p.

Extended Lesson Planning Format for Teacher Education Candidates

Ithaca College School of Humanities and Sciences

Name Dana Amrami

Lesson Title or Topic Using Description in Writing
Grade Level 5
Course Name or Content Area ELA

Central Focus
Students will be able to use descriptive words in order to write a paragraph that vividly describes
a real or imagined event or experience.

Context
1. Because I am not in a classroom with ELL students and because I have not been able to
observe my students ELA lessons, I created this lesson based on a standard I found, rather than
based on a learning segment that my students had already been introduced to. However, this
lesson will support students writing, because they will be practicing how to include vivid details
in their writing. Details and descriptions are key in creating engaging writing, so this lesson is a
way for students to develop this skill.
2. This lesson does not build upon lessons before it because as mentioned above, I have not been
able to observe ELA lessons. However, this lesson could potentially be a part of a learning
segment about effective writing, with a learning goal involving writing a full narrative story.
3. This lesson has been developed for students in a neighborhood school, surrounded by a small
city and rural areas. The students are highly motivated and interested in engaging with subjects in
multiple ways. The classroom environment allows for lessons that not only include worksheets,
but also include opportunities for students to move around and engage with material through
online materials, video tutorials, and small group work and projects. The community values
learning experiences that do not exclusively rely on workbook activities, but rather allow for
students to have a variety of educational experiences.

Prior Knowledge
What knowledge, skills, and concepts must
students already know to be successful with
this lesson?
For this lesson, students must have an
understanding of imagery, as the lesson
focuses on creating descriptive writing.
Students must have had exposure to texts with
imagery in order to be successful with this
lesson.
How will you know if your students have prior
knowledge, etc.? How/when will you teach/re-
teach if necessary?
I will know that students have prior knowledge
based on their ideas for the definition of the
word description. If students thoughts do not
relate to the word, then I may need to introduce
more passages using imagery before beginning
the activities in the lesson.
 p. 2

State/National/Common Core Standards

SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations
with diverse partners, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly and
persuasively.
SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups
and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others
ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3.B
Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop
experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
Objectives and Assessments
Learning Objectives Formative Assessments Summative Assessments

Students will be able to use N/A N/A

descriptive words in order to
write a paragraph that vividly
describes a real or imagined
event or experience.
Language Objective- N/A N/A
Students will describe a
situation or event in a narrative
essay.
If, as a result of the assessments above, students have not met your learning objectives for
this lesson, what strategy/ies will you use to teach/re-teach?
Depending on what my students needs are, I may need to reteach to an individual or a group of
students. I will do a check-in using the thumbs-up, thumbs-down, thumbs to the side method in
order to see how students are feeling about the concept before they begin working on their
paragraphs. Students who feel unsure about the concept will meet with me at a table, and I will
work with them in order to clarify any misunderstandings. If after students hand in their
paragraphs I see that a group of students have not grasped the concept, I will work with them
during skills block in order to clarify the concept. If the majority of students do not grasp the
objective, I will reteach the lesson before beginning a new one.

Academic Language Demands

Language function Language Objective- Students will describe a situation or
event in a narrative essay.
Vocabulary Description
Imagery
Graphic organizer
Word bank
 p. 3

Discourse Discourse competence- students will have an opportunity to

discuss with a student the difference between a show
(descriptive) passage and a tell (not explaining specifically
how things happened) passage. Students will also have an
opportunity to create their own show and tell sentences.
They will then share their sentences with a peer. Students then
may volunteer to share their sentences with the class.
Language supports

Transitioning:
Word bank-specifically, a word bank with sentence starters that can be used to respond to other
students remarks during turn-and-talk and whole class discussion.
Word bank-specifically, a word bank with sentence starters for introducing a paragraph.
Graphic organizer-completed before beginning paragraph. Has descriptive categories such as
taste, smell, touch, etc.
Expanding:
Graphic organizer-completed before beginning paragraph. Has descriptive categories such as
taste, smell, touch, etc.
Commanding:
Based on the NLAP standard analyzed, commanding students are able to use their knowledge in
order to participate and complete work independently.

Although the word banks and graphic organizers have been designed with English Language
Learners in mind, these tools will be available for all students to use.

Advanced Preparation for the Lesson

1. What instructional resources/materials do you need to prepare in advance?
List here the resources you will use to engage your students and assess their learning in this
lesson.
Include handouts, slides, supplies, images, grouping plans, manipulatives, equipment, rubrics,
answer keys, or anything else that requires advance preparation. Written materials should be
attached to this plan.
2. What else do you need to do before the lesson starts in order to be ready?
List here reminders to yourself so that youre prepared when the students walk into the room.
1. PowerPoint with passages, graphic organizer, word bank-sentence starters for discussion,
word bank-sentence starters for student writing (paragraph)
2. Make sure to have enough copies of graphic organizer for all students

Lesson Procedures: Instructional Strategies/ Learning Tasks

Time Step-by-Step Procedures
Opening (Launch)
(8 minutes)
1. Begin the lesson by projecting on a PowerPoint a passage that simply tells the reader
 p. 4

what happened, and a passage that shows the reader what happened with specific
information. Read both passages out loud and ask students to take 1 minute to think
about which passage provides them with more information about what is happening,
and why. Ask the students what made the passages different from each other. Explain to
the students the distinction between the two. Explain that the first passage only tells the
reader the basic idea of what was happening, while the second piece engages the
audience with specific descriptive words that provide a better picture of what happened.
Ask students to find words or phrases in the passage that are descriptive, and underline
them. Then explain that the objective for the day is to understand the importance of
description in writing.
Procedures

