®

SIOP Lesson Plan Template 1

Teacher: Casey Fichtner Date: 2/3/19 Grade/Class/Subject: 2nd Grade ELA lesson.
21 students - 2 ELs

Unit/Theme: Informational Writing Unit - Fire Theme (based Standards:

on book Wildfires by Kathy Furgang)
Lesson Standards – CCSS RI.2.4: Determine the meaning
of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or
subject area.

CCSS 2.L.4a Use sentence-level context as a clue to the

meaning of a word or phrase

Overarching Unit Standard – CCSS W.2.2: Write

informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic,
use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a
concluding statement or section.

Content Objective(s): Describing vocabulary definitions Language Objective(s): Analyzing context clues for
comprehension

KEY VOCABULARY: SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS:

Academic language: Ignite, spark, up in smoke Understanding tricky words anchor chart (from previous
lesson)
Other: visualize, investigate, definition
Sentence/vocabulary word cards
Vocabulary definition graphic organizer
Paper magnifying glasses
Fires mentor text
Popplet Cluster vocabulary anchor chart (for the word
definition)
Ipads with Make Belief Comix and Popplet App
Projector/SmartBoard

SIOP FEATURES
PREPARATION SCAFFOLDING GROUP OPTIONS
Adaptation of content Modeling Whole class
Links to background Guided practice Small groups
Links to past learning Independent practice Partners
Strategies incorporated Comprehensible input Independent
INTEGRATION OF PROCESSES APPLICATION ASSESSMENT
Reading Hands-on Individual
Writing Meaningful Group
Speaking Linked to objectives Written
Listening Promotes engagement Oral
LESSON SEQUENCE: LESSON 2 out of 5
Opening:
1. I will introduce the lesson with the hook and the lesson objective, "Today you will each be detectives, using your
investigation skills to demonstrate how nonfiction readers use multiple strategies to understand tricky words."

Teacher Modeling:
1. I will then hand out student Ipads to pairs. Each Ipad will be open to a Popplet word cluster that has a missing word in the
center. This cluster will use language that describes the word ‘definition’: 'the meaning of a word', 'describing what
something is', 'describing how something works', etc. The Popplet will also include embedded images, gifs and a link to a
video clip that represents the vocabulary word in action.
2. I will instruct students to read the Popplet with their partner. While students read the Popplet word cluster, I will prompt
them with questions that help them to make connections between the words, images, and gifs.
3. I will then think out loud about the meaning of a word from our mentor text that the class has already demonstrated
proficiency in understanding. I will point out how I am describing what it is, how it works, stating the meaning, and using
visualizations.
3. I will then have students write in the word in the center of the cluster, thinking out loud about how they just wrote the
definition of one of our familiar vocabulary words.

************* Guided practice already includes many during reading strategies*************

Guided Practice:
1. Students will read aloud the strategies on the anchor chart from the previous lesson.
2. I will then present the students with a page from the mentor text. I will activate prior knowledge by asking the students to
retell what the author was teaching us on this page. Students will think-pair-share, sharing their partner's idea with the
class.
3. I will then read a sentence with a tricky word. I will pull out my magnifying glass, reminding students to read closely.
Students will be instructed to infer the meaning of the sentence by acting out or visualizing a drawing in their mind's eye. I
will also guide them toward the illustration in the text as a strategy for understanding the word. Students will share out their
ideas while I recast and document their thinking on the board.
4. I will then model turning student ideas into a definition of the vocabulary word, thinking out loud as I write. The students
will read the definition out loud. I will then ask students to think of a new sentence for this word. Students will think-pair-
share, sharing a couple ideas that will be added to the board.
5. I will then show students a Comix strip that uses a sentence to describe the word by revealing 2 frames that demonstrate
the word in action. I will think out loud about how I visualized the sentence in order to create the images in the Comix strip. I
will have students act out the comic and then think pair share about what elements of their acting are represented in the
comic.
6. After practicing the reading strategies together, I will remind students of the objective, that nonfiction readers use multiple
strategies to understand tricky words.
7. Instructions for the small group practice will follow. Students will review our accountability sentence frames. I will split
students into groups of 4. Each group will receive a 'top secret' Ipad with clues to their vocabulary word. The students will
use their detective magnifying glasses to read closely and infer meaning from their clues. The students will draw a picture
and/or write a description for the word, they will use the word in a sentence, and they will create a Make Belief Comix to
demonstrate the way the word is used in the new sentence. I will remind students to act out their ideas before creating the
comic. Students will be assigned group roles to facilitate participation.

