Comprehensive Unit Plan

READ 590
Michaela K., Marissa S., & Romina S.
November 12, 2017
 Component One: The Quad Text Set

Your Name: Michaela, Romina, & Marissa

Grade Level and Subject Area of the Class: Kindergarten and Science
Theme or Topic of the Text Set: Lifecycle of a Butterfly
Standard of Learning:
Target Text
Source Lexile Grade Band
From Egg to Butterfly 390L K-3
Visual Text/s
Source Brief Description
Flight of the Butterflies This is a documentary about
monarch butterflies. It highlights the
lifecycle and the migration of these
butterflies. Although this
documentary is packed with
information, only parts of the
documentary should be shown (parts
with the lifecycle).
Reason for Choice: Informative and realistic visual representation of the lifecycle.
Information Text 1 (Near Grade Level)
Source Brief Description Lexile Grade Band
Waiting For Wings This book describes the life AD 450 L Pre-K,1-2
cycle of a butterfly with its
color-drenched collage and
simple rhyming text.
Reason for Choice: Lays out the life cycle of a butterfly in a simple way through rhyming,
children at this level are learning and practicing.
Information Text 2 (Below Grade Level)
Source Brief Description Lexile Grade Band
The Very Hungry Caterpillar This book follows the AD 460 L Pre-K
progression of a little
hungry caterpillar as he
hatches and eats through a
varied and large amounts of
food until he is completely
full. This book is rich with
math as it incorporates the
days of the week and the
numbers 1-5.
Reason for Choice: Fun and silly story of a fictional story that intertwines math
and the stages of a butterfly.
YA Selection
 Source Brief Description Lexile Grade Band
Its a Butterflys Life This book is informative AD 800L 3-5
and eye catching as it
highlights the similarities
and differences between the
different species of
butterflies.
Reason for Choice: This book not only talks about the monarch butterfly, but talks about the
many species of butterflies. It is very informative with beautiful illustrations that are aesthetically
pleasing as well. This book also contains diagrams and little facts on the sides that correlate with
the main text on each page.

Purpose for Reading

Texts Purpose for Reading How you will address the

 purpose with students
Visual Text: This is an informative We will address the purpose
Flight of the Butterflies documentary. It provides a with open discussion on
realistic representation of the a. our prior knowledge
lifecycle of a butterfly. The on the lifecycle
purpose is for the students to b. what we saw in the
see what is happening inside documentary
of the chrysalis as the i. the stages
caterpillar goes through ii. the visual
metamorphosis. representation
of the change
happening
inside the
chrysalis
Informational Text 1: This is a lower level of In this, the teacher will ask
Waiting for Wings informational text. Due to that students to use:
the students should be able to -visualization
answer comprehension -context clues
questions effectively. This -predictions
makes a great interactive read
aloud.
Informational Text 2: This text intertwines math In this, the teacher will
The Very Hungry Caterpillar content and the lifecycle of a highlight the math component
butterfly in a fun and silly in this story by emphasizing
fictional story of a very the days of the week and
hungry caterpillar. The numerical numbers in the
purpose of this is to review the book.
days of the week and a. How many pears did
numerical numbers. he eat through? lets
count together!
b. So Monday he ate
through 1
apple,Tuesday he ate 2
pears, and Wednesday
he ate through 3
plums. What are these?
How many
strawberries are there?
So what day do you
think he ate 4
strawberries? What
day comes after
Wednesday?
The teacher will use the
writing activity of creating

Accessible/YA Text:
Its a Butterflys Life with sketch drawings. It gives
Target Text:
From Egg to Butterfly
their own hungry caterpillar
book where they will write
about what their very hungry
caterpillar ate (pg 6&7)
This is an informational text Through the think aloud, the
teacher will discuss
more information on vocabulary words pertaining
butterflies. While it addresses to the butterflys body and
the life cycle it also touches on other scientific words that will
the body of a butterfly and be useful in other science
how it survives. SOLs. Teacher will also use
background knowledge in
order to have the text apply
more to the students.
This text is rich with This text is the anchor text that
information on the lifecycle of will be discussed through the
the butterfly and includes quad text set. The vocabulary
realistic pictures that show the will be discussed:
lifecycle in its true form. This a. egg, larvae, caterpillar,
text allows students to actually chrysalis, butterfly
see what the cycle looks like And a prediction chart will be
in the real world. used to as well as a DLTA.

