Learning Cycle Lesson Plan Explained

Lesson Plan

Teacher____Laura Nester______Date______Subject___ 1 st Grade Language Arts__ Time______

Topic/Concept/Question/Problem: Fairy Tales: Inferencing and Predicting

SOL: 1.1 The student will continue to demonstrate growth in the use of oral language. a) Listen and respond to a variety of media, including books, audiotapes, videos, and other age-appropriate materials c) Express ideas orally in complete sentences 1.3 The student will adapt or change oral language to fit the situation. a) Initiate conversation with peers and adults. b) Follow rules for conversation. c) Use appropriate voice level in small-group settings. d) Ask and respond to questions in small-group settings. 1.8 The student will read familiar stories, poems, and passages with fluency and expression. 1.9 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of fiction a) Preview the selection. b) Relate previous experiences to what is read. c) Make predictions about content. f) Identify characters, setting, and important events. 1.11 The student will print legibly. a) Form letters. b) Space words and sentences. 1.12 The student will write to communicate ideas. a) Generate ideas. b) Focus on one topic. c) Use complete sentences in final copies. d) Begin each sentence with a capital letter and use ending punctuation in final copies. e) Share writing with others.

Rationale: Proficient readers use a variety of strategies to help them make sense of and understand what they are reading. Students need to know how to think about their own thinking during reading. The purpose of this lesson is to teach students how to make inferences and reasonable predictions while reading. Inferring involves taking what we know and making a guess about what we don’t know when reading. Making inferences involves using clues in the text along with prior knowledge and personal experiences to help figure out what is not directly said in the text. Learning how to effectively make predictions and inferences during reading helps students become more independent readers.

Objective(s): Students will o Define inference or prediction o Explain what clues they used to make their prediction o Write and tell inferences the author is making using text and illustrations o Make inferences from simple text examples and illustrations given o Demonstrate understanding of predictions through oral, visual, and written assessment

Essential Understandings, Knowledge, Skill and Processes:

Students will participate in a variety of oral language activities that include: o listening to stories read aloud daily o participating in discussions about stories Students will use a variety of strategies to assist with comprehension. o draw on prior knowledge to make predictions before and during reading o make and confirm predictions based on illustrations or portions of the text o use knowledge from their own experience to make sense of and talk about a text Students will express themselves in complete sentences. Students will retell stories and events, using beginning, middle, and end. Students will initiate conversation in a variety of school settings Students will sustain two-person conversation Students will stay on topic Students will use voice level and intonation appropriate for the setting Students will follow rules for conversation, including listening and taking turns Students will ask and respond to relevant questions in group settings. Students will engage in reading-aloud activities voluntarily Students will practice reading in texts on their independent reading level to develop accuracy, fluency, and expression.

Teacher Materials:

Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing Dinorella Goldilocks and the Three Bears Variety of book versions of different fairy tales Smart Board Prediction Yes No Chart Print Out Character Speech Bubble Worksheet Game Cards Pictures from magazines and books Character riddles and pictures Pencils Scissors Post Its Students Materials:

Pencils Paper Crayons

Procedures/Activities:

Exploratory Introduction

I will explain to the class that we are going to play a quick game, called Charades. I will explain how to play charades, in case anyone does not remember how to play or has never played. I will model how to play by thinking of some kind of feeling and without using words, I will act out that feeling. The class will guess what it is I am feeling. I will begin by making a frowning face and sniffles, and because of what the students see, they should be able to guess that I am sad. I will begin explaining what an inference is that making an inference is “reading between the lines”. I never said that I was sad, but the students were able to understand what I meant because of my expressions and their prior knowledge of how they acted when they felt sad. I will then introduce the concept of making inferences and predictions and explain that readers often have to guess about an author’s meaning, that good writers don’t tell us everything directly in words. We will then continue the game of charades taking turns, but when we have an answer to the feeling, the students will say, “the inference that I make is that you are feeling …”. We will then discuss as a class how we are making certain inferences.

Development

I will start this lesson using the book, “Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing” by Judi Barrett. I will not show any illustrations or the cover. I will simply tell the class that we are going to read a book called, Animal Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing. I will then explain that we will use our prior knowledge of animals and clothing and the text to “predict” what the author is trying to say to us.

