Name: Taylor Fitzgerald

Lesson Date:
CT Signature: ________________________

Writing Mini Lesson with Mentor Text Assignment

PART ONE: THE LESSON PLAN

A. TITLE OF LESSON: Making Predictions with William and the Missing Masterpiece

B. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING

2.7 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fictional texts.
a) Make and confirm predictions.

C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

UNDERSTAND - Students will understand that questioning and making predictions is a

part of becoming an experienced reader and writer.

KNOW – Students will know how to make a prediction throughout the story by listening
and looking at the context clues that are given.

DO – Students will make predictions throughout the story and towards the end of the
story in order to predict who stole the masterpiece. Students will expand into what they
believe will happen and who the thief of the “missing masterpiece” is.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING
Students will be assessed throughout this activity by their participation during the reading of
William and the Missing Masterpiece, as well as, in their writings of what they believe happened
to the “missing masterpiece”.

PART TWO: LESSON PLAN PROCEDURE

A. CONTEXT OF LESSON
When talking to my CT about lessons that would be good for her 2nd grade classroom, I
mentioned the book William and the Missing Masterpiece by Helen Hancocks. I described the
book and explained that it would be a good choice for promoting the topic of making predictions.
According to my CT, students have worked with making predictions earlier in the year, but is
curious to know if they remember what predictions are since it was taught in the very beginning
of the year.

B. MATERIALS NEEDED
 William and the Missing Masterpiece by: Helen Hancocks
 Journal Paper

C. PROCEDURE

CONNECT
Before

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 Students learn why today’s instruction is important to them as writers and how the
lesson relates to their prior work (if applicable). The teaching point is stated.
We will first discuss what a prediction is and why predictions are so important for
reading and comprehension. This will begin an open discussion with the class about
predictions and then we will begin reading William and the Missing Masterpiece.

TEACH
The teacher shows the students how writers accomplish the teaching point in the
mentor text
While reading William and the Missing Masterpiece, students will be looking for
context clues about what they think will happen next in the story. I will model what
making predictions might look like as a reader. I will also pause briefly during the
story to ask students for some predictions on what they think might happen.

During ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT

After we teach something, students are given a chance to practice what has just
been taught with new writing or revising a prior piece. (May assess during this
time)
Before we find out who the thieves of the “missing masterpiece” are, I will ask
students to write out a prediction of who they think stole the masterpiece and why.
Once everyone has finished writing out their prediction, we will share some
predictions with the class and then resume the story to find out who stole the
“missing masterpiece”.
LINK
The teacher reiterates what has just been taught and gives students an opportunity
to share (May assess during this time)
After finishing the story, we will then discuss if the predictions that were made
After
represented the end of the story. We will then talk about how great readers have to
make predictions all the time about what might happen next in a story. Making
predictions is an engaging way to keep readers interested in the story and using
context clues to help guide predictions.

D. DIFFERENTIATION

For the students who finish their writing early, I will prompt them to elaborate on their writing
and say how they would handle the situation if they were there with William. Students can come
up with questions to ask if they were the ones investigating the “missing masterpiece”.

E. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO
ABOUT IT?
Since I am not their full-time teacher, students might not see me as being someone that they have
to listen to. Before the lesson, I will state all of my expectations, as well as, set up a clear call
and response for students in order to gain their attention. Students could also get carried away
with the lesson and shout out their thoughts before anyone else has time to think and make
predictions on what is going to happen next in the story. If students start getting carried away, I
will use the call and response to get their attention back on to the story.

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 Reflection

1. How did your actual teaching of the lesson differ from your plans? Describe the
changes and explain why you made them.

My actual teaching did differ a bit from the lesson plan because of student behavior. On the
day that I did this lesson, students were talking out of turn, arguing with one another, and being
disruptive. It was definitely not a great day for my Practicum class. However, I just had to keep
going forward and try to keep their attention as best as I could. I felt like I could have gone
deeper into the topic of making predictions, however because of student behavior, I felt like we
weren’t going anywhere with the lesson after I had read the book. Even while reading the book, I
wanted to model making predictions more, but every time that I paused to reflect on the book,
students would start getting out of hand and arguing with each other. Overall, I think that the
students learned about predictions, but it definitely was not the smoothest lesson that I have
taught.

