Germane Lesson Plan 1

Reading Lesson Plan # 1

Your Name: Kati Germane Grade Level: 4^th Grade

Date lesson was taught: 4/18/2011 Number of Students: 2

1) Rationale:

Both my focus students, Ashley and Chandler, have difficulty comprehending text they read. When the class reads a short story aloud and the teacher asks questions based on the story, both focus students seem to have to reread part or all of the reading selection. I have watched both students during a class read aloud and they both seem to pay attention to the reading and do not do anything else that could impede their comprehension. Despite this, they don’t seem to be able to comprehend the text because they cannot answer questions that come straight from the text.

2) List which reading skill/strategy is the main focus of your lesson:

The main focus of this lesson is comprehension.

3) Objective for this lesson:

Students will comprehend a short story by reading it aloud and filling out an activity sheet of questions relating to the book on their own in an accurate manner.

4) Materials & supplies needed:

• Copy of One Day in May By: Kitty Colton for teacher and students
• Comprehension worksheet
• Pencil

5) OUTLINE OF LESSON PLAN:

• Introduction to the lesson (4 minutes):

“Okay Ashley and Chandler. Today the three of us are going to be working on your comprehension skills. Do you know what comprehension means?” Teacher should respond accordingly, making sure the correct answer is stated. The correct answer should be about understanding what the reader has just read. However, it is not only about the text. When there are pictures involved in the story, comprehension broadens to understanding and remembering both the words and the pictures. “You have been working on becoming better, faster, stronger readers all year with Mrs. Fish and comprehension is just another way to help your reading skills. Comprehension is the greatest part of reading anything because it allows you to understand what the text and words actually mean. Have you ever read a book, or a paragraph, and at the end of it you had no idea what you had just read? That’s because you were unable to comprehend the text! Reading can bring you great pleasure and knowledge if you learn to comprehend what you read. So today we are going to work on becoming better and stronger comprehenders. The book I have picked out for us is called One Day in May and it is by Kitty Colton and illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker. We are going to read the entire book aloud, taking turns reading, and at the end of the book I have a small worksheet for you to fill out. Any questions?” After the introduction, the teacher should give a copy of One Day in May to each child. The teacher should make it clear to the students that the worksheet at the end has questions dealing with what is read in the book.

• Explain what comprehension is
• Explain how comprehension helps with reading and understanding text
• Introduce One Day in May as choice of reading for lesson

• OUTLINE of key events during the lesson (15 minutes):

Since the books have been passed out, the teacher should begin by stating rules. “As you know and practice during class, when another person is reading, you should be following along with your eyes on the text. This strategy will help you comprehend the text. I do not want to see either of you playing with other things that may be around. Keep your eyes on the book. This book also has pictures. That means you will need to listen to the text and remember it as well as look at the pictures and soak it all in. Chandler, you will start reading on the first page and we will change readers at the end of each page. The reading order will be Chandler, Ashley, then me. If you find that following along with the text with only your eyes is difficult, you may also use a finger to follow along. This adds an extra tool to help the reader comprehend the text if they find they are looking away or get lost easily. Okay, let’s begin reading. Go ahead Chandler.” As the book is read aloud, the teacher should stop on the following pages after the page has been read and ask the following questions. This will help guide the students with their comprehension skills.

• Page 3 – “What month is it?” Answer, May
• Page 7 – “What is the woman sitting on?” Answer, tree stump
• Page 11 – “Where did Lin use to live before moving to the city?” Answer, the country
• Page 15 – “What is right outside of Lin’s window?” Answer, a nest of baby falcons

Once the book is over, the teacher should say “I will take your books now and I’m going to pass out the worksheet that goes along with the story. We are going to read it together, however you will answer the questions individually and silently to yourself.” The teacher should begin by reading question one, then giving the students time to answer it. Once the teacher sees both students are ready to move on, they will move to question two. This will go on until the entire worksheet is done. During this time, it is very important that the teacher do not give the students answers, especially if they ask for help. This worksheet will be used as an assessment on their comprehension. After the entire worksheet is complete, the teacher should collect them.

• Provide students with ways to help comprehension
• Assign rules for when a reader is reading aloud
• Ask specific comprehension questions during the reading
• Pass out comprehension worksheet
• Guide students through worksheet
• Collect books and worksheet

• Closing summary for the lesson (5 minutes):

“So Ashley and Chandler, how did you like the book?” Allow students to answer. “Do you think you know who the mysterious woman was?” Allow the students to answer, respond accordingly, reiterating that the woman was probably Mother Nature. “Do you feel that by following the text with your eyes and finger helped you comprehend the text? Do you think you will use that technique in the future to help you become a better, faster, stronger reader?” The teacher should again restate how important it is for them to comprehend things they read. “Did you like this lesson? Why or why not?” The teacher should take these comments and use them when making lessons in the future. Once the closing talk comes to an end, the teacher should collect the books and walk the students back to their classroom.

• Ask students what they thought about the book
• Give students time to talk about what they learned about comprehension
• Ask how the lesson could have been better

6) Ongoing-Assessment: The students will fill out a worksheet full of comprehension questions during the lesson, and at the end of the lesson I will collect them and assess how well they answered the questions. Depending on how well they do with the questions will depend on whether or not a harder follow-up lesson should be implemented. If the students do poorly, perhaps continue with a low level book until they excel at comprehending it, eventually moving the students towards a higher-level book. If the students excel right away, the next lesson can use a higher-level book with harder questions regarding the text to help them with their comprehension.

7) Based on what you know about your focus students, what Academic, Social and/or Linguistic Support will be needed during the lesson? Ashley and Chandler will need to be reminded to stay on task. Both students have a tendency to watch other students work or play with things in their desk when an assignment is handed out.

Comprehension Worksheet:

1.) Where does Lin live at now?

2.) What does the mysterious woman look and sound like?

3.) How does the mysterious woman respond when the cat jumps into her hair?

4.) How does the mysterious woman respond with the pigeon lands on her shoulder?

5.) How do you know that the mysterious woman has a special relationship with trees?

6.) Based on your answers 2-5, who do you think the mysterious woman might be?

7.) What is Lin’s brother doing when she goes inside to get him so he can experience the spring day?