Spring 2016_Writing

Immersion I Lesson Plan Format

Reflection of Lesson is down at the bottom of this revised lesson plan. I

did not change a whole lot of the lesson plan for I still feel like the lesson
plan is thoroughly written out.

Name: Emily Bryant School: Park

Grade Level: First Grade Number of Students in Class: 20
Unit: Opinion Writing Lesson Duration: 35 minutes
Day, Date, and Time of Lesson: [if taught in field study]

1. Objective(s): At the end of the lesson students will have created an opinion
piece that includes a clear stated opinion, two supporting sentences, and sentence
of closure.

2. Colorado Academic Standards: Write opinion pieces in which they introduce

the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason
for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure. (CCSS: W1.1).

3. Learning Target(s): I can write an opinion piece with an introduction, middle,

and end.

4. Assessment: I will circulate the room during writers workshop time, and have
them share their opinion pieces with me. I will look to make sure students are
including a beginning, at least two supporting sentences, and an ending sentence
for closure.

5. Materials: A writing prompt, example story of mine, markers (at their desk)
pencils, and paper.

6. Essential Questions or Big Picture Statement: Why is it so important to

give supportive reasons when stating an opinion?

7. Introduction/Anticipatory Set: I will model stating an opinion that does not

have support or reason but it has a conclusion.

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8. ****Step-by-Step Lesson Process:**** List the exact sequential steps you

will use to help students successfully accomplish the objective(s) of this lessonin
chronological order. Include enough detail that a substitute teacher could pick up
your lesson plan and teach it. Make sure to include what STUDENTS will do
and what the TEACHER will do for each step in the lesson.

Time Frame: Total of 7-10 minutes

A. CONNECT:Mrs.Stevenshasinformedmethatyouallhavebeenworkingonwriting
opinionpiecesandovertheweekendIhadachancetoreadoversomeofyourwritings.First
Ijustwanttosay,manyouallaregreatwriters!Youallhavesomeneat,uniqueideas,with
strongopinionstatements,andIwasgreatlyimpressedwithhowwellyourillustrationswent
alongwithyourwritings.However,Inoticedthatveryfewofyouropinionstatementshad
enoughsupportingreasonsbehindthem.SoasIreadthemIcouldnthelpbutwonderWHY
youfeltthewayyoudidaboutyourtopic.Inotherwords,Iwanttoknowmoreaboutwhy
youwouldratherhavehadelephantearsoverdolphintailsorviceversawhyyouwould
ratherhaveadolphintailsoverelephantears!Supportivesentence,orextradetailsentences
reallyhelpyoureadersunderstandmoreaboutyouropinionandwhyyoubelieveonething
overanother.Today,Imgoingtoshowyouhowtoplanoutyouropinionpiecestowhere
youhaveaclearstatedopinion,supportivereasoning,andfinalclosersentence.

B. TEACH:Iamgoingtoshareanopinionofmineaboutpets,thenImgoingtogiveatleast
twosupportingfactstotryanconvincetherestofyouthatmightnotagreewithmeonewhy
myopinionisvalidortrue.AfterIhavegiventwoorthreestrongreasonstosupportmy
opinion,ImgoingtowrapupmywritingbyclearlystatinganIfeelstatement.

- SofirstImgoingtothinkofsomethingIfeelstronglyabout.Hummmm,Okayso
somethingIbelieveisthatsmallfishmakethebestpets.CanIgetashowofhandson
whohereagreeswithmeaboutasmallfishbeingthebestpet.(afewwillraisetheir
hands,mostprobablywont)Awwonlyafewofyouagree,butthatisokaybecauseitis
myopinion,whichmeansthatsomewillagreewithmeandsomepeoplewont.Either
wayImgoingtowritemyopinionstatementniceandclearlyformyreaders.

C. MODELING:IllwriteuponthewhiteboardThebestpettohaveisapetfish

SonowIvestatedmyopinion,but(callonsomeonewhodisagreedwithmyopinion)and
askbywritingthisopinionontheboarddidthisconvinceyouthatpetfisharethebest?
Noitdidnt,whatIneednowisreasonwhyIbelievethis.Inorderformetotryand
convincetherestofyouwhyafishisthebestImgoingtothinkofsomefactsthatwill
reallysupportmyopinion.

Write#1Petfishcantscratchorchewupallthefurnitureinmyhouse.(Couch,chairs,

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shoes)
Write#2Petfishdontneedtobewalkedlikedogsdo.(lowmaintenance)

Iwouldpointoutthatmythreesupportivereasonsarefacts.

OkaysonowIhavetworeasonwhyfisharethebest.AskthestudentsAmIdonewriting?
Isthisopinionwritingfinish?OnceastudentstatesthatthereisamissingIfeelstatement
Iwillsay,alrightsomanyofyounoticedthatIammissinganIfeelstatement.
(ENGAGEMENT)Hum,IcantseemtothinkofonecanIhaveyouturnandtalkwith
someoneatyoutable,andseeifyoucancomeupwithanIfeelstatement.(Givethemfew
secondsofthinktime).Callonthoseraisinghands.

WritedownastudentsgoodexampleofanIfeelstatement.

