AmericanStories
TheDiamondLens
byFitz-JamesO'Brien
LessonPlan
byJillRobbins,Ph.D.
Introduction
ThislessonplanistoaccompanytheAmericanStoriesseriesepisode,The
DiamondLensbyFitz-JamesO'Brien.
Atranscriptofthestoryisincludedattheendofthislessontoprintso
studentscanreadastheylisten.Teacherswhocannotplaytheaudiofromthe
websitecanreadthestoryaloudorhavestudentsreadit.
ThislessonplanisbasedontheCALLAApproach.Seetheendofthelessonfor
moreinformationandresourcesonteachingwiththeCALLAapproach.The
followingslideshowsthefivepartsofthislessonplan.
LessonElements
Prepare
Present
Practice
Self-Evaluate
Expand
Prepare
Introducethestory.“TodaywewillreadTheDiamondLensbyFitz-James
O'Brien.Itisastoryaboutamanwholovesmicroscopes.Haveyouever
lookedinamicroscope?Whatcanyouseewhenyoulookinone?
Listentostudents’answers.Dependingontheexperiencesofyour
students,somemaynothavetakenascienceclassorlearnedabout
microscopes.Youcanshowapictureofwhatisseenthrougha
microscopesuchastheimageonthefollowingslide.
Teachthevocabularyforthestoryshownontheslideafterthenextone.
Teachvocabularyandnewconcepts
Seawaterunderamicroscope
Vocabulary
microscope – n.adeviceusedtomakeverysmallthingslooklarger
sotheycanbestudied
lens - n. aclearcurvedpieceofglassorplasticthatisusedtomake
thingslookclearer,smaller,orbigger
magnify- v.tomake(something)appearlarger
ignorant - adj. lackingknowledgeorinformation
enormous- adj. verygreatinsizeoramount
Present
Introducethetasktostudents:“Aswereadthestorytoday,wewill
practicethestrategypredicttohelpusunderstandthestory.I’m
goingtobeginreadingandpredictorguesswhatwillhappennextin
thestory.I’llshowyouhowtodothis.”
Playorreadaloudto“IdecidedtostudymedicineinNewYork.”
Modelthestrategy:“Thefirstpartofthestorydescribesthemain
character.Welearnthatheisveryinterestedinlookingatthings
throughamicroscope.Hesaysheisgoingtostudymedicine.Iam
goingtopredictwhatIthinkwillhappennext.Ithinkthathewill
discoversomeimportantmedicalfactsfromlookingina
microscope.”
Explainthetaskandmodelthelearningstrategy
Makeachartliketheoneonthenextslide.Tellthestudentsthat
thestorygivesushintsaboutwhatwillhappen.Tostayengaged
withthestory(youmaysay“interested”or“involved”ifyoulike)
wecanpredictwhatwillhappen,basedonthefactsofthestory.
Tellstudents,“Forexample,inthefirstparagraph,weread,“clouds
thatsurroundedmydailyliferolledaway.Isawauniverseoftiny
livingcreaturesinadropofwater.Dayafterday,nightafternight,I
studiedlifeundermymicroscope.”Wecanpredictfromthisthatthe
maincharacterwilltrytocontinueusingamicroscope.Wecanguess
thatitmakeshimhappierthananythingelsefromthepartaboutthe
cloudsrollingaway.”
PredictEvents
Whatthestorytellsme
WhatIpredictwillhappen
Dayafterday…Istudiedlife
Hewillkeepusinga
microscope
Idecidedtospendmylife
studyingthe microscope.
Thisconfirmsourfirstguess.I
predicthewillstudyscience.
Idecidedtostudymedicinein
NewYork.
Ipredicthewilldowellasa
medicalstudent
Practice
Preparestudentsforthenextpart,“Nowit’syourturn.Let’slistento
somemoreofthestory.Aswelisten,thinkaboutwhatwillhappen
nextinthestory.Usethefactsyoulearnbyreadingorlistening.Take
outapieceofpaper.Writeachartlistingwhatyoupredict.”
Playorreadaloudto“Also,Ihadspentalotofmoneyonmy
experiments.”
Havestudentssitwithaclassmateandsharetheirnotesand
predictions.Tellthemtosharewiththeirclassmatewhattheythink
willhappennext.Pointoutthatitdoesn’tmatterwhethertheir
predictionactuallyhappensinthestory.What’simportantisthinking
aboutwhatmighthappen.Ithelpsustofocusasweread.
