Lesson Plan: Literacy/Social Studies--Entertainment 1 (Wednesday, 3/9)

Understanding Goal:
Students will understand that animals are a source of entertainment--happiness, joy, laughter,
and amazement.
Performance Goal:
Students will complete a graphic organizer about the main idea and details of their assigned
article. Students will produce a short written response detailing their understanding of the effects
animals in entertainment have on people based on a personal experience.
Standards:
CC.1.5.3.A Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions on grade level topics and
texts, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly. CC.1.2.3.A Determine the main
idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea. CC.1.4.3.M
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events. CC.1.4.3.X Write routinely
over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames
(a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and
audiences.
Materials and Preparation:
Article and video for each jigsaw group:
Group 1: Circus
Jumbo the Elephant from Famous Animals by Susan Brocker
video of elephants performing in the circus (0:50 to 2:12):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRl-MLkXcTw
Group 2: Movies
Cass Becomes a Star by Graham Meadows
video of dog actor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoYNw3x_2Tw
Group 3: SeaWorld
Animal Behavior and Training, SeaWorld Teachers Guide
video of dolphins performing at SeaWorld (start at 2:30):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bk6VPWGi1o
Group 4: Zoos
Excerpt from Why Zoos Matter, St. Louis Zoo
Smithsonian National Zoo Panda Cam:
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/webcams/giant-panda.cfm?cam=panda03
Group 5: Internet
Excerpt from The 7-Figure Scowl: How Grumpy Cat is Building a Media Empire,
hollywoodreporter.com
video of Grumpy Cat (end at 1:36): https://gma.yahoo.com/video/gma-grumpycat-exclusive-interview-080000818.html
Graphic organizer: main idea and details
Animal journal
Classroom Arrangement and Management Issues:
1. Classroom arrangement Students will begin on the carpet for the brainstorming session.
Students will be dismissed to predetermined work locations to read their articles.
Students will come back to the carpet for presentations and to view the videos.

2. Distribution of materials Students will pick up their animal journal as they return from lunch and leave it on their desk.
Teachers will hand out articles and graphic organizers to groups as they are dismissed to their
work locations.
3. Management concerns Before beginning lesson, teachers will highlight key expectations for behavior (active listeners,
raising hands to share, etc.).
Teachers will monitor time and give students warnings for how much time they have left as they
work on their jigsaw article.
Plan:
1. Hook (5 minutes)
Define entertainment for the class--request student suggestions for entertainment and
refine their suggestions to produce a comprehensive definition.
Class brainstorm session on anything the students think of when they think about
animals in entertainment.
Create idea web on the SMART Board as the students mention ideas.
Explain that students will get to focus on a couple specific areas of animals in
entertainment.
2. Body (50 minutes)
Introduce the activity. Tell students they will be working in small groups to identify the
main idea and supporting details of their article. Each student will complete the graphic
organizer listing the main idea and three details. Then, the groups will present.
Assign groups and group location. Distribute articles. Dismiss students to their
designated work areas.
Students will work within their groups to read their article together, complete their
graphic organizer, and prepare their presentation for 20 minutes.
Each group will then present the main idea of their story - 2 minutes per group.
After each groups presentation, we will show a short (1-2 minutes) video about their
topic.
3. Closure (10 min)
Read response prompt aloud: List at least 5 different ways that animals provide
entertainment. Draw a picture to accompany the list.
Monitor students as they work; check in with those who need more support.
Assessment of goals/objectives:
To check for student understanding of animals varied roles as sources of entertainment, we will
consider the ideas that students brainstorm and read students written responses in their
journals. To demonstrate mastery of the objective, students should accurately identify at least
five ways animals provide entertainment.
To check for student understanding of main idea and details, we will listen to student
presentations and look over their graphic organizers. Students who demonstrate mastery of the
objective will identify the main idea of their article and note three key details with evidence from
the text.
Anticipating students responses and my possible responses:
If students raise points that we plan to cover later on in the unit, we will respond by validating

their point, but telling them that we will discuss that at a later date. For example, if students raise
points about the negative effects of using animals for entertainment purposes (i.e. poor
treatment of animals in circuses or small enclosures in zoos), we will validate their concerns and
let them know that we will be discussing these issues in the next lesson.
If students raise points about the negative effects on humans of using animals for
entertainment, such as animal attacks or animal escapes from zoos, we will acknowledge this to
the whole class and use it as an opportunity to briefly discuss that there are a few ways that
animals in entertainment can negatively affect humans.
Accommodations:
1. For students who seem to find the activities and discussions too challengingIf students struggle to identify the main ideas and details during the jigsaw reading, we will have
quick conferences with students who need the support. We will help students by asking
scaffolding questions (i.e. What did you read about? What did you think was the most important
part?) and helping students use text features as clues (i.e. using the title and headings to infer
main idea/details).
We will support students who struggle with the animal journal by having quick conferences with
them. We will also help them brainstorm ideas by asking scaffolding questions (i.e. Do you
remember what group A presented about? Can you think of a time when animals entertained
you?). Additionally, we built some catch up time into the following day, so that students who
need more time can finish up (students who are done can work on other assignments or read
independently during this time).
2. For students who finish early or need an additional challengeStudents who finish early will be encouraged to add more ideas to their list or more detail to
their drawings. After that, we will allow students to read independently or work on other
assignments (as is the classroom policy for students who finish early).
Technology:
The SMART Board will be used to create an idea web and show the videos.