Shelby Scheck

Lesson Plan
Title of Lesson:
Im a Hoop Dancer! Scholastic News Article
Grade Level/Subject
3rd grade Language Arts/Social Studies
Overview/Purpose
The purpose of this lesson is to learn about the history and traditions of
American Indians through a text.
Essential Questions
How does the authors culture influence his life?
Why is it important to the author to carry on a tradition that has been passed
down through generations of his family?
Time
~1 hour
Materials

Scholastic News copy for each student

Scholastic News online to project
Highlighters
Close reading questions worksheet

Content Objectives
1. SWBAT use close reading skills to read the article.
2. SWBAT understand the meaning of traditions.
Common Core/Language Objectives
1. SWBAT summarize the article to a peer in his or her own words.
Key Vocabulary

Tradition
Ceremonies
Culture
Generation

Regalia
Symbol

Lesson Sequence/Procedures
1. I will start by using and anticipatory set by asking the students if their
family has any traditions that they always follow. I will then follow that
up by leading the students into the article by telling them we are now
going to learn about one Native American boys tradition of hoop
dancing.
2. Before handing out the article, I will ask the students to think about
dancing, and what they think hoop dancing is about while I am passing
out papers.
3. I will then hand out the article and we will talk about the cover
4. They will talk at their tables about text features for 2 minutes, and
then I will write all of the text features they came up with (and if they
forgot any) on the board.
5. I will model finding one in the article, I will then guide them to find a
specific text feature, and then I will let them independently find the
rest on their own. I will give them 4 minutes to do this.
6. We will then come back together as a class and quickly go over the
text features. I will pull sticks for students to give one feature, and will
ask the other students to star it if they also had that one, and if they
didn't have it to circle it to add to their list
7. We will then start to read the article. I will model close reading of the
first paragraph. I will guide them through questioning through the
second paragraph and first close reading question. I will then let them
independently read the rest of the article and answer the rest of the
close reading questions.
8. After the students finished the article, I will ask them to talk to their
table groups for 2 minutes to summarize the article using their own
words.
9. We will then come together as a class and close the lesson by talking
about the authors tradition, and if our students traditions have been
passed down through generations like the authors were.
Review/Assessment
I will assess the students by asking questions, using thumbs up/thumbs
down, walking around and talking with small groups. I will also assess the
students understanding of the article by grading their close reading
questions worksheet.
Accommodations
Students who have gotten highlighter privileges taken away from them will
use their pencil to underline.