Lesson Plan Template

Note: For this lesson, I will be using strategy 5.20 (Not Just Page Decorations) to help students understand the text by noticing and visualizing setting
changes that happen within the chapter. This book, A Long Walk to Water, has a lot of breaks/setting changes throughout all of the chapters, and so
practicing this strategy early on will help students to comprehend the entire book. Because there are so many setting changes throughout this chapter
and in the book in general, it is important for students to pay attention to these and think about why they are important; using this strategy to look for
page breaks and analyze the text before/after them for setting changes will prepare students to think more deeply about the role that setting plays in the
story.

Name: Mia Derse Grade Level: 5

Target Content/Lesson Topic: Comprehension--Fiction Date: 10/30/20

Planning
Essential Question How can we comprehend fiction texts?
What is the essential question that this
lesson addresses? What is the core
purpose of the lesson that includes the
strategies and skills necessary to
accomplish the deeper learning in the
standard? How does this lesson fit into
the larger unit of study?
State Learning Standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3
Identify relevant grade level standards Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing
and Learning Outcomes from the State on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
Content Learning Standards, Common
Core Standards, and school learning
outcomes.
Learning Targets/Objectives Students will be able to comprehend a fiction text by describing and visualizing the various settings within a
What should the students know or be chapter, using specific details from the text to support these depictions.
able to do after the instruction? Use a
common format with a measurable verb Students will be able to describe the importance of the settings during peer discussions.
that matches the cognitive domain
standard. This should be a small piece of
the standard stated in measurable
terms.

September 1, 2020
Grouping
Describe how and why students will be
divided into groups, if applicable
(homogeneous, heterogenous, random /
based on ability, interest, social
purposes, etc.)
Co-Teaching Strategy
How did you collaborate with your co-
teacher to plan, instruct, and assess
learning? What Co-Teaching Model will
you employ?
-One Teach, One Observe
-One Teach, One Assist
-Station Teaching
-Parallel Teaching
-Supplemental
-Alternative (Differentiated)
-Team Teaching
Differentiation
Respond to your students’ needs and
adjust the content, process, product,
and/or environment to reach individual
learners based on their readiness,
interests, and learning preferences
(Tomlinson, 2014). Discuss planned
supports here.
September 1, 2020
Grouping
The lesson will begin as a whole group so that the teacher can model the strategy. For the main part of the
lesson, students will be working independently to read the rest of the chapter and practice using the strategy
to visualize and understand the setting. Students will be working independently so that they can work to
develop their own understanding of the setting. Then, in the post-reading activity, there will be a lot of think-
pair-share where students get to share their ideas about the different settings and their importance. To create
a natural flow in this activity, students will be pairing with their seat partner. However, the “share” part will be
with the whole group so that students can hear a variety of ideas from people throughout the whole class.
Co-Teaching Strategy
n/a
Content: There are different things that are used to help make the content accessible for students. For
instance, the use of the graphic organizer encourages students to pick out the page breaks and look for clues
about the setting. Also, drawing a picture of the setting helps students to further visualize it. In addition to this,
for students who are learning English as a second language, the headings on the graphic organizer could be
translated to their native language. For example, “setting” would be translated to “es escenario” in Spanish.
This will help ESL students to access their knowledge about setting that they may have learning in their L1.
Process: There is a lot of think-pair-share that is incorporated throughout the post-reading discussion. This is
especially helpful for ESL students because it gives them time to think about what they want to say. Then, they
are able to practice using English in a low-pressure setting when discussing with their partner. While ESL
students are generally less likely than others to share in the whole-group, the inclusion of the partner
discussion before the whole group gives them some time to practice, and so will give them more confidence if
they choose to share. If they choose not to share, they and other students still benefit from the whole group
discussion because this gives them an opportunity to hear other ideas from their peers.
Product: Students can choose to draw a picture of the setting, use writing to describe the setting, or both. This
choice is beneficial for students that have different learning styles. Some may have difficulty expressing their
ideas through writing and/or benefit a lot from creating a visual. Others may not be artistically inclined and be
able to visualize the setting, but prefer to make a written description of it.
2

