Subject: Language Arts, Grade 4 (Gifted)
This lesson will be taught to 4th grade challenge students as part of the thematic, interdisciplinary unit using Phantom Tollbooth.
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Washington State Standards (Established Goals)
EALR: 2.0 Student writes in a variety of forms for different audiences and purposes
Big Idea: 2.3 Writes in a variety of forms/genres
Core Content: 2.3.1 Uses a variety of forms/genres
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Description of Standard for Grade 4-5
In fourth grade, students write for a range of purposes, including describing, telling a story, and explaining. They are able to produce writing that goes beyond the formulaic. Because they are aware of the interdependence of the topic, audience, purpose, and form, they are able to select and sometimes adapt basic forms to meet specific requirements. Their understanding and use of figurative language introduces imagery to their writing. Informational writing reflects understanding of specific purpose, often requiring gathering and synthesizing information from a number of resources to express and justify an opinion. Students are more aware of the conventions of writing as they reflect on their strengths and weaknesses and strive to improve.
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Essential Understandings: (Content/ Big Idea)
Audience and purpose (e.g. to inform, persuade, entertain) influence the use of literary techniques (e.g. style, tone, word choice)
Writers do not always say what they mean. Indirect forms of expression require readers to read between the lines to find the intended meaning.
Punctuation marks and grammar rules are like highway signs and traffic signals. They guide readers through the text to help avoid confusion.
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Essential Questions: (Objectives/Learning Targets)
What makes a great story?
How do you read between the lines?
Why do we punctuate? What if we didn’t punctuate?
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Vocabulary specific to writing for news articles
The inverted pyramid
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Content Standards (What student’ will be able to do & demonstrate)
Write a headline that catches readers attention and is appropriate for the intended audience
Write in a well-organized manner
Write a news article using an inverted pyramid including who, what, when, where, and why in first paragraph
Write and make evident who is reporting
Write using exaggeration
Write utilizing higher level vocabulary
Write consistently with story line by using chapter from Phantom Tollbooth
Select and include one photo and a caption that relates to their article
Write using effective and relevant dialogue
Write using grammar, capitalization, spelling and punctuation without error
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5 W's, headline, interview, lead, news story, reporter
one or two sample newspaper clippings
story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears
white board or flip chart and markers
paper and pencil
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Academic Language
Article
Interview
Eyewitness
Reporter
5W
Primary source
Secondary source
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Differentiating Instruction
Reading: Consider accommodating special need students when creating the reading and vocabulary list. Try to create a subset of the main reading list that will still provide these students with an understanding of the lesson.
Grouping: Grouping could provide a venue for accommodation by pairing stronger students with special needs students for reading, analyzing documents, discussion assumptions, and drawing conclusions.
Comprehension: Might try orally explaining the background information and instructions to special needs students, or students could take the information home to read/study a day or two before the lesson is taught.
Assessment of Student Learning
Formative: As students work in small groups, the teacher will be circulating specifically listening and watching for the assessment criteria below. This will allow the teacher to adjust, modify, and clarify student understandings. During this phase, the teacher will be specifically doing the following:
Teacher will be monitoring students’ knowledge and ability to correctly use their new newspaper reporting and inverted pyramid academic language by listening as they work in groups.
Teacher will be monitoring students’ knowledge and ability to interview and gather facts using their 5W and 1H inverted pyramid skills.
During my lessons formative assessment is embedded to gauge if students are/are not learning my intended lesson. Think-pair-share, small group, and large group are included to allow students to develop positive peer interactions, socially construct knowledge and learn different ways or perspectives about ways of knowing. When students verbally share as a teacher I am monitoring students discussions, work activities, and inquiring about their thinking.
When students are listening to my direct instruction, however, often prior to their ‘doing’ hands-on activities I gauge student understanding in several ways. It can be a mixture of ‘thumbs up’ for it is clear ‘thumbs down’ for not clear, or ‘hand flat with a rocking motion’ sort of get it but not confident. Other times I may elicit several students ideas/comments or alternative ways of thinking, to measure if they are thinking about what I am instructing.
