledge to hinder this exercise. If students struggle with reading this activity on their own, it can be read orally. It is a grade 1 cloze practice.

Evaluation:

·         Participation

·         Completed extension exercises and activities

·         Completed Cloze Practice Independent Activity

Closure:

The teacher will ask the students what the purpose of the lesson was. Was it to learn about snakes or was it to learn about Cloze practices, or did we happen to learn about both while we participated in Cloze practices? The students will answer what they learn about both snakes and Cloze practices. The teacher will ask each student to cite an oral example from the lesson.

Assessment:

Assessments are on-going. The students will work on Cloze Practices throughout fifth grade as this type of assessment appears on the district mandated Connecticut Mastery Test. Assessments will increase in difficulty as they students read on higher levels throughout their educational careers.

All About Robots Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan: All About Robots

Mike Labagh

Special Education

Subject:

Fountas and Pinnell Reading Series

Content Area of Reading

Topic:

Main Idea

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(s), the students will know and be able to find a main idea of a short text.

·         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 text - All About Robots – Book 81 – Level K

·         Journals

·         Index cards

·         Wall – E DVD for movie clip

·         http://www.ehow.com/video_4767091_build-robot-out-box.html - building a robot

·         printables

·         Smart Board

·         Pens and pencils

·         Computer with internet access

Motivation:

Teacher will say, “We are going to build our own robot! First we are going to read about robots and learn about what a main idea is. Then we will participate in extension activities and when we are finished, we will build our very own robot for our classroom! I can’t wait, so let’s get started!”

Activities:

The students will participate in small group instruction of the text, All About Robots. The students will learn new vocabulary, read the text, make predictions, and learn how to find a main idea within a text by looking for details. The culminating project is the creation of our very own robot that we will make together.

Practice Activity:

After the students read the text, the teacher will introduce what a main idea is. The teacher will use the text and ask each student to turn to pages in the text to find new paragraphs (page 2 and 4, page 6, page 8, page 10 and 12). The students will use their robot graphic organizer to take notes of what the details are and what the main idea of each passage is. For students that struggle with writing, they can orally share their answers. The point is that they are learning and not struggling with the writing aspect. The teacher will guide each student throughout this aspect of the assignment and answer any questions as needed. The teacher will also let the students find the last main idea in the last passage on their own and guide as needed and review the answers with the small group when everyone has finished.  Then, the teacher will use 2 separate printables with the students to help describe how to find a main idea. There are 2 separate printables, but one printable is a bubble in multiple choice option sheet and the other is writing in the main idea. The students can choose which one to use as both printables have the same information on them. The teacher will guide the students throughout each example (3 in total). The teacher will ask the students what details they learned to help them figure out the main idea. The teacher will use the robot graphic organizer with the students to help them solve the main idea for each passage. The students will write the details of the passage on the arms and legs of the robot and write the main ideas of the texts on the chest of the robot. 

Independent Activity:

After each student has completed the practice activity, the students will return to their seats and complete the main idea printable with three more examples on their own. The teacher will monitor as needed and review this printable when he/she is ready to re-meet with this group of students.

Evaluation:

·         Completed assignments, both small and individual activity, along with index card vocabulary and high frequency word game

·         Participation

Closure:

The teacher will ask the students what the purpose of the lesson was and what each student learned. The teacher will add information not stated by the students, such as finding the main idea, using a graphic organizer, learning new vocabulary, and what robots can do. The teacher will ask the students if they feel that they learned how to find a main idea in a text and then the students and the teacher will build their own robot for the classroom.

Assessment:

·         Ongoing

·         Main idea examples

·         Running Record

·         Extension exercises in Reading, Writing, and Math

·         Participation

·         Reflection guide (attached)