Formative Assessment
How will you monitor student learning
throughout the lesson? Be specific
about how your chosen assessments
connect with the objectives above.
Does your formative assessment
have/need evaluation criteria? If so,
attach a copy of your evaluation criteria.
Summative Assessment
How will students demonstrate mastery
of the standard? Note: This assessment
does not have to occur during/after this
lesson but in upcoming lessons.
Evaluation Criteria
What material(s) will you use to
evaluate learning? Please attach a copy
of your checklist, rubric, observation
criteria, or other measure.
Describe the presentation of the overall
lesson.
Introduction and Connection to
Previous Learning
● Anticipatory Activity (Hook)
● Activate prior knowledge.
● Be sure students understand
procedures and instructions for
lesson.
● Establish clear expectations.
September 1, 2020
Environment: There is a combination of verbal and written information to make the content accessible for all
students. For instance, while modeling, the teacher will verbally explain the process, and also use the
document camera to underline key parts of the text and write out the ideas that they verbally explain.
Likewise, in the post-reading discussion students will be verbally sharing their ideas. The teacher will also be
making a large list on the board of the ideas that students share so that students can read the information if
they did not hear it, and vice versa.
Assessment
Students will be assessed based on their comprehension of the settings in the chapter. This will be shown
through the graphic organizer, as well as peer discussion in the final part of the lesson. They will be assessed
based on how well they identify setting clues from the text and put them together to create a full
image/description of the setting. Criteria would include the number of text clues (3-4; 2; or 1), clues that focus
on both parts of setting (as opposed to just time or just place), and how well their image or description
incorporates the clues that they listed, and a description of why a particular setting was important/why they
think the author incorporated it.
For the summative assessment when the students are finished reading the book, they will do an in-depth
analysis about two characters or settings in the book. They will describe some of the characteristics, any
similarities/differences, describe the role they played and why they think the author included them, etc. This
will allow students to make their own meaning of characters/settings while also using evidence from the text
to support their understandings (as the standard describes).
Procedures (Teacher[s] will…, Students will…)
Hook: Hook students and also prepare them for the lesson by asking them to close their eyes and picture their
perfect setting—If they could be anywhere, where would that be? What would be there? What would it look
like? What time of day would it be? What time of year?
Activate prior knowledge: ask students to think about what happened in the first chapter of A Long Walk to
Water, which they read yesterday. Have students think-pair-share about the chapter to get them thinking
about what already happened before starting the second chapter. Also, to get students thinking about setting
specifically, ask them to think-pair-share about what setting means (i.e. time and place).
Procedures and Instructions: Tell students that today they will be reading chapter two of A Long Walk to
Water. Note that instead of taking place all in one setting, this chapter has a few different setting changes. In
 ● Model concept
The Introduction, During, and Wrap-up
groupings/ instruction/ lesson
progression might look different!
September 1, 2020
order for us to understand what is happening, we must pay attention to these setting changes. To help us, we
will be using a strategy that involves looking for breaks in the text to identify setting changes, and also looking
for clues in the text that happen right before and after the breaks to see how the setting changes. I will model
this strategy first, we will practice together, and then you will have a chance to read and practice the strategy
by yourself.
Establish clear expectations: Listen closely as I am modeling. Then, as we practice together, listen carefully
to others’ ideas to prepare for the independent practice. You will be reading the second half of the chapter by
yourselves and practicing the strategy independently, but we will have time to share our ideas and
experiences in a discussion at the end.
Model Concept: The teacher will begin modeling by showing some different examples of page breaks that can
indicate a change in setting (white space, dashes, asterisks, and symbols that appear wihin a page and within a
chapter). Not all of these examples are found in this specific book, but it is important for students to be
familiar with some common examples of how setting changes are indicated in fiction books. Get students
thinking by asking them if they have ever seen any of these examples before as they were reading.
Before reading, introduce the graphic organizer by placing it under the document camera so that all students
can see. Note that the graphic organizer is two-sided and show both sides so that students can see. Explain the
three columns: in the “Break” column, we will be looking for some of the text breaks that show setting change
(white space, dashes, etc.). When we find one of these, we will write the page number down to identify where
we found the break. In the second column, we will be writing clues from the text that tell us where and when
the story is now taking place. Then, in the third column, we will be describing the new setting. We can do this
by writing about it in our own words, drawing a picture, or both. Ask students if they have any questions
about the graphic organizer itself before I show them how to use it with the strategy. Provide time to answer
questions as necessary.
Model the strategy using the first page break on page 8. Read aloud until the page break—show the page
under the document camera so that you can point out what the break looks like, and also have students follow
along in their own copy of the book. Model your thinking out loud: In the middle of this page, I see some white
space and a symbol (gesture to these under the document camera). Right away, I see that there is some text
above the symbol that tells me a bit about the new setting. It says “Southern Sudan, 1985.” This gives me some
information about where and when the story is now taking place, so I am going to write that in my “text clues”
column. This is a start, but I want some more information so that I can really picture what the setting looks
like. So, I am going to keep reading and look for more clues about the setting. Read the first two sentences
after the page break. Note that it mentions Salva. Before the break I was reading about Nya, and now I am
reading about Salva. What was Salva doing the last time we read about him? (allow students some time to
think and respond—he was at school. Students can also look back if they need to, because this was from the
previous day). Note that because he was at school last time I read about him, I want to look for clues to see if
4
 he is still at school or if he is somewhere else now. Pause after reading “In the smoke and dust, he couldn’t see
the school building anymore.” Show thought processes out loud: The last time I read about Salva he was at
school. Now, I read that the he couldn’t see the school building anymore because of smoke. This makes me
think that he is somewhere outside the school—if he was inside, he would only see one room, but if he was
outside, he should have been able to see the whole building. So, I am going to write “he couldn’t see the school
building anymore—maybe he is outside” in my clues column (show under doc camera). Another clue that I
noticed was that there is smoke and dust (underline this part of the text under the document camera). I am
going to add this to my clues column as well because it tells me what the setting looks like and helps me to
visualize it. Also verbalize your thought process of visualizing the setting in your mind—picturing Salve
outside, somewhere around the school, with lots of smoke around. Demonstrate drawing a picture of Salva
outside with smoke around him, and as a written example also write, “Salva is outside the school, but he can’t
see it anymore because there is a lot of smoke.” Note that when students are working they can choose to draw
a picture, write a sentence in their own words, or both. Also note that the text clues I found support my
sentence/drawing.