Exit and/or entry tickets are also another method of gathering student feedback. What do they know before I teach a lesson, did they leave the classroom with what I hope they had from the lesson. I don’t choose to grade these because I believe they are an additional instructional tool for my reflection on my teaching and how to modify for the next lesson.
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Summative: What is the eventual summative assessment
The teacher will looking at each students news article, looking for the following:
The headline catches the reader’s attention and is appropriate for the article
The writing is well organized
The inverted pyramid is used correctly for writing the news article. It is evident what the answers are for who, what, when, why, and how and they are included in two paragraphs.
The interview correctly includes details and is written in dialogue form.
| Performance Task: (Looking at …)
Personification is a concept often associated with poetry, although it can be used in a variety of other contexts. Personification involves the act of giving human-like qualities to inanimate objects, or the act of assigning human-like attributes to non-human creatures. The Whether Man’s umbrella, the alarm clock in Tock’s body, Humbug’s derby hat, the silver signet ring on King Azaz’s finger, Alec Bings’ neatly polished brown shoes, Chroma’s podium, Dr. Discord’s bottle, or the Mathemagician’s small, gleaming pencil… the list goes on and on.
Choose an inanimate object or non-human creature from The Phantom Tollbooth. Assume the role and identity of the object or creature. Using the story line from the chapter where you first encountered the inanimate object or non-human creature, write an eye-witness account of the event occurring in this chapter for the National Enquirer, an infamous newspaper. In writing the news article, make sure to show the reader how you feel, what you think, what you do, how you behave, where you go, why you believe what you do, and with whom you associate.
Note: This newspaper has been reprimanded for s-t- r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g the truth; in other words- exaggerating! Follow suit!
Rubric: Your eyewitness newspaper article will need to meet all of the criteria on the rubric at the end of this lesson plan.
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Accommodations/Modifications: So all students can show progress toward learning targets
For the two students that are challenged by the English language, yet do not qualify for ELL, they will be provided with instructional support. For any reading and writing, they will receive one-on-one assistance from myself or my master teacher. When appropriate, we will substitute different vocabulary words and/or readings with the same overarching goals yet at an appropriate level for their reading/writing. When writing they will receive extra time to complete their written assignments and have one-on-one assistance during class sessions. When having group discussions and/or activities, the students will be placed with stronger skilled students to allow them group work without them losing the context of what is being taught. If doing any jigsaw activities, consider what is being jig sawed to ensure they are successful with this activity.
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Student Voice:Student self-assessment
Piaget, Vgotsky, and Dewey all teach us that students learn best through meaningful experiences and when these experiences are shared, knowledge is socially constructed providing for higher level learning that as an individual.
As teachers, it is easy to fall into a routine of delivering content, testing on what you want the students to know and fail to ask what the students believe they learned. As teachers, failing to ask questions of our students fails to provide us invaluable information about our own teaching. Did the students learn what we had hoped they would learn? What questions do they still wonder about? What did they enjoy about the lesson, and what was challenging and/or frustrating? If they were to design the lesson, what may they have done differently and why?
These types of questions help us reflect on our own teaching and ways of delivering our lessons to each of our students. We must also remember, however, that these big questions do not necessarily happen with very lesson but should definitely occur for those large learning goals. With the above in mind, for this unit plan, I envision asking these questions at the end of each lesson after student presentations of their projects.
A curriculum of identify asks students to reflect on their skills and interests as they relate to the discipline being studied. Since learning requires experiences in order to have a base to build upon, knowing what value they place on what was learned tells me something about the base they have developed with my instruction. (See Appendix D)
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Instruction and Engagement to Support Student Learning Introduction
Tell Students what you want them to be able to do
Personification is a concept often associated with poetry, although it can be used in a variety of other contexts. Personification involves the act of giving human-like qualities to inanimate objects, or the act of assigning human-like attributes to non-human creatures. The Whether Man’s umbrella, the alarm clock in Tock’s body, Humbug’s derby hat, the silver signet ring on King Azaz’s finger, Alec Bings’ neatly polished brown shoes, Chroma’s podium, Dr. Discord’s bottle, or the Mathemagician’s small, gleaming pencil… the list goes on and on.
