Lesson Title: “​An A From Miss Keller” (part 2) 

Grade Level: ​4th 

Approximate length of time:​ ~40 min. 
Curriculum area:​ Literacy  
Objectives: 
● Reading: Literature Standard 1: ​Refer to details and examples in a text when 
explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. 
● Reading: Literature Standard 6: ​Compare and contrast the point of view from 
which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and 
third-person narrations​. 
● Writing Standard 3:​ Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or 
events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. 
Goals: 
● Inferring; students will infer how characters are feeling and what they may be 
thinking in the story “An A from Miss Keller” 
Essential Question/s: 
● How does inferring help us understand a story? 
● Why is inferring important? 
Materials: 
● The book​ “​An A From Miss Keller” by Patricia Polacco, ​PowerPoint 
Accommodations/Adaptations: 
● Writing vocab on the board so students can see the words written 
DAP: 
● Book:​ “An A From Miss Keller” by Patricia Polacco 
○ Gives opportunities for students to infer 
○ Gives opportunities for students to connect with the character and her 
struggles 
○ It demonstrates the influence and power a teacher can have on their 
students 
○ It demonstrates that sometimes first impressions can be wrong 
Vocab words: 
● Infer 
● High expectations 
● Thesaurus 
Stop and Thinks: 
● Why do you think Miss Keller helped Pop’s son? 
● How do you think Miss Keller feels? 
● Why do you think Patricia is crying? 
● How do you think Patricia feels about Miss Keller? 
 ● Why do you think Miss Keller was hard on the students? 
 
Implementation of Plan for Read Aloud: 
Phase I: Exploration and Explanation/Concept Development (15-25 min) 
1. Ask students if they remember what “inferring” is 
2. Think-Pair-Share 
3. Possible answers: 
a. When you infer, you are interpreting something about the book that the 
author doesn’t tell you. 
b. Interpreting something about the book that the author doesn’t tell you. 
c. Making assumptions about the book using clues from the text. 
4. Go through examples of inferring using text ​and​ pictures. 
5. Ask students if they remember the story we read last class 
6. Ask students to recall what happened so far in the story 
7. Ask students why inferring is important 
8. Think-Pair-Share 
9. Possible answers: 
a. If you don’t infer, you miss out on some of the author’s critical points. 
b. If we could only understand a story based on what the author tells us 
explicitly, and we don't bring any of our own ideas to the text, think how 
much we would miss! 
10. Finish reading “An A From Miss Keller” by Patricia Polacco 
11. While reading, continue to do “stop and thinks” and have students infer things 
about the story 
12. After reading, ask students if Patricia’s perspective on Miss Keller has changed 
(and if it has, how?) 
13. Have discussion about the book 
14. Ask questions like: 
a. “What do you infer is the reason Patricia’s perspective about Miss Keller 
changed?” 
b. “What do you infer is the reason Miss Keller was hard on Patricia?” 
15. Tell students they will be writing another letter to Miss Keller from Patricia’s 
perspective 
16. Ask students how their letters might be different from the first one 
 
Phase II: Guided Practice (10-15 min) 
1. Have students write another letter to Miss Keller from Patricia 
2. Success criteria: 
a. Letter must be at least one paragraph. 
 b. Students must demonstrate how Patricia’s perspective has changed. 
3. Ask students what Patricia might write in this letter to Miss Keller 
4. Write on board some examples 
5. Give students 10 minutes to write their letters 
6. Walk around the room and scaffold as needed  
7. Plan for early finishers: work on Phase III 
8. Bring students back together and have them share what they wrote and why they 
wrote it 
 
Phase III: Independent Work/Assessment (Homework) 
1. Have students write a reply from Miss Keller to Patricia 
2. Success criteria: 
a. Letter must be at least one paragraph 
b. Students show a shift in Miss Keller’s attitude towards Patricia