Guided Practice: The teacher will read until the next page break on page 9. Students will now have guided
practice with the strategy. The teacher will prompt the students to look for text clues to describe the setting.
The teacher can use prompts such as, “Read what came right before and right after the white space,” “How
much time has passed?” and, “Is this the same scene or a new one?” Students will have time to think and find
text clues, pair with a partner and share their ideas (as they are discussing with a partner, the teacher will
walk around to see what students are saying and monitor understanding). Finally, students can share with the
group. The teacher will add their ideas in the graphic organizer. If necessary, the teacher can prompt students
to share the specific text clue/evidence that led to their response. Also have a short think-pair-share for what
students could write/draw in the final column, and write some examples that students share. Some examples
that students might pick out from the text may include, but are not limited to, “for hours,” “the sun was gone
from the sky,” “too dark,” “path,” and “there were so many of them.”

Before students begin to read independently, ask them to preread by looking through the chapter for page
breaks so that they have an idea of when the setting may be changing. Students will likely notice the two blank
spaces easily, but may miss the one at the bottom of page 12, which is symbols (I missed this one at first when
I was looking through the chapter as well). If necessary, prompt students by looking to see if there are any
page breaks that use symbols instead of the white space. Once students identify this page break, ask them why
the author might have used two different types of page breaks in the same chapter (i.e. because the one with
symbols is at the bottom of a page. If she had used the blank space, we might not have noticed it and thought it
was still the same setting). Ask students if they have any final questions before beginning to read.