Independent (small group) Practice:

1. As students work, I will circulate and provide feedback: asking questions, recasting student thinking, and prompting
accountability sentence frames when needed.
- How do you know?
- What is happening in the sentence? Act it out. Draw it in your mind's eye.
- What does he/she mean when he/she says the word describes …?
Closing:
1. Students will present their top-secret files, reading aloud their sentences and displaying their comics on the projector.
2. I will then congratulate students on their detective work, using multiple strategies to understand tricky words.
3. After students present, I will ask all students to reflect on the strategies that helped them the most. I will present an
anchor chart that maps the strategies we used for inferring the meaning of new vocabulary. Students will think-pair-share
and then write/draw about the strategy that best helped them create their definitions. Each pair will place their post-it-note
on the anchor chart for display in the reading center.
4. I will read out a couple of the post-it notes and invite students to view the anchor chart during their next independent
reading session.

REFLECTIONS:
LESSON RATIONALE
2nd Grade students need to be able to read nonfiction texts at the high end of the 2-3 grade band. Developing effective
strategies to interpret the meaning of unknown words will help students develop reading fluency at this level. In this lesson,
students use metacognitive strategies for understanding tricky or new vocabulary. These strategies not only help make
meaning of new language, they are strategies that students regularly use to analyze text for comprehension. By practicing
these meaning-making strategies and using them to understand domain specific language, students learn to comprehend
increasingly complex texts. Student comprehension is then applied through writing and other forms of communication. By
connecting student writing and ideas to reading comprehension strategies, this lesson supports students in developing
metacognitive practices that require them to continuously reflect on text meaning in order to produce written content. By
including images, this lesson provides scaffolding for ELs and struggling readers. Illustrative, written, kinesthetic, and oral
presentation of student thinking also allows all students to demonstrate their understanding of the lesson strategies and text
materials. Sentence frames for group work, provide a scaffold for negotiating ideas when working with others. By the end of
this lesson, students will not only have developed vocabulary that will support them throughout the unit, they will have
practiced reading strategies that support them in comprehending text.

Pre, During, and After Reading Strategies

Preteaching the meaning of the word ‘definition’ will ensure that English Language Learning students are able to approach
the lesson objectives with an understanding of the domain specific term that defines the very purpose of the lesson. This
prereading strategy also primes students by connecting to their background knowledge of what it means to describe
something or explain the meaning of a word or idea. Through teacher modeling, students will also see what it looks like to
say/write a definition of an already known word. This provides students with a clear expectation that they can model their
own thinking after when doing guided practice and independent practice with unfamiliar vocabulary. The during reading
strategy of thinking aloud makes metacognitive processes explicit. Students are led through the strategy of making
inferences and then checking for confirmation of their inferences. This during reading strategy relies on the Gradual
Release of Responsibility model: I do, we do, you do. This method supports English Language Learning students by
scaffolding the reading strategy with increasing independence before they are expected to practice and demonstrate
understanding on their own. Creating a map of the lesson’s reading strategies allows students to review the processes that
they used throughout the lesson. This postreading strategy allows students to reflect on the lesson objectives. By taking the
time for student reflection, students engage in explicit metacognitive practices that reinforce the reading strategies they
have learned. Mapping also allows the teacher to informally assess student understanding of each strategy. The teacher
can listen to student talk during the think-pair-share, and review post-it-notes for accuracy in describing the reading
strategies.
This lesson supplements the core classroom text and theme by providing students with strategies for independently
navigating domain specific language used in the texts for this unit and other thematically related units. Because this lesson
is based in teaching reading strategies, it extends beyond the parameters of the unit. Students can apply the reading
strategies to their own reading and other academic texts.