Component Two: Discussion Technique

Interactive read alouds give students the chance to hear a read aloud while seeing a
teachers thinking along with doing some of the thinking on their own. Students are engaged
with vocabulary prior to reading (Walpole, McKenna, & Philippakos, 2011). With this text, there
isnt a lot of complex vocabulary words as the author uses words that are more for description.
Due to this, I encourage students in my discussion to make guesses as to what the descriptions
are in order to provide a better context for them as to what a chrysalis is like and what these
flowery words actually mean in terms of the life cycle. As the teacher, I would then model
background knowledge by using my insight on other life cycles. I feel this is crucial as the
kindergarten science SOL wants students to know about life cycles of other organisms. I have
my students looking for patterns at the end of the read aloud as a way of realizing that this text
structure was a poem/ rhymed. As the teacher, I would give students time to comprehend the text
by using visualization, background knowledge of their own, context clues, and prediction
making skills. This would also help encourage thinking. Thinking would also be encouraged by
hearing the teachers thinking throughout. This continues even after finishing the read aloud so
that students can gain a deeper understanding from the text (Walpole et al., 2011). I would
prepare students for the writing activity by making illustration and text comparisons to The Very
Hungry Caterpillar in order to get students thinking about that text again. Since this unit is
intended for kindergarten I would write out what the students said into a venn diagram (Walpole
et al., 2011).

Title: Waiting for Wings

How are the illustrations in this book similar to another book we read? What do you think this
book will be about? What other things occur in a cycle? Close eyes and visualize what I am
reading to you.
Out in the fields, eggs are hidden from view,
clinging to leaves with butterfly glue.
What do you see when you hear those words? They said they cling to leaves with butterfly glue.
This makes me thing of liquid glue like what we use in the classroom. What do you think
butterfly glue is?

Soon caterpillars hatch. They creep and chew.

Each one knows what it must do:
Find a place where winds dont blow,
Then make a case in which to grow.
What do you think caterpillars may chew on? How much do you think a caterpillar eats? I think
of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, so I think that caterpillars eat a lot in order to be big enough to
make a chrysalis. What is the case they are referring to?

Caterpillar changes now begin-

Body and wings take shape within.
What is happening with the caterpillar? What will happen next?

When its time, each case is torn-

wings unfold; new butterflies are born!
How do you think the case is torn? I think the caterpillar chews its way out of the chrysalis.

They pump their wings, get ready to fly,

then hungry butterflies head for the sky.
Why do you think the butterflies are pumping their wings? What are they doing? The butterflies
are hungry what story does this remind you of?

Looking for flowers with nectar to eat,

they catch a whiff of something sweet.
They follow that fragrant scent of perfume,
until they find out garden in bloom.
Weve been waiting for wings!
I wonder how butterflies smell this nectar without noses. Hmm, I think people plant strong
smelling flowers to attract them in the same way bees are attracted to flowers. How do you think
the butterflies drink the nectar?

We watch them circle, land on their feet,

unroll their tongues, and begin to eat.
They dip and sip,
then fly away back home to the fields
They have eggs to lay.
How much do you think butterflies drink each day? It sounds like they are really hungry. What
type of patterns did you notice from the text?

Component Three: Writing

Choose a writing activity that students will engage in after reading the quad text set,
engaging in discussion, completing the vocabulary activity and reading guide that will help
further students thinking and comprehension of the texts. Discuss how our readings
support the use of this writing strategy or technique.

The implementation plan includes a description of a writing activity that will follow the reading
of the target text and other lesson components. The writing activity will foster students thinking
and allow for reflection of ideas both in the target text as well as across the quad text set.

We have selected The Very Hungry Caterpillar as one of our informational text. We chose this
book to be our mentor text. Since the storyline is about the caterpillar eating various things
along the way, we came up with a writing prompt that will mimic the style of writing of the
book. This writing strategy will be interesting for the students since they have read the book and
know what is going on. They will be given a book that allows them to create their own My
Hungry Caterpillar book. The first page will start off with, On Sunday...my caterpillar ate.
apples which will give the students to write a number of their choosing. The second page will
say On Monday, my caterpillar ate 2 which will allow the students to write with their own
object or food that the caterpillar ate. This alternate between pages. There is also box where the
students have an opportunity to illustrate what they wrote. This activity will have guidance from
the teacher and will take some time for the students to finish. This activity will be stretched
throughout the week as they write one to two pages per day. Free journaling allows more of an
open-ended response within each prompt. It allows the students to be creative, but with structure
and purpose.