Allowstudentstopracticethestrategywiththestory
Givestudentstimetodiscusstheirpredictions.
Askseveralstudentstoshareandwritepredictionsontheboardor
screenasonthefollowingslide.
Allowstudentstopracticethestrategywiththestory
PredictEvents
Whatthestorytellsme
WhatIpredictwillhappen
…myfamilywouldneverknow Ipredicthisfamilywillfindout
Iwasn’tattendinganyclasses
he’snotgoingtoclasses
Ialsohadbecomemoreand
moreunhappy.
Itwillbedifficultforhimto
findhappiness
Iimaginedtherewerestill
secretsinNaturethatthe
limitedpowerofmy
equipmentpreventedme
fromknowing.
Heisnotgoingtobesatisfied
nomatterwhathesees
Askstudentstolistenagain.“Aswereadtherestofthispartofstory,
thinkaboutwhatwillhappennext.We’llhavetowaituntilthenext
classtoreadthesecondhalfofthestory.Sobesuretowriteyour
predictionscarefullysoyouremembertheminthatclass.”
Playorreadaloudtotheendofthestory.
Askstudentstowritetheirpredictionsandsharethemwiththeir
classmate.Continuetowriteonachartasshownonthenextslide.
Allowstudentstopracticethestrategywiththestory
PredictEvents
Whatthestorytellsme
WhatIpredictwillhappen
Findadiamondofone
hundredandfortycarats
Hewilltrytofindthediamond
Youwon’tgetmytreasure!
Simonhasalargediamond
IbelievedthatIknewSimon’s
secret.
HeisgoingtotakeSimon’s
diamond
Self-Evaluate
Askstudentstostaywiththeirpartnerandaskeachother, “Whatdo
youthinkaboutthemaincharacterofthisstory?Whatdoyou
understandabouthispersonality?”
Givestudentstimetotalkaboutthemaincharacter.Explainthat
inordertopredictwhatthemaincharacterwilldo,theyhave
neededtounderstandwhatthewriteristellingusabouthis
personality.
Ask,“NowI’dliketoask– whatdoyouthinkaboutusingthis
strategy,predict,whenyouread?Didithelpyouunderstandthe
maincharacter?Writeasentenceortwoonyourpapertoturnin
abouthowpredictinghelpedyoutoday.”
Askstudentstoevaluateforthemselveswhetherthestrategyhelpedthem
Expand
Askstudents,“Arethereothertimeswhenyoucanpredictbasedon
whatyouknow?”
Listentostudents’responses.
Continue,“Thisstrategyishelpfulinbothreadingandlistening.
Predictinghelpsyoufocusoninformationyougetfromthestory.
Predictingcanhelpinotherschoolsubjects,too.Inmathematicswe
callitestimating.Insciencewecallitmakinganhypothesis.Tryusing
thisstrategytonightwhenyoudoyourhomework,orinyournext
class.Letmeknowhowitgoes!”
Ask studentsusethestrategyinothercontexts
AbouttheCALLAApproach
TheCognitiveAcademicLanguageLearningApproach(CALLA)isaninstructionalmodelforsecondand
foreignlanguagelearnersbasedoncognitivetheoryandresearch.
CALLAintegratesinstructioninprioritytopicsfromthecontentcurriculum,developmentofthe
languageskillsneededforlearninginschool,andexplicitinstructioninusinglearningstrategiesfor
academictasks.
ThegoalsofCALLAareforstudentstolearnessentialacademiccontentandlanguageandtobecome
independentandself-regulatedlearnersthroughtheirincreasingcommandoveravarietyofstrategies
forlearninginschool.CALLAcanbeusedinESL,EFL,bilingual,foreignlanguage,andgeneraleducation
classrooms.
CALLAwasdevelopedbyAnnaUhlChamotandJ.MichaelO'Malley,andisbeingimplementedin
approximately30schooldistrictsintheUnitedStatesaswellasinseveralothercountries.
Seealistoflanguagelearningstrategiesbelow.
MetacognitiveStrategies
Task-BasedStrategies
Task-BasedStrategies
Task-BasedStrategies
Task-BasedStrategies
Task-BasedStrategies