Lesson Planning Template

Lesson Title: Journey Across the Learning Sea

Grade: 4

Rationale: The rationale of this lesson plan consists of providing students with an optimal and engaging
learning experience in regards to Grandfathers Journey. This lesson plan is built to develop a students
sense of comprehension, interest, and learning skills. The Journey Across the Learning Sea lesson
plan is intended to foster high quality student participation. Specifically, objectives aim to enrich
vocabulary and thinking skills for the fourth grade student in the areas of comprehension, participation,
and engagement. Materials for this lesson plan incorporate both traditional/modern methods to
academically engage a variety of learners and meet diverse student needs. Tangible flashcards provide
hands on learners with an opportunity to manipulate vocabulary terms according to their needs while
also considering whole class instruction. Utilizing technology through online resources like Quizlet
provides visual students with a more optimal, appealing, and enhanced learning environment conducive
to their particular needs. The Journey Across the Learning Sea learning activity plan is designed to
target unknown vocabulary terms from Grandfathers Journey in order to build background knowledge
and help students connect learned information in future activities and situations. In regards to assessing
students during this lesson plan, an informal assessment provides students with an opportunity to display
understanding under stress-free circumstances. Teacher observation fosters teacher-efficacy, providing
teachers with a period of reflection in which educators evaluate their own progress during the teaching
process.
Goals or Objectives: Students will follow activity instructions in order to achieve a maximum learning
experience. The students will work to understand achievement goals in order to meet teacher objectives
and expectations. After completing the Journey Across the Sea lesson plan, students will be able to
display comprehension through applying vocabulary terms in both conversational language and through
formal assessments/testing situations. Students will also be able to define teacher-selected vocabulary
terms in both formal and informal assessments.
Grade Level Guide: Content Standards
Content Curriculum Focal Points Common Core State
(ie: NCTM, IRA,)
Standards
INTERNATIONAL LITERACY ASSOCIATION

1.

Students read a wide

range of print and non-print
texts to build an
understanding of texts, of
themselves, and of the
cultures of the United States
and the world; to acquire new
information; to respond to the
needs and demands of society
and the workplace; and for
personal fulfillment. Among
these texts are fiction and
nonfiction, classic and
contemporary works.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.4

Determine or clarify the

meaning of unknown and
multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grade 4
reading and content,
choosing flexibly from a
range of strategies.

Interdisciplinary Connections
(other content areas covered)
-Geography
-History
-Science

Academic Language:
The academic language for this lesson plan includes:
-Journey
-Japan
-Europe
-Pacific Ocean
-Astonished
-New World
-North America
-Riverboat
-Deserts
-Farm fields
-Factories
-Travel
-Sierra Mountains
-Village
-San Francisco Bay
-Songbirds
-Homeland
-Warblers
-Silvereyes
-War
-Bombs
-Homesick
Students Needs: What experiences, prior knowledge and/or knowledge gaps do students have that
relate to the lesson goals?
English Language Learners

Special Needs such as:

struggling readers

Experiences/prior knowledge:
-Immigration
-Homesickness
-Cultural differences
-Geographic differences
Knowledge Gaps:
-Vocabulary terms
-Sentence structure
- Conversational language

Experiences/prior knowledge:
-Family ancestry
-Conversational language
-Travel within US
Knowledge Gaps:
-Vocabulary terms
-Sentence structure
-Cultural differences

Materials: List materials for both Student Needs and Teacher Needs
Student Needs:
-Vocabulary cards
-Desks
-Computer
-Quizlet
Teacher Needs:

-Blank index cards

-Pen
-Desks
-Computer
-Smartboard
-Quizlet
-Microsoft Word
-Google docs
-Audio recorder
Language Function:
In order to foster higher-level thinking skills, students will correctly describe vocabulary terms and
identify the proper situations in which to use these terms. During this activity, students will develop
high-level thinking skills in the content area of language arts instruction. Students will use
metacognitive practices to think like an orator. When interpreting terms, students will incorporate
language function through answering questions that develop metacognitive practices. To appropriately
provide evidence of these learning objectives, students will describe how to interpret the appropriate use
of vocabulary terms. Students will meet in small group settings to foster discussion. They might be
asked to respond to discussion points/questions like: explain the proper environment to use the following
terms, describe how some terms might be interpreted differently based on a persons perspective, or
even, justify one reason that learning these vocabulary terms is essential for high-level thinking.
Lesson Plan
Before:
To introduce this activity, students will gather around the classroom reading corner for a teacher read
aloud. Students will listen as the teacher reads aloud from Grandfathers Journey. Before reading
however, the teacher will engage and encourage student interest by asking questions about the books
title and front cover. The teacher might ask his or her students: What is a journey? What can you
observe about this man? Where does he seem to be? Where do you think he is going? Have you ever
heard about the New World? Where do you think it is? On their own, students will make informal
predictions based off of their initial exposure to Grandfathers Journey. By connecting prior knowledge
to the illustrations, students will engage with the text. After students answer and make predictions based
off of teacher-initiated questions, the teacher will then ask the students to make an initial connection to
the text by asking them about their own family history. The teacher will ask the students to share their
familys background with their reading buddy, answering questions like: Where does your family come
from? Does anybody in your family speak another language? After fostering this brief discussion, the
teacher will re-direct student attention by explaining where his or her family comes from. The teacher
will explain that Americans come from many different countriesjust like Grandfather. He or she will
then begin reading Grandfathers Journey to students, modeling good reading skills through fluency,
expression, and by making eye contact.
During:
After reading, the teacher will explain the next task, which relates reading Grandfathers Journey to
vocabulary instruction. Students will play a vocabulary version of Around the World, called Journey
Across the Learning Sea. Students will play Journey Across the Learning Sea with their small
groups, arranged according to classroom seating charts. Each group will consist of approximately 5
students. To play, students will view/hear vocabulary definitions from Quizlet, displayed on a computer
screen and must correctly identify each vocabulary term before their opponent. Computers will be

