Tuesday November 20, 2012

Grade 6 ELA

Lesson Plan
OUTCOMES FROM ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES

Grade/Subject: Grade 6 ELA Unit: Mystery Unit Lesson Duration: 8:30-9:30/ 60 min LEARNING OBJECTIVES ASSESSMENTS
(Observations, Key Questions, Written Assessments, Performance Assessments) Observations: - Walk around while students are working and reading. Are they focused and on task? Are they able to answer questions independently or do they rely on a partner? Are they inclusive? Key Questions: - What elements make up a mystery? - Who do you think the detective of the story is, based off the title? - What do you think it will be about? - Do you know who Babe Ruth is? - Which objects do we think will not play a part in this story? - How did Meg know which book to reach for? Where is the evidence in the text? - How did she know what rhyme to go to? How do we know? Where did you find the evidence in the text? Written Assessments: - The written assessment will be collected once they have completed their booklets. Which wont be this class. They will have in class time to work.

GLOs - Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to: I. 1. Explore thoughts, ideas, feelings and experiences. II. 2. Comprehend and respond personally and critically to oral, print and other media texts. III. 3. Manage ideas and information. SLOs: I. 1.1.2 Read, write, represent and talk to explore and explain connections between prior knowledge and new information in oral, print and other media texts. II. 1.2.1. Select from the ideas and observations of others to expand personal understanding. III. 2.2.8 Identify or infer reasons for a characters actions or feelings. IV. 3.1.3 Decide on and select the information needed to support a point of view.

Students will: I. Write their names in Morse code. II. Apply prior knowledge to make inferences about the text III. Make predictions based on clues given throughout the text IV. Demonstrate reading strategies in helping to answer questions and support ideas

LEARNING RESOURCES CONSULTED

Resource #1: The Case of the Missing Babe Ruth Baseball by Lucinda Landon Resource #2: Teaching Genre: Mysteries/ Scholastic Professional Books (Worksheets) Resource #3: Morse Code Picture http://www.arrl.org/youth-lounge

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

The Case of the Missing Babe Ruth Baseball stories and worksheets Smart-board and notebook document with Morse Code guide White board and dry erase markers

PROCEDURE
Introduction (5 min.) Hook/Attention Grabber: NAMES IN MORSE CODE Write my name in Morse code up on the board. Have an image of the code key uploaded on the Smart board. Tell that for todays opening activity we will be writing our names in Morse code. Explain how the code is like another cryptogram and how it was used in the past, in the war etc. Make it clear that they should not be using Morse code to drive their other teachers crazy (tapping etc.). While they are writing their names hand out The Case of the Missing Babe Ruth Baseball booklets. Assessment of Prior Knowledge: Do you know what Morse code is and how it was used? What do you know about mysteries? We just studied, The Case of the Missing Ring - what elements of a mystery did that piece of work have?

Tuesday November 20, 2012

Grade 6 ELA

Expectations for Learning and Behaviour: Students will participate in and contribute to class discussion. Students will be active listeners and try to figure out the mystery as we read through the story. Advance Organizer/Agenda: Smart board will be on with the notebook document of the Morse code guide loaded. My name in Morse code will already be written on the board. Transition to Body: As students are writing their names in Morse, hand out the worksheets and tell them we will be reading a new story today. Body (45 min.) Learning Activity #1: Introduction to Text After the kids all have their booklets, introduce them to the new story we will be reading Meg Mackintosh and The Case of the Missing Babe Ruth Ball. It is another mystery guide them through the first page Getting Ready to Read. Ask them based on the title of the story who they think the detective will be and why? How do we know what mystery she is going to solve? Do students know who Babe Ruth is and why a Babe Ruth baseball might be important? This will have them draw on existing knowledge and get them to make inferences based on the title and question what the text is about before we even read it.
Assessments/Differentiation: Will mostly be pre-assessing knowledge here. What do they know about Babe Ruth etc.? Will also be checking to see if they are able to make inferences based on the title of the story. They will share their answers aloud in class but also have a section where they write down their guesses, which can be checked later on.

Learning Activity #2: Volunteer/Popcorn Reading Students will have the choice to volunteer to read aloud or be chosen through popcorn reading. Students will be stopped periodically and be guided to pay attention to key elements in the text. This will help them make inferences on what will happen later in the text. The story is already laid out to have them stop at key parts but by guiding them through slowly they will be more successful in their deductions.
Assessments/Differentiation: Are students trying to read aloud? When they read and come up to difficult words do they try and read more quietly to skip over the word? Do they stumble over it and keep going or do they stop and ask what the word might mean? Are they active or passive readers and are those not reading at the moment being active listeners? Do they each attempt to read or give up?

Learning Activity #3: Discussion and Analysis of Text Stop students at key points in the text, and have them focus on details. This learning activity is embedded within the volunteer/ popcorn reading activity. Make sure they are viewing the photos and the reading the clues, this will help them deduce more easily. If there is vocabulary that they stumble through have them stop and try and figure out what it might mean. This can be done through context, looking it up, or using existing knowledge to reach a conclusion.
Assessments/Differentiation: Through class discussion and using guided questions I hope to determine whether or not students can make predictions in the text about what will happen next. Do they use their reading strategies and look back to support their predictions?

Closure (5 min.) Consolidation/Assessment of Learning: Feedback From Students: Ask students what they think about the text so far? How is it different from the other stuff we have been reading? Which do they like better? Transition To Next Lesson: Tell students not to lose their work packages and to hold onto them. They will be using them next class.

Things That Were Done Differently/ Notes One student mentioned that the children werent real detectives. It led to an unplanned discussion about different detectives we have in real life, and what makes someone a detective. We drew upon real life examples like Doctors, Scientists and Journalists. Each of these is a detective because they are trying to figure something out and find evidence to support their claims. Even by going through this text and analyzing it we become detectives. We inquire to learn this is what makes a detective, not a police badge. I found it to be a slow and arduous process. I didnt find the lesson as fun and as exciting as others did. I feel like there is a better way to go about teaching this material, but I havent figured it out yet. Some children were disappointed about the story thus far because they 2

Tuesday November 20, 2012

Grade 6 ELA

thought it would be more sports focused. Some found it boring and some were very intrigued. My TA informed me it would be in my best interest to find out why, specifically did the student find it boring? And to tell them to find a real sports mystery and share it with the class later. More instruction is needed. Students are always questioning what needs to be written down. For example, with the Morse code do they have to write down the whole code and do they need to know it? No, its just a fun activity.