DRAFT Literacy Lesson Plan - Keiera Ray and Emily Heckman

WHAT:
The main objective will be for students to solve comprehension questions by re-reading. We will
emphasize that this strategy is specifically useful when retelling a story or answering
comprehension questions about a story.

Common Core Standards:
CC.1.1.1.E - Read with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
CC.1.3.1.A - Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central
message or lesson
CC.1.3.1.B - Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
CC.1.3.1.C - Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

HOW
Guided reading lesson where we will read two short fiction books with six students. We will
introduce the activity to the students by explaining the directions and procedure. Once we finish
reading as a group, we will ask a variety of comprehension questions. If students are unable to
answer some of the questions, we will explain to them that re-reading is a good strategy. We will
then re-read the books together, reminding students to keep in mind the questions they need to
answer.

WHY
We will choose students with different reading levels, as we want to address our inquiry
questions, which deal with making lesson plans comprehensible for all students. We have also
noticed that many students in our classes who excel in fluency, but struggle with detailed
comprehension. As such, we will include questions to help them practice comprehension
strategies. We think this is particularly important because we think that students need to be able
to connect the words they are reading to meaning. This will also be important once students
begin taking standardized tests as they will need to be able to understand text and use critical
reasoning skills.


Goals and Objectives
Students will be able to use re-reading as a strategy for increasing comprehension ability

Standards
CC.1.1.1.E Read with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
CC.1.3.1.A Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central
message or lesson
CC.1.3.1.B Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
CC.1.3.1.C Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

Materials and preparation

Comment [L1]: Is this a strategy that youve noticed

that most students dont use? I wonder if theres a
different reading strategy you would want to teach
based on the formative assessments youve
conducted. What should students do if they dont
comprehend what theyve re-read? Is there a particular
way that the students should re-read?

Comment [L2]: Consider introducing this strategy

upfront, given that it is the learning objective, i.e. you
want the students to specifically practice this strategy.

Comment [L3]: Will re-reading address this issue?

Comment [L4]: Are there reasons beyond

preparation for standardized tests?

-Guided reading books (both E level)

-Guided reading logs for notes
-Quiet location
-List of comprehension questions

Classroom arrangement and management issues
1. We will use a conference room and students will be sitting at a round table with teacher.
We will use this setup because we dont want students to be distracted and we want to
be able to hear and work with each student. Students will not have to move throughout
the lesson so there are no other distractions.
2. We will provide the students with both guided reading books, one at a time.
3. Management concerns that may occur include students who call out or try to participate
more, which would likely come from the more advanced students as they will know the
answers more readily. Another concern is that the students at lower reading levels may
feel discouraged and not want to participate as much. In order to try to prevent any
management issues, we will explain the step-by-step directions before beginning the
activity, and explain our expectations for behavior. We will also make it clear that we
expect all students to participate and try their best throughout the lesson so that no
students try to take over or not pay attention.

Plan

1) The first book we are going to read is called The Hungry Chickens, and we will
introduce the activity to them by telling them that they will be hatching chicks in the
spring. We will remind them to pay attention to what the chickens eat in the book so that
they know what to feed their chicks in the spring.
2) Body of the Plan (Steps)
a) Hook - as described above
b) Explain the directions and expectations for the activity, reminding students to try
to remember what they are reading
c) Front load vocab for the first book, The Hungry Chickens
i) Squirm
ii) Shrug
iii) Squeal
iv) Grief
d) Read The Hungry Chickens together
e) Ask comprehension questions about the book with intention of probing the
students to want to clarify something in the story
f) When students are unable to answer some of questions, explain the strategy of
re-reading, emphasizing that re-reading is particularly useful when trying to retell
a story or answer specific questions about a story
g) Move on to second book, Just Like Grandpa - no frontloading necessary
h) Students will read second book out loud, but individually
i) Listen to students reading and help those who need help with fluency issues

Comment [L5]: The students all read at different

levels, correct? Given your inquiry questions, you may
want to frame this lesson as a small-group lesson
rather than a guided reading group.

You may want to try just one book and have the
second book as a backup if needed. Students usually
focus on just one book during guided reading.

