LESSON PLAN

Lilly Catrisiotis

Subject:Language Arts

/ Topic: The Role of the Highlighter – Literature Circles

Grade:8

/ Date and Time: March 6, 2006; 60 minutes

Objective & Purpose

. 1 minute / Curriculum Expectations:Language Arts and Visual Arts
-Provide well constructed explanations by explaining the interpretation of a written work through a picture
-Describe in your plan for a work of Art, the main ideas you wish to communicate
-Produce a 2 dimensional work of Art that Communicates a variety of thoughts and feelings
-Use writing for the purpose of developing imaginative abilities
-Show evidence of visualizing while you read
Specific (what and how):
-Students will apply their understanding to synthesize their knowledge about important messages in the Novel they have been reading for Literature Circles
-They will further develop the important reading strategy of visualization
Shared (why):
“Today we are going to develop an important reading strategy which is to visualize what you read and therefore help you to effectively fulfill your role as a highlighter when you are assigned this role during Literature Circle discussions. This lesson will help you to visualize text as you read, so you can get a clearer picture in your head in order to understand ideas and concepts that the writer is trying to get across in the novel you are currently reading. You will also write a brief description telling or explaining the significance of your picture.”
Social:
“To practice the social skill of ‘No Call Outs’ or “Raising your hands” when you have a comment, questions or concern anytime during this activity. Instead, I will randomly call on you to share, so you will have to also practice attentive listening. Individual Accountability and Active Participation

Mental Set

. 10 minutes / Read from the Think Literacy: Cross-Curricular Approaches Document, Grades 7-12
“I would like you to listen carefully to the texts I will be reading and to try to picture the words in your minds of concepts that are being put forward through the text. Afterwards, I will call on; you randomly to share the images that have been created in your minds through the text.”
Read a few samples and allow the students to visualize what they see in their minds.
Attentive Listening

Input/Diagnostic

(Instruction)
. 5 minutes / Draw the Graphic organizer on the board and share with the students what I have decided an effective plan for the picture that I am going to draw. Share some themes or critical points in the story that have emerged in my mind from my reading of the “True Story of the Three Little Pigs” which was used as an introduction to the various roles in Literature Circles, previously.
Think, Pair, Share:
Discuss what an abstract noun is with your partner and come up with a few examples with your partner. I will randomly call on you to share what your partner has talked about.” Framing Questions andWait Time. Get the students to give you the definition of an abstract noun with a few examples and list them on the board.

Modeling/Demo

. 5 minutes / Show the students my own graphic organizer for the “True Story of the Three LittlePigs” and then read them the paragraph I have written about what I thought the major theme of this story was. Show the students the Picture that has emerged in my own mind as well about the Theme, after I have read the paragraph to them.
Be sure to emphasize:
“Your paragraph should have a topic sentence about why you chose these images as well as supporting details from events in the novel; and a concluding sentence that summarizes the paragraph with an expression of feeling about your illustration.”
Also, tell the students that their description should also explain something that cannot be seen by looking at the picture; this will also somehow be related to the theme in the passage.

Practice

. 35 minutes / “I would like you to take a few moments to silently make notes about the mind pictures that have emerged from the words in the text of the novel that you have been reading so far for Literature Circles. Think about the kinds of things that rigger you mind pictures or mental images: any words, personal experiences, something you have read before, a movie or TV show that you have thought of while you were reading. Remember that there are many things, which can help us to visualize while reading.”
“Make notes about your mind pictures so far that have emerged from the words in the text. Use the graphic organizer that I will hand out. This will help you to write a brief description about your picture in paragraph form.”
Elicit some ideas that can be written about in the novel so far: character, setting, the emerging problem, an exciting part, or something that surprised them in the story and why.
“Think about why the scene you have chosen is important to the meaning of the story so far. When you are finished, you will have another 10 minutes to make a pencil sketch of what you have visualized. You can label some of your pictures in your drawing and you should create a Title for your drawing. Remember this should not be a story board illustration, but rather one scene.”

Check for Understanding

. / “I am going to come around to make sure that you are on task with your ideas using your graphic organizer. You have 5 minutes to write down some important ideas about which scene you have chosen and why.” Individual accountability
Hand out the evaluation to the students as they begin working on their graphic organizer…Assessment

Closure/Reflection

. 5 minutes / Think, Pair, Share: I want you to think to yourselves for a moment about what you have learned today about the importance of visualizing while you read and how you can use this to help, you fulfill the role of the highlighter during literature circles. Framing Questions and wait time 1 minute. Now I would like you to turn to your partner and discuss what you have thought about; and I will randomly call on you to share what your partner has told you about what they have learned today about the role of the highlighter during Literature Circles. Active Participation, listening, Positive interdependence

Extension/Alternatives

/ Students can also write poems about their illustrations as well. If the paragraphs do not get finished in class then they will be able to take them home to complete.

Formative Assessment

/ □ self-evaluation
□ group evaluation
□teacher evaluation
□ observation / □ anecdotal notes
□ quiz
□ checklist
□ rubric / □ interview
□ discussion
□ learning log

Homework

/ None; unless they do not finish their illustration or first copy of their paragraph in class.

Classroom Management

/ Model… Check social goal progress…Remind the students of No Call outs throughout the lesson, so that they do not forget the goal of no call outs/raising their hands.
Assist students with their pictures, ideas and paragraph layouts. Remember to Frame my questions for maximum input by the students while they complete their seatwork.

Considerations

/ □ Instructional Intelligence
logic/math, verbal/linguistic, musical, visual/spatial, body/kin., natural, intra/interpersonal
□ Graphic Organizers which is a variation of the web cluster
Mind Maps, Placemats, Venn Diagrams etc. / □ Johnson’s 5 Elements
Individual Accountability, Face-to-Face Interaction, Positive Interdependence,Processing, Collaborative Skills
□ 3R’s
Retell, Relate, Reflect / □ Cooperative Learning
Think Pair Share etc.
□ Bloom’s Taxonomy
Know, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Synthesize, Evaluate
□ Special Needs
Give some students more time to complete their paragraphs by taking them home; Groupings: change some seat work to accommodate productive pairings

Necessary Materials

/ Checklist/Rubric for Evaluation; Graphic Organizer; novels for Literature Circles; blank paper for the illustrations and lined paper for the first draft of the paragraph.

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