On Sunday
My hungry caterpillar ate____________ apples.
(number)

On Monday

My hungry caterpillar ate 2 ___________

(object)

Component Four: Think Aloud

Lapp, Fisher, and Grant (2008) discuss how to design a think aloud in order to model your
thinking of a challenging text for students. Using a text from your quad text set, engage in the
following steps to design a think aloud using the graphic organizer below.
1. Select a couple of (short!) segments of your target text or one of your more challenging
supporting texts to read aloud to your students.
2. Select a part of that text that students may find confusing (for example, challenging
vocabulary, confusing phrasing).
3. Select a strategy to model for your students to demonstrate how you make sense of the
challenging text (for example, making predictions or connections, using context clues or
word parts to identify word meanings)
4. Write a script of what you will say during your think aloud to model how you grapple
with the challenging text (see Lapp, Fisher, and Grant for examples).
5. Provide an opportunity for your students to practice the same kind of thinking with the
text or another text from their quad text set on their own.

Title of text: _______Its a Butterflys Life _____

Text Teacher Script Strategies modeled/practiced

Page 4: Hmm, so a butterfly only has a Defining unfamiliar words
Butterflies have three main head, a chest, and a stomach found in the text through
body parts: the head, the that makes up a body. What seeing teachers thinking.
thorax, and the abdomen. other body parts does it have?
They have six legs but only I see antennae, wings, and
use four of them for walking. those legs that they
The feet are important mentioned. When a butterfly
because thats where the stands it can taste what they
butterflys taste buds are. are walking on.
I wonder what other parts are
Page 5: A butterfly doesnt found in a butterfly.
have teeth. Instead it eats by
using its proboscis, which is So a butterfly doesnt have Retelling the story for students
a tongue that works like a teeth but has a tongue that and making observations.
straw. Most butterflies feed works like a straw. Hmmm I
on nectar from flowers, but guess that means that a
some like rotting fruit and butterfly can only eat liquid
tree sap. foods like nectar.
Page 14: From a few days to So a butterfly doesnt have Making connections of
several weeks after the egg is teeth, but a caterpillar can metamorphosis and what that
laid, it is ready to hatch. The chomp through its own egg. It exactly means.
caterpillar chomps through is interesting how a caterpillar
the eggshell with its sharp has a jaw, but then loses this
jaws. The caterpillar crawls when it becomes a butterfly.
out of the egg and makes the
eggshell its first meal. Hmm when I read this it
Page 17: As a caterpillar makes me think of a snake and Making a connection that
gets bigger, it outgrows its how a snake sheds their skin children can relate to.
skin and sheds it. This is
called molting. Now the
caterpillar has a new skin to
grow into. A caterpillar will
molt four to five times
before it is fully grown.
Page 20 & 21: How can a
slowpoke caterpillar turn
into a fluttering butterfly?
This change is called
metamorphosis. When a
caterpillar is ready, it makes
silky threads that it uses to
attach itself to a branch or
leaf. Inside the chrysalis the
caterpillars body breaks
down. A butterflys head,
body, and wings take shape.
Page 22 & 23: Just before
the butterfly is ready to
come out, the chrysalis
becomes see-through. Then,
the chrysalis cracks and the
insect swallows air to plump
up. The new butterfly
pushes out with its legs. Its
wings are squished together.
Before it can fly, it must
unwrinkle them. The insect
hangs upside down and
unfurls its wings, and its
veins fill with fluid. More
than an hour later, the wings
have hardened. The
butterfly flutters its wings a
few times and flies away...
Application: Prior to reading Waiting for Wings- Discuss using the words in the text in order
to use context clues and attempt to define vocabulary. Students will look at the text Waiting for
Wings in order to see what butterfly glue means through context clues and what it means for a
case to be torn.
when they grow as well. It
also makes me think of when
children have to buy new
clothes because they outgrew
their old ones.
So a metamorphosis is a Defining metamorphosis and
change like when a caterpillar explaining decomposition
becomes a butterfly. The body which are both advance
forms a chrysalis on its own. science vocabulary words.
With its own body. It reminds
me of how we produce waste
as humans. Their body breaks
down. Hmm I wonder what
that means? It makes me think
about how moldy foods break
down or decompose.
However, something new in
this case grows in place of the
old body.
Hmm, I wonder how the
chrysalis becomes see-through
and cracks? I think maybe its Thinking about why the new
something that naturally butterfly does what is
occurs over time. The new mentioned through the text, so
butterfly must hang and unfurl using context clues.
its wings in order to make
them dry. Hmm I wonder why
they need to be dry. I think it
must be so the butterfly can
fly. This is why the butterfly
stays where it was hanging for
a little bit.
In order to use background knowledge, teacher will ask students to talk about a time they saw a
caterpillar or butterfly. What it was doing and why it was doing that?