Rationale for Technology

Popplet is replacing a word cluster with a digital interface that provides students with more accurate representations of the
meaning behind the vocabulary word. This allows students to focus more on understanding the meaning making process
during the modeling portion of the lesson, rather than on comprehending the vocabulary word itself. Popplet allows me to
incorporate visualization tools that would otherwise be explained only in words. This helps students to understand what
visualization means by making the act of visualizing concrete and observable. By using Popplet I can also incorporate
screen shots from our mentor text in order to make prior knowledge from our reading accessible within the organization of
the word cluster itself. This also provides an opportunity for students to partner read digital literacies as a way to understand
the processes of visualization and the meaning of the word’s definition. By using this digital literacy tool, I can also have all
students engage in filling in the center vocabulary word rather than just providing this opportunity to one or a few students.
This additional action of filling in the vocabulary word provides me with an in-the-moment informal assessment by
continuing to make student thinking visible. This will allow me to make necessary edits to the lesson based on student
retention of the familiar vocabulary word from prior lessons.

Make Belief Comix provides the students with an opportunity to synthesize all of the reading strategies by applying them not
only to determining meaning but also to creating meaning as well. The Comix app allows students to reproduce their
visualization of the sentences and vocabulary terms while also using visualization as a writing and action tool. By using
comic strips, students are able to “act out” their sentences by interpreting them as a series of drawings. This reinforces the
visualization reading strategies from the lesson that they used to infer the meaning of tricky words. Students are required to
reverse engineer the meaning of the tricky word back into a digital text format that combines images, actions, and words.
By using this digital tool, I can assess mastery of the reading strategy by observing student ability to use the reading
strategy as way to communicate meaning rather than just infer meaning. This digital tool also provides a scaffold for English
Language Learning students by allowing them to communicate their understanding in pictures. Since the Comix App
provides students with already drawn characters and settings, it supports students in using drawings and actions as a
communication tool. This allows students to focus on the content of the lesson itself rather than artistic skill. This also
makes student work easier to interpret when assessing for understanding.
**The Comix tool can also be used to create a digital library of domain specific vocabulary terms that are inferred and then
defined by the students themselves. Additionally, student comic strips can be uploaded into a Padlet document in which the
students read and comment on each other’s work in a digital gallery walk. This would allow students to self-assess and
peer review. I did not include this in my lesson plan but considered it as an alternative end point for the lesson. Future
lessons could then refer back to this Padlet document as a way to access prior knowledge and reinforce vocabulary that is
essential to the theme and the unit.

Rationale of Assessment
This lesson plan already includes assessment. The main assessment is the Comix Strip. Additional assessment occurs in
the form of informal observations. All assessments for this lesson are formative since this lesson occurs in the middle of a
unit. I will listen to student conversations in think-pair-share and small group work in order to uncover alternate
understandings of the strategies. I will adjust my teaching in this lesson and future lessons in the unit as needed based on
these observations. 
I will also use the Comix Strip to assess precise application of the strategies as well as attendance to other language
conventions such as punctuation and capitalization. The use of illustration in addition to written language allows students
with limited language acquisition to demonstrate understanding of the reading strategies. The use of small groups in
creating these Comix Strips also provides scaffolding for embedding language into the Comix Strip. Students can verbalize
ideas that other students can write into the final product.
In addition to these informal formative assessments, post-it-notes at the end of the lesson will be used as an exit ticket. I will
use these to understand student learning/reading strategy preferences. The exit ticket also provides a student self-
assessment of the material, asking students to reflect on their own understanding of the reading strategy.
The Comix Strip is aligned with the learning objectives because it requires students to demonstrate understanding of
sentence level context clues by requiring them to first infer and then create meaning. Students who demonstrate
understanding of the lesson, are able to create a Comix Strip that fully illustrates meaning of the vocabulary word in a new
context. This also meets the overarching writing standard by asking students to use language and illustration to
communicate the definitions of words. By analyzing student understanding of this writing standard through the Comix Strip,
I can adjust future lessons that specifically teach the learning objective for how to write informative texts, using definitions to
develop points.

Template adapted from Echevarria, Vogt, and Short (2008), Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP ® Model.