Veronica Herrero-Velarde

Differentiated Lesson Plan: Spelling/Written Expression

Houston Baptist University
College of Education and Behavioral Sciences
Lesson Plan Format
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Subject: ELA Grade Level: K Time Estimate: 45 min.

Unit: Narrative Writing Topic: Picture Planning and Descriptions

Goal(s): TSW explore and understand the writing process.

Objective(s):
 TSW plan by generating ideas for writing through class discussions and drawings.
 TSW develop drafts in oral, pictorial, or written form by organizing ideas.
 TSW share writing.

TEKS:
ELA.K.10A
ELA.K.10B
ELA.K.10E

Materials/Resources/Technology needs:
Teacher Materials:
 Anchor Chart Paper
 Colored Markers
 Sound Card
Student Materials:
 Writing Journals
 Pencil
 Sound Card
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Instructional Procedures
Focusing Event:
 TTW ask the class, How many of you have pets at home? Does anyone have a dog?
Cat? Fish? Hamster? Does your pet ever do anything silly? Does your pet ever do
anything naughty? Allow students to respond.
 TTW tell students that today we will be writing about something kind of silly and
naughty that Peanut the dog did (you can change this to be a silly story about your
own pet). Today you are going to help me write my silly story about Peanut the dog,
and then you will write your own story.

Teaching/ Learning Procedures:

1. Mini Lesson on Narrative Stories (Interactive Anchor Chart)
 TSW help the teacher set up the anchor chart paper for writing. Where does
the date go? TTW draw a line to leave a space at the top third of the page for
picture planning. What will we do in this space? What will we do in the
bottom space?
 TTW introduce the silly story about Peanut the dog stealing a donut.
 Are you ready to hear the super silly thing that Peanut did the other
day? When I woke up, I was hungry for breakfast and I decided that I
wanted to get a donut! But not just any donut. Do you know what kind
of donut I wanted? A chocolate one with lots of rainbow sprinkles! I
went and bought my chocolate sprinkled donut and took it home. I put
it on a plate but then I realized I forgot to get my drink. What do you
think I did? Did I leave the donut all by itself to get my drink? I did!
Was that a good idea? Nope! Guess what…Peanut loves donuts, too!
And she saw the donut all by itself. What did Peanut do? She stole my
donut!
 TTW explain and demonstrate picture planning.
 Now that we have our story, what do we need to do at the top of our
page?
 Only the most important parts of our story go here. Who can tell me
what I should draw to plan my writing? Have students give
suggestions and draw the pictures. Remind students that it does not
have to be perfect, just a quick sketch to get the ideas on paper.
 TTW lead the class in guided writing.
 TTW explain that so far, we have thought of a story to write about and
we have planned our ideas by drawing pictures. Now we need to write
about it!
 TTW ask the students, Who can give me a few words to describe my
story? Students may come up with descriptions such as “Peanut steals
my donut” or “Stealing a donut”.
 TTW remind the students to use their sound chart when writing.
 Now that we know we want to write “Peanut steals my donut”,
we are going to use our sound chart to help us. Remember to
say the word first and then the picture to see if the sounds
match. Go through each picture saying “Peanut, apple. Peanut,
ball. Peanut, cat. Peanut, dog…” until the students stop you
when the beginning sounds match on “Peanut, pie”.
 For kinesthetic learners, have students shake their heads
when the sounds do not match and nod their heads
when they do.
 Repeat this with “steals”, “my”, and “donut”.
 Remind students that it is okay if they can only get the first
letter of the word!
 TTW write the sentence in the writing section of the anchor chart.
 TTW read the sentence, pointing to each word. TSW repeat the
sentence.
 TSW be word detectives to find key words and sounds in the sentence.
  Who can find the word that starts like “pie”? Have the student come
up to the anchor chart and point to the letter on the sound card first.
Then, have them tell you which letter that is. Which word did we write
that starts with a P? Have the student circle the word with a different
colored marker. What is the word?
 Continue this with a different student for each word.
 TTW check the status of the students by asking, Who has an idea of what they
want to write about? Give them a few seconds to think and then ask for
volunteers to share.
 TTW go through the writing process with the volunteers’ ideas,
reminding them that it is okay if they can only get the first letter of the
words.
2. Independent Writing
 TSW set up their page in their writing journal to include the date and a line on
the top third of the page.
 TSW picture plan to get their ideas onto the paper.
 TSW write a phrase or sentence describing their story, using their sound card
to sound out the words.
 TTW walk around the room and do quick conferences with students about
their writing to offer guidance and encouragement.
 What did you draw?
 What are you writing about?
 Can you describe what happened?
 Can you explain your picture?
 Can you elaborate?
 What other way could you describe your story?
 Why do you think this was a good description of your story?
 What is the most important part of your story?
 What changes would you make to make your picture/description
better?

Formative Check (ongoing or specific):

 TTW walk around the room as students are working individually, looking at the
students’ work and providing feedback.
 TTW ask questions throughout the lesson to check the students’ understanding.
 TTW listen to students’ responses during discussions.

Reteach (alternative used as needed):

TTW explain that writers go through steps when they write a story. First, we think of an
idea. Prompt students if necessary by asking them about their family/friends/pets, about
vacations/trips/games/events, etc. Once they have an idea, explain that the second step of
writing is to plan. Remind them that we plan out our ideas so that we know what we are
going to write about and so that we remember all the important parts. Explain that we
will plan by drawing a picture of our ideas. Ask them what they might be able to draw.
Lastly, once we have an idea and a picture, we can write our story. Encourage them to
keep it short and simple and to use their sound card to help them write the words, even if
it is only a first letter.

Closure:
 When students are finished writing, ask volunteers to share with the class, describing
to the class what they wrote about and what they drew.
 TTW ask, Who can remind me what our writing steps were? Who can explain these
steps to me?

Assessment/Summative Evaluation:
TSW be formally tested at the end of the unit with a formal writing piece. A rubric will
be used to assess the students’ work based on their ability to think of an idea, plan their
story by drawing a picture, and writing their story.
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Modifications/Notes:

1. Gifted and Talented/Advanced Learner:

 Have the student explain the main idea or topic of their writing.
 Encourage students to write more complex sentences.
 Have students write multiple sentences about their picture if they have mastered
writing one sentence.

2. English Language Learner:

 Work with the student to create a word bank of words they may want to use in
their story. Display this word bank on the board for students to use or have the
students write them in their journals.
 Ask students open ended questions to help them express their ideas verbally
before trying to write them.
 Who is this story about? What happened? When did this happen? Where
does the story take place?
 Provide the student with a fill-in-the-blank sentence after they have generated
their idea to simplify the writing as to not overwhelm them.
 Encourage use of the sound card to help them write their sentence/description.
 Offer the alternative of only drawing and talking through their story to start out,
and then slowly build up to writing.

3. Special Education/Struggling Learner:

 Provide students with a grip if they have weaknesses in fine motor skills.
 Use the backward chaining strategy to assist in spelling. Give the spoken word
and then give a written copy of the word that the student can trace, slowly
removing letters until the student writes the whole word by themselves.
 Allow students to work with peers.
 Allow students to tell their story orally first to aid in generating ideas.
 Encourage use of the sound card to help them write their sentence/description.
 Give students a checklist with each part of the writing process so that they can
follow along.
 Have students keep a list of words that they use often when writing.