Westowne Elementary School

401 Harlem Lane 443-809-0854

Catonsville, MD 21228 Fax: 443-809-0856

Teacher: NERAL Grade: 4 Date: FEBRUARY 25,

2021
Subject: ELA School/Office: WESTOWNE Time: 2:00-3:00 PM

Lesson Planning Format

READING LESSON (Alignment to CCSS and BCPS Curriculum)
(Please provide Unit/Lesson # so admin. can locate in BCPS One)
ELA Virtual Learning ~ Grade 4 ~ Unit 4 ~ Lesson 9
Targeted CCSS / P21 Standards Essential Skills/Knowledge
(Please record all Common Core Standards to be met) (Please record all Essential Skills/Knowledge)
I can determine the theme of a poem by analyzing Students should already know what the theme of a text is. They
the character or speaker’s words and actions so have already been presented with this before in grade four,
however, are still confusing theme with main idea and the topic
that I can uncover the poet’s message. (RL 4.2) of a text. They have also read poems before, but not to determine
theme.
Textbook Reference/Materials
BCPS Curriculum, Wonders Textbook (online), Schoology, Google Meet with breakout rooms, Flipchart,
WIXIE

OBJECTIVE
What do you want the students to learn?

Essential Question:

How is rigor observed in this lesson? (Rigor is the goal of helping students develop the capacity to understand content that is
complex, ambiguous, provocative, and personally or emotionally challenging.”)
Rigor is assessed in the ability for students to communicate with their peers in breakout rooms about their
notes on poems they read during the lesson. They will discuss characters actions and events that take place,
in order to synthesize what they believe the theme of the poems to be. They will be required to complete
organizers that show proof via character actions and events of why they chose the theme that they did.

How is literacy demonstrated/incorporated in this lesson? (Literacy Definition: Literacy is the ability to read, write, listen,
speak clearly and think critically using print and digital materials across all disciplines. Literacy involves a continuum of learning, enabling

Focused on Quality Committed to Excellence

 Westowne Elementary School
401 Harlem Lane 443-809-0854
Catonsville, MD 21228 Fax: 443-809-0856

individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society.)
Students will be discussing a previous text we read earlier in the week, they will be reading several
new poems, they will be communicating with their peers in breakout rooms, they will be completing
charts via WIXIE, and they will have the opportunity to complete their assessment independently
where they will read a new poem and complete the THEME with text evidence.
ADMINISTRATOR FOCUS
What should the observer look for during the lesson ? (Are you trying something new? Are you focusing on implementing a
specific behavior concept? Instructional process? Routine? Grouping strategy? Are you thinking out of the box? Let us know as this area will be
discussed in the pre-observation conference.)
Please focus on the amount of engagement from certain students who tend to have their cameras
on and do not participate in the lesson. These are students who usually do this each lesson, even
with parent messages, request to participate, giving out incentive points, etc. I am looking for more
strategies to engage them as we transition to hybrid learning.
PRE-ASSESSMENT
How will you know each student’s individual needs?
During our lesson on Tuesday, we read a fictional text about a boy who traveled to Mars with his
father and was learning about planting trees on the planet to be able to increase oxygen levels.
There was a theme the was evident in the story, however, each student gave me a “topic” or “main
idea” when asked to share what the theme was at the end of the lesson. That lesson was not
targeted on theme, was on a different topic, so I am hopeful with a whole lesson, they will be able
to distinguish the difference between topic, main idea, and theme.
ASSESSMENT
How will you know that the students learned it?
(Ongoing and Formative)
Students will take the county SWYK via Schoology at the end of the lesson. Throughout the lesson, I
will be able to informally assess through their participation in volunteering answers to questions I
ask via Google Meet.
PROCEDURE
How will you teach this lesson?
Beginning (Activate students’ prior knowledge; Unpack the learning objective, Engage students in exploring new concept: utilize modeling to
introduce a new concept – how will you involve students? Why/What is the importance.)

Focused on Quality Committed to Excellence

 Westowne Elementary School
401 Harlem Lane 443-809-0854
Catonsville, MD 21228 Fax: 443-809-0856

We will discuss the objective, vocabulary,

and essential questions of the unit together.

We will discuss how in a previous

lesson this week many students gave topics or main ideas when asked to give the theme of a text we
read together. We will discuss how a theme is different than those and give more relevant examples.

Middle (Guided practice- What opportunities will students have to practice and apply the new concept/skill (group rotations)?  How will you
differentiate instruction, learning activities, assessments to meet the needs of diverse learners? Why/What is the importance.)

Focused on Quality Committed to Excellence

 Westowne Elementary School
401 Harlem Lane 443-809-0854
Catonsville, MD 21228 Fax: 443-809-0856

We will review that a theme can

also be present in poems and describe the characteristics of a narrative poem. I will have a volunteer
read this poem aloud for the first time.

We will re-read the poem, this time

also filling out a graphic organizer for determining theme while we read.

Focused on Quality Committed to Excellence

 Westowne Elementary School
401 Harlem Lane 443-809-0854
Catonsville, MD 21228 Fax: 443-809-0856

Students will be split into

breakout rooms to read a different poem with their peers. One of them will take the lead and
complete a graphic organizer for the group in WIXIE. We will come back together as a class and
discuss the theme.
End (Assessment of student learning; Revisit the learning objective to discuss newly attained skills/concepts. Why/What is the importance.)

Students have a different short

poem to read in Schoology where they will be assessed via a selected response assessment.

What higher level questions will be used during this lesson?

How did you determine the theme?
Is the theme of a poem different than the theme of a longer text?
What characters actions led you to believe that was the theme? What events?

Focused on Quality Committed to Excellence

 Westowne Elementary School
401 Harlem Lane 443-809-0854
Catonsville, MD 21228 Fax: 443-809-0856

Can multiple texts have the same theme?

What other texts have you read that have similar themes?
How do themes of a text relate to your own life?

SMALL GROUPS / INDEPENDENT WORK (to include differentiation, intervention, and extension modifications to meet the needs of
all learners.)
Scaffolding (reteach)
Students will be placed in groups, so
will have the ability to have the
poems read aloud to them if it is
above grade level. The assessment
is also county provided- but
selected response, so no sentence
starters or organizers will be ended
for the assessment.
Enrichment
Students will have the
opportunity to work in groups
in breakout rooms and discuss
their thoughts with their
peers before completing their
assessment and coming back
to the class to share their
ideas.
Acceleration (extend)
Students will have the opportunity to
lead the breakout room groups and
to also be the “recorders” of who
completes the graphic organizers for
their groups. They may also be able
to lead discussions in above grade
level vocabulary that is presented in
the poems.

CLOSURE / SUMMARY
How will you summarize student learning?
We will continue to analyze additional poems and texts throughout the unit to determine their presented
themes. I will be able to see how students complete the assessment in this lesson as well.

Focused on Quality Committed to Excellence