Lesson Planning Template (Based on Wiggins & McTighe, Damian Cooper & MB Ed)

Grade/Course:

Grade 1/2: Language Arts

Unit:

Making Connections

Length of Lesson:

2-30 Minute Sessions

Stage 1 Desired Results

1. General and Specific Outcomes (Knowledge, Skills & Attitudes/Values):

G0 2- Comprehend and respond personally and critically to literary and media texts.
(2.1.1) Prior Knowledge: Make connections between texts, prior knowledge, and personal
experiences.

2. Essential Questions: The key questions we will answer are

- How do we use life experiences stored in our brain to connect to the world around us?
- Why does our brain make connections between books and our life experiences?

3. Students will know. . .

- Students will begin to understand the role our brains play in storing life experiences.

4. Students will be able to. . .

- Create a deeper understanding of how our brain responds to books by creating
"thoughts"=connections.
- Have the language we need to talk about connections.

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Stage 2 Assessment Evidence (Assessment AS/OF/FOR Learning)

Please indicate the purpose of your strategy by using Assessment Assessment Assessmen
For
Of
t As
a check mark under the appropriate category.
(Formative)
(Summative
)

Strategy (Performance Task, Observation Checklist, Interview,

etc.):

Performance Task: In order to assess the outcome,

the students will create an I make Connections
poster. This will include the brain hangout from
lesson one, and the links that they will create in
lesson two that represent the students feelings and
experiences that are connected to the text.
Observation Checklist: Observe the classroom. Are
the students making appropriate connections?

Criteria (Please list i.e. Rubric, Achievement Indicators from

Curriculum, Student or Teacher Generated):

- Are the students able to recall connections?

- Are the students making the making connections
poster as instructed?
- Are the students making connections between
personal experiences and the text?

Reflection Did these assessment strategies allow you to address the outcomes for
this lesson? Did the students learning meet your objectives?

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Stage 3 Learning Plan

1. Activating
Lesson One:
1. Brainstorm what we use our brains for.
2. Suggest the analogy of the brain being
like a closet, organizing and storing our life
experiences.
3. Brainstorm some of the things that I
might have stored in my brain.
Lesson Two:
9. Ask students what they remember about
what our brains do.
10. Refocus their thinking on the idea that
we have lots of thoughts and memories
stored in our brains.

3. Applying
7. Show the paper of the empty brain and
invite the students to fill their brain with
some of the experiences, learning and
feelings they have stored in their brains.
(Remind them that they can use quick
sketches as a way to record their ideas.)
8. Color and cut out the brains. (End of
Lesson one.)
Lesson Two:
14. Have students record the thoughts they
have about the book on strips of paper that
they make into a chain. They can use quick
sketches and words to represent these
connections.
15. Students can make a book cover to
represent the book they are reading.

2. Acquiring
4. Tell students that I am going to say a
word, and when I say a word, they must
close their eyes.
5. Tell them to picture the word that Im
going to say...ask them to hold it in their
brain. Say cat.
6. Ask students to tell their partner what
their cat looked like. Highlight for students
that everyones cat is different because we
each have difference experiences and
feelings about cats stored in our brain.
Lesson Two:
11. Show students the cover of Alexander
and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very
Bad Day. Talk about how when we read
and look at books, thoughts pop into our
heads from all the stuff we have stored in
there. This is called a text-to-text
connection. It makes us think of things that
have happened to us. It makes us wonder
and have other feelings.
12. Read the book.
13. Brainstorm the thoughts that the
students have about the book and what
experiences they have that connect to the
book.
4. What about students who require
adaptation to the lesson?
- Give more attention to detail on the
expressions and feelings throughout the
book.
- Help the students make connections by
asking them to recall the book and
discussing ways that it relates to my
experiences.
- I could then ask them their favorite
hobbies, and find a simple connection,
prompting them to pull out more
information for memories from their brain
to connect to the text.

Resources/Technology:
- Kindergarten to Grade 4 Manitoba Education English Language Arts Curriculum Document

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2013
- Book: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. By Judith Viorst

Sources:
Making Connections: Lake Shore Documents

Learning Materials Required:

- Book: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. By Judith Viorst
- Whiteboard to create brainstorm.
- Large construction paper
- Brain handout
- Book cover handout
- Paper to make chain
- Glue
- Writing and coloring utensils

Stage 4 - Reflection
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