September 1, 2020
During (Lesson Progression)
In this portion of the lesson, you will be
letting go and letting students engage in
productive struggle; engaging in gradual
release, inquiry, or other learning
methods. Please write what you are
looking for in terms of:
● Students’ thinking and how they
will start the lesson
● Provide appropriate support
(not explaining how to do it)
● Provide worthwhile extensions.
● Provide opportunities for
students to engage in using the
academic language.
This is where you will be suggesting or
modeling specific strategies and
helping students choose which strategy
makes sense to them. However, you
must make sure ideas come from
students.
Wrap-Up and Extension
This is where you have students talk
about their thinking and share strategies
with the whole class. It’s important to
name strategies and use academic
vocabulary here, extending the lesson to
broader ideas.
● Promote a community of
learners
● Listen actively and probe
thinking without evaluating or
telling them how you would do
it.
Summarize main ideas and identify
future problems that they would be able
to solve using the thinking you have
discussed.
September 1, 2020
Students will be reading independently. As they read, they will look for the page breaks on pages ten, the top
of twelve, and the bottom of twelve that signify setting changes. Using text clues before and after this page
break, they will visualize how the setting now looks. To record their thinking, they will also complete three
rows on their graphic organizer, one for each page break. As students are working, the teacher will walk
around the room and provide support as necessary. To prompt students/extend their thinking, some
questions and/or prompts they may use include: Scan through the chapter to see if the setting will change;
Read what came right before the blank space; Where are they now?; How much time has passed? How do you
know?; Is this the same scene or a new one? How do you know; Describe the new setting. How did you know
what this new setting looked like?; etc. Students will be encouraged to use academic vocabulary such as page
break, visualize, and text clues/evidence in these discussions. If some students finish before others, the
teacher can pair them up so that they can compare/contrast their depictions of the setting. The teacher can
also extend students’ thinking by asking them why they think the author chose this setting/why it might be
important in the story (this will be elaborated further on in the post-reading activity).
Post Reading Activity: Students will begin the post-reading activity by comparing and contrasting the two
settings from the three different page breaks. Students can share words that they used to describe it,
descriptions of their drawings (these can also be put under the document camera for everyone to see).
Students will also be asked to share the evidence that led to their descriptions of the setting. The teacher will
make a list of students’ findings on the board for everyone to see. Students will think-pair-share to look for
similarities and differences in the setting. To go further, for both settings, students will be also asked to think-
pair-share about how the setting relates to what is happening in the story. For instance, with the last setting
change, you could say: With our last page break, we read that Salva was still inside the barn that he fell asleep
in. A lot of us thought that some time has passed because he was asleep—it might be morning now, but we are
not sure because we didn’t read anything about what it looks like outside. However, we read that “no one else
was in the barn.” What does this mean? What is the author trying to tell us through this setting?” Thus, with
each of the page breaks the teacher can restate what the class shared, and then ask students to think-pair-
share about the significance of the setting. As students are sharing, the teacher can walk around the room and
make note of how students are making sense of the setting and its importance in the story. Students can have
their own ideas about why the setting is important—some may think that the others intentionally abandoned
him, some may think that Salva slept too long and the others had to move on, etc. Thus, students will have
their own understandings, but still be prompted to use the text clues to help support their understandings.

Instructional Materials,
Equipment and Technology
Attach a copy of ALL materials the
teacher and students will use during the
lesson; e.g., handouts, questions to
answer, overheads, PowerPoint slides,
worksheets. List equipment or
technology that needs to be available.
September 1, 2020
Wrap up the lesson by restating some of the students’ ideas. Note that today we read chapter two of A Long
Walk to Water and looked for setting changes at the page breaks to help us understand what was happening.
Tomorrow we will continue reading chapter 3.
Copies of A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park for all students
Graphic organizer for all students (note: graphic organizer is two sided so that there is room in to boxes for
students to draw the setting, if they desire).
Document camera
Writing utensils
Examples of different page breaks for the modeling in the introduction (I would make a document with
pictures of page breaks from books that students have read. That way they might look familiar to the
students).