Comment [L6]: You may need to model for the

students.
Comment [L7]: Other than telling students, what
structures can you have in place to avoid this?

Comment [L8]: Consider ways to do less telling.

Instead, elicit thoughts from students and invite them
into a conversation/discussion. Consider ways to build
on or bridge prior knowledge/experience.

Comment [L9]: How will these words be introduced?

How will you confirm the learning/understanding of
these words?
Comment [L10]: Do you have the questions
prepared in advance? Include a mix of high-order-
thinking-skills questions and basic recall questions.
Comment [L11]: What will it look like when youre
teaching the reading strategy? Will it be simply saying
a statement on how re-reading is helpful?
Comment [L12]: See previous comment. This might
feel like test prep.
Comment [L13]: See previous note about focusing
on one book. If theyre going through a book very
quickly, it may be too easy for them, or they may not be
actually reading.

j) Ask students specific questions:

i) Who are the main characters?
(1) Grandpa and girl
ii) What does grandpa like to eat on his toast?
(1) Honey
iii) What is something grandpa likes to do in the park?
(1) Walk the dog, draw circles with a stick, feed the bird
iv) Does grandpa like to sleep?
(1) No, hes reading a book
v) What does this remind you of?
3) Use the questions as an assessment tool. Particularly, if students dont know the
answers to some of the questions, do they know to use re-reading as a tool?

Assessment of the goals
Use the questions in 2j to assess the students understanding. While they are reading, we will
take notes on a guided reading template. We will observe the students while they are reading
the second story, checking to see if they re-read without a teacher prompt. Then, if students are
unable to answer some of the comprehension questions, observe whether they re-read as
needed. If students know to re-read without a prompt, we will know that students are
progressing toward the objective. If we dont ask them a question, we will ask them what they
should do next, and we can see if they know to re-read.

Anticipating students responses and your possible responses
a) Management issues: Management concerns that may occur include students who call
out or try to participate more, which would likely come from the more advanced students
as they will know the answers more readily. Another concern is that the students at
lower reading levels may feel discouraged and not want to participate as much. In order
to try to prevent any management issues, we will explain the step-by-step directions
before beginning the activity, and explain our expectations for behavior. We will also
make it clear that we expect all students to participate and try their best throughout the
lesson so that no students try to take over or not pay attention.
b) Response to content of the lesson:
i) From The Hungry Chickens
1) Students may ask what a slug is. We will respond Its like a worm and
point to picture
2) Some students may say we are going too fast. In this case, we will ask all
students to slow down
3) Some students may say that the books are too easy. In this case, we will
say that we sometimes read stories that are easy for us so that we can
practice techniques such as understanding and retelling
4) At the end of the book, students may ask why the chickens are
scratching. We will respond that they are scratching for food
ii) From Just Like Grandpa

Comment [L14]: Incorporate some high-order-

thinking-skills questions; questions 1-4 seem to be
recall questions.
Comment [L15]: This book?
Comment [L16]: Are there opportunities for students
to share their knowledge or backgrounds? Are there
opportunities for discussion?

Comment [L17]: Sounds like you want to teach the

reading strategy upfront, as I had suggested.

Comment [L18]: If the students are going to be in a

mixed group, make considerations and modifications
for differentiated instruction, e.g., books at different
levels (small group lesson).

Comment [L19]: Is there another way to describe it?

You might see if other students know this word before
defining it if a student asks.
Comment [L20]: How do you balance maintaining a
certain pace with working with students of different
reading levels?

1) Students might say Grandma is a main character. To this, we could

respond by asking what a main character is
2) Students may say that they dont have a Grandpa. To this, we could
respond that we also dont have a Grandpa, but we have other family
members and friends that we can relate these characters to
3) Students may respond that Grandpa does like to sleep and point to the
picture. To this, we would respond, But what do the words say?

Accommodations
a) For students who find the words in the book challenging, we can help them with the
words because the focus of the guided reading lesson is comprehension, and not
fluency. We do not want fluency to affect the ability of students to understand the stories.
b) If students finish the second book early, we will ask them to re-read until other students
are done.