You will be choosing an inanimate object or non-human creature from The Phantom Tollbooth and assuming the role and identity of the object or creature. Using the story line from the chapter where you first encountered the inanimate object or non-human creature, you will write an eye-witness account of the event occurring in the chapter for the National Enquirer, an infamous newspaper. In writing the news article, you must show the reader how you feel, what you think, what you do, how you behave, where you go, why you believe what you do, and with whom you associate.
Note: The National Enquirer is a newspaper that has been reprimanded for s-t- r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g the truth; in other words- exaggerating! You should also exaggerate.
Rubric: Your eyewitness newspaper article will need to meet all of the criteria on the rubric at the end of this lesson plan.
Tell Students how you will know they got there
Write a headline that catches readers attention and is appropriate for the intended audience
Write in a well-organized manner
Write a news article using an inverted pyramid including who, what, when, where, and why in first paragraph
Write and make evident who is reporting
Write using exaggeration
Write utilizing higher level vocabulary
Write consistently with story line by using chapter from Phantom Tollbooth
Select and include one photo and a caption that relates to their article
Write using effective and relevant dialogue
Write using grammar, capitalization, spelling
Tells Students how you will help get them there
At the end of this lesson students will be able to use an inverted pyramid to include who, what, when, where, and why and how in the first paragraph for a news article.
Direct Instruction
Overview
Bears' House Vandalized, Witnesses say Blonde Girl Spotted Fleeing from the Scene!2
Objectives
Students will be able to:
read news stories for information about the 5 W's + 1H.
understand simple newspaper vocabulary.
conduct a simple interview and make point form notes to record the results.
create their own news story lead.
Materials
5 W's, headline, interview, lead, news story, reporter
one or two sample newspaper clippings
story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears
white board or flip chart and markers
paper and pencil
Online Resources
Definitions of newspaper vocabulary
Printable on-line version of the story
Printable template for point form notes ("jot notes")
Printable template for news story lead color or B&W
Off-line resources
Jan Brett's: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Preparation
Search through newspapers for one or two simple articles that children will enjoy. Examples might be human interest stories or sports stories. Make sure the sample follows the traditional 'Inverted Pyramid' -- the 5 W's + 1 H should be answered within the first 2 paragraphs of the story. Prepare bulletin board or table display.
Instruction
Teacher Does
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Student Does
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Phase 1: Introduction
Teacher tells students they will approach a familiar story (Goldilocks and the Three Bears) from the perspective of an eyewitness newspaper reporter.
Teacher tells students they will learn to apply the 5 W's + 1 H (Who, What, When, Where, Why and How).
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Students are listening
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Phase 2: Demonstration, modeling, passing of information (I do it)
Present a Bulletin Board or Table display. Include a picture or book of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the words Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why? and How? prominently displayed, newspaper clippings and the headline (title) of our lesson plan ("Bears' House Vandalized...")
Instruct students to get out their writing journals for taking notes.
Write Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How on the flip chart
Beside each, as model, will write the answer to the question from article and where in the news story the information was found. (headline, paragraph 1, paragraph 2).
Explain to the children the first two paragraphs of a newspaper article are called the 'Lead'.
Reporters try to answer all 5 W's + 1H within the lead, sometimes called an inverted pyramid
Explain to the children, that a news story is written by a reporter. The reporter interviews people and observes events to answer the questions Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. Reporters call these questions the 5 W's + 1 H and try to include them in each news story.
Show the children a sample newspaper clipping. Point out the headline.
Teacher models thinking about a newspaper article:
Viewing article on the doc cam, the teacher reads the article. As she reads, she models both what she is looking for and how she is looking for the 5Ws and 1 H.
Reads the headline, then asks does the headline capture my attention?
Yes because…..(models recording information on flip chart)
How does the headline capture my attention?
By…. (models recording information on flip chart)
Reads the first paragraph, then asks does the first paragraph answer any of the 5 W's + 1H questions?
Yes/No…how many of the 5 W's + 1H does she know now?
Continues to read through the article a paragraph at a time until all of the 5 W's + 1H questions are answered. Continuing to think aloud, and record important information on flip chart.