Component Five: DLTA

DLTA: From Egg to Butterfly

Explanation: The book From Egg to Butterfly by Shannon Zamlicka is a wonferful text to
introduce kindergarteners to the scientific aspect of the butterfly life cycle.
 I can make a
PREDICTION!
Clues Prediction Confirmation
These come from the text What do you think will Was your prediction
happen? correct?

Before Reading:
1. The book will be introduced to the students by having them look at the picture on the
cover page.
 a.
b. After showing the picture and reading the title, I would ask a series of questions

such as: Have you seen this animal before? What is it? What do you know about

this animal? Can you describe anything else you see on the front cover? What do

you think this book is about?

2. I will then proceed to tell them the purpose for reading this book which is to learn about

the life cycle of a butterfly. Have them think about the stages of the life cycle of the

butterfly before predicting and discussing.

During the reading:

Before reading the whole text, I will stop at each key page to point out key words and

have the students make predictions based on what they see and not so much on the words. The

purpose for this activity is to act as a pre-assessment and test prior knowledge. After having

made predictions, each page will be read to either confirm or modify predictions. As predictions

are given, modified or confirmed, information will be written on the anchor chart. This would be

done in a whole group setting.

Pages 4 and 5
After looking at the picture on page 5, some of the questions that will be asked would be;

describe what you see in this picture; what are those white dots?;what animal do you think this

is?;what do you think this animal is doing? ;Has anyone seen this animal before? where, what do

you think might happen next?

Pages 6 and 7
After looking at the picture on page 7, some of the questions that will be asked would be;

what do you see in this picture?; what is the brown thing? what is the clear thing? what do you

think is happening?
Pages 8 and 9
Questions: what do you see in this picture? what might this animal be doing? where did it

come from? what do you think might happen next?

Pages 10 and 11
Questions: what do you see in this picture? where did it come from? what happen to the

previous animal on the other page? if so, what happen that it looks so different? do you

think it is the same animal? what is this animal called? what is the animal doing?
Pages 12 and 13
Questions: what do you see in this picture? what animal is this? do you think it is the

same animal from before? what do you think happened to go through so much change?

what do you think the animal is doing? what do you think might happen next?

Pages 14 and 15
Questions: what do you think is happening? what do you think might happened to the

animal before? do you think it is the same animal? what is this in result of? what do you think

this is called? What do you think might happen next?

Pages 16 and 17
Questions: tell me the difference between this picture and the picture on page 15. what do you

think happened to the animal? Is this the same animal? What do you see inside the clear coating?

What do you think might happen next?

Pages 20 and 21
Questions: What do you think this animal just did? Can you see something that you have

seen before? What might happen next to the animal?

After reading:
 After reading the book, I will direct the students attention to the anchor chart that we

created throughout the readings. As a whole group, we will talk about the predictions we initially

created before we read each page. We will also reflect on how and why our predictions changed.

Questions that might be asked: What made you predict what you initially predicted? What tool or

resources did you use to predict? What have you learned? Are you still pondering on a concept?

Summarize the life cycle of the butterfly in your own words ?

Component Six: Vocabulary Approach and Graphic

Technique: The technique that we will use to introduce vocabulary is timeline. Timeline will

help demonstrate how vocabulary relates to each other across time.

Topic: The topic is life cycle of a butterfly.

Related Text(s): The Very Hungry Caterpillar and From Egg to Butterfly

List of Terms:

Egg: the mother butterfly lays eggs on a plant where they will hatch. The eggs are smaller than a

toenail.

Pupa/Chrysalis: the butterfly form after it is a caterpillar

Caterpillar/Larvae: a butterflys form early in its life; fat worm with legs

Molting: shedding of the skin, so that the larvae can grow.