2. Then, project on the PowerPoint a slide with definitions of description and how it is
accomplished in writing. Show another example of a text that tells the reader something
is happening and a text that shows the reader what is happening. Ask the students to turn
and talk to another student about which piece they think shows description, and about
how the mental images they were creating were different between the two texts. Remind
students that we have a word bank with sentence starters that can be used in discussion.
Once students have had 2 minutes to talk, they will rejoin the group and share their
ideas, if willing to share.
3. After this, ask students to take out their journals and write a sentence that tells an
audience what happened, and another sentence that specifically shows the audience
what happened in a specific situation. Mention that this can be related to an experience
the student has had in the past. Remind students that there is a word bank hanging up in
the classroom that has sentence starters for writing. Also, if appropriate for your
learners, provide a few examples of tell sentences that students can use if they are
struggling to create one. Allow for (3 minutes) for this activity.
4. After 3 minutes, have students read their sentences to each other in turn-and-talk.
During this time the teacher may walk around to hear the sentences students have
generated, in order to see if students understand the concept or if information must be
clarified. After 2 minutes of turn and talk, allow students to share their ideas with the
whole class.
5. After this activity, students will be introduced to the final activity. Explain to students
that they will be using descriptive words to create a paragraph that describe an event
that is real or imaginary. Explain that graphic organizers will be available for any
student who wants to organize descriptive words into specific categories (related to the
five senses). (20 minutes)
Closure

X. After 20 minutes, students will join the whole group to share some of the ideas that
they came up with. Students will identify each others descriptive words. (10 minutes)
 p. 5

Inclusiveness
Universal Design
Representation- This lesson is designed in a way for students to engage in multiple ways. The
lesson provides a text example from previous readings. Additionally, the lesson provides
opportunities for whole group and independent learning. There is opportunity to learn through
whole group discussion and turn-and-talk.
Action and Expression- Students are able to express their understandings by responding to other
students ideas and having discussions about texts. Also, students create a show and tell sentence,
and then create a paragraph. Students also show their understandings by comparing and
contrasting a show vs. a tell piece.
Engagement- Students engage with the lesson through discussion, independent writing, and peer
discussions. Students also have graphic organizers in order to help them engage with the activities
more effectively.
Students with Specific Learning Needs (to be completed below)
What are some of the specific learning needs possessed by students in your class, and what will
you do to intentionally support students learning specific to this lesson?
IEP/ 504 Plans Supports, Accommodations, Modifications,
Pertinent IEP Goals
IEP: Because students H and I need visual supports,
Student A: Cognitive delays-benefits from I will use a PowerPoint in order to project the
small group instruction, pre-teaching/re- two passages used for this activity. Because
teaching, having visual supports. Struggles they struggle with reading, I will read the
with reading. passages out loud. I cant say what I will do to
Student B: Needs support when solving word support students with AIS in reading, as I do not
problems. Benefits from small group learning, know exactly what they need since I am not
having visual supports. Struggles with reading. familiar with what supports they are specifically
being provided with in their classroom.

Specific Language Needs Supports, Accommodations, Modifications

1 Transitioning Student Transitioning:
3 Expanding Students Word bank-specifically, a word bank with
3 Commanding Students sentence starters that can be used to respond to
other students remarks during turn-and-talk
and whole class discussion.
Word bank-specifically, a word bank with
sentence starters for introducing a paragraph.
Graphic organizer-completed before beginning
paragraph. Has descriptive categories such as
taste, smell, touch, etc.
Expanding:
Graphic organizer-completed before beginning
paragraph. Has descriptive categories such as
 p. 6

taste, smell, touch, etc.

Commanding:
Based on the NLAP standard analyzed,
commanding students are able to use their
knowledge in order to participate and complete
work independently.

Other Learning Needs Supports, Accommodations, Modifications

Theoretical Principles/ Research-Based Practices

As Gibbons (2015) explains, it is important to make language related to specific subjects relatable
to students. Gibbons mentions that one way to do this is to Build talk on something children
have experienced (Gibbons, 2015, p. 25). In this lesson, students are asked to create sentences
and a paragraph based on either real or imagined experienced. So students have the option to
write about something they can relate to.
References
Gibbons, P. (2014). Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: Teaching English language
learners in the mainstream (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
This lesson was borrowed from betterlesson.com:
http://betterlesson.com/lesson/560422/please-show-me-don-t-tell-me-writing-descriptive-setting-
paragraphs

The following questions should be answered after you teach your lesson. Some instructors or
supervisors may ask you to submit these responses separately from your extended-format plan,
so please ask your instructor/supervisor for more detail about expectations for the completion
and submission of lesson reflections.

Lesson Reflection
After the lesson has been taught, write your reflection.

How effectively did I promote a positive learning environment? How do I know?

How well did I engage students in learning? How do I know?

How did I elicit and build on student responses to deepen their learning?

What changes would I make to my instruction to improve student learning? Why?

What did I learn about my students learning from my assessments? If I didnt learn what I hoped
 p. 7

to learn from the assessment(s) I used, how would I modify the assessment(s) for next time?

Rev. 06/13/16