Core Decisions of Lesson Design

What The content of this lesson covers the various features of a nonfiction text. It allows the students to look at nonfiction books that they often read in class, at the library, or at home with a different lens by examining how they are written. The lesson primarily focuses on the many features that distinguish a nonfiction books from fictional ones by drawing the students attention to their title, table of contents, glossary, index, headings, subheadings, bold words, labels, captions, and maps. One of the goals for this lesson is to help students identify these features by looking through a book without having to actually read it. There have been many times when students have asked the question Is this book fiction or nonfiction? when instructed to pick nonfiction books at the school library. This lesson will provide them with some of the criteria to consider when selecting nonfiction books for themselves. The topic chosen for this lesson is chosen with the overarching question in mind which mainly relates to assessment and how to best use assessment tools especially formative to measure student learning. The way of assessing student understanding of the many features of nonfiction texts will be through questioning and filling out a worksheet. How The lesson will be taught to a small group of six second grade students who will be carefully chosen with the help of the classroom teacher. The students will first be presented with a five minute video of Annie and Moby, two animated characters (a girl and a robot) who give a brief introduction about reading nonfiction books. They distinguish fiction books from nonfiction ones and talk about the different parts of a nonfiction book and how they are important. The students will already be familiar with the video characters because they have watched similar videos in other subject areas such as math and social studies; thus the video will engage them and serve as a great hook for the lesson. The teacher will then provide a small instructional period where she will reinforce and further elaborate what was discussed in the movie and gauge student understanding to see how much of the content they have grasped through the video. For guided practice, she will model identifying some of the features of her favorite nonfiction book and write them on the board. Students will be allowed to participate and follow along by recording the answers on their graphic organizer. The teacher will then pair up the students and give each pair a nonfiction book and two worksheets. Each group will work on identifying the features of the book they were assigned and recording them on their worksheet. Each group will then share one feature from their book and why they think it is important. Why My current beliefs about teaching literacy mainly stem from the idea that students must have a basic foundational knowledge and given enough guidance and structure to help support their learning throughout a given lesson. These beliefs are well reflected in the lesson design discussed in the above section, and they provide the underlying framework for how the lesson is structured. This lesson provides students with a visual enhancement and a support system through discussion with peers and the teacher that can cultivate their learning. Nonfiction reading allows children to have access to various literacy experiences such as inquiry-based learning. Therefore, it is critical for students at the early grades of elementary school to start experiencing nonfiction and learn about how they differ from the more prominent fiction books that they are most often introduced to even before they start school. Being able to interpret nonfiction texts accurately will allow students to understand more complex concepts, analyze data, and think critically. It is important for students to acquire these skills from an early age because they will need them in the real world and as they progress through elementary, middle, high school, and college. Penn Alexander

Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman

Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman

Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman

Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman

Expected Date of LessonTeaching: 12/4/12 - 12/5 Second Grade (6 Students)

Formatted Formatted Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted

... ...

30-40 minutes Goals/Objectives: 1. Identify and describe the characteristics of a nonfiction book. 2. Describe information that are made accessible through the features of the nonfiction text Common Core Standards: CCSA.ELA Literacy RI.2 Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted

Formatted Formatted

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Materials: 1. Pportable white board (1) 2. Annie and Moby clip (brainpopjr.com) 3. Laptop 4. Nonfiction books (4): One for the teacher to be used during guided practice and three for independent practice (Note: Each pair will of students will receive a different nonfiction book).
4. Example Chart for Direct Teaching and Guided Practice

Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted

5. Example Direct Teaching and Guided Practice Graphic Organizer5. Graphic Organizer (6) 66. Independent Practice Worksheet (6) Classroom Management and Arrangement: 1. Students will be brought out to the 2nd grade pod. Prior to leaving the classroom, students will be asked to bring a pencil with them. 2. Students will be reminded that while in the pod, they are expected to be on their best behaviors. I expect you all to practice being good listeners during the lesson, raise your hand if you have a question or comment, and act respectful to one another. 3. They will be asked to sit at two tables that face the whiteboard which will have the lessons title, objectives , and agenda displayed. This setup will be prepared beforehand. Instruction and Activities: 1. The instructor will assess students prior knowledge about nonfiction text features by asking what they recall about nonfiction text features.

Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Font color: Black Comment [TB1]: You may want to chart what students already know about nonfiction text features. Something I do as a classroom teacher is to write the students names in parentheses next to their contributions to demonstrate that I am validating their responses without making value judgments on the strength of their contributions. Comment [K2]: I like this because it gives them the sense that they are all contributing to the lesson, and they also like seeing their name written on the board which can further engage them in the lesson. See change made in #1. Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted ...

