ELA Support
February Lesson Plan Overview
February 4-March 2
Instructor: Holmlund
Grade Level: 9
30-Day Summary
During February we will be starting off with practicing using textual evidence to guide and sustain small and large group
discussions. The last three weeks of February will focus on discovering different types of non-fiction writing, especially news
sources, including online newspapers, aggregators, news channels, and blogs. Students will also work in groups to create their
own newspaper/newsletter based on the events in their independent reading books. Essential questions include: What are
different types of non-fiction and why do those types exist? How does the structure of different types of non-fiction text support
the content of the text? What makes an informational source trustworthy? Is it necessary or important for people to stay informed
about their city and/or the world at large?
Student Data
Classroom Achievement BM2
Writing
# Students
Source: BM 2 English
20
"A" Advanced (4)
# Students
Populations
# Students
37
SPED
13
75
ELL
5
4
3
2
RFEP
30
"A" Advanced (4)
48
"B" Proficient (3)
"B" Proficient (3)
63
"C" Basic (2)
26
2
13
11
4
75
"C" Basic (2)
15
8
"NP" Below Basic (1)
"NP" Below Basic (1)
"NP" Far Below Basic (0)
"NP" Far Below Basic (0)
Advanced/
GATE
Other
Differentiation for…
Special Needs: During readers workshop, students read texts based on their own reading level, and during guided
reading discussion, low performing special needs students are often put in a group with students who can help them
stay on track.
Students with special needs are allowed to ask for time extensions in order to complete writing assignments.
Further, students with special needs are encouraged to advocate for themselves by letting the instructor know when
they might need assistance.
English Language Learners: During readers workshop, students read texts based on their own reading level, and
during guided reading discussion, students discuss a text with students of similar reading skill.
Gifted/ Advanced: During readers workshop, students read texts based on their own reading level, and during guided
reading discussion, students discuss a text with students of similar reading skill.
Week:
February 48
February
11-15
Standard(s):
Objectives:
G8.W.2.2.b: Write responses to
literature Connect the student's own
responses to the writer's techniques
and to specific textual references.
G8.L.2.2.d: Deliver oral responses to
literature Support judgments through
references to the text, other works,
other authors, or personal knowledge
Students will use concrete details and
examples from text in writing responses in
their reading journals.
G7.R.2.1: Understand and analyze the
differences in structure and purpose
between various categories of
informational materials (e.g.,
textbooks, newspapers, instructional
manuals, signs).
Students will evaluate different types of nonfiction texts and their distinctive features.
Students will used concrete details and
examples from text to ask text based
questions and make text supported claims in
small group discussions.
Agenda:
Materials:
Assessments:
As a class read about the
benefits of reading in Dana
Goia’s article – and others – to
practice having evidence based
discussions.
Independent
Reading Books
Guided Reading
Articles
Exit quiz on guided
reading/fake reading.
Readers Workshop:
Mini Lessons cover fake vs real
reading and using evidence to
guide written responses and
group discussions.
Independent Reading and
Response
In Guided Reading, students
practice reading and finding text
based questions to guide their
discussions.
Readers
Workshop:
Mini Lessons will cover types of
non-fiction and the structural
features of non-fiction.
Independent Reading and
Response
Students will begin working in
collaborative groups to create a
newspaper/newsletter.
Non-fiction vocabulary.
Observations of
discussion groups.
Check student journal
entries.
Independent
Reading Books
Guided Reading
Articles
Several News
Sources (LA
Times, NY Times,
CNN, etc)
Exit quiz on types of nonfiction and their features.
Students turn in organizer
for what parts of the
newspaper/newsletter
they will be completing.
Exit quiz on non-fiction
vocabulary
February
19-22
G6.R.2.1: Identify the structural
features of popular media (e.g.,
newspapers, magazines, online
information) and use the features to
obtain information.
Students will know and identify the important
features of traditional and modern electronic
news sources.
Readers Workshop:
Mini Lessons will cover
choosing news sources and the
structure of news articles.
Independent Reading and
Response
Students will continue working
in collaborative groups to create
a newspaper/newsletter.
Independent
Reading Books
Guided Reading
Articles
Several News
Sources (LA
Times, NY Times,
CNN, etc)
Quiz on structures of
news/popular media
writing.
Independent
Reading Books
Guided Reading
Articles
Several News
Sources (LA
Times, NY Times,
CNN, etc)
Quiz on finding important
information.
Observations of
collaborative groups.
Exit quiz on news
vocabulary
News vocabulary.
February
25-March 1
G6.W.1.4: Use organizational features
of electronic text (e.g., bulletin boards,
databases, keyword searches, e-mail
addresses) to locate information.
Students will find and evaluate information in
modern news sources.
(March 4-8: Students will use relevant and
credible information from modern news
sources to write an essay discussing a
current issue).
Readers Workshop:
Mini Lessons will cover
searching texts for information
and evaluating news sources for
bias.
Independent Reading and
Response
Students will peer edit their
articles and publish their
newspaper/newsletter.
Students submit group
newsletter/paper.
Composition book check
for individual reading
responses.
Types of non-fiction:
 News and other journalism, essays, journals, diaries, documentaries, histories, scientific papers, photographs, biographies/autobiographies,
textbooks, travel books, cook cooks, technical documentation, user manuals, reference works (dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauri), letter
Features of non-fiction:
 Documentation/proof/evidence can come in many forms, including pictures captions, charts or graphs, statistics, witness statements, interviews,
research studies, personal experience
 Generally more textual features than novels: pictures, charts/graphs, headline/title, subtitles, section titles or headings, glossary and index,
footnotes/endnotes
Skills for non-fiction: Skimming
 How to skim effectively
o Look at text features:




Titles, headlines, subheadings
Pictures and captions
Charts or graphs
Knowing where the information is in different types of non-fiction
 news: beginning of article
 textbooks: beginning of chapter/section, bold words, section/chapter summaries

News sources:
1. Newspapers: paper or online
a. local: Long Beach Press-Telegram, LA Times Local
b. national: LA Times, NY Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal
2. Magazines: in print and online
a. News only: Newsweek
b. Popular:
3. TV news: on TV or online
a. News only: CNN, CSPAN, FOX News, CNBC, ESPN (sports news)
b. Major networks with news: NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX
4. Radio news: on radio or online
5. Popular news: Huffington Post, TMZ
News article structure:
1. Headline: a phrase or sentence used to catch readers’ attention.
a. Byline: name the author and location.
2. Subhead or Billboard: a brief summary of the article that can either be one to two sentences below the headline or in a box on the side of the
page; it could also be a few bullet points in the side box.
3. Inverted Pyramid Structure: the most important information in a traditional news story comes first.
a. The most newsworthy information.
i. Lead: the first sentence should contain a very brief summary of the story.
ii. The lead is followed by a more full explanation that answers the 5 Ws – who, what, where, when, and why – and may also
answer how.
b. Important details.
i. The rest of the article includes supporting materials, such as quotations from individuals interviewed or details about the event
being reported.
c. Other general or background information.
i.
Putting dates in order for non-fiction
Identifying target audiences and what that means for the text