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Students are listening
Students take out writing journal and pencil
Students do the same in their journals
Students do the same in their journals
Students write definition for new paper lead is first two paragraphs of a newspaper article
Students write an inverted pyramid refers to the who, what, where, when, why, and how for a news article
Students write a news story is written by a reporter. A reporter interviews people and observes events to answer the questions for an inverted pyramid.
Students listen
Students listen
Students listen and write information as teacher records the data on the flip chart.
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Phase3: Guided Practice (We do it)
Teacher displays another news article on the overhead: Bad Wolf Terrorizes 3 Pigs
Teacher reads short version of the story to refresh students’ memory.
Using a flip chart, teacher and students work together to identify:
Headline
Find who, what, when, where, why, and how
Beside the 5W and 1 H: record where information found in story (headline, paragraph one, paragraph two)
Stop when all have been found
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Students listen
Students listen
Students and teacher brainstorm and record data, as well as others thinking
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Phase 4: Monitoring, providing feedback (They do it)
Teacher has students form pairs.
Techer points out our headline (Granny Imposter, Stalks little girl in Red Cape).
Tells students for each pair, one of the them will be the reporter and the other will be Red Riding Hood.
Teacher tells students the reporter should interview Red Riding Hood to discover the answer to each of the 5 W's + 1 H and record the answers in point form. Then the children should switch roles so each has a chance to be the reporter.
Teacher tells students they will use the point form to record their answers.
Teacher tells students when they are done they will return to their desks.
Teacher observes and monitors the discussions. The teacher is answering questions, noting whether students are on task, and asking them to share their ideas and strategies. The teacher is also looking to see if the activity is intriguing, boring, and/or if students need further instruction and clarification allowing the teacher to plan, assist and/or adjust the lesson as necessary.
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Students pair off.
Student pairs take turns being Red Riding Hood/reporter. As the reporter, they ask the 5w and 1H questions and record the answers.
The students return to their desks.
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Phase 5: Students work independently
Teacher passes out the article “World's Youngest CEO Is Eight-Years Old “ and has students read.
Teacher then distributes the quiz for 5+1 (Appendix C), and has students complete the quiz.
Teacher collects student quizzes and grades them prior to next lesson. Teacher will revise, or reteach any missing concepts prior to student project.
Teacher tells students they will all complete their job as reporters by writing the lead to go with the headline.
Remind students that the lead should be written in complete sentences with no more than 2 paragraphs.
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Students read the article World's Youngest CEO Is Eight-Years Old
Students answers quiz questions and turn into teacher.
The students write their Article Headline and two lead paragraphs using the inverted pyramid.
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Conclusion
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Have a few students read their news story leads out loud in front of the class.
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Assessment
The teacher will looking at each students news article, looking for the following:
The headline catches the reader’s attention and is appropriate for the article
The writing is well organized
The inverted pyramid is used correctly for writing the news article. It is evident what the answers are for who, what, when, why, and how and they are included in two paragraphs.
The interview correctly includes details and is written in dialogue form.
Appendices Appendix A: Handouts and Worksheets
Using the 5W + 1H for “Red Riding Hood”
Name: ____________________________ Date: _________________________
Article Headline:__________________________________________________
Who: _____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
What: ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
When:____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Where:____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Why: _____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
How: _____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Witness Interview of Red Riding Hood
Name: (Reporter) _________________________ Date: _____________
Red Riding Hood: Witness Statement
Appendix B: Rubric (s)
For The Phantom Tollbooth Project:
News Article
Possible
Points
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Criteria
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Points
Earned
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10
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Headline catches reader’s attention and is appropriate for article.
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10
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Writing is well organized.
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10
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The inverted pyramid for writing a news article is evident. Who, what, when, where, and why are included in first paragraph. Details and dialogue follow.
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10
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Clearly evident which inanimate object or non-human creature is
reporting. It is evident how you think and feel, who your friends are, and
where you are.
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5
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Exaggeration is evident.
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5
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Writing utilizes higher level vocabulary.
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15
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Writing is consistent with story line from chapter.
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10
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One photo and caption are included with your news article.
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10
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Effective and relevant dialogue is included.
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5
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News article and cut line are typed using a size 12 font.
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10
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There are no grammatical, capitalization, punctuation or spelling errors.
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Total
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Total
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100
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Teacher Comments:
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