As a group, we will brainstorm different kinds of clothing (I will put this information on the board). I will then ask why the students think the author would think that animals should not wear clothes? We will make a list on the board as a group. I will then explain that even before reading the book or seeing any pictures, we can make predictions and inferences to why the author says that animals should not wear clothing. I will then show the cover to the class and we will read the story together looking at the illustrations. Each section of the book is divided into text and then illustrations. After reading the text, (for example: because it would be disastrous for a porcupine), I will ask the class why they think this based on what was read. We will brainstorm reasons before looking at the illustration. It is during the brainstorming that I will model my thinking on inferencing. I will think aloud: I will read the text aloud and talk through my thinking process in order to show students how to think about their thinking as they are reading. What do I know about porcupines? They are small, short, have 4 legs and have sharp quills. I am going to picture in my mind a porcupine wearing clothing. My porcupine is wearing pants and a shirt. The porcupine is too short and has too many legs to fit in the pants and his quills are ripping through his clothes. The inference I make is that the author think s porcupines should not wear clothes because the clothes will not fit and the quills will tear holes in the clothing. Now let’s look at the illustration. It shows a porcupine wearing a dress, with its quills making holes in the dress. My inference was a little bit different because I had a little bit different idea than the author and illustrator which is OK. I will reinforce the importance that I did the work of guessing the author’s meaning by myself”.

I will have the class group into pairs and I will continue reading the text of the book. I will not show illustrations, but I will ask the students to make inferences about why the author might think that each animal should not wear clothing. I will encourage the students to visualize each animal, making pictures in their head from the text, and think about what is unique about each animal. I will encourage students to talk to his or her partner and explain to each other why each animal should not wear clothing. I will continue to emphasize that students' inferences will be different because they are based on our background knowledge. It is ok if our inferences are different from one another and the stories we are reading.

I will re-explain that when good readers read or listen to a story, they make predictions, or guesses about what will happen next in the story. It is important to use pictures and words to help make reasonable guesses about what may happen in the story. I will model making a reasonable prediction about what will happen in a version of a fairy tale the students have not read before, Dinorella: A Prehistoric Fairy Tale by (This same version will be used again in the lesson on compare and contrast). By reading the title and looking at the pictures on the cover, I will predict that the book will probably be about a dinosaur. I will explain that I will not predict that it would be about a pig or other animal because there isn’t anything on the cover to tell me that. I am using the pictures and text to make a reasonable prediction. I will begin reading the story, stopping after certain sections to make my predictions aloud based on what I have read.(I will have prepared ahead of time and marked sections of the book with post its. This is where I will stop and make predictions). On the Smart Board, the class and I will record the predictions that I am making about the story. Each student will have a copy of this paper that has 3 columns labeled: Predictions, Yes, No. We will read aloud up to the first post it and discuss if the predictions have come true or not. We will mark the appropriate sections on the chart. Some predictions will not be answered yet, so those will remain blank until we continue reading and stopping throughout the story at the different post its. We will add any new predictions we may decide on based on what we are reading or see in the illustrations. We will go through the story in this way to the end.

Expansion

Students will read other versions of fairy tales and work in pairs or independently completing a Prediction, Yes, No Chart before, during and after they read. Students must use information under a picture to infer what each character would be saying. Then students write the words in the speech bubbles. Students use their imagination as well as the strategy inferencing in order to write a dialogue between two animals.

Students will work in pairs and take turns reading game cards. The other student will make an inference about what is happening, going to happen, or just happened based on what was read.

Students will re-read "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." I will ask the students if they would like to have Goldilocks as a friend. I will take a vote and divide the class into two groups – those that say "yes" and those that do not want her as a friend. I will have the students discuss why they like Goldilocks or why they do not like her and would not like her as a friend. After the students have had a few minutes to themselves, ask each group to tell why they chose the answer they did. Students should be making inferences about Goldilocks- she is not a good person, she was mean, she is nice, etc. None of these words were used in the story. As the students explain why they think she was nice or mean, what she did that was wrong, they will be using details from the story to justify their inferences about what kind of person Goldilocks is.

Assessment/Evaluation:

I will observe and listen to the partners/groups and assess student abilities to make reasonable inferences/predictions from text and illustrations. I will also assess if students are able to explain why they made certain inferences.

I will observe students’ actions and responses during the reading of the group stories, Animals should definitely not wear clothing and Dinorella for clues that they understand what inferences are, and that they are making reasonable inferences based on pictures and texts.

After having students fill out the Predictions charts, I will check for accuracy.

I will observe the students during discussions and in center activities to assess students' comprehension of inferences.

I will meet with students individually, asking them to tell me what their inferences are and explaining what they used to help them in making their inferences.

Differentiation:

There will be a variety of books available for the different reading levels

Students will be allowed to use pictures or words (preferably both) to show that they understand inferencing.

Students will be given the opportunity to “act out” their inferences/predictions. Students will be given the option to work independently or in pairs during one of the assignments.

Materials to have ready ahead of time:

Magazine and Book illustrations Game Cards printed and cut out Print Speech Bubble activity Print Prediction Yes No Chart Printed Character Riddle Cards

Activities from My Bag of Tricks:

Students will practice making inferences using pictures from magazines and books. I will ask students to explain in writing or verbally what is happening in the picture, what the picture is advertising, or what the story will be about. Students will need to explain why they are making certain inferences.

Students will read a set of character riddles and use the set of pictures provided to infer who the character is.

Reflection: