Writing Lesson Plan Template

Better Together

LESSON RATIONALE
Organization and learning how to identify what is at the start, middle, and end of something is an important life skill. This will
help students organize their writing when they are writing stories, it will help with their speaking as well, and will also help the
students to identify different organization skills. This can be applied throughout more than just writing, but organization and
processes in general. (CAEP K-6 1.a)

READINESS
• Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A. Goal(s)—Students will work together to discover and write the beginning, middle, and end of different
stories.
B. Objective(s)—By the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify what comes at the beginning, middle,
and end of a story, and they will be able to write a story with beginning, middle, and end with assistance.
• Standard(s): I.W.3.1 Write logically connected sentences to make a proposal to a particular audience (e.g. parent,
classmate, etc.) and give reasons why proposal should be considered.
1.W.1 Write routinely over brief time frames for a variety of purposes and audiences. (CAEP K-6 3.c)
• Management Plan- Time per lesson element, use of space, list of materials. Describe expectations and procedures.

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

• Adaptation to Individual Differences and Diverse Learners—
• This lesson is taking place in a middle school essential skills classroom. There will be nine students present in the
classroom at the time of the lesson. Four of the students read at, or are working towards, a kindergarten reading level.
One of the students is only on a functional skill curriculum and does no academics. All students are off the diploma
track and are set to graduate with a certificate after high school. None of the students are working towards benchmark
standards for their respective grade levels.
• Jon: Jon has down syndrome and an intellectual disability. He is verbal, however his speech is not understandable. He
does not currently do any literacy instruction in his typical school day, besides working towards using a PECS
communication system. Jon is not able to write and so he will need adaptations and have a para working with him. Jon
will use his PECS communication system to select what he wants to write about and a para will write it down for him.
• Layla: Layla has down syndrome and an intellectual disability. She is a verbal and is able to be understood by others.
She is currently working on reading and identifying sight words for her literacy instruction. She is also working on
comprehension and remembering what is read to her in a text. Layla can write, but she only writes sight words or copy
down words. She will need a para to write down what she is saying and then she will copy it.
• Ava: Ava has autism and is verbal. Ava’s speech is easily understood and she can carry a conversation. She is currently
working on trying to read lower-leveled reading books independently, text comprehension, and writing. She is also
working on writing sentences independently. Ava is able to write, but she just can’t write much, she will not need a para
1:1, but may require some assistance.
• Matthew: Matthew has autism and is selectively mute. He is able to speak, but often does not. Matthew will answer
questions if he is directly asked them by a familiar face. Matthew does not currently do any literacy instruction in his
typical school day and is working towards answering questions appropriately. Matthew can not write and that is not one
of his IEP goals, so he will sit and discuss with the class during the lesson, but will not be required to write.
• Morgan: Morgan has autism and is nonverbal. Morgan is not able to speak, and it is unsure how much receptive
communication she has. She mainly receives sensory and essential skill instruction. Morgan will sit and engage with
the class during discussion, but will not be required to write or do any of the work.
• Colten: Colten has an intellectual disability and reads at a second grade level. He is currently working towards reading
second grade level text fluently.
• Brody: Brody has an intellectual disability and currently reads at a first grade level. He is working towards reading first
grade level text fluently. Brody is able to write and he will do that during this lesson.
• John: John has an intellectual disability and is able to read at a first grade level. He is currently working towards
comprehension goals on his IEP. John is able to write and is working on spacing and staying within the lines, he will
write during this lesson but may need some assistance.
• Dylan: Dylan has an intellectual and emotional disability. Dylan currently reads at a second grade level and he will be
able to write during the lesson.
(CAEP K-6 1.b)

• Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)

Minilesson (Whole Group)
 • Anticipatory Set
For the anticipatory set I will split the class into two different groups. (Group one: Jon, Brody, Ava, Dylan, Morgan) (Group two:
Layla, Matthew, Colten, John). I will tell the class “Alright everyone we are going to play a game together! This is a game
between two different teams in the class. I am going to split you guys up in to teams.” Split the students up into teams, having
two paras on each of the students teams. Explain the rules of the game “For this game, I am going to show three pictures on the
board. The pictures are all related, but one of the pictures come first, or at the beginning, one comes second, or in the middle, and
one comes third, or at the end. I will have two students going against each other, one from each team, and the first student to
correctly answer the question gets their team a point! Make sure to work together with your teammates to decide which answer is
correct. Now I am going to show you an example.” Put an example on the board, “Okay, so on the board we have an egg, a baby
chick, and a chicken. Ava I want you to tell me, should I point to what comes at the beginning, middle, or end?” Let Ava choose.
Select the one that Ava chooses. Talk about each item and where it falls. Go to next slide. “Okay, now I have a grocery cart that is
empty, one that is full of food, and one that is ready to put all the bags of food in the car. Brody, should I select what comes at the
beginning, middle, or end?” Let Brody select which one I choose. Pick the correct one. Go over what each of them mean.
“Alright do we feel like we are ready to play the game?” If students seem like they need to review one more time, then do one
more practice together as a class. Begin the game. Review all three of the images before you ask students to select which one is at
the beginning, middle, and end.
• Purpose Statement
Today we are going to be focusing on how everything has a beginning, middle, and end, specifically when we write or read, and
we will learn how we can work together to write stories with beginning, middle, and ends.
• Introduce Trait
“Every story has a beginning, middle, and end, just like how the pictures we looked at today all had a beginning middle and end.
The way that we organize our writing is very important and helps others understand better when we are reading. At the beginning
of a story, characters and the people that the story is about are typically introduced.” The three puzzle pieces will be on the
screen, place a picture of different characters in the box next to the B. Ask students “What is introduced at the beginning of a
story?” have them respond with characters.
“In the middle of the story, the problem occurs. This means that something happens that makes the characters question or
struggle.” Place a question mark next to the box with the M. Ask students, “What typically happens in the middle of a story.”
Have the students answer. Finally, at the end of the story there is typically a solution to the problem!” Place a thumbs up next to
the E puzzle piece. Ask the students, “What typically happens at the end of a story?” Have the students respond.
• Share Examples (Short Text/Read Aloud)
I will tell the students “Okay, now that we understand a little bit more about what beginning, middle, and end are, I am going to
read you guys a short story, and we are going to work together to identify what the beginning middle and end of the story are. As
I read this text, I want you guys to stop me once you think I have read what happens at the beginning, what happens at the
middle, and what happens at the end of the story.” Have the students point out what happens in the beginning of the story, which
is when Henry and Laura find the pigeon nest on the patio. Point to the red puzzle piece on the board, and continue reading. Stop
after what happens in the middle, when they realize that the pigeon laid eggs. Point to the green puzzle piece on the board and
then continue reading. At the end of the story have the students tell you what happened, then point to the blue puzzle piece on the
board. “Great work guys! Now lets view what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. What happened that the
beginning? What happened in the middle? What happened in the end?” allow time for students to discuss and answer each
question. “Great work guys! So we can tell that by this story, in the beginning characters usually get introduced, in the middle a
problem or challenge happens with the characters, and at the end the problem is typically resolved, such as the birds being
hatched and flying away. Now we are going to write a story together as a class about a topic that a lot of you might like. We are
going to write a story with a beginning, middle, and end about playing fortnite.”

“We will help you” by Madhavi Adavi

Henry along with his sister Laura lived with their parents in a beautiful little house. Every evening, Henry and Laura enjoyed
playing with a ball in the patio. One day, they found a pigeon nest in the corner of the patio and were confused. They were scared
that the pigeon might hurt them.

“Mom!! There is a pigeon living in our balcony!!” shouted Henry in fear to his mother.

“Let us get this pigeon out of our house. This pigeon would hurt us. How can we play the ball here now??” cried Laura.

Mom took both Henry and Laura closer to her and explained that it is a bird and we should not hurt it.

That evening, three of them went to the patio to see the pigeon. Mommy realized that it was a pregnant pigeon which laid eggs,
sitting on them to hatch them.
Mom explained Henry and Laura , “ Kids, this is a mommy pigeon and it just laid eggs. We should not disturb the pigeon till the
eggs are hatched and we would see cute little pigeons hatching out.”

Henry was surprised. “Really!! Can we see little pigeons?”

Laura “That’s sweet, when can we see them?”

For the next few days, Henry and Laura ensured not to play in the patio as it will disturb the pigeon. They fed the pigeon with
pulses and water and waited to see the little pigeons hatching. Their curiosity increased every day.

After about 20 days, the eggs hatched into two small pigeons. The family was very happy to see them hatch and grow into little
birds. Once the little birds started to fly, the pigeon left their house and flew away.

Though the family missed its presence, they enjoyed their games in the patio ever again awaiting the next bird to visit their house.

• Provide Information (Model)

“Okay so here is a picture of a boy playing fortnite! Now we are going to write a story about him.” Have three puzzle pieces (one
with a B for beginning, one with a M for middle, and one with an E for end)
“So if we are talking about the beginning of the story and introducing the story. I think I will write something about the boy
sitting down to play fortnite after school.” Write on the board: The boy came home from school and sat down. “Next, I think I’ll
talk about what he did once he sat down and started playing.” Write on the board: He started playing fortnite and an hour later his
mom told him it was time for dinner. “Alright now lets think of how this story might end…” Write on the board: He turned the tv
off and went down for dinner. “Wonderful! We just wrote a story! Now what is the beginning? Middle? End?” allow time for
students to answer.

• Supervise Practice (Shared Writing)

Have another picture on the board that the students and teacher are going to write about together. The picture is going to be of a
frog about to eat a fly. The teacher will brainstorm with the students what to write about and will work together to write a short
story with a beginning, middle, and end. All of the students will write the story down as I am writing it on the board, with the
exception of Jon, Matthew, and Morgan.

• Check for Understanding

Have a third picture on the board that is of someone sweeping with a broom. Brainstorm with the students what could be the
beginning, middle, and end of a story about the picture, but do not write on the board and have the students write it themselves.
Have all of the paras, and teacher, go around and check each students individual work. Let the students it is okay if they don’t
write a whole story, but encourage them to try to write at least one sentence about the picture.
“Now I am going to split you guys into four groups with different teachers in the classroom. Each group is
going to have two pictures that they have to write a story about together. Your story just needs to have a beginning, middle, and
end.” Group 1: Jon and Brody, Group 2: Layla and John, Group 3: Ava, Colten, Morgan, Group 4: Matthew and Dylan. Have one
para for each group. Walk around to each group and stop and help when needed. Group 1 will have a picture of a man on an RV,
and a bear in the woods. Group 2 will have a picture of the ghost busters and a picture of someone dancing at a wedding. Group 3
will have a picture of a mermaid and AJ Styles, who is a rapper Group four will have a picture of someone singing on a stage, and
a lion. All of these pictures are related to different student interests in that specific group.

Conferences: Conferences will happen with each group. As the paras are working with the students I will travel around to each of
the groups and discuss the different ideas they are coming up with for the story. The students may not finish their whole story
today, and that is okay. The most important part is that when I am conferencing with them they are grasping the concept of having
a beginning of the story, middle of the story, and end of the story. I will have the paras record information on a chart for the
students in the group on whether they do not understand, are beginning to understand, or fully understand the concept of
beginning middle and end.

• Sharing (Whole Group)

• One person from each group will share with the rest of the class the two stories that they wrote for
the pictures that they were given. There will be four times total for sharing, and one student from
each group will share.

• Check for understanding.

 • The check for understanding will occur within the small groups. If students are not grasping the concept, then the
lesson will be retaught. Repetition is important for all students, especially students with special needs, so it is likely that
this concept will need to be retaught. If an individual student appears to be struggling during the lesson, a para will
work one on one with them, as there will be enough teachers in the room for a few students to have that option within
the whole group and small group.

VIII. Review learning outcomes / Closure

“Great work today guys! I appreciate how hard you guys all worked together to come up with stories with a beginning,
middle, and end. What was your favorite activity you did today?” Allow time for response. “What did you guys learn
about writing stories that you didn’t know before?” Allow time for student response. “Was it easier to work alone or to
work together in small groups to write a story?” Allow time for student response.

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT

Formative: formative assessment will occur at the stations with the paras throughout the writing part of the lesson.
Summative: At the end of the unit, after the concepts of beginning, middle, and end have been taught, reviewed, and practiced
many times, the students will have to write their own short story that includes a beginning, middle, and end. (CAEP K-6 3.a)

REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS

(CAEP K-6 3.b)
• How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why not?
• What were my strengths and weaknesses?
• How should I alter this lesson?
• How would I pace it differently?
• Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
• What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
• Was instruction scaffolded and modified enough for students?
• Was too much instruction taught at once or were students able to complete what was being asked of them?