ACTIVIEENGAGEMENT:NextIwillgivethemtheprompt(Whatisyourfavoritesubject
inschool?),andhavethemthinkquietlytothemselvesastowhytheyfeelthewaytheydo
overtheprompt.Iwouldaskthemtomakesurewhiletheirthinkingtoincludetworeasonto
supporttheiropinion.ThenIwouldhavethemturnandtalktoapartnertotelltheiropinion
andgiveyouropinionandatleastonereasonreasonswhy.(CHECKFOR
UNDERSTANDINGHERE)

D. LINK:So,todaywhenyousitdowntowriteyourstory,remembertostateyouropinionbut
moreimportantlysotogivesupportivereasonsthathelpyourreadersunderstandyour
opinion.Wewillbesharingsomeofyourworkattheendofwritingtoday.

CHECKFORUNDERSTANDING:Cansomeonerepeatthegoalforyouropinionpiecesfor
today?Whatareworkingtomakesureyouhaveinyourwriting?

E. INDEPENDENTWORKTIMEANDCONFERRING
TimeFrame:15minutesofindependentwork
DuringthistimeIwillwalkaroundtheroomcheckingtomakesurestudentsareincludingan
opinionstatement,twosupportivereasons,andanIfeelstatement.Iwilltalktostudents
individuallytohelpguidethemonincludingthecomponentsofreasonneedforanopinion
piece.Iftheydontquitefinishwritingwecanpickitbackupduringthenextwritingwork
shopday.

9. DIFFERENTIATION:
For students who need extra support I will walk around and confer with them to
make sure they have a clear stated opinion and make sure they have thought out
reasons to support their opinion. Targeted students I will help implement the line
strategy that Mrs. Stevens already does with them to help guide their writing.

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For students who need more of a challenge I will ask them to right another
supportive reason, and/or focus in on adding descriptive words. To add details to
their drawings that include images related to the supportive reasons.

10. SHARING:5minutesWewillcomebacktogetherandIllhaveacoupleofstudents(Ill
lookforstudentswhohavebeensuccessfulinincludingatleasttwosupportivesentencesfor
theiropinion.Whentheyaresharingwewillfocusinontheiropinionstatementandmore
importantlythesentencesthatfollow.Iwillusethistoreinforcemyminilessonandhowitis
importanttogivereason/supporttoouropinionssothatourreadersoraudiencewillhavea
betterunderstandingaclearideaofwhywefeelthewaywedo.Ineedtomakesuretopull
studentofallthreelearninglevelssoahigh,medium,andlow.

Reflection on Writing Lesson

My writing lesson was given to my field placement classroom of first graders. The lesson

was mainly over opinion pieces, and targeted specific components of an opinion piece including

a clear opinion statement, at least two supporting reasons, and an I feel conclusion. I believe,

that my written out lesson was well planned, and contained most of the essential components of a

mini-writing lesson. Due to my thorough planning I did have some success, and some parts of

my lesson that went well. One thing that I thought went pretty well, was most students hit the

target of the day or were rather close to hitting the target of my lesson. I also felt like when

students were not off task they were rather engaged with my instruction. My cooperative teacher

seemed to think that I did a really great job with giving the lesson, but we also both felt that I

need to find my level of tolerance in classroom management and to apply it to my students. In

other words, I need to learn how to teach while enforcing classroom management rules so that

students stay focus during explicit instruction time.

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Due to the challenge in keeping my students focused, listening, and on task, carrying out

my actual lesson plan was much more difficult than I had anticipated it to be. As early mention

the main reason giving my lesson felt so difficult for me was I struggled with apply classroom

management during my teaching. It was very difficult for me to hold the teacher authority figure,

perform a lesson, and continue to keep my students attention. In other words, it just seemed as if

the class would get off track after one suppose to be engaging question, and after every turn-

and-talk I struggle to reel my students attention back to the front of the classroom for further

instruction. Also, I felt like I didnt quite do as well as I could when students threw out

unexpected comments that didnt necessary coincide with my lesson plan. For example, in my

modeling of an opinion piece about fish making the best pets, some students disagreed, but I

couldnt get them to hit my targeted explanation of why they disagreed. In other words, I had this

planned out idea that students would be able to make the connection that simply stating an

opinion was not enough that there needed to be support, but I couldnt seem to ask the correct

question to guide their thinking towards a logical reason of why support is needed in an opinion

piece writing. Also, sometimes students would just blurt out random things, and I was sure if I

should ignore, or respond to them, and if I should respond what do I say to (what felt like) a

random comment.

By giving this lesson I learned a great deal of how to become a better teacher. I learned

that one, I need to provide better classroom management, two, that I need to work on my

performance of instructing content to my students so that I can keep their attention better, and

three, that first graders have very creative minds and that I need to plan more for unexpected

commits that come from their creativeness.

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Overall, I feel that my written draft of the lesson was, and still is, a thorough mini-lesson

(therefore I did not change a whole lot in my revisions), however my performance of the lesson

was what prevented me from achieving my own expectations. I view this experience of teaching

as if it were a play that went wrong. A play has all the scripts clearly written out, the actors and

prompts necessary, and an audience to perform to, but if the actors do not successfully perform in

way that entertains, then the audiences attention is lost and the play is not as successful as it

could be. In my lesson the script was carefully written out, the props were in place, and I had a

classroom full of students, but my performance as a teacher definitely displayed a work in

progress. With more experience, I am hoping to gain the necessary confidence and knowledge on

how to keep my student more engaged with instruction and how managed the classroom

throughout giving explicit instruction.