placed at the head of each groups table. Students will compete with one another to move on their
Journey Across the Learning Sea. Their goal is to travel from Japan all the way to the New World.
Students are expected to display exemplary behavior during this activity that consists of following
directions, displaying good sportsmanship, and fostering independence by keeping their own scores. To
make sure that each child is accountable, the teacher and teachers aide will make observations by travel
hopping to each group throughout the activity. As the teacher observes students, he or she might ask:
How could you incorporate this term in a conversational setting? Describe how this particular term
could be misinterpreted if used differently. As students progress in this game, they will participate in
another round that includes winners from each table. Students will continue with their Journey Across
the Learning Sea until one student remains.
As one possible extension for this activity, students will re-visit vocabulary terms by creating their own
physical vocabulary flashcards for manipulation. Students will receive blank index cards and pencils.
They will work together in pairs to create their own flashcard dictionary of Grandfathers Journey.
Students will have the option of creating a physical dictionary or e-dictionary using an online resource
like Microsoft Word/Google docs. For students that lack understanding, they might work with the
teacher or teachers aide to create an audio-dictionary to provide another individualized facet of
learning. Students will work to utilize vocabulary terms in conversational language to help solidify
learned content and connect terms with their own experiences.
After:
To further develop student comprehension and understanding, it is essential to provide an expansion
activity for assessment. To foster an opportunity for student discussion and informal assessment, the
teacher will provide his or her students will a selection of questions for students to answer in regards to
vocabulary terms from Grandfathers Journey. Questions might include: explain the proper
environment to use the following terms, describe how some terms might be interpreted differently based
on a persons perspective, justify one reason that learning these vocabulary terms is essential for highlevel thinking, and analyze how vocabulary terms from Grandfathers Journey relate to a variety of
subject areas like history, geography, and science. These questions will help students more fully
understand the content through developing oral language skills and metacognition.
One other extension activity that incorporates the use of technology includes creating a personalized edictionary through Storybird. Students will match each term with an appropriate illustration and
definition. Students will display their understanding through this connection. The purpose of this
activity is to assess student understanding and gauge student progress throughout their Journey Across
the Learning Sea. Providing this particular extension, works to reach a wide variety of learners and to
solidify learned knowledge.
These questions will be structured in think-pair-share environments so that each student has an
opportunity to participate and share their own perspective. After working in pairs, the students will
expand their discussion points in small group environments, where they will use vocabulary terms from
Grandfathers Journey in conversational settings. Students will present their findings with one another
through student-to-student led discussions.
Assessment: How will you determine who knows which objectives? Describe the tools and techniques
you will use.
Type of

Description of assessment

Modifications to

Evaluation Criteria- What

assessment
(formal or
informal)
-Informal teacher
observation
assessment

-Teachers/teacher aides
will observe students as
they foster discussion,
taking note of which
students actively
participate
-Educators will utilize
notebook paper to keep
written records of student
understanding/participatio
n
-Data will be collected
into student
portfolios/folders for
review

-Formal
assessment
-Classroom educators will
measure student
learning/comprehension
through observing student
work in a formal setting
-Teachers/teacher aides
will grade and collect
student vocabulary tests to
keep written records of
student
understanding/participatio
n
-Data will be collected
into student
portfolios/folders for
review

the assessment so
that all students
could demonstrate
learning
-Student-to-student
discussions
-Paired discussions
-Small group
discussions
-Teacher fostered
discussions
-Student led
discussions
-Student-to-teacher
correspondence for
further instruction

-Opportunities for
written based
testing
-Opportunities for
oral based testing
-Opportunities for
individual based
testing
-Opportunities for
paired based
testing

evidence of student learning

(related to the learning
objectives and central focus)
does the assessment provide?
Goal: After completing the
Journey Across the Learning
Sea lesson plan, students will
be able to display
comprehension through
including vocabulary terms in
conversational language and
through formal
assessments/testing situations.
This assessment provides
teachers with an opportunity to
understand student learning in
regards to student
comprehension, participation,
and engagement. The
assessment allows teachers to
practice teacher-efficacy in
order to re-visit material as
needed.
-Goal: Upon completing the
Learning Across the
Learning Sea lesson plan,
students will be able to display
comprehension through
including vocabulary terms in
conversational language and
through formal
assessments/testing situations.
This assessment provides
teachers with an opportunity to
understand student learning in
regards to student
comprehension, participation,
and engagement. The
assessment allows teachers to
practice teacher-efficacy in
order to re-visit material as
needed.

Resources: Include all assessments, rubrics, and online resource links incorporated into the lesson, if
applicable.
-https://quizlet.com/85409665/flashcards

-www.dictionary.com
-www.bookemon.com
-Microsoft Office Word
-Google docs
Read Aloud
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QuemXKuEI8
Technology Project
-http://storybird.com/chapters/a-journey-across-the-learning-sea/?token=8jphzpr42b