Reading in the Middle, Junior and Senior High Schools, Spring, 2010

The lesson plan I reviews is titled “Acquiring New Vocabulary Through Book Discussion Groups”. This particular lesson was designed for third to fifth graders but could be used in a similar style in a special education classroom. This lesson was designed using the book Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco and can be used again with another book. The following lesson will take an estimated 60 minutes. A rubric is used to grade the student. A 4 is the highest grade and means the students completes assigned role, actively discusses new words, gives examples of prior knowledge, uses media sources to define words, relates understanding of words to the context of the text selection, is able to substitute words in context with synonyms, and uses word independently showing full understanding. At the other end of the spectrum, a 1 is earned when the student is off task, does not work in assigned role, does not attempt the assignment, and uses inappropriate behavior.
This lesson meets North Carolina state standards in 3rd and 4th grade English. The strands are oral language, written language, and other media/technology. For fourth grade: Competency Goal 1: The learner will apply enabling strategies and skills to read and write. Goal 1.04: Increase reading and writing vocabulary through: wide reading, word study, knowledge of homophones, synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, knowledge of multiple meanings of words, writing process elements, writing as a tool for learning, seminars, book clubs, discussions, and examining the authors craft. For third grade: Competency Goal 1: The learner will apply enabling strategies and skills to read and write. Goal 1.04: Increase sight vocabulary, reading vocabulary, and writing vocabulary through: wide reading, word study, listening, discussion, book talks, book clubs, seminars, viewing, role play, and studying author’s craft.
I feel these are goals that would be really fun and worth while to reach. Creating a classroom book club is another great lesson I will consider creating.
The NCTE/IRA national standards met for English Language Art by this lesson are: (1) Students read to build an understanding of texts, culture, acquire information, personal fulfillment, and responding to the needs of society (2) applying a range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. To draw on prior experience, their interactions with others, word meanings, word identification strategies (3) to adjust the use of spoken, written, and visual language to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
The materials needed for this lesson are Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco, a dictionary and thesaurus, and paper and pencil. A website about the book and information pertaining to the background story should be bookmarked. There is also a rubric to grade individual performance and group participation. In preparation for the lesson, the teacher will make a note of any words that may be unfamiliar or interesting to the students. The teacher should also book mark websites about the book and background information. For this book the site used is http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/pinkandsay.html, along with a site about the civil war since that is when the story takes place. The teacher should also insure that students have permission to access the internet.
The objective is to develop new strategies to enhance reading comprehension, locate unfamiliar words in a story and determine their meaning (using knowledge, context clues, group discussion, and media sources), acquire new vocabulary identified from the assigned text, generalizing the use of new vocabulary through understanding, speaking and writing, and to practice strategies which enhance reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition.
The lesson begins by reading aloud Pink and Say to the class and choosing a word to model the strategy to be used in small groups. Have the students take part in the discussion of what the word means based on prior knowledge and context clues. After giving enough examples as reinforcement of activity, divide the class into small groups and provide one copy of the book to each group. Each member of the group will be assigned a role. The roles include: Vocabulary Enricher- identifies interesting or unfamiliar words in the reading and leads a discussion about the new words. Literary Luminary- relates the new words back to the context of the passage, and provides supporting definitions by accessing a dictionary or other media sources. The Connector- makes a connection between the meaning of words as used in the context of the text and prior knowledge or understanding. Discussion Director- facilitates the discussion among members of the group. Summarizer- records and reports the group’s activities to the whole class; similar to secretary.
The groups’ task will be to locate and creatively define unfamiliar or interesting words from the above noted text. Students should be encouraged to used context, group discussion, prior knowledge, and outside resources to support their definitions.
The teacher should keep anecdotal records describing the students’ interactions, participation, and role behavior and record on rubric. After the students have worked in their groups, gather the class back together for a whole class discussion. Each group will share the words the found and they will be recorded on a class list. Words should be related back to the text to share and reinforce the new vocabulary. At the end of the lesson each student will choose one word they learned during the lesson. They will write their definition, copy the sentence using the word in the text, substitute the word for a synonym, and provide an illustration.
This lesson hits all the important point of an affective lesson. The students use prior knowledge to assess words and gain knowledge about the book through research of the words. I think it is important to for students to work in groups to work on social skill and sharing ideas. Finally, the student has an opportunity to make a word their own, by changing the original sentence and illustrating the word. This “take home point” is very important in the acquisition of knowledge. This is something I would use in my classroom.

I had never done an anticipation guide before. I think it really helped me to engage in the article. I first had to think about my own views on the topic, read other peoples ideas, and them compared the two and reflected on the similarities and differences. It is a great way for students to recognize that there are many schools of thought on one subject and may help in teaching tolerance of different views. This could be used with any article, but I like the affect it has when used concurrently with a controversial article. This is an activity I will put in my repertory of lessons for the future.