The teacher will start lesson by asking students what they recall about nonfiction text features. The students will be given a few minutes to use their prior knowledge to answer the question. The answers will be posted on the board with their name next their contributions. 2. After assessing the students background knowledge, the instructor will play a short clip of Annie and Moby. The clip was selected specifically because of its discussion about nonfiction text. The instructor will explain that after the clip, we will come back together to discuss what we saw in the video. Students will be asked to pay attention to the parts of a nonfiction book that Annie talks about in the video and the type of information that those parts give Annie. This will be written on the board for students to see as they watch the video. Guided Practice 3. After the clip, the instructor will teach a mini lesson about nonfiction text features using a nonfiction text selected prior to the lesson. 4. The instructor will review the Venn diagram from Lesson 1 comparing fiction and nonfiction books. 5. How did you identify typical characteristics of a nonfiction book? Students should respond that you looked at different parts of the book in the beginning, middle, and end and thought about how those parts of the book help the reader. 6. The teacher will explain how graphic organizers help readers organize their thoughts and introduce a nonfiction text called Skeleton. Throughout the guided practice portion of the lesson, she will model using the graphic organizer on the board as students fill out their own. Features such as title page, table of contents, bold words, headings, captions, pictures, labels, maps, glossary, and index will be identified. Examples of questions that draw attention to these features are: What do you think this book is about? What does this page tell us? What kind of information does it give us? How can we know what this page is about without reading? What about the pictures? How can we know what is in the picture without reading? If I were on a page and I didnt know what a certain word meant (she will use the word carnivore from the book), where would I go to find the definition of that word? What if I wanted to know if that word comes up in other parts of the book? Where would I look? What information will that page give me? Independent Practice
67. Afterwards, the students will be instructed to partner with the person sitting next to them. Each pair will be given a nonfiction text to look through. They will be asked to identify the text features they find on each page. They will predict what information they will discover prior to reading the text on the page. After they read, they will determine what information was given on the page. They will work in pairs to identify the different features of the book and determine what type of information they provide. The

Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Font color: Purple Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 12 pt, Font color: Purple Formatted ... Comment [TB3]: Be more specific in the ... Comment [K4]: It would be nice to write ... Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Comment [TB5]: Flesh this out more. Comment [K6]: This section was Formatted Formatted Formatted Comment [TB7]: Not sure what Venn ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Comment [K8]: This section was entirely ... Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted ... ... ... ... ...

Comment [TB9]: I am wondering if there ... Comment [K10]: Teacher will start with ... Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Comment [K12]: Each pair will have a Formatted Formatted Formatted: Font color: Auto ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Comment [TB11]: Will they all have the ... ... ... ...

teacher will pair students based on how fast they work and their ability to work independently (see accommodations section). After they look through the book, they will be asked to identify

three features from the text. They will record those features on a worksheet prepared by the teacher and describe the type of information that each feature gives them. 7. They will be asked to explain how each characteristic helps us as readers. For example, an exemplary student response may be the Table of Contents helps us find the page numbers. where to look in the text for specific information. Closing 78. The instructor will then ask students to put their pencils down and explain that if they did not finish their work, they will be able to at a later time. She will ask each pair to share one feature they identified from their text and the kind of information it conveyed. Then tThe instructor will ask students to share one thing that they learned throughout the lessonexplain what the lesson was about: nonfiction text features. This will be a great form of assessment to see what the students have taken away from the lesson. She will then restate the objectives and what was done during the lesson. The teacherinstructor will then explain that as sSecond gGraders, they will continue to develop their reading and writing skills everyday. The instructor will ask that as they go on throughout the day and in the following weeks, they must pay special attention to features of nonfiction text as they work on their nonfiction reports in the upcoming weeks . Anticipated Student Responses: 1. During the hook of the lesson, some students may say they that they already know about nonfiction features and that they have talked about it already in class. The instructor will respond that although we have seen features of nonfiction text before, it is important to practice thinking critically about the information we gain from these features. Some students may write label shows what is in the picture. The teacher should further probe to help them identify what is in the picture. For example, she might ask What do you see in the picture? How does the label help you name the picture? What is that called? The teacher will have revised each text to make note of the features she wants students to focus on (the ones discussed in guided practice). If students have a hard time identifying the features, the teacher will ask them to turn to their graphic organizers for help (this will be a great way to review the purpose of graphic organizers discussed earlier during the mini lesson). She should also ask them to remember how Annie identified the different features and how she used them in the video. Accommodations: 1Accommodations for students who may find the work challenging can be considered by making sure they are grouped with students who can help/guide them through the independent practice portion of the lessontask. Informal and Formal Assessments:

Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Font color: Purple Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted: Font: Font color: Purple Formatted Formatted Formatted: Font: Font color: Purple Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Comment [TB13]: I am not sure what Comment [K14]: These changes were Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Comment [TB15]: At the close of the ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Comment [K16]: Students will be asked to ... Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted Comment [TB17]: Be explicit. What Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted: Font: Font color: Purple Formatted: Font: Font color: Purple Formatted Formatted Formatted Formatted: No bullets or numbering Formatted: Bullets and Numbering Formatted ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

At the end of this lesson, it is important to know whether students understand nonfiction features of text. The instructor will listen to whether students are correct when they identify text features and explain what information they learn from those featurese text. The instructor will informally assess any studentsstudents any prior understanding duringin the hook of the lesson. Other informal assessments include: class discussion, participating and contributing to the class Venn Diagram, working with partners, and explaining to the class in the final class discussion. Additionally, teachers observations during the lesson will all serve as evidence to assess students understanding. TheirWe will use their and written responses will be used as a formal assessment. These different forms of evidence will be gathered primarily through active listening and making observations. For example, if students identify the table of contents as a feature, an exemplary response to the type of information it provides would be to explain that it tells the reader the page numbers of all the sections of the book. Their responses will give the teacher a good idea about the effectiveness of the video clip, guided practice and worksheet.

Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Comment [TB18]: Again, Im not sure where this fits into your lesson. Comment [K19]: The Venn diagram was entirely removed from this lesson. Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Comment [TB20]: There is no mention in your lesson of a written response. Where does this fit in? What does it look like? What exemplar responses have you already anticipated students writing on this written response to determine effectiveness of your lesson? Comment [K21]: The worksheet that they work on in pairs will serve as a written form of assessment that the teacher will gather from students at the end of the lesson. Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Font color: Purple