2. Describe at least one way you could incorporate developmentally appropriate

practice in a better or more thorough way if you were to teach this lesson again.

If I was to teach this lesson again, I would pause more throughout the book to model how
making predictions could happen all throughout the story. I wish that I had asked the students to
make predictions in two other places in the story, because I think that it would have really
modeled how as readers we are constantly asking questions. After the lesson was over, I asked,
“Are predictions just made at the end of the story?” The students were able to answer that
predictions are made throughout, but I really think that this lesson would have been more
developmentally appropriate if I had asked them to make a prediction before we read the book,
during the book, and toward the end of the book. I think that it would have been really
interesting to hear all of the predictions that the students would come up with.

3. Based on the assessment you created, what can you conclude about your impact on
student learning? What did they learn? What evidence can you offer that your
conclusions are valid? Based on the assessment data you collected, what would you
do/teach next if you were the classroom teacher?

I do think that students were able to benefit from this lesson. Even though it was a bit rocky
with lots of disruptions, I felt that students were still able to enjoy this lesson. To incorporate
writing into this lesson, I had the students write who they thought the thieves of the “missing
masterpiece” were once they got towards the end of the story. Students at first were bummed that
they had to wait until finding out who the thieves were, but I thought that it was a great way for
students to look back to the clues that were given to help identify the thieves. Before we read the
last few pages and found out who the thieves of the “missing masterpiece” were, I asked students
to share some of their predictions. Some students thought it was William the cat, while others
thought it was the Museum director. However, I had one student who actually put the clues
together and said that he thought it was the mice who stole the “missing masterpiece”. This was a
rewarding moment because it was cool to see that a student actually pieced the information
together by using context clues. The other students were shocked when they finished reading the

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book and found out who the thieves were. I then explained that making predictions happens all
throughout reading. I then explained that even if our predictions were wrong, it helped keep us
engaged in the story because we wanted to find out the end of the story. The next activity that I
would do is have the students make predictions in their own books that they are reading. I would
create a graphic organizer and get the students to write their predictions down in the organizer
while they are reading. From doing this activity, students can realize how many predictions that
they make while reading a book.

4. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had
reinforced about children as learners?

I have learned that all children have off days in their learning. I began this lesson right after
the students got back from lunch, and I noticed that a lot of students weren’t settling down like
they usually do. Like always, there are a few students that I can count on being this way because
they always have been. I was really shocked to see that some of the students that never give me
any problems, were the ones being noisy and rowdy during the lesson. I found that implementing
this lesson effectively was extremely challenging because of this. Due to this circumstance, I
learned that it can be very difficult to get students back on task to learn when they are not in the
state/mood to be learning. I know that I have my off days, and so will my students. Due to this, I
realize that I will not always have control over the learning environment and will need to be
relaxed when it comes to teaching lessons.

5. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had
reinforced about teaching?

As I mentioned above, there were many behavior problems during this lesson. However, I
learned a very valuable lesson: “Just go with the flow”. I think that it is an important lesson for
teachers to know because not every lesson is going to work out the way that you want it to. As
teachers, we have to work with what we have to create the best plan of action in order make the
greatest impact for our students. Due to behavior issues, I felt like I could not implement my
lesson in the way that I wanted it to be. I wish that I could have expanded my discussion on
predictions in the lesson, however, I knew that I had to cut the lesson short because of lack in
student attention. I also need to realize that there could have been so many external factors
playing into why students weren’t behaving the way that they should have been. As teachers we
need to realize that there are outside influences for children which can be greatly effecting their
learning. In teaching, we need to always remember to go with the flow and expect that not all of
our students are going learn or pay attention to the lesson.

6. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had
reinforced about yourself?

I have realized that I am a pretty patient person. When I found myself getting stressed
because of poor student behavior, I found that I would take a deep breath before trying to get
students’ attention. I absolutely hated in school how my teachers would yell at students to get
their attention, so I know that I would not result to yelling in the classroom. Instead, I
incorporated a call and response into the lesson to get their attention when I needed the students

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to pay attention. I was pretty proud of myself because in times when it would have been easier to
yell, I stuck my ground and used the call and response. I think that as teachers we should show
respect to our students and create a safe learning environment.

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