th
Activity
Introductory
Activity:
Think-Aloud
Marking Text
Procedure: What will you do?
Include steps.
Rationale: Why are you teaching this? How are you addressing the child’s needs?
What text reading backs this up?
This lesson will focus on helping Jacob determine what is important in nonfiction text. To introduce this idea,
I will ask the question, “Jacob, do you think it is possible to remember everything you read?” Jacob and I will briefly discuss one of the biggest challenges of reading, which is trying to remember everything you have read.
To illustrate this concept, I will show a large poster with pictures of camping related items. I will ask Jacob if he can guess the general idea. Next, I will tell
Jacob to pretend that we are going on a camping trip and that we must select the five most important items to take with us. During our activity, I will highlight that even though items might oftentimes be really interesting and/or helpful, they might not be the most important.
After the introductory activity, I will show Jacob the book, The
Unhuggables. To build interest in the text, Jacob and I will discuss the book’s title and cover illustration and make some predictions about what the book
Motivation for learning increases when teaching activities are relevant to students’ lives. Students often have difficulty in determining importance in non-fiction text.
Graves, M. F., Jaun, C., Graves, B.,
& Dewitz, P. (2011). Teaching reading in the 21st century:
Motivating all learners (5th ed.).
Boston: Pearson.
Harvey, S. (1998). Nonfiction matters: reading, writing, and research in grades 3-8.
York, ME:
Stenhouse Publishers.
It is impossible for students to remember everything they read.
Students must be given formal instruction on determining importance in non-fiction text.
Explanation will be given to Jacob
Objectives/TEKS
Connection: 110.15 English
Language Arts and Reading,
Grade 4
27 Listening and
Speaking/Listening:
(A) listen attentively to speakers, ask relevant questions, and make pertinent comments
28 Listening and
Speaking/Speaking: express an opinion supported by accurate information, employing eye contact, speaking rate, volume, enunciation, and the conventions of language to communicate ideas effectively.
11 Reading/Comprehension of Informational
Text/Expository Text:
Students analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about expository
Materials

The
Unhuggables
Published by
The National
Wildlife
Federation

The
Unhuggables

FIT Chart

Pencils

Interactive Read-
Aloud and
Writing Activity
FIT Chart might entail. I will explain to Jacob that this particular book covers a great deal of information which would make it impossible to remember everything in the book. I will then share with Jacob that good readers make decisions while reading about what is most important and worth remembering. I will explain to Jacob that certain codes, such as drawing a simple asterisk, highlighting, or underlining key ideas, can help us recall important information. Using the text, The Unhuggables, I will begin reading the first couple of pages aloud.
While reading, I will briefly pause and comment on ideas that I think are important and share any questions or responses I have with Jacob. During this time, I will quickly mark important information in the text. I will also draw special attention to common features found in nonfiction texts, features that often help us distinguish important ideas.
Next, I will turn to page 45 of the book to a passage titled, “Cockroaches.”
Jacob and I will take a minute to preview and discuss the pictures and other text features. Before beginning to read, I will briefly introduce Jacob to a three column chart with sections labeled, “Most Important Facts,
Interesting Details, and My Thinking”
(FIT). I will tell Jacob that we will use this chart to record some key ideas that we want to be sure to remember.
Together, we will then take turns reading aloud to each other. After each paragraph, Jacob and I will stop to determine what information was most so he will understand that there are specific strategies and common text features that can help us determine what is important and, therefore, worth remembering.
Graves, M. F., Jaun, C., Graves, B.,
& Dewitz, P. (2011). Teaching reading in the 21st century:
Motivating all learners (5th ed.).
Boston: Pearson.
Harvey, S. (1998). Nonfiction matters: reading, writing, and research in grades 3-8.
York, ME:
Stenhouse Publishers.
The purpose of this activity is to help Jacob understand and remember what he reads. Teaching comprehension strategies through graphic organizers, such as a FIT chart, will support Jacob’s reading development as he gains proficiency in determining importance and responding to text both verbally and through writing.
Furthermore, by using the book as a reference, Jacob will also benefit from practice in using common nonfiction text features, such as introductions, headings, quotes, illustrations, and captions to support text and provide evidence from text to support their understanding.
(A) summarize the main idea and supporting details in text
(D) use multiple text features
27 Listening and
Speaking/Listening:
(A) listen attentively to speakers, ask relevant questions, and make pertinent comments
1 Reading/Fluency
Students read grade-level text with fluency and comprehension.
11 Reading/Comprehension of Informational
Text/Expository Text:
Students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about expository text and provide evidence from text to support their understanding.
(A) summarize the main idea and supporting details in text