Discussion of Words Selected:

In order for the students to understand the life cycle of a butterfly, they need to

know that all butterflies go through a series of changes. Students need to understand that a

butterfly does not always look like a butterfly. Once the mother/adult butterfly lays the eggs,

from an eggs comes a larvae which we also call caterpillar. The caterpillar will eat and eat, so it

grows three times its original size. Molting is a stage in which the caterpillar goes through that

allows it to shed its skin so it can grow. These concepts will help students understand why the

caterpillar in ,The Very Hungry Caterpillar, is eating so much. Once it becomes fat caterpillar,

the caterpillar will find a special twig to form into a pupa or chrysalis. This takes a few weeks

until the butterfly breaks through the pupa.

Graphic:
Description of Approach:
A time line is a type of diagram that consists of a single straight line, vocabulary words

that are important for students to acquire, and useful for depicting processes (Walpole et al.,

2011). The advantages of using a diagram such as a time line are: they are easy to discuss and

construct, technically terms can be taught in natural clusters, enhance recall and understanding,

used very quickly, help students see abstract content, and there is little to read(Walpole et al.,

2011).

Justification for Approach:

Time lines are not always done to introduce the life cycle of animals. The circle/labeling

diagram is always the one that students are exposed to. With the help of the time line and their

own creation, the students will have an easier time remembering the stage names while utilizing

more visuals than words. The students will have an easier and quicker time discussing the

concept.
 Component Seven: Diversity
ELLs
Many educators say that ELL students do not have the skills to read challenging text or

participate in high level discussion, or that they do not have the background knowledge

necessary to comprehend challenging texts, or that literacy practices are being enforced at home.

To address these false rumors, we must first start in the classroom. A classroom should be a safe

space for students to express their ideas and thoughts without judgement or denial. The teacher

has to be willing to be flexible and understanding of the diversity in his or her classroom, so that

students feel comfortable expressing their understanding in any language that comes easily to

them.

ELL students have the background knowledge to understand texts, but teacher need to

provide opportunities to read and discuss texts for which they have and do not have appropriate

background knowledge (Stahl & Garcia,2015). In order to scaffold ELLs comprehension, the

teachers need to take time and build on the background knowledge necessary by providing

exercises to practice answering comprehension questions, making connections between

background knowledge and the knowledge in the text. On top of providing materials for ELLs to

comprehend challenging texts, teachers need to take the time to get to know the students ways

of comprehending the materials. This will help the student and teacher understand each other

which will allow the teacher to teach material effectively because; learning the structural

differences between English and your students home languages is helpful because then you are

better prepared to teach and correct their use of syntactical structure in english (Stahl et

al.,2015).Aside from challenging texts, giving instruction is also an important task that a teacher

must master in order for the student to be engaged. The teachers should:
 slow the pace of speech, clearly enunciate, use controlled vocabulary, and check

understanding; post and review literacy objectives in child-language friendly language;

accompany verbal talk, instruction, and teacher read-alouds with gestures, illustrations, hands on

activities, and modeling; integrate reading, writing, and speaking; encourage students to work

together in English and the L1 to figure out and complete instructional activities (Stahl et

al.,2015).

These all need to be implemented on the students first day of school. The teacher should

collaborate with other staff at the school especially with their ESL and L1 teachers, so that best

practices are done in the classroom to decrease the amount the ELL student is taken out of the

classroom.

Struggling Readers

There are various reasons why children do not have the skill of comprehension.

Comprehension issues first start at a young age when the children start making inferences while

they are listening to adults talk, watch movies, and/or during a read aloud. It is important that a

knowledgeable teacher and staff has the time to implement an intense and targeted intervention.

Teachers can conduct a reading attitude Garfield survey which helps teachers know that

can be used with relative confidence to estimate the attitude levels of their students and initiate

informal assessment efforts into the role attitude plays in students' development as readers

(McKenna & Kear ,1990). Methods that teachers can implement in their classroom to help

struggling readers are picture walk, story retellings, narratives, reinforcing/defining vocabulary.

When using a picture walk, teachers need to remember that the child generates a story

(illustration in isolation or episode), predicts, self-monitors, and questions. This task will help

assess the students comprehension. According to Stahl and Garcia, an investigation of their
narrative abilities is a good starting point because they are the means by which children make

sense of the world. Conducting a narrative is a useful assessment for gathering information about

the child's story structure, explicit and inferential comprehension without inferences of

decoding, and it is more traditional standardized reading comprehension measures. When

using a retelling method, after reading the book provide time for discussion. Ask the student if

they remember the main story elements such as setting, characters, plot, and the resolution.