The
Unhuggables

FIT Chart

Pencils

important and mark the text appropriately. After we have finished reading a small section, I will begin to model how to use the FIT chart by jotting down some of our most important facts, interesting details, and responses about the reading in the appropriate columns.
Closure Activity:
Independent
Reading/FIT
Chart
After modeling the FIT strategy, Jacob will be instructed to read about another animal from the book, The
Unhuggables. As Jacob reads, I will ask that he continues to mark the text for the most important information and add a couple of important facts, interesting details, and responses to use in charting as we did earlier. Jacob will have the opportunity to select an animal about which he would like to learn more. As needed, Jacob and I will discuss key ideas in the passage. his findings.
Harvey, S. & Goudvis, A. (2000).
Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension to enhance understanding. Portland, ME:
Stenhouse.
Graves, M. F., Jaun, C., Graves, B.,
& Dewitz, P. (2011). Teaching reading in the 21st century:
Motivating all learners (5th ed.).
Boston: Pearson.
Giving Jacob the choice of which animal he would enjoy learning more about will increase his interest and motivation. Instructing Jacob to read independently while continuing to mark the text for the most important facts will provide evidence as to whether or not Jacob can successfully determine importance in text. Having Jacob add to the FIT chart will also prove if Jacob is capable of differentiating important facts from less important details.
Graves, M. F., Jaun, C., Graves, B.,
& Dewitz, P. (2011). Teaching reading in the 21st century:
Motivating all learners (5th ed.).
Boston: Pearson.
(D) use multiple text features
29 Listening and
Speaking/Teamwork: participate in teacher- and student-led discussions by posing and answering questions with appropriate detail and by providing suggestions that build upon the ideas of others.
9 Reading/Comprehension of Text/Independent
Reading:
Students read independently for sustained periods of time and produce evidence of their reading.

The
Unhuggables

FIT Chart

Pencil

Your Name: Jamie Embree
Student Name: Jacob
Lesson Reflection: CHILD NOTES---Focus is on the child. How did my student respond to the opportunities to learn that I provided?
Lesson and Personal Reflection for Lesson Plan # 2
Personal Reflection: Focus on YOU! As a result of teaching these activities, what did I learn about teaching in general and about myself as a teacher? How did your plan address your student’s individual diverse needs?
Introduction Activity
Jacob thoroughly enjoyed the camping introductory activity. Not only could Jacob guess the general idea of the poster with ease, he immediately began selecting the five items that he believed were most important to take with us on our pretend camping trip. Much to my surprise, many of the items that I thought were most important for our camping trip were not even included on Jacob’s list. Each time I questioned an item’s importance, Jacob promptly defended his selections with great confidence. For example, I pointed out to Jacob that we had not included water on our list and how I believed that water was essential to our survival. He very quickly enlightened me that bringing water was not a necessity. He went on to explain that boiling water would get rid of harmful bacteria and make the water we gathered from the nearby lake safe to drink, thus making the camping stove far more important. Another time, I asked Jacob why he didn’t think it was important to include a compass. Again, he supported his choice by commenting that this particular item was not the most important because we could simply look at the sun’s location and tell which direction we were headed. These are just a couple of the many instances in which Jacob could easily distinguish what he believed to be the most important items from the interesting or less important items.
From earlier conversations, I learned Jacob enjoyed camping with his family. To introduce the strategy of determining importance, I decided to include an activity that focused on camping. I thought if instruction was meaningful for Jacob, it would help increase his motivation for learning; however, even I underestimated how well Jacob would respond. Watching Jacob as he spoke tirelessly about our camping essentials made me realize just how important it is for teachers to encourage classroom discussions that allow students time to be the center of attention. Oftentimes, in the classroom the teacher does most of the talking. Even during whole-group and/or small group discussion time, conversations are generally dominated by a few select students.
Though possibly unintentional, struggling learners are typically overlooked, leaving those children to believe their thoughts are of little value. All kids need to be made to feel special, that their contributions have worth. Simply by tailoring instruction to compliment Jacob’s interests gave him the opportunity shine as he shared with me his experiences and wowed me with his camping expertise.
Think-Aloud/Marking Text
To teach Jacob more about the strategy, determining importance, I used the book, The Unhuggables. Before we started reading, I asked Jacob if he thought it was possible to remember everything we read in the book, to which he quickly responded that would be impossible and agreed it would be helpful to determine what information was most important
During the think-aloud activity Jacob and I carefully looked over the book and its textual features. Afterwards, I asked Jacob if he ever paid special attention to text features and/or made any predictions about texts before he began reading. Jacob expressed that he never looked at text features because his teachers never told him to do so. Jacob’s comment

and worth remembering. Briefly, we flipped through the book, looked at the headings and pictures, after which he made some quality predictions about what the book might entail. Jacob seemed genuinely excited about the book’s content and, again, had much to share with me about the animals. After I read the introduction, Jacob agreed that the authors’ main purpose for writing was to share with readers some interesting information about some of creatures people have a tendency to dislike.
Interactive Read Aloud/Modeling FIT Chart
During our reading, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of background knowledge Jacob had for the text. There were many times when Jacob would share his own thoughts and personal connections with me. When asking Jacob what information he thought was most important, he was accurate most of the time, although, at times, he was distracted by interesting facts. Frequently, referring back to the FIT chart to record information proved to be a valuable resource in helping us distinguish important from less important or interesting information.
To add further explanation, I shared with Jacob that authors include interesting details to make their writing clearer and/or more exciting to the reader. Jacob confirmed his understanding of this by commenting,
“Well, if it was boring, we wouldn’t want to read it!”
Independent Reading/FIT Chart
For the independent reading activity, I asked Jacob to select and read about any animal from the book about which he believed there was absolutely nothing fascinating to learn. Taking a few minutes, he looked over all the different animals, finally selecting the section on leeches. Due to time constraints, the FIT chart was not completed entirely, although Jacob and I were able to briefly discuss leeches and what important information the author shared with us that make them fascinating creatures. To my delight, Jacob had enjoyed reading the book so much that he even asked if could borrow it and read more about some of the other animals. Specifically, he mentioned wanting to read the section on fleas and ticks to his mother because she hated those animals and maybe she would learn something interesting facts about them, too. encouraged me to reflect on my personal experience using text features as a young reader. I can remember reading chapters from textbooks, intentionally skipping over any lengthy introductions, never heeding to headings, and I certainly never paid that close attention to graphs or captions; my only purpose was to simply finish the assigned reading.
Now, having a deeper understanding of the reading process, I realize that teaching students practical strategies, such as text features, is essential to their ability to successfully comprehend complicated nonfiction texts.
This activity was embedded with learning opportunities for Jacob, and me as well.
What I failed to recognize beforehand were some of the unique challenges teaching this concept poses. For readers, like Jacob, that are already experiencing difficulty in reading, learning this strategy becomes an even more daunting task. In order to assist my students in building proficiency and confidence in complex comprehension strategies like determining importance, I must provide explicit teaching instruction and plenty of opportunities for guided practice. In the classroom, I must also remember that time spent teaching strategy instruction may vary greatly depending on students’ individual needs.
My ultimate goal during this practicum was to provide Jacob with some reading experiences that were both successful and enjoyable. Jacob has always identified himself as hating reading because he finds it difficult, in content and comprehension. When a child struggles repeatedly in an area, his self-esteem as a successful learner suffers. While only the child can truly increase his own self-esteem, it the teacher that offers him the opportunity to do so. The teacher lays true the path by which the child can experience success in subjects he once thought too difficult. As teacher, I am the one that makes a student an eager learner or a reluctant participant held hostage in a day-long struggle to just get by. Hopefully, Jacob’s perception of himself as a reader is changing and he will begin see himself as I see him, a skilled and very capable reader.