Having students summarize in their own words what they read is another way to assess

comprehension. According to Guthrie, struggling readers need a bridge from text to the written

summary (Walpole et al., 2011). After the reading a passage, teacher must identify key concept

and the students identify keywords that support key concepts. Teachers should use various ways

to make an emphasis on the reading whether it is a read aloud, video, song, graphic organizer;

the teacher needs to explore new ways to better accommodate every reader in her classroom.

Creating songs poems, or rhymes to the related content/theme will create engagement and

enhance phonological, awareness and print concept (Stahl et al.,2015). When in small groups,

teacher might encourage whisper reading that allows the student to read softly, providing support

for word recognition. Small groups can also foster expressive reading and fluency. Teacher

should also go over vocabulary using different methods whether it is during a read aloud, using

picture cards, or sorts. All children are different which means they all need different ways of

learning. If one method is not working with one student, it does not mean it will not work with

another student in the classroom. Teacher should also be aware that if the student is struggling

with comprehension, their instruction should be simplified. With the teacher help and time, an

increase of the likelihood of children will be able to make sense of the text they read

independently as they grow as readers (Stahl et al.,2015). Providing repetition and multiple
opportunities to learn will motivate the struggling reader because the more they practice, they

better they will get at the concept which will result in less frustration and a different attitude for

reading.

Component Eight: Implementation Plan

We will first start our unit on the life cycle of butterflies by doing the DLTA with the

prediction chart. DLTAs are used in lower elementary classroom where the students who cannot

read the texts for themselves, but can understand the text when the teacher reads it aloud (Stahl

et al.,2015). The unit will be introduced by activating the students prior knowledge about the

content with a prediction activity that will be done page by page. Predictions, evidence for the

predictions and confirmation after reading will be recorded as we read From Egg to Butterfly.

This book will be put in readings centers, so that the students have the opportunity of repeat and

get familiar with the content. After introducing the life cycle of butterflies using DLTA strategy,

the day after, we will implement an interactive read aloud. We chose to use Waiting for Wings

because it is a nonfiction text that is linked to a science curricular standard which will help build

background knowledge from the previous day before. During, small groups From Egg to

Butterfly, will be brought back again. As part of a rotation, this book will be read and the

vocabulary words such as egg, larvae/caterpillar, and pupa/chrysalis will be pointed out and

discussed as a small group. The book will act as an anchor book and a give real life visuals for

the students before reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar. As we read the book, I will have the

students act out the stages of the butterfly while also defining the word. A day after, we will read

The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a whole group, while make a text to text connection. The

students will be asked to sit on the rug for reading time. The students will be instructed to pay

close attention to the days of the week and the changes that the caterpillar goes through because
we will be creating a timeline of the life of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. As we see the egg,

larvae, and butterfly stages, notes will be take on a whiteboard as a whole group. After reading

the book, the teacher will create a big poster that has the days of the week, sunday through

monday, and assign students different parts. One student is in charge of drawing the egg on the

plant, another one is in charge of drawing the caterpillar eating and apple, so on. As the students

finish their drawing, each of their part will go on the timeline. A word bank will be put up on the

board, so that students who have parts of the stages can write down the word. The teacher will be

beside the timeline, so as the students finish she can do an informal assessment on the readings

and the life cycle of the butterfly. She/he will guide them to place their drawing in the

corresponding day. After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the student will have an

opportunity to write and draw about what they read or has been read to them. They will have a

guided writing activity where they will be given two incomplete sentences that will incorporate

concepts of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and mathematical concepts (number sense). The

students task is to complete the sentences using the book read to them. After reading, it is

essential that students write because reading and writing share reciprocal processes and

reinforce each other (Stahl et al.,2015). Gammill explains that, the acts of writing, whether in

short sentences or lengthy paragraphs, helps students make connections between what they read,

what they understood, and what they think (Stahl et al.,2015).The writing lesson is modeled

after GRR (gradual release of responsibility) model. GRR model is an instructional tool that

provides a continuum of support, with the teachers assuming responsibility for the task on one

side and the students assuming the responsibility on the other side of the continuum (Stahl et al.,

2015). This writing will be during whole class setting and encourages the teacher to model and

demonstrate how you want the students to draw and write in response to the book. Writing
activity will be teacher controlled where writing will be shared after completion in small groups.

With the knowledge built and the practice student had with the topic, we would do a think aloud

activity using A Butterflys Life, during our daily read alouds. Think alouds are for modeling

how a proficient reader thinks through difficult situations in order to comprehend (Walpole et

al., 2011). If we begin to incorporate think alouds in our read alouds, it will demonstrate how

good readers solve problems and make text make sense (Walpole et al., 2011). Having this

activity at the end will act as an informal assessment. Teacher will have an understanding of who

does or does not comprehend the content, so he/she knows how more to help those students.

References

McKenna, M.C., & Kear J.K..(1990). Measuring attitude towards reading: a new tool for

teachers. The reading teacher, 43(9), 627-639.

Stahl, K. D., & Garcia, G. E.. (2015). Developing reading comprehension: effective instruction

for all students in PreK-2. New York, NY: Guilford. ISBN-10:1462519768

Walpole, S., McKenna, M. C., & Phillapakos, Z. (2011). Differentiating reading instruction in

grades 4-5.New York, NY: Guilford. ISBN-10: 1609182162

You will be graded using the following rubric.

Assignment Criteria Self- Instructor

Assessmen Assessmen
t t
Level of Selections and Coherence of the Quad Text
Set
All selections are at appropriate levels of difficulty.
Origin of all sources is clear and adequate for locating.
25
All parts of the organizer are complete. The quad text
set is a coherent set of texts and the visual,
information, and accessible texts are likely to facilitate
students comprehension of target text. (25 points)
Purpose for Reading 10
There is a clear, authentic purpose for reading each
text and a plan to establish the reading purpose with
students.
(10 points)
Writing Activity
The implementation plan includes a description of a
writing activity that will follow the reading of the
target text and other lesson components. The writing
10
activity will foster students thinking and allow for
reflection of ideas both in the target text as well as
across the quad text set.
(10 points)
Discussion Technique
The implementation plan includes a description of a
technique for discussion from our course readings,
which fosters students critical thinking about the text
10
and ensures that all students have an opportunity to
talk about the text. The discussion should prepare
students for the writing activity.
(10 points)
Think Aloud
The think aloud models thinking and particular
strategies to assist students in making sense of
10
complex texts and provides practice for students to
engage in the strategies.
(10 points)
Reading Guide/DR-TA
The reading guide or DR-TA demonstrates an
understanding of the places where students may
struggle with the target text and provides strong
supports to aid in understanding of the text. The guide 15
or DR-TA are well organized with appropriate purpose
setting devices employed to aid in students
comprehension of the text.
(15 points)
Writing Activity
The implementation plan includes a description of a
writing activity that will follow the reading of the
target text and other lesson components. The writing
10
activity will foster students thinking and allow for
reflection of ideas both in the target text as well as
across the quad text set.
(10 points)
Vocabulary Approach and Graphic
14
The approach is appropriate for the concepts being
compared. The graphic representation clearly depicts
the selected vocabulary approach for the content
specific concept. The justification of the approach is
valid, supported by text, and demonstrates an
understanding of the appropriate use of the approach
(15 points)
Implementation of the Lesson
The plan for implementation considers a relevant
order of presentation of the quad text set that supports
students understanding of all texts and in particular,
the target text. Description of how the lesson will be
administered utilizes small group, whole group, and
individual work time appropriately. Description 19
includes how each component of the lesson will be
administered (reading guide, think aloud, purpose
setting, writing, vocabulary, and discussion)
References from course readings are cited to justify
choices in the lesson.
(20 points)
Interdisciplinary Approach
The implementation plan demonstrates and
9
integration of literacy into content areas and an
interdisciplinary approach to instruction. (10 points)
Diversity
The implementation plan addresses ways to consider
learning needs of language learners, students with
disabilities, and students of varying reading ability 5
levels. The plan includes citations from our course
readings to support choices.
(5 points)
Professional Language
The paper is written in presentation-style English, with
rules of grammar, agreement, and punctuation
followed. References are included and listed using APA
formatting following the body of the paper on a new
page. 10
Cover sheet with title of project, author, and date,
ALONG with this rubric (self-assessment completed
and included in the paper) are presented together as
a single file when submitted through the assignment
link. (10 points)

